fun – Page 4 – eMag Uni Augsburg

A camping experience

It’s a sad fact of life that our daily lives can become really stressful. If it’s not exams or work, it’s family or other obligations. Our daily routine is planned right down to the last detail, minute by minute: appointments, deadlines and the like. So how can we break out of this vicious circle, at least for a little while? Read on…

Escape the pressure

In order to stay healthy and function well, we have to find a release for stress and all our preoccupations. For some this means going out with friends, while for others it’s spending a day on the couch with their favorite TV show. What works best for me is spending time outside: disconnecting from everything and just enjoying the peace and quiet for a little while.

All it takes is a tent

If I feel overwhelmed or stressed out, I pack my tent, my sleeping bag, some basic supplies and my best travel companion. If it’s just a weekend getaway or a longer trip, depends, of course, on my university schedule. But my all-time favorite is escaping from the noise and crowded streets, preferably somewhere with long hiking trails and mountains to climb. A place with a breathtaking view where you can just put up your tent, get comfortable at the campfire and take out your guitar.

Just about anywhere is fine

Now you might not find places with these criteria everywhere, especially if you only have a weekend or even just one day. Maybe your perfect place to chill is your parents’ backyard or the forest close by. Personally, the occasional camping trip is a great way to help balance my daily life and to recharge my batteries for the return to reality.

Be ready to disconnect

For the best possible outcome, I recommend you turn off your cellphone and just rely on your basic communication skills. Take your guitar if you have one, or a pencil and paper and play a round of good old battleships. Talk about whatever comes to mind or just listen to the sound of nature. See if you like camping as much as I do!

Author: Caroline Müller
Pictures: Cristian Imilan

Jackaroo / Jillaroo Down Under

During my backpacking time in Australia, I decided to do some real Aussie stuff and get an insight into the jackaroo/jillaroo lifestyle. A jackaroo/jillaroo is somebody who lives and works on a sheep or cattle station – and well, there are about 70 million sheep in Australia, but only about 23.6 million people! Online, I found this horse breeding and sheep station farm near Bingara, in the northeast of New South Wales, called “Garrawilla”. After I had contacted John and his girlfriend and helping hand Natusha, I booked my train and bus tickets, packed all my stuff, and was definitely ready to go on an adventure!

I was warmly welcomed at the bus stop by John with “Hello, my little German!” and after we had had dinner together with Nat and Jorjah, a jillaroo-to-come, we drove to his farm, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The next day, after a good long sleep, I finally saw where I would be living for the next few weeks. Surrounded by large fields, hills, and about 400 horses scattered everywhere, Garrawilla began to make me feel tiny, really just like the “little German” I was/am?, apparently – it was just so huge! After our typical porridge and coffee breakfast on the terrace at about 8am, John and I usually started work (which didn’t feel like work at all) by driving the horses to the yards with his ute (a four-wheel drive pickup), his not-always-working motorcycle or quad. You know, it takes quite a lot of courage to stand cramped together in between 30 horses, only holding a stick to guide them to different places (I think my heartbeat was about 200 the first few times!).

By telling me all his stories about his family and friends, his various jobs on the farm and all the bloody Germans he’d met, John taught me many useful, important things about how to treat horses properly. He always illustrated his wisdom with real-life examples: often myself. I can tell you, getting dirt smeared in the face or being poked in the bottom with a pencil is not the nicest way to start your day! For the next few weeks, we would make young horses used to wearing a halter, teach them to lead and give and also get them to have a saddle on for the first time. Breaking in horses was one of the main tasks on the farm. Apart from that, we did some fencing (a pretty hard job, really), drove in and sheared sheep, fed all his working dogs and rode the horses, of course!

John also offers tourist rides in town along the Gwydir River, but we also did a lot of horse riding on the farm itself. Not only to check on the horses in the fields and hills, but also to drive them in or teach them to be ridden. But the greatest feeling was cantering across the Gwydir River, water splashing everywhere and the wind blowing in my hair.

