I speak and sign food ...

Hi everybody, 

                       

with this blog post I would like to show you how a recipe recommendation looks like in Austrian sign language. I uploaded a video where I signed a typical Tyrolean recipe called "Zochane Kiachln mit Sauerkraut". It is a simple meal we cook on holidays like for harvest festival. It is made out of yeast dough that gets formed round, thin in the middle and thicker on the edge, and then it gets deep fried in oil or fat. We eat it hearty with sauerkraut or sweet with jam and powdered sugar. In my video I describe in Austrian sign language how I cooked it together with my dad for Christmas. To make it clear for you all I laid the spoken English translation over the video. If anyone wants to try it out I wrote the ingredients list below!!

Ingredients (for 8 Kiachln)

·         300 g four

·         150 ml warm milk

·         15 g yeast

·         1 tablespoon sugar

·         20 ml oil

·         3 eggs

·         1 pinch of salt

·         Fat to fry

I hope you all enjoyed the different way of get cooking advice.

Wish you Happy Easter!

Bye everybody ;)

Who am I?

Hello beautiful stranger. My name is Diana Sabrina Anastasia Bachler, but you may call me Diana. For about half a year I have been following this pulchritudinous path that is called translation studies in Graz and have set foot on earth almost 20 years ago. My family lives in the North of Styria, on the countryside, but I tend to refer to that place as "country-countryside", or "nowhere", or simply "hick town". Still I find it incredibly charming and love being there.

A view over the place that I call my home.

There are several activities that I like to practise during my spare time. In winter I pass most of my days on the slopes, as skiing is my favourite kind of sports. In fact I wanted to become a professional, but two severe injuries right at the time of application for skiing school wouldn't allow me to and still limit me a little in my physical activities. Nevertheless I do take part in races here and there and exercise throughout the whole year.  

Apart from skiing, I'm an enthusiast for motorsports. When I was just a tiny, fair haired toddler, my parents would already bring me to DTM, Superbike or MotoGP races and I've loved it ever since. Unfortunately I'm too old and unexperienced by now to take up a career in racing, but at least my dad and I sometimes take part in semi-professional Go Kart races. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

I try to live healthily. I work out four times a week at the gym, play volleyball and tennis whenever there is time, but then again there are nachos and pizza and well... Deliciousness!

One of the things that everyone reading this needs to know is to better not insult Meryl Streep in my presence. You probably shouldn't tell me that you like her either because I might incessantly talk to you about her if so. She has been my idol for almost ten years, and I love her not only for her great humour and immense talent, but also because she has this overwhelming presence not only on screen.

My car in Umbria, Italy

How else could it be that traveling is as well one of the things I like to spend my time with most, but it's still too little for my taste. 

The two islands Lanzarote, part of the Canary Islands, and Gozo, Malta's neighbour island somehow grew to become second homes for me, since my parents and I regularly go there. Of course it's even better to explore new places, but coming back after a few years and looking at how everything has changed is nice as well. 

My love, Budapest

One of the many places I've lost my heart at is Budapest, since this city has something so charming and it makes you feel that each time you go there, you take in too little of it because it's that beautiful.

 


 

Who am I?

Hey guys!

Who am I?

Personally, I think it is very difficult to explain my personality and life story in just one text.

Sardinia, Italy

However, let’s start from the beginning. My name is Sabrina. I am 20 years old and I study Italian, Russian and English as I want to work as an interpreter after graduation.

The easiest way to describe myself is probably through my zodiac sign, as I would consider myself a very stereotypical Aries. I am quick-tempered, impulsive, impatient, open-minded, energetic and determined; and I talk all the time and too much - my boyfriend calls me his biggest challenge :D.

I have been passionate about languages and other cultures ever since I can remember, so the question about what to study after school wasn’t very difficult to answer. That’s why almost three years ago I decided to study Italian and Russian and I’m about to finish my bachelor degree this year - by the way, it was the best decision ever: I fell in love with these languages more than I have ever expected and I would like to speak them both all day :)). Last semester I thought it’d be fun to add English to my studies. Long story cut short – you will probably see me at the ITAT all the time, as the decision to study three languages turned the institute into my „second home“ ;).



