Today...

[Boris5000]

I was told by both my Arab office coworkers I should highly consider moving to the emirates to work as a scientist.

Legit considering it once I finish this PhD x)

[Bonez899]

Just watch out for flammable high rises.

[Estonian dude]

Travel plans for next year?

 

We have our song festival again next summer. I got my first songbook today. Hope to be there in 2 choirs.

To whet yours, and my appetite, here are 2 teaser videos. The first one is a general one about the history and stuff and the second is from the last song festival 2 years ago, where you can catch a glimpse of yours truly aswell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming to Tallinn, Estonia on June 30th til July 2nd 2017. I will be there and I can help with transport, accommodation, whatever.

[jasignhagj]

Just watch out for flammable high rises.

 

And the drivers

[Noxx]

I was told by both my Arab office coworkers I should highly consider moving to the emirates to work as a scientist.

Legit considering it once I finish this PhD x)

Now is a terrible time to move to the middle east. 

[Boris5000]

 

I was told by both my Arab office coworkers I should highly consider moving to the emirates to work as a scientist.

Legit considering it once I finish this PhD x)

Now is a terrible time to move to the middle east. 

 

But they made it sound so nice with their 9-1 working hours TT_TT

[Noxx]

 

 

I was told by both my Arab office coworkers I should highly consider moving to the emirates to work as a scientist.

Legit considering it once I finish this PhD x)

Now is a terrible time to move to the middle east. 

 

But they made it sound so nice with their 9-1 working hours TT_TT

 

Not all jobs are 9-1. Very few are, actually. And those that are usually work split shifts, ie. 9-1 then 3-8 or something like that. But aside from that, lot of companies have been downsizing over the past few weeks due to the economy still steadily crashing. Not so sure how bad it is in neighboring countries, but there's been a lot of people losing their jobs here lately. And every other day you hear of another company losing 500 employees.

 

Kind of on the same note, and kind of ironic, but i'm gonna get back to my aviation studies in a few weeks. Despite what i said about it a few weeks ago (not enjoying it as much anymore), due to the "crisis" here at the moment, it seems like the only sensible thing i can do right now. That is if i want to at least give myself some peace of mind in terms of future job security. 

[RpgGamer]

Fashionstork.com

 

Good idea or bad idea? Little pricey but in theory it pays for itself in value, right?

[Bonez899]

Wow, just had my phone upgrade to Marshmallow and I have to say that I'm loving it already and it's only been 5 minutes.

[MuffinMaddy]

So I got a leaving card from the band signed by everyone which was touching - it's set in now (I'm going home in a month) and I can't wait.

I think not going home at all has really motivated me to smash this final month here.

 

Not much has happened since coming back from DC but I'm hopefully getting sloshed today. On Wednesday I watched Batman 1966 with the percussion and saxophone sections of band.

 

Went to a potluck yesterday evening and I'm the most awkward person sometimes especially without alcohol. I hate being so awkward, but it's hard to just jump in when everyone else there knows each other... it took about half an hour for me to loosen up but when it happened it was great.

It's partially because the person who brought me didn't introduce me to people so I just kind of look like this random girl who's showed up with a box of muffins that no one's eating and mango juice.

 

However, I am totally living up to my RSN now, I have absolutely no idea how many muffins I've eaten in the last week or so but I'm addicted to them.

It's weird because every time I got a good grade in an exam, my mum used to celebrate by baking me some muffins, which is the reason behind my name but I mean like, 80% and above as "good grades". I normally get 70-80 on an average day which is good in the UK but not as good in Canada so anyway yeah I've been buying muffins for the many potlucks I've been attending and now when I go downtown I always bump into someone who knows me from something or other and it actually feels nice to have established such good relationships with people as it took a while for me to find my feet here.

 

I did a trivia quiz yesterday after the potluck and got driven home during the thunderstorm, today I've got a house party, tomorrow a dinner with the band, next week a kegger and end of year social so busy busy and then my first two finals are next Saturday.

 

I think reining in my sarcasm and dry humour helped me appear nicer than I actually am.

[Estonian dude]

And how long ago did you graduate?

 

I know one died from my class. Already 2 years ago from suicide.