Then, at some point, I didn’t feel touristy or foreign anymore, but I had found a place that felt like a second home. My inner cowgirl had found her own level. On Garrawilla, you get that once-in-a-lifetime experience with great people and amazing things to learn, and, as John told me when we went on our first ride: “As long as you don’t break your neck, you’re gonna be fine!”

If you want to collect memories like these yourself, visit their Facebook page: Jackaroo Jillaroo Down Under.

Author & Pictures: Rebecca Pichler

One ticket – boundless fun

As the semester break is slowly approaching, it’s time to plan your activities, if you haven’t already. If you love backpacking, you should definitely try Interrail. It’s one ticket that allows you to travel by train across Europe. You can choose between one country (One Country Pass) or several (Global Pass, 30 countries). I did this two years ago and had lots of fun. Three weeks with the Global Pass gave me the chance to travel to three countries, the UK, Ireland and France in the summer.

A beach in Cornwall. — A beach in Cornwall

First stop: England

I took the plane from Memmingen to London, so I visited the UK capital first. However, other parts of England you don’t usually visit much were more interesting. So I travelled to Cornwall and was stunned by its natural beauty. St. Ives (Cornwall) is a really small town, but it’s as beautiful as the rest of this region. When visiting Land’s End, you feel like you’re in a different country, because it’s not how I had imagined England: blue sea, sunshine and very nice paths along the coast. Even beaches. The windy weather is dangerous for sunburn, as I experienced painfully.

Second stop: Ireland

A ferry to Ireland was next. The journey went by very fast and then Dublin was a blast. Street musicians, lovely people, cosy pubs, it has everything. Next stop was the small town of Killarney. With a national park in sight, I rented a bike and explored it. Everything is green and you feel really healthy.

So far so good – but trouble was brewing, unbeknown to me. I mixed up the dates at the end of July. I’d almost boarded the train to the port of Rosslare, when I noticed my blunder. The ferry was departing in a few hours that very day whereas I thought I had an extra day, which is why I booked an extra night in Ireland. Things then got very hectic. Will I ever get to France in time? When does the next ferry depart? Where do I stay till then? I contacted Irish Ferries, and thank God, they were very kind. The next ferry was departing in three days and they cancelled my reservation on the other one. And they got me a ticket for the next trip. I even found a nice hostel in Dublin until then.

Third stop: France

Paris was my first choice in France and I wasn’t disappointed. I can very much recommend a Seine sightseeing tour. There are boats leaving every 30 minutes at the Pont Neuf, and it’s a really different view from down on the river, especially at sunset. After only three hours aboard the TGV, I found myself on the Côte d’Azur in Marseille. Finally, 35°C and a beach to relax on. And the restaurants have delicious food, especially fish and vegetables from the region.

Go try it yourself!

In the end, it was a fantastic trip. You even get discounts on ferries, and as long as you’re under 28, the pass is cheaper. So don’t hold back – explore Europe!

Author & Pictures: Thomas Kienast

What a feast!

Everyone celebrating Christmas knows the struggle. You do one thing on the days between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve: eating. No matter if it’s traditional stuff like roast, gravy and dumplings or more fancy dinners; it’s all about food.

Little helpers

Magazines, fitness tutorials and gyms seem to know exactly how everyone should lose the few extra kilograms after the Christmas holidays. But looking at those advertisements and instructions, it seems more like a torture. So, I thought of some fun ways to get your flat belly back without any kind of dieting or forcing yourself to a fitness marathon.

Sledging and aqua fit

Unfortunately, the most important thing for my first idea was missing until the beginning of January. I can hardly remember a white Christmas. In the last few years, there wasn’t even a single snowflake during the Christmas holidays and without snow there is no chance to go sledging. We’re lucky, because we’ve got some snow now, so you could go out, get your old sledge out of the cellar or the attic, run up the next hill or mountain and enjoy coming down. It’s as much fun for adults as for children and walking back up will shed the extra pounds you gained from too many biscuits.

