Who am I?

For those who don't already know, since I've been around ITAT for quite a while now already: Hey, I'm Martin, 26 years old, about 6 feet tall and 143 lbs. heavy (which I suppose is rather skinny for that height).

As a person, I'd label myself a "fun-loving dirt bag" all in all. That doesn't necessarily mean I feel particularly comfortable when not having showered for days, yet it occasionally happens when being on tour with a punk rock band. And the "fun" aspect of that definitely outweighs the hygienic one in most cases. (Hey, at least you may still brush your teeth at weigh stations and clean yourself a little with baby wipes in between shows) :)

For the majority of the day my head is filled with music. I'd see it as a universal language with little to no room for potential misinterpretation (as it might occur when two individuals engage in chatting online e.g). Even allegedly simple things such as chord progressions on the guitar could get me in a melancholic, contemplative mood, but also fuel my enthusiasm in order to face certain challenges of life. (Like focusing on university tasks) All this happens without me even hearing the lyrics, which eventually just add to the whole picture by giving the song a more distinctive meaning.

Moreover, I'd consider myself to be blessed with a very bad sense of humor (graphic, immature, but hopefully not as offending and annoying as I see it myself at times), tendencies of martyrdom and a big potty mouth. Even so, I also try to be considerate when it comes down a serious dialogue or debate, since I'm really interested in communication between people.

So please feel free to leave comments about my posts and call me on my shit. I will most definitely call you on yours too if I strongly disagree with your opinion.

I've attached some pictures from a UK tour I've participated in two weeks ago as well as a song by the amazing Ani DiFranco here in order to give an overall impression of "who I am, what I do and what I say. If you like it, let me be. If you don't, please do the same" :)

Cheers and beers! (Photo: (C) Irena Udovič from the Slovenian DIY network/record label Giljotina)

Who am I?

Extremely chatty, ambitious and cheeky. If you ask my close friends or family to describe me you will most probably hear one of those characteristics at some point. Let me introduce you to myself, my lovely friends!

I am Nora, an Egyptian girl who was born and raised in Austria. My grandfather first came to Austria in the 1970s to study chemistry in Vienna. After getting his doctor‘s degree and finding a job here, he decided to stay. As a result my mother and my two aunts were also born and raised here and even went to the same school I later went to. Let me tell you…it was pretty weird to have some teachers ask you about your mom and aunts, because they were once their students! :p

Despite having most of my family close to me, many of my friends and cousins still live in Egypt, which is why I travel back to my home-country at least once every two years to visit my loved ones.

Landing in Cairo, Egypt :)

But enough about my roots! Let me tell you more about my personality. As I already mentioned I am a very ambitious person. Ever since I was a little girl I have always known what I wanted and how to get it, not by convincing others to simply give it to me, no. But by working hard to achieve it. And quite frankly I can be a real pain in the neck when I set my mind on something. I will not only drive myself crazy in order to achieve it, but usually people around me as well…probably a reason why I’m not in everybody’s good books.

When things get a little too crazy, I usually have two ways to escape: watching matches of my favourite football club or listening to music. I absolutely adore music! You will never see me doing something without music in the background, except studying. Other than that I always like to have my favourite tunes - a mix of English and Arabic music and all kinds of genres - playing while I am doing something, be it preparing breakfast, doing my makeup or cleaning my apartment. I even sing along most of the time, which according to several friends doesn’t even sound so bad. However, I prefer not to claim that I can actually sing. :D

Well, and some of you are probably curious now: What is her favourite football team in the world? My Catalan friends, you won’t be too pleased to hear that, but my favourite team is Real Madrid. Ever since I was little I would sit next to my grandfather in front of the TV and watch them play and I guess my passion for them is just a family tradition he has passed down to me. Even though my love for Madrid started with their most famous football team, it has grown way beyond that over the course of time. Today, the Spanish capital is one of my favourite places to visit, although I have already been there twice. I just love the language, the people who are incredibly friendly and, of course, the food! ;)

I have even had the chance to watch my favourite team play at my favourite city! It was an unforgettable experience! And let me tell you…Madrid is definitely worth a trip! If you’re not a football fan, you will be amazed by at least another thousand things this wonderful city, abounding in art, music, architecture and dance can offer. 

