It's still two days before Christmas, but I'd like to wish everyone reading this a Merry Christmas!!! :-)

The last time has been enormously busy for me and the last two days also will be - there are still some presents to buy, Christmas muffins to bake, some work-related things to do and, of course, all the usual Christmas preparations - decorating the Christmas tree, cooking Christmas dinner, cleaning the flat etc. I'm going to spend the holidays with my grandparents on the country where I was told that there's already some snow!
Enjoy your holidays, I wish you a beautiful, relaxing and lovely time <3
See you soon!

Sooo... Tomorrow we start our first book in class! It's a simplified and abridged version of Dickens' Christmas Carol! :-D I'm quite enthusiastic about it, as it's our first "proper" read - a text that is longer than just a few pages and a good and well-known story :-) Although it's simplified, it seems to convey pretty much of the original reading experience and even features (slightly modified, of course) IMO one of the most iconic starting passages of English literature:
Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything  he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

I'm really interested in how the pupils will react towards it - on the one hand, it's a great story and their first  book in English, on the other, it may be a bit tricky vocab-wise... We'll see. 

(snatched from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Scrooges_third_visitor-John_Leech,1843.jpg/220px-Scrooges_third_visitor-John_Leech,1843.jpg)

In other news, there's still plenty of work to do at the moment, and, of course, Christmas presents to think of and buy. For the first time, I've created a "presents" list where I keep track of which kind of presents I gave   away to whom for which occasion and I add ideas for possible presents in the future. Actually I hate lists - they pretend to simplify the complexity of a situation by packing everything in neat little bullet points. Plus, they have this terribly bureaucratic touch and tend to frustrate me and just don't look quite sexy. BUT - as I don't get any younger I don't want to run the risk of giving away the same kind of present to the same person in different situations...

What about you? Have you already started buying - or even thinking of - Christmas presents?

Thought I might share this with you :-)

Days have been rather long, misty, cold and full of work recently... The result is me having caught some form of cold that apparently affects the vocal cords... again. So, after a day of attempted active and lively teaching, I enjoy being silent for the rest of the day, apart from snatching the one or other kiss from my bf ;-)

When I went into town in my lunch break I realised Christmas market has already opened and inmidst the town square there's this really beautiful vintage carrousel. Just see how it brightens up the whole area! Unfortunately, there were not too many kids, but then, the whole market was not very well frequented... In the evening, though, there were far more people at the hot punch stands (surprise, surprise!).

Have a nice weekend, everybody!!! Off to bed now.

Alas, time flies... The last few weeks were quite busy for me, which is the reason for breaking my initial resolution to blog at least once a week...

So here I am, finally back again. The weather has changed considerably, the mild days are gone and today it's quite misty and chilly again. The nice pic, which isn't from my personal archive but from this lovely website, has probably been taken some days ago - I very much doubt that the trees are still this much covered with leaves...

I've finally finished Dorian Gray - what can I say? I loved it, it was just the right thing I needed. I have to confess, though, that at first it was slightly irritating to have that much dialogues in prose - dialogues that just don't seem natural at all, considering that most of them consist of bonmots (=> Oscar Wilde!), but then, the whole narration is a mockery of the concept of naturalness (which is IMO a rather interesting approach to the [modern] juxtaposition of art vs. nature and all the stupid hypocrisy that goes along with it). I'm smitten by Lord Henry, who has become one of my favourite all-time villains... There are various parallels between him and the traditional role of Mephisto, the seducer: he initiates the moral corruption of a blameless young person. It's fascinating to notice that he always appears in the right moment, always has the right words to persuade and wipe away a guilty conscience. And, above all, he's always suave and relaxed, as if knowing nothing could happen to him, and if it does eventually, it's but a welcome distraction of everday life.

One of the nice things about Dorian Gray is that it isn't moralising. At least not too much. Of course, Oscar Wilde had to add a few critical comments to distance himself from the moral transgressions depicted in the novel and to alter or delete some slightly homoerotic passages. Nevertheless  it was considered as "contaminating" and was a scandal. Same years later it was even used as evidence against Wilde in his trial.

