It needs to be said that the Kendo I do in Salzburg is more free, less perfectionist and less aimed at tournaments, while my brother's society in Graz and the one in Linz (especially the one in Linz) go all the way for tournaments. So I now next to nothing about all the formalities, what the single kata are called, what a big men and a small men is, etc. And, sure enough, this hit me right at the beginning when everybody got into a circle and we did exercises with everybody counting to ten ... in Japanese. Imagine you're standing around with, oh, say twelve people and all of them count perfectly in Japanese, even your own brother (hmpf, what a betrayal). In the end I sort of whinced my numbers and hoped it would be over soon. Oh the shame. I need to learn Japanese till next week.
Apart from that, it was great. The different level of the group in Linz gives me a wonderful chance to improve a lot and to learn massively. Especially because, and this is what I like most about it, every advanced kendoka gives helpful instructions to the novices during the exercises (so in my case, everybody else tells me what I am doing wrong, haha!). I'd probably be scared and intimidated to death if the people weren't so friendly. Well, I'm looking forward to learning and improving. Everybody is a novice of anything at some point of their life.
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I also seem to have a British Films - phase. I liked Plots with a View from the first time I saw it, then saw Calendar Girls some time last week and watched several of the BBC evening shows the last two days. Granted, most of them I don't find great and kept watching them purely for their accents. I liked Liar though. It's an interesting show, the audience seems involved and I love the parts where the people throw in colloquial English. I also saw Little Britain, which seems to have a fanship among some students of English in Austria. Not sure what to think of it. Some is funny, some is gross, some I just don't understand. Nod and accept, I guess.
So, on Saturday we have the medieval fair (yay!) and in two weeks Alex is visiting me (I'm noticing a peculiar tendancy in my life involving guys who are willing to drive 8-10h to see me ... hmmmm). Ah, yes: Also, one of my paintings is featured in the Ascheherold 6, which is a magazine providing adventures and other materials for the free RPG Darkage. I'm not too familiar with the RPG (although it sounds interesting and fun, from what I've read), but there's also an artist's portrait (of me) in the Ascheherold, and also a part about life, battle and fashion in the Middleages, so it's worth checking out.
(Err. That is, if you speak German. Otherwise you can just look at the pictures
8 comments:
Hehe, we might actually pass each other at the fair, but with my lousy memory for faces, I probably wouldn't recognize you. And anyway, I'm too muchof a coward to say anything.
Cool! It even looks like the weather will be alright.
Don't worry about talking to me. I don't bite :)
But I'm like that myself. It takes me ten tries until I finally do walk up to people (you'd think that the positive experiences would somewhat make subsequent tries easier, but they don't). I only don't care at all about possible embarrassment when I'm very stressed out and just do it because I can't afford losing time on worrying about it.
Wouldn't mind rain either - would be a chance to try out my cloak!
Probably you won't read this any more, but if you see a person in a bright blue dress, with a dark blonde braid and probably glasses, it might be me.
Okay, I'll look out for you! I'm wearing a white underdress and a brown sort of short dress with green borders.
I believe I saw you twice, once while watching the juggler up by the castle, and once leaving the fire show at night, but being the coward that I am... well...
Awww, dang :/
Didn't see you at all. Shame.
That juggler was great (and cute, too). I'm surprised you could look anywhere else :D
well, standing on tiptoe to peer over people's heads is pretty exhausting, so I had to look away sometimes.
Hehehe... second time I saw you (if it was indeed you), I was almost ready to say something, but then I decided I'd feel pretty silly calling down from where I was standing, or rather, hanging on the railing on the side of the stands.
Ah, yes, and I might not even have heard you if you had called in the end. Or it might not have been me and someone would have wondered why you yell Manuela at her :)
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