You may have seen following sport once in an indoor swimming pool, but I guess you were too ashamed to participate. Personally, I had also been embarrassed to do aqua sports for years until a friend of mine – under the age of 30 – dragged me along to a lesson in my local swimming pool. Surprisingly, it was a lot of fun and it turned out to be very effective: I woke up the next day with sore muscles. The coach chose cool music and the movements got more and more difficult. So, next time you’re in a public swimming pool and they offer aqua courses, give it a try – you won’t regret it.

Icy conditions

I discovered this new way of losing weight after Boxing Day. My nephews and I were stuffed with delicious food cooked by my mother and we were longing for fresh air and a bit of exercise. We took our table tennis bats and went out to the public table for a game. It had been rainy and chilly the whole day and the table was icy in some places, but we didn’t mind and started our first round. Whenever the ball hit the icy spots it glided uncontrollably in an unexpected direction. This made our match more fun. Don’t be afraid of an icy ping-pong table – if the ground is solid you’ll have an arduous game.

You can discover many more funny ways of losing weight. This was just my small contribution and if you’re too lazy to start right away, there’s plenty of time left to lose the extra kilograms by the summer holidays.

Author & Pictures: Marlene Hupfer

How to cure a New Year’s Eve hangover

Each of us has once vowed never to drink anything again, particularly after having had a hangover. Do you remember the odd feeling when your head is killing you, when you feel like vomiting all day and simply feel like **** most of the time? Well, we all know that sticking to your vow of sobriety is sometimes hard, and even harder on New Year’s Eve when you have the impression that everybody around you does nothing except drink and party. Suddenly, you find yourself looking at your glass thinking: “one glass of champagne has never killed anybody – have just one.” And then you find yourself waking up on January 1^st with a huge headache and start wondering “how did I get here?” Of course, we’re all human and things just happen, so here are some tips how to get over your hangover. In this way, you’ll easily keep the damage under control.

Water

I bet you would never have guessed! We seem to forget about drinking water, although we keep hearing how much water we should drink – doctors, mothers, everybody seems to be obsessed with its benefits. But believe me – they’re right. Water, the essence of life, is the best hair of the dog. Alcohol robs your body of the fluids it needs to function properly. By drinking more water, instead of vodka, you can avoid getting dehydrated. You’ll start feeling better in an instant. Do you want an extra boost? Add some ginger and lemon. It’ll work wonders if you feel nauseous. Give it a try; your body will thank you for it.

Coconut

Coconut? I know I’m nuts for drinking too much, so why do I need a coconut? You shouldn’t have a coconut as such, but you should have coconut water. It’s considered to be the queen or king of fluids and will help you cure your hangover asap. Honestly, this is better than any other remedy, because coconut water contains large amounts of potassium. This is why it’s an amazing drink after a workout because of its ability to provide your body with electrolytes, which you lose while drinking or while engaged in physical activity. And it’s easy to get your hands on coconut water. Because of its popularity, you can find it at any major grocery store.

Sleep

If you have time to sleep, you should definitely do so. The best way to make your sleep especially effective is to darken your room. This will stimulate the production of melatonin – the sleeping hormone. When you sleep, your body has time to restore its cells and work on things it doesn’t have time to during the day. And we all love sleeping, don’t we?

Don’t mix it – never!

Fast rewind back to your party – don’t ever mix the beverages you have. NEVER EVER DO THAT. Stick to one beverage and thank me later 😉

Avocado

You love guacamole? Great! If you don’t want to drink your potassium, just have an avo. It’ll help you restore the electrolytes in your body. And, because of its fats, it’ll also stabilize your sugar cravings, which usually occur after the excessive consumption of booze. Your jeans will thank you for that, too 😉

So, I hope these tips have been helpful. There are many more on the internet, so feel free to google them.

I wish you a Happy New Year and good luck getting rid of your hangover 🙂

Author: Astrid Szegedi
Pictures: Henrike Wilhelm

Treating your inner geek

Everybody has that one movie- or TV-series they’re crazy about – whether it’s Harry Potter, Star Wars, Game of Thrones, or The Walking Dead – just to name a few. And once you watch one movie or episode, you can sometimes barely stop yourself from binge watching the whole series or season. But actually why shouldn’t you?