Also the last chapter of the book is quite interesting concerning the editing process: it was added a few years after the first publication and renders a whole new perspective to the whole story - it brings forth the Gothic twist in the novel. In my edition, it merely consists of five pages, but without them, it would have been a completely different text... I won't go into further details now, maybe you might want to pick up the book one day and find out by yourself...

My current read, however, is something entirely different - Extremely Lound and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. The title has always caught my eyes in the bookstore and now there's even a movie adaptation coming out soon (with quite an interesting cast, btw: Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, John Goodman, Max von Sydow and James Gandolfini!!!), so I've thought it's high time to finally read it...

What are you reading at the moment?

I'm extremely fond of animals. Last week I found a group of beautiful chicken when I strolled through the park in my lunch break, they seemed to be rather tame and used to people. I couldn't take more pics as the memory card of my mobile was already full (high time to invest in a smartphone, I know...). I sat down and watched them and got so carried away that I nearly missed my train!

To me, animals have a highly energising and positive aura... I often miss the little farm of my grandparents, the sheep, chicken, rabbits and ducks... Caring for them was so fulfilling. 

Today was all chilly and rainy and gloomy - from one day to another we experienced a huge temperature drop of around 10°C... The way to work was really nasty with all that rain and wind. The best you could do was to stay at home and make yourself a huge cup of Chai Latte :-)

About half an hour ago, however, I peeked out of the windows and didn't believe my eyes - a few bold orange sunbeams had made their way through those massive grey clouds and beautifully illuminted the church spire:

And a few minutes later:

Marvellous, isn't it?

My knee doesn't look enormously appealing at the moment. It brightly shines in different colours - pink, purple, blue, a bit green, and mostly red... Very rainbow-ish, actually :-) I was thinking about posting a picture here, but that sadistic and exhibitionist moment soon passed.

Construction sites, workers and me, we don't get along pretty well and we, that infamous triangle, have a past anyway... We tend to be in each other's way and have a rather destructive impact. Yesterday, for instance, I was passing such a malicious place and, when I thought I had left it behind me, a worker appeared and lost some rubbish on the pavement. It was a white plastic string thingy, the kind you use for fixing parcels when a usual cotton string probably is too fragile. What happens? I get caught in it, I trip and kiss the floor with my right knee, quickly followed by the right palm. Must have looked quite exciting, as two young men immediately stopped, looked seriously shocked and offered to help me up...

It's nothing serious, really, it's just annoying. When you're a kid these things happen on a regular basis, but when you get older these things are somehow just harder to cope with. Besides, injuries on my feet and legs are something I have serious problems with, as a lot of my daily routine depends on them - trying to catch trains, standing in front of the board and walking through the classroom, bridging the distance between work and railway station, going to the library, climbing up the stairs to the fifth floor if that antique elevator in our house does not work properly, etc. If I'm somehow impaired in my ability to move and bridge distances I quickly lose my patience.

As I said before, it's nothing serious, it just still hurts a bit when I have to descend stairs, stand still for some time and then quickly start to move. Yesterday I must have looked really miserable getting off the train, as the conductor came running towards me, helped me with my heavy school bag and (at least I had that impression) wanted to carry me in his arms down on the platform... (Being a teeny weeny bit injured also has its advantages! ;-))

Enough of that grumbling! In the next days I'll try to go easy on my knee and next week I want to join the dancing lessons again and do pirouettes and cabrioles on my way to work! ^^

Today, on my way to work. It's half past six - way too early for me, actually... After three years of commuting and having to get up at what feels like shortly after midnight, I still haven't turned into a morning person. But this amazing view today just struck me as something rare and precious. I've tried to capture it on my mobile to share it with you :-)

There's just a handful of people and cars on the street, everything still has to awake. Only the sun rises to illuminate the city like a giant spotlight sets focus on a stage that is soon to be crowded with actors and dramas... But at this moment everything's still calm and peaceful.

I'd have never thought rising with the sun (in this case, even in a literal sense!) can be so inspiring and energising.

