15
Dec

Do you believe in legends?

I think we all grew up with all sorts of legends told by our grandparents, parents or friends.

Along with my friends, in our time of youth, we invented all sort of stories. These were related, obviously, to haunted places, ghosts and silly superstitions. YES, sometimes, we got really bored.

Do you believe in legends or superstitions ? I believe in some. For example, it is said that if you lose something in a closed space (at home, at the office and so on) it will appear, or you will find it faster, if you turn a mug upside down on a table. It worked for me couple of times. (it doesn’t work on people, if you ever thought of that)

These days I read about an interesting legend from Munchen -The devil’s footprint from Frauenkirche (Cathedral of our Lady). Frauenkirche is considered a symbol of Munchen and the 2 towers of the cathedral appear on post cards, commercials and other adds.

The legend goes like this: The Devil visited the Frauenkirche while it was being built. Seeing that it was tall and windowless, he wanted it as a shrine for himself. He made a pact with the architect and promised to help build the church if the architect wouldn’t add any more windows. A few years later the Devil returned to visit the church. He was furious to see full length windows across all sides of the church. But the architect was prepared. The windows had always been there. But because of the tall pillars in front of them, the Devil hadn’t noticed the windows the first time he’d visited. In his fury, the Devil stamped his feet hard and left his footprint in the church. The footprint is pretty big and if you take a closer look, on the side of the footprint, you can see some leaf like marks.

Conclusion: Was it the Devil ? Was it Bigfoot, who spent his vacation in Munchen that year ? Was it the architect, who had really big feet and  walked through grass before entering the church ? Or it’s just a marketing scheme ?

Category: Germany  One Comment
05
Dec

One way to learn German language

Dearest readers,

Long time, no hear. Well, I feel bad about that, but I had some exams, I had to study (make a project), so I had no time.

To gain a language vocabulary is pretty darn hard, especially if you don’t talk that language too often (because you don’t have with whom to talk it with).

But, I realized one thing today on my way to work. When you necessarily need to understand something in a foreign language (exceptions here are Arabic, Chinese, Japanese or language with different writing ), you do what you have to do to understand what it says.

Did you ever thought of games? These are fun and, if come to think about it, you learn something.

So I thought that a Hidden Object game would be perfect. Why? EASY – because you learn by association. It’s like a dictionary with images: you have to find things in a list and in most cases those words repeat themselves.

To tell you the truth this is how I improved my English vocabulary, except Cartoon Network and Harry Potter and some other books I have read in English, because that was the only version I had at the time.

Give it a try. You have nothing to lose. Maybe just some time because they are addictive. But it’s FUN !

Until next time !

Category: Germany  Leave a Comment
29
Nov

The window to your soul – part 2

Dearest readers,

I hope some of you tried the short game with the eyes and maybe some of you wonder what is this all about.

I will try to explain as simple as possible.

Q1: – requests your mind to remember some images you’ve seen. To do so your eyes will go to the upper left corner of the eye.

Q2: – requests your mind to create a new image of something. To do so your eyes will go to the upper right corner of the eye. This is a simple way to determine if someone is lying.

Q3: – requests your mind to remember something you’ve heard. To do so your eyes will go in the middle left side of the eye.

Q4: – requests your mind to create or imagine a specific sound. To do so your eyes will go in the middle right side of the eye.

Q5: – requests a discussion with the inner self. To do so your eyes will go in bottom left corner of the eye.

Q6: – requests your mind to remember a tactile image or a feeling. To do so your eyes will go in bottom right corner of the eye.

This is called Indices of accessing the eyes.

If you know how to use these, you can easily manipulate someone. Be careful if they are left-handed. These types of people don’t follow all the time the pattern above.

Also, if you continue with this game just for fun, you will discover what type of memory people have: if it’s photographic, audio or sensorial.

If you want to find out more you can read “Unlimited Power” by Anthony Robbins.

Category: Personal Development  Leave a Comment
26
Nov

The window to your soul – part I

Dearest readers,

     Someone once said that the eyes are the window to your soul.

I will share with you today something I read this summer regarding NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) – Unlimited Power, by Anthony Robbins.

Maybe you have read books about NLP and you were not impressed or maybe you think it’s a lot of non-sense. In my opinion, it is.

This book did not change my vision upon life or anything like that. It just showed my some cool and funny stuff about:

  • How our eyes can give us away or
  • How you can see if a person is reminding something he actually did or he is just making things up to impress you with his imagination.

If you want to understand what I mean, I propose a short game. It will be much easier if there are 2 persons playing this game, because one can observe.

How to play the game? Easy! Ask yourself the following questions and write down on a piece of paper in what direction the eyes go. (i.e.: upper left/ upper right corner, middle left/ middle right, bottom left/ bottom right corner)

  1. How many doors are in your home?
  2. How would you look like if you had 3 eyes and 2 fangs?
  3. What was the first thing you said this morning?
  4. If someone asks you where will you be in 3 years what will your answer be?
  5. Ask yourself “what is the most important thing in life at this moment”?
  6. How does it feel when you touch the snow?