Kiev, Ukraine

However, although there is only little time left for leisure activities, there are other things which I am passionate about. I love travelling – I am blaming my father for turning me into a wanna-see-everything kind of person: during my childhood we visited a lot of countries all over the world; amongst others also 14 US-states. So one could probably say that my sister and I were “taught” to be interested in every kind of “hardcore-sightseeing” ;). In addition to that I love drawing and reading and do pole dance. When I was younger I also used to write and participate in competitions, but ever since I started university and due to a lack of time I express my writing „only“ by writing stories in the foreign languages I study. 



Preikestolen, Norway

I am very interested in politics and could easily discuss what is going on in the word and why for hours - especially, I am interested in the War in Ukraine and in Russia, as I have a lot of friends in the Ukraine and in Russia. I get angry when people talk about things they do not understand or know quite fast. This being said, it obviously doesn’t mean that I understand and know everything – to be honest I think quite the opposite is the case. I got to know so much different point of views, that I became aware of the fact that nobody can know anything exactly. This often raises questions which I tend to think about quite a lot, like: To what extent are we able to know what is actually happening or has happened? Which statements and “facts” that we hear about are actually the truth? Is there, in general, something like “a” truth? Is there more than one truth? And if not, does this mean that there’s only one truth which leads to many twisted imitations of it? As I spent a semester abroad in Russia last year I was able to experience and get to know a completely different ideology and a different view of historical events of the past (and present). It was an interesting experience for me to see things from another point of view and it particularly changed me in one specific aspect: I think more precisely about everything and try to shed light on different aspects and point of views. Truth be told, I wish more people would do that. Who has the right to judge on whether something is wrong or right? Exactly – nobody! As you might guess, I obviously still have my own political opinion – and to be perfectly honest it’s a quite strong one – which makes it difficult to have a discussion with me ;) Even so, I usually think twice before saying anything and know when to pursue an argument but also when to listen and consider other opinions as well.

So this is it – this is basically everything that came to my mind for now. I hope you enjoyed reading and I am looking forward to hearing about your stories as well.



Who am I?

Hello everybody,

We have just started the second semester and I think some of you have already seen me somewhere on the campus or even in class and we might have even had a little chat. But most of you don’t know me well and this post is the first step to change that. Usually my name is the first thing that people keep in mind because it is definitely not a typical Austrian name and quite difficult to write and pronounce. Samina Siddiqi is a Muslim name that I received because my grandfather comes from India, but settled down in Austria many years ago. In his culture the meaning of your name is very important and Samina means “the precious”. That’s quite cool, isn’t it? 

Maybe my extraordinary roots and the migration process my family had to go through, is an explanation for my enthusiasm to travel. To be honest, traveling is my greatest passion. I have been traveling a lot with my parents when I was younger. They awoke and strengthened my desire of getting to know foreign countries, cultures and people. Now, whenever I have the time - and the money - I try to visit a new country. 

I even have a big world map above my bed which allows me to daydream and let me think about where to go next. There is a little pin in every country I have been so far. I chose rather unimposing pins because my trips are nothing that I want to show off with. In fact, they are only visible if you lie in my bed directly beneath the map. This means they are only visible for me. Unfortunately, there is no pin in India so far, but it is definitely on my list. I am planning to go there next summer.

Of course, the money I need to travel and to finance my studies had to be earned at some point. Before I started studying last September, I had been working as a receptionist at Seeparkhotel in my hometown Klagenfurt for three years. That’s why I am slightly older than most of you guys :-) I was looking for a new challenge, heard about the study program “Transcultural Communication” and became immediately enthusiastic about it – so I moved to Graz! Still, I can imagine returning to tourism one day and then hopefully be able to achieve a job in a higher position. 

I hope you know me a little better now. If you have any questions or you just want to have a chat about traveling don’t hesitate and talk to me. I am looking forward to your comments. 

by the way - my favorite hobby - scuba diving!

Who am I?

picture of my hometown

My name is Rachel and I come from a little town located in the western part of Hungary. Since there aren't many kilometers between my hometown and Graz, I'm commuting quite much. I've been trying to live two lives at once, but I realized that it doesn't work for long. So, I'm about spending most of the time here in Austria in order to focus on my studies, work and simple to have a less stressful life. Despite having problems with commuting, I'm a fond of traveling and I'm a passionate traveler providing that I have enough free time doing it. Let me show you one of my loving things that I came across in a hurry with some personal memories on it; keys! On my key-holder you can see some usual souvenirs with a special meaning. 