My boyfriend's grandma definitely has something of a whirlwind. Most of her energy she derives from her seemingly insatiable enthusiasm for things. So recently she came swirling in, flung herself into an armchair that immediately rolled back and knocked over a shelf that dared to be in its way! Fortunately, nothing was broken or damaged in any way. Every force of nature, however, does not only have a destructive side, but also a creative and renewing influence on its surroundings - when we collected the things that have fallen out of the shelf and were scattered over the floor, I've found this lovely little book again! I read it in the course of an afternoon (it's really thin) and it highly amused me (and still does!).

T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats is a compilation of fifteen poems concerning the society and manners of cats, largely based on the description of certain groups or outstanding characters. They were published 1939 and later on served as an inspiration for the popular musical Cats. 

The book starts with the issue of "The Naming of Cats", claiming every cat has at least three names - one is given to it by the family he lives with, one is its fancy name ("But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular, / A name that's peculiar, and more dignified, / Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular, / Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?") and the last one is known only to the cat itself... We realise cats are truly complex beings - very much like ourselves!

"Growltiger's Last Stand" narrates the story of Growltiger, a fierce and feared bully of a cat, also called "The Terror of the Thames". Like many other great fellows before him, his affection for a lady was fatal - while wooing for Griddlebone, he was surprised by his enemies: 

Growltiger had no eye or ear for aught but Griddlebone.

And the Lady seemed enraptured by his manly baritone,

Disposed to relaxation, and awaiting no surprise -

But the moonlight shone reflected from a thousand bright blue eyes.

And closer still and closer the sampans circled round,

And yet from all the enemy there was not heard a sound.

The lovers sang their last duet, in danger of their lives -

For the foe was armed with toasting forks and cruel carving knives.

Now that is true suspense! What we witness here is a great criminal caught in a moment of weakness...

Two other figures from the cat's low-life society are Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, definitely one of my favourite characters from the whole book. They're burglars and love to make a mess in human households, vexing upper-class families by snatching jewelleries and even whole meals... But they also do not fail to entertain and have a great reputation as "knockabout clowns, quick-change comedians, tight-rope walkers and acrobats" who love to chat and spread rumours.

The story "Of the Awfull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles, together with some Account of the Participation of the Pugs and the Poms, and the Intervention of the Great Rumpuscat" tells about a fierce street fight between cats and dogs without further notice of the police. I just love that title!

Probably the most famous cat of the whole book is "Mr Mistofelees", you might have the same childhood memories of his song in the musical :-)

All the other cats I've not mentioned are the "Old Gumbie Cat", who is responsible to keep a household in order, the "Rum Tum Tugger", a mischievous cat with a strong will, the Jellicles (the party folk among the cats) "Old Deuteronomy", something like a Methusalem, Macavity, a master criminal, Gus, an old actor on the theater, Bustopher Jones, the self-important and well-fed upper class cat, Skimbleshanks, the train conductor cat and Cat Morgan, a retired pirate.

Priceless is also "The Ad-Dressing of Cats", a social codex for human beings on how to interact with a cat, and, once again, a clear distinction to dogs that are supposedly more inferior than cats.

It soon becomes clear that these poems are, in fact, a satire on human society:
You now have learned enough to see  
That Cats [notice the capital letter!] are much like you and me
And other people whom we find 
Possessed of various types of mind.
For some are sane and some are mad
And some are good and some are bad
And some are better, some are worse - 
But all may be described in verse.
And true, all these character types seem rather familar from literature, don't they?

Apart from all enthusiasm about this little whimsical book, you should bear in mind one thing - it was written in the 1930ies and contains in some passages contemporary ethical stereotypes and imperialistic viewpoints. I've mentioned before the "Awfull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles" - it clearly alludes to the various immigrants of mixed ethnicity, battling (and massacring) each other openly without notice of the police. Only the appearance of the "Great Rumpuscat", some dubious underground lord ruling these parts of the city, immediately stops the fighting. Another example of ethnical clichés can be found in "Growltiger's Last Stand", in which "a fierce Mongolian horde" and "Chinks" lie in ambush to capture Growltiger.

However, The Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats is a highly entertaining read and far more than a simple collection of nursery rhymes. Its characteristic features are a keen eye of human behaviour and sharp irony in the use of language. It's definitely a must for lovers of English children's literature! 