Please don’t forget to note the position of the eyes.

In my next post I will provide some more details.

Category: Personal Development  2 Comments
23
Nov

Cool stuff about Munchen

I have spent this summer in Munchen with part of my family. How was it, you wonder? Speechless of course… If you plan to go and visit, I can share with you some interesting informations that I found the other days.

The city inherits its name from the word – “Monch” – the german word for monk

It’s the third city in Germany in size

The heart of Munchen is Marienplatz with Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall). At 11 o’clock noon and 5 o’clock in the afternoon comes out, on the Glockenspiel (bell), the Schaffler (the coopers).This figurines dance to remember the bourgeois the luck they had when the plague was over (after 150 years of suffering ). On the top of the Town Hall tower is the Munchen Kindl, with a Gospel in his left hand and with the right hand pointing up as a sign of blessing. Dressed as a monk, Munchen Kindl, with black and yellow robes he is a reminder of the origins of the city.

If you are in Munchen visit Englischer Garten – 373 ha and it’s considered the largest urban park in Germany. You can surf, jog, bike, drink a cold beer or might even get a tan there in the summer or read a good book, admire the view in spring and autumn, build a snow man or ice skate in winter .

Nymphenburg Palace – was a summer house built for the aristocracy of Munchen. It’s great to take a walk around there. Lots of statues if you are a sculpture fan and a big forest to walk around if you are more nature fan.

Festivals ??? – but of course. Munchen offers you: Bienala de la Munchen (for encouraging young composer of musical plays); Spielart (A window to the world of theatre); Opern-Festspiele (some more music) and let’s not forget about the famous of all Oktoberfest !


I highly recommend a visit there !

Category: Germany  3 Comments
23
Nov

First aid course

A few weeks ago, I participated at a basic First Aid course.

Maybe you are wondering why I am discussing this. But some things shocked me…like how helpless you are. Let me just explain what I, a non-medical person, understood from that lady – the short version.

  1. In case of choking, most of us know that you hit him on the back. Well if you hit him until your hand hurts or his back is red…you haven’t solved anything.  The correct way is to deliver five back blows between the person’s shoulder blades with the heel of your hand
  2. In case of skin burns just use cold water. Do not use oil, vinegar, honey, salt, pepper, sugar, coffe or any other condiments…you are NOT making a salad.
  3. The fun thing is about fainting. If you the person just fainted in front of you then you have to put him into the safety position. If you just find him on the street just call the ambulance and don’t do anything…you can make it worse. How do you know if the person fainted if you haven’t seen it…you DON’T.
  4. The CPR – let’s admit that we’ve all seen movies where everybody makes CPR and the injured suddenly is ok and can drive a car or whatever. To restart the heart you have to press pretty hard and pretty fast for some time. Just for information you have to push 100 times/minute with a force so big that has to pass the stern, some other organs there and reach the muscle of the heart and pump that up. In most case the ribs crack.

I friendly advise you that if no one told you how to do it right, don’t be a hero because you’ve seen the whole series of Grey’s Anatomy, Scrubs, House, ER or any other movie of this type. Just call 911.

Category: Personal Development  5 Comments
21
Nov

Motto of my life

Dearest readers,

Maybe the first thing that comes to your mind when you read the tagline from this blog is – “search on Google famous quotes and the one that sound prettier copy – paste on the tag field”. Sorry to disappoint you but this is not the case.

The phrase is actually a verse from a wonderful poem – If – written by Rudyard Kipling. Maybe this name does not ring any bell to you. It didn’t to me either but I made a quick search. I found out that beside that he was a English short-stories writer and a Nobel Prize winner for Literature we wrote the Jungle Book (1894). I don’t know how many actually read the book but for certain we all saw the Walt Disney version of the book… “Look for the bare necessities/ The simple bare necessities/ Forget about your worries and your strife”…

I discovered the poem when I was, I think, in the 6th grade from a colleague of mine who presented it with an assignment at the English course. I was stunned. From that time on I used it as my motto in life.

Even though specialists in literature say that is a memorable evocation of Victorian stoicism in Britain, for a simple reader, like me, it tells you everything you need to know about life and how to face it. It shows you the qualities a REAL man needs to have, to be called a MAN. It explains in a few words how to face the real world so you can make it yours. I will stop explaining you what the poem is about and let you enjoy it. If you think otherwise about this poem please let me know.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Category: Personal Development  5 Comments
20
Nov

What is it about ?

Dearest readers and maybe sometime followers,

This is my first post so please don’t judge it too much. I will get this right, eventually.

You are certainly wondering what is this blog about and why should it interest you. Well it goes something like this. It started as a project for school but I thought… and thought and decided to try this out for good.

This blog is about PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT. I will not tell you about how you can improve yourself in 2 weeks, as most books do. I will just share the things I did over time to develop my skills in certain areas, my knowledge, my attitude towards some issues, my thinking…in 1 simple word MYSELF.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading it !

Category: Personal Development  3 Comments