The circle-shaped item in the middle of the picture, that I got from my grandmother after her visiting in Mariazell, symbolizes the essence of belief to me. Though I haven’t been there, it's a popular place of Catholics and plenty of people go there on pilgrimage. The other three objects may seem familiar for some of you. On the left side you can see the Sardinian flag with the four Moors recalling memories of my latest holiday in Italy. The skull is from Mexico which carry a pretty other meaning of death that I took to at once. They celebrate their departed ones and remembering them in colorful rituals. To the indigenous people of Mexico, death was thought to be a passage to a new life and they didn’t afraid of it. This conception impressed me a lot! In our European culture people think differently. Lastly, Paris and the Eiffel-tower remind me of my Europe tour and of the multi-faced capital city. Every single journey gave me something different as well as made me more open-minded and more careful about my surroundings. These are one of those things that never can be taken from me and became a part of my life forever. Experiencing new ways of life is a great adventure. Apart from my love for traveling, I have a good sense for music; I’ve been singing ever since I can remember!

 icy winter performance

My passion for music began in the elementary school when I started playing different instruments: flute, guitar and piano. Music means the best way of self-expression and every time I feel edgy, stressed or just wanna have fun I simply do this. Medicine in the first place! You can see me on stage as well…

World explorer

“Vanessa’s going to see it all” - that’s what my friends wrote about me in our senior year yearbook and I think they’ve captured my personality quite well with that one sentence. I’ve always been a very inquisitive person and traveling manages to quell my need for seeing and doing new exiting things quite well, at least for a little bit. 

The countries I've been to so far

Growing up, I’ve always been very lucky that my parents were able to afford traveling to different countries every year, so going to foreign places is a thing I’ve always been fortunate enough to do. When I was finally old enough to start exploring the world on my own, I had already been to Italy - multiple times, Greece, Germany, Tunisia and Turkey - 10 times. I mostly don’t remember the trips to Italy because I was simply too young, but I still have fond memories of the rest of these trips.

Me in Trieste, Italy at age 2

  My first trip without my parents was to Exeter, England at age 14, where I went again the year after that first time. Since then I’ve been to Oregon on a student exchange, New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco and more. It wasn’t just my own initiative taking me to new places though. My class went to Ireland, Paris, Brussels and Munich and while these trips were a little too tightly scheduled for my liking - I prefer to just wander around and discover things

like that - they were still amazing.

Oregon 2011

San Francisco 2012

But all these trips aside, there’s not a single one I’ve loved more than my trip to Australia this February. Going to a country that is so far away on my own is one of the experiences I’ll remember forever and I can honestly say that it’ll probably be my favorite country ever - or maybe at least until I find an even better place.
 

               Sydney, 2015

I’ve learned a lot of things about people and different cultures that way and I think I wouldn’t be the person I am today without my travel experiences.

Who am I?

Hi everybody, 

I think the two things in my room or lets say in my life that tell most about me and my personality are my world map poster and my coffee machine. That maybe sounds a bit strange but I looked closely at it and I realized I set my heart on these two things. Whenever I moved during the last years, they helped me feel home very fast.

About 11 years ago my dad gave me the world map poster on a pin board as a present for my 21^st Birthday. From that time on I started to pin all the places in the world I have already been or I wanted to travel to. Thereby I became more and more passionate about traveling. I have been on many exiting trips till now and I am not finished jet. At the moment I am planning to go on a round the world trip.

The second thing that is always with me is my beloved coffee machine. I think the reason is obvious I am seriously addicted to coffee! But what does that tell about who I am? Well, I am everything else then a morning person and a morning without a coffee or two is no good one for me. It’s comparable to how important chocolate is for some people. There is nothing better than enjoy a good coffee after a hard day.

So to sum it up I would say I am 31 year old, English and Austrian sign language student with an addiction for coffee and traveling.

Hope I could give you a short glance into who I am. But if there are any open questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

P.S.: I would suggest going for a coffee to answer them!!! ;)