So then, a new school year has started and one of the crucial equipment for me as a teacher is definitely TEA. So instead of bothering that Neustadt pastry shop ladies any further about a cup of Earl Grey to go ("woswoinsbitte?") with a shot of milk and a napkin for transportation purposes, I've decided to make my own tea in the staff room (we even have an electric water boiler! Yay!). So yesterday I went out to buy a nice mug and a box of Lady Grey teabags to enhance the quality and output of my teaching and correction skills :-)

I always have to have something to drink or nibble around my desk when I engange in some sort of mental activity - right now, for instance, there's this fine cuppa cappuccino, a huge bottle of mineral water and some strips of chewing gum next to my laptop (don't worry, if I spill something I have at least a good reason to buy a new one ;-)). I guess this accumulation of food is what's left of my kinaesthetic learning preference - I always need to hold on to a cup/glass of whatever and sip or chew something. I know this can end disastrous, so I make sure that most of the things that go down my stomach are healthy and low fat. Plus, I'd never even touch a cigarette, because I'm deadly certain it would immediately become a habit.

So for the next time, my pupils will see me walking around school with a dark blue mug of tea with a shot of milk, so that it becomes even more obvious which subject I'm teaching... (Until now, though, I've successfully refrained from wearing tweed jackets and any type of Burberry-like patterns.)

Well then, I guess I have to start with my lesson preparations now, or else all of that lovely cappuccino will be gone before I can even open that course book...

(taken from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgztIf0oFulNe-0j48OZiGoNeF0jd_5L5mCgmt5ybIdcW2nexAkqR_H3Yy1q2IzOJ9WufqeTYZUCzD8o-HMlxiHcMVnZIBZc7f-W1bTiCWVTmNBJISdtAQ_bLckWoQb8EIsEXYl-qfNjed0/s400/Beatrix+Potter+unknown+bunny+cropped.bmp )

This week has been a bit busy, with school starting again and all that - that's the reason why I didn't write earlier, suddenly disappeared from Facebook for two days (OMG!!!! ;-)) and was hard to reach on my mobile, too. Being not exactly a telephone conversation-lover, I still have to work off my list of unanswered phone calls...

In my lunch break on Monday I discovered this little park in Wiener Neustadt. I sat down on a bench beneath a huge willow and enjoyed the sun, that beautiful piece of nature and my sandwich... Later on I even found a pet zoo, a large cage with parakeets and a bear pen. I'll surely take some pictures of them when I walk by again and the bears are out (they did a great job hiding somewhere beneath all that plants - I couldn't spot them although I looked very hard). It's nice to know that place as a little refuge from the crowded and noisy staff room. Sometimes all you need is half an hour spent alone in the shades of a big tree...

I'm not a very housewifish person, at least not in my current stage of my life. On the one hand, I've always admired people with the ability to turn their homes into a sanctuary of cosiness, tranquility and safety - on the other hand, I seriously dread an existence that is limited by the walls of one's house, both spatially and mentally. I greatly respect people devoted to their homes, gardens and kitchens - people who renovate old farm houses and transform them to modern artist workshops or family houses without destroying the original charms of the old building or who can grow roses or kitchen herbs on poor soil. I've tried, but I seem to lack some sense of interior design and gardening and, if I'm lucky, the results from my kitchen experiments are somewhere around mediocre. Surely I could learn if I really wanted to - problem is, I'm simply not that interested and don't have the patience for these things.

So what is home for me? Basically, it's a space where you can put all your things, where you shower, where you sleep (at least most of the time...) and where you make yourself fit for civilised society (in our family, we use the old-fashioned word "kultivieren" that pretty much captures that sense). Based on this notion you can pretty much picture the way my home looks like...

The rest of my days I spend outside - at school, in the street, on a train, at university... If I don't leave my house during a day, I'm seriously ill. Most of the time, I just enjoy being among other people without actually having to bear their company. Everything's better outside - everything looks nicer, sounds better, even tastes better. At a restaurant you could serve me a meal I wouldn't even touch at home and I'll love it. Maybe because I haven't watched the process of its preparation (which I often find a bit disappointing compared to the result), maybe they can sell it in a more attractive way, maybe because it has got this sense of being something special. Eating at home (alone) is simply very, very dull and I often lose my appetite the moment I see the familiar tapestry of the dining room.