Madrid, a place with a thousand things to discover

 Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, the pitch on which the best team in the world plays ;)

The beautiful Plaza de Cibeles in the heart of Spain's capital.

Who am I?

 

“Do you know where Magdalena is?” 90% of the time the pitch is the right answer, as I spent hours on the grass I call heaven. Now you may ask yourself which pitch I am talking about. Well, have a look at the video and you will probably know.

 

 

This is me, scoring my first goal after six years of practice, sweat and tears. As you can tell from my celebration, I was relieved, extremely happy and proud at the same time. Defenders don’t get on the scoring sheet that often so I had two reasons to be overwhelmed. Whenever I put on my soccer boots and start playing I escape to my own comfort zone, where I can forget all my problems and focus on the one thing I really love and admire. The moment when you score a goal or hit an incredible cross


 my soccer girls, trainer and myself

is hard to describe.  It’s priceless to be exact. To my parent’s sorrow I am not only an active soccer player, I also enjoy sports on the passive side, sitting in front of the TV or at the stadium and cheering for my favourite teams. Admittedly, I might even get too passionate about a game sometimes and become an emotional wreck if my team loses. I am usually not good at showing my emotions at all. However, when it comes to soccer my personality does a “180”. It wouldn’t be a surprise if you see me on TV, standing in the SK Rapid Wien sector (Oops, now I have revealed my love for Rapid, which is a bad idea if you live in Graz :P ), screaming all the different fan chants and crying because of a horrible defeat or an unforgettable win.


 

As some of you may now, I spent a year in Stockholm were I attended a sports gymnasium. In countless practice sessions I had the opportunity to play along Sweden’s best upcoming hopefuls. Since then some of them have already become members of the national women’s soccer team which is really impressive.

But now enough with the rambling about soccer since it is not the only sport I am interested in. When I was younger my number one spare time activity was golf. I know some of you think that golf is something for snobs and elder people but this is just a stereotype. You can have so much fun on the fairway and believe it or not it is really hard to do an OK shot. After two years of holing, the racket got smaller. I decided to try something new and started to play table tennis in a professional team. There, I sustained for three more years and even played the Styrian masters. And every now and then I climb up some walls in my favourite climbing gyms.

 

Well, after this brief description you may have noticed that my life mainly revolves around sports, which is why in the future I want to convent this passion into an actual job as a sports journalist. Travelling around the world and writing about the one thing I love and admire would be heaven on earth to me. There is still a long way to go but hopefully one day you can read an article written by me about Real Madrid’s win in one of the most popular newspapers.

Who am I ?

Hello everyone, it’s me, AnnaJ.  As we are a really large group of students it is unlikely that everyone knows me. So I want to tell you something about me.

I am 19 years old and my home town is in the wonderful Carinthia. There I live together in a big house with my mum and dad. I also have an older brother but he already moved to Klagenfurt. We really get on well together and sometimes we go out and party together. I really enjoy this, as he always protects me J

My home country is very rural so I love spending time outside. My favourite place is a lake up the mountains, 20 min away from my home. I often go there, especially in summer with my friends and we put up a tent and stay there for 2 days, enjoying the nature and atmosphere.  

Beside this, I love reading books, mainly thrillers. As a symbol I’ve posted a picture of a shelve full with books, so that you can imagine how my room looks like. Every time I buy a new book it is really difficult to find space for it, as my shelves are completely “covered” with books. 

 

With this picture I want to finish my” Who I am” post. Do you have an idea why I chose a picture of dextrose? No? Dextrose is something I always have with me as I am diabetic. So it can happen that my blood sugar level is low and I have to eat something. My mom is sometimes despairing as the dextrose is really everywhere in our house- even in the bathroom.

 I hope that you know me a little better now and I am looking forward reading something about you all ;)