[Lower Levelled]

graduated with 30 in 2013, all of us still intact afaik. only see about 5 a year though

[RpgGamer]

Also graduated 2010. 3 deaths, one cancer, one murdered, one suicide

[Noxx]

Had quite an interesting day/evening. I spent the day in the desert with some people i met a few weeks ago. One of the couple that went are a couple from Texas. As we were cooking our meat on the barbecue the Texan guy asked me what meat i was cooking and i pointed out that it was lamb chops. This sparked quite an unexpected conversation, and long story short, they (the Texan couple) seemed completely unaware to the fact that people actually eat lamb. It was a very strange concept to me, but it kind of made me realise that throughout my entire time in the US i couldn't recall eating lamb or mutton once, nor do i even remember seeing it in stores (not that i was ever specifically looking for it). The i realised that whenever i watched American cooking shows (specifically Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives) i can't recall a specific episode where they used lamb/mutton.

 

Also during the day i would, every now and then, talk to the girl i'm "seeing" in Afrikaans. She's Dutch, so it's fairly easy for us to communicate with me speaking Afrikaans and her speaking Dutch. This is how we usually communicate when we're alone, so it was nothing strange to us. But the other people (who were all American) found it strange that we spoke a different language with each other. One of them said that he just assumed since we speak English to them, that English was the language we always used. They seemed confused by the fact that when i'm speaking with my parents or sibling, i speak to them in Afrikaans and not English. So we sort of explained to them that it's just a lot more comfortable and natural for us to speak in our mother language when talking to each other. It would feel really forced and unnatural for me to talk to her in English unless i am forced to do so (because our languages aren't 100% the same, sometimes we have no choice but to rely on english).

 

All in all it was a very fun day, and i found it cool how things as small as these that i never even consider to be strange to me are so strange to others  and vice versa. 

[Hedgehog]

Lamb was a popular dish in high-end restaurants up until like the 80s, then it fell out of fashion. Mutton was never popular because we really don't have a sheep culture in America since the east coast really isn't suitable for raising sheep (pigs and chickens are much easier to raise), and the parts of the country that are better suited for sheep (Texas, Florida, and the Rocky Mountain states) are cattle country, for one reason or another. There really isn't a point in eating mutton when beef, chicken, and/or pork are all pretty cheap and taste a lot better.

[Dax]

Jeez. No lamb? That's a ridiculous concept to me. I'd probably eat it 2/3 times a week. Probably sells better than beef, pork and chicken in our butcher shop. Lamb chops are probably our biggest seller. Well, after snags, but that's a whole other situation all together.

[Randox]

Lamb really isn't popular in any part of North America I've ever been to. I've spotted it a few times at restaurants (fancy ones), and you see it in grocery stores, but for most people it seems to be reserved for special occasions, if ever. Taste seems to be an issue for a lot of people, myself included when it comes to Lamb, though for me taste is perhaps less of an issue than the limitations of what animals I understood to be food when growing up. Wholly embracing that which animals I consider to be food is completely arbitrary, I'm still uncomfortable with the prospect of eating non-food animals. I also make it a point to try and avoid eating animals that I knew when they were alive. Mercifully, I don't know very many people who keep animals they plan on eating later, but it's come up before.

 

The joys of being a carnivorous animal lover  :-D

 

@Noxx, that seems reasonable enough to me. I know couples here where one person is french and the other english, and they'll each speak to each other (and any children) in their first language. Works out well for the Children, who end up being perfectly bilingual.

[Arceus]

If you go to Middle Eastern type food places you'll find plenty of it, so it's definitely around. I don't have it personally but my brother likes it.

[RpgGamer]

Some parts of america are just super uncultured. There's plenty of Greek places by me that serve lamb as their primary meat. My girlfriends family has it every year for Easter. It's certainly not a super common food choice, but it's absolutely available.

 

Unrelated, to all you tech monsters on here that I complain speak a different language entirely when you guys start going on about it...you might get a kick out of (phone won't let me post link but Google "18 year old kid buys mainframe...now what")

[Kalphite]

Yeah I love lamb in Mediterranean food but I've never really had it outside of that. Wouldn't be opposed to trying more lamb-based dishes though.

[Bonez899]

Had lamb when I was in Greece last month, first time ever. It honestly just tasted like a little more greasy, gamey, beef really.

[jasignhagj]

Lamb is really good if you don't overcook it. Well done lamb is inedible.

[Estonian dude]

I don't know what you've had then.

 

I know a sheep farmer and thus I've had some excellent super fresh lamb.

I saw the ram beheaded, and skinned, and cleaned out of all the intestines and stuff. Don't know how it is said in English.

The shashlik was excellent.

 

That is the most natural food (and meat) a man can get, as it was a small farmer with just 20-something sheep. Uses no fertilizers nor growth hormones or anything, pure eco.

[Hedgehog]

You can cook a whole lamb on a spit over a fire, but tell me that's better than a whole roast pig

[obfuscator]

I've had lamb a few times in both Canada and the states...every now and then a restaurant has it.