So, where do I go when I need a break? Coffee houses are certainly something like an alternative living room. I often, sometimes daily go there to read books, magazines or academic papers, to study for exams, to correct homework, to plan my lessons, to meet friends or family members or just to relax, contemplate or daydream. The best coffee houses feature dreadful coffee, raddled furniture, curtains that are dirty from dust and ages of heavy smoking and toilets that appear to be artifacts from the turn of the last century - however, they also have waiters that won't bother you every half hour, an interesting clientèle and from time to time even lovely piano evenings.

For everyone of you who hasn't got the opportunity to sit in a coffee house right now (such as me, for example, as I'm just somewhere between my showering and sleeping time;-)), I'd like to recommend this amazing blog to you (you can also find it here on Facebook) - it features audio files with sounds recorded at various Viennese coffeehouses and nicely captures a part of the genuine coffee house feeling... As its Facebook description already suggests, it's for people who prefer to study in coffee houses but lack the time, money or motivation to do so, for exiled Viennese people who want to experience a taste of home and for people with social phobia who battle against the boredom of their solitary living rooms. However, naturally it's just a small part of the whole experience... Nevertheless, maybe I can wet your mouth a bit and make you consider the advantages of a few hours spent at a nice coffeehouse. Just give it a try, leave your house, go out and find out what happens... It really surprises me day by day.

(Café Ritter, taken from http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/c1/5b/29/caption.jpg )

Renoir's Le déjeuner des canotiers (The Luncheon of the Boating Party). I could look at it for hours, it's so fascinating and dynamic... 

Just this picture, nothing more for today.

(pic taken from http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/renoir/land/dejeuner-canotiers/renoir.dejeuner-canotiers.jpg )

Summer nights inherently possess a certain kind of magic. Spring and autumn nights may have very agreeable and charming moments, too, but they could never evoke the same degree of fascination in me. They could never trigger that extraordinary feeling starting in my fingertips that makes me get up, open the window, enjoy the air (I can easily differentiate three different stages of summer just by their nightly smell) and roam the streets or fields or woods and just be. I never experience this strong sense of belonging, being a part of my surroundings in any other time.

Although I deeply miss the nights of the countryside, I recently spent two fantastic nights in Vienna. On Thursday my boyfriend and I went to the cinema to see Midnight in Paris (certainly NOT the best Woody Allen film, but we nevertheless enjoyed it) and experienced something like a bonus feature of the movie that extended to the "real world" outside the cinema. The film did not just end and we went home, as usual, but it seemed as if we were entering the setting of the film - narrow, cobbled streets dimly illuminated by the soft light of lanterns and framed by old, picturesque houses... From time to time a couple passed by or we saw a few people sitting outside a café, drinking wine and laughing. It's hard to describe that atmosphere just by enumerating some details... My boyfriend and I agreed that it was simply perfect, up to a point which seemed almost unrealistic and maybe even absurd.

Yesterday was different to that night, but nevertheless I enjoyed it very much. I went out with a friend to have some fun, we had long strolls along the riverside of the Danube, mingled with the crowd of people eating or drinking cocktails, relaxing in deckchairs, watching some small ships go by, digging our feet in the sand and listening to Reggae music. We ventured to enter this really posh exhibition of interior design, sat on sofas that cost a fortune (but allegedly were on sale...) and did a lot of stupid things, as there were hardly any other people there. I came home by half past midnight with blisters on my feet, sand in my hair, a huge stain of plum jam on my white skirt and a big smile on my face. Now I'm usually not that kind of person who parties a lot or stays out late, but yesterday was different... And I am absolutely certain it's related to that magic of summer nights...

It's already late August and the end of summer approaches very fast. Today the weather dramatically changed from about 35 to14°C. I am aware that the rain was already badly needed and lots of people suffered from the high temperatures, but I wonder how many hot days are still to come this year... Time quickly passes by, there's nothing we can do about it than enjoy it to the fullest and appreciate every single moment. This is the time I will remember nostalgically and yearn for in all the other seasons. :-)

Something classy for today:

I *love* Fred Astaire and his dancing. I completely agree with my boyfriend's grandmother who recommends watching an Astairian dancing scene whenever you're feeling low - it truly lifts your spirits! However, I usually don't leave it at just watching dance scenes, I really enjoy dancing myself. No matter how miserable your mood may be, after a dancing session everything looks brighter... 