The planning

First of all, you need a suitable partner: he or she has to be at least as crazy as you are about what you’re going to watch, and you have to like them enough to spend a long time with them (sometimes not as easy as it seems). Then you need to consider where to watch. You might have to talk to your roommates if you plan to block the TV for several hours (or simply force them to participate), or you can take your own laptop. You also need to set a date: a weekend is probably the best idea, because after you’ve been watching TV the whole night, you might not be very productive the next day. Depending on how long the marathon is going to be, you might want to start in the morning, so you don’t lack a night’s sleep right at the beginning.

Getting closer to the big day

You should calculate the time you need to watch – which can be anything from “only” about 4 ½ hours for the first season of The Walking Dead (well, you can still watch more than one if that’s not enough – you can’t really stop after a finale anyway, can you?) over 8 ½ hours for a season of Game of Thrones, and up to over 20 hours for all eight Harry Potter movies. And don’t forget to include pauses to go to the bathroom and to prepare food! Depending on how long you’re going to be watching that might include breakfast, lunch and supper, plus some snacks and coffee or energy drinks to stay awake.

It’s showtime!

When the day has finally arrived, grab your Hogwarts House scarf, the One Ring to rule them all or your Jedi (or Sith) outfit, or whatever else you think is suitable for the occasion and enjoy the show!

Author: Sophia Brandt
Picture: Noemi Hehl

Christmas in the Park

When visiting California, USA, there are a lot of different things to see that come to mind. Whether it’s San Francisco with the Golden Gate Bridge, the Victorian Houses and Pier 39, Los Angeles with its famous Sunset Blvd., Beverly Hills and Hollywood, Monterey with its great Monterey Bay Aquarium and Whale Watching Tours or national parks like Yosemite or fun parks like Disneyland, these sights are all well known and you already know about these tourist magnets I’m sure. But what you mightn’t already have heard of is “Christmas in the Park”, which takes place every year for about five weeks in San Jose.

Festive displays and brimmed trees

Christmas in the Park (CITP) dates back to the 1950s. Free to the public – donations are appreciated – every year there are around five hundred decorated Christmas trees on display in the park, which is located in Plaza de Cesar Chavez Park in Downtown San Jose. The trees are decorated with different kinds of ornaments by school classes, kindergarten classes, local companies and community organizations. Every tree is very unique and shines with all its really individual embellishments. In addition to firs, you’ll find a set of displays that are set up lovingly. There are, for example, elf woodcrafters, a candy store, a Little Swiss Clockmaker’s Shoppe, a melting snowman and let’s not forget Santa’s booth. Of course, there are also vendors – food or other merchandise – so everyone will find a way to spend money, if they want to.

Not only for kids

Obviously, Christmas in the park is a well-designed family venue, as it offers a lot for kids to discover. They’re bound to love the fact that Santa’s actually sitting there in his booth and they can tell him about their dearest wishes for Christmas, while their parents are taking snapshots. For those who prefer to have professional photos, there’s even a photographer. The quality pictures can be picked up a few minutes later. But not only are the youngest among us bound to enjoy the decorated park. The festive trees might also give adults some new ideas for trimming their own tree at home – or they can simply enjoy the park.

“Christkindlesmarkt” is different

What I really liked during my visit was the special atmosphere. You can walk around the park with all the nicely-decorated trees and the other festive displays. It can’t be compared to a “Christkindlesmarkt” that we’ve been very familiar since we were small. While you’re surrounded by the holiday glitter, you se e the large palm trees in the Californian setting, which gives you a unusual kind of experience, especially if this is the first time you’ve spent the holiday season away from the usual “Let’s hope there’s snow at Christmas” thinking. Don’t hope for snow in San Jose because, you know, it’s not gonna happen.

Address: Plaza de César Chávez, 1 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose, CA 95113, USA

You need more information? Go to www.christmasinthepark.com

Author & Pictures: Angela Czygann