Today I found a reference to this brilliant event which I, unfortunately, have already missed. Last weekend there was a "Gehsteigdisco" (literally translated pavement disco) on a piazza not far from us in the 8th district of Vienna. Now the difference to a common street party is that the neighbourhood and bypassers didn't hear anything of the music, whereas the disco people could shake their booty to their favourite sounds. So how did this work? The folks wanting to participate could borrow wireless headphones and choose between two different music channels. It must really have been a strange sight for bystanders watching all those people dancing to seemingly nonexistent vibes...   

Today I've purchased this fine copy of The Pickwick Papers :-) I've found it in the back of a bookstore I was browsing through (you'll soon see browsing bookstores is definitely one of my favourite hobbies) and there it was - just fifteen and a half centimetres long (perfect size for every handbag!), the edges painted in gold and a nice carmine bound bookmark. Shiny!!! Of course I had to buy it, although I'm in no way of a shortage of books right now - there's still The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon and Der Meister des Jüngsten Tages by Leo Perutz... But when will be the next opportunity to buy such a lovely edition, especially now since the British Bookshop has closed its last store in Vienna?

Dickens was 25 when he wrote The Pickwick Papers, just one year younger than I am now. He has worked as a journalist before and written several literary skteches, but The Pickwick Papers was his first novel. It was published as a serial in 20 volumes - pretty much like modern comics or mangas.

You might ask, why read a book from the late 1830ies? Why trouble myself with Dickens's challenging writing style?
I have to admit you need to have a certain fascination with 19th century England. Dickens has a unique talent of sketching people and places, it almost seems you are literally travelling back in time. He has a keen eye on people's quirks and mannerisms and vivdly depicts even details such as clothing and accents of his time. Especially The Pickwick Papers are said to feature some of the most remarkable characters of Dickens's oeuvre, if not the whole English literature of the19th century.

So why bother yourself with fictitious people of more than 180 years ago?
Because, at the very core, people have always been the same. They may live in different times at different places, but the motives for their actions are something perennial and intrinsically human - greed, charity, curiosity, vanity, love, hate, lust, friendship, ambition, ... At some point you even realise that some peculiarities will never change and the ambitious matron strongly resembles that one distant aunt of yours or the kind-hearted gentleman reminds you of the salesman in that shop you used to go as a child. All those characters still exist, in fact - they may have different names, looks or occupations, but their types will probably never disappear.

I expect to be The Pickwick Papers a very amusing and comic read. Dickens has got a great sense of humour and, in contrast to his later works, still shows a certain light-heartedness in his early novels. However, this should not distract from the fact that his works are also highly immersive and moving. He is also famous for addressing social inequalities, hardship and extreme misery and poverty.

I am strongly tempted to just pick up that book this moment and start reading, but it will have to wait until I finish the books I've mentioned earlier. Maybe Dickens isn't meant to be read in the heat of this summer anyway...

(taken from http://charlesdickenspage.com/illustrations_web/Pickwick_Papers/pickwick_papers04.jpg )

Hello world!

Finally I've managed to bring up enough motivation to start with a new blog :-) I'm still at the very beginning and there's still a lot of room for improvement - I've got to find a decent layout and a good title for my blog...

I'm planning to update it at a regular basis... Daily entries are a bit of a utopistic goal, but there should be AT LEAST a weekly posting.
As to the contents of this blog - I will NOT abuse it as a teeny agony-aunt-thing. Of course, there will be days when my mood is not at its best or when I feel the need to get rid of something personal (although these postings will certainly be locked and only accessible to certain friends). However, in general it should be a hotchpotch of things which tickle my fancy in some way or another, it should convey a positive attitude and make my audience enjoy reading it :-)

Enough for today. The coffee finally starts to kick in and I really should turn to my diploma thesis again...