RIEnglish

Hi everybody,

with the corona lockdown and nowhere to go in the evenings, I found myself dying for some fresh entertainment but bored with the same old series I’ve been watching.

“Passengers” – a science fiction movie starring Jennifer Lawrence caught my interest though I was doubtful of the genre. I can’t remember the last time I watched a sci-fi movie (maybe “Planet of the Apes”?) as spaceships, robots and androids are not my preferred entertainment.

But “Passengers” reeled me in right from the beginning.

The opening scene takes us to the gleaming, hi-tech insides of a spaceship on its way to a space colony. On board are 5000 passengers being transported to their new home in sleeping pods, which they hibernate in for 120 years. However, due to a collision with a meteorite one of the sleeping pods malfunctions, releasing and re-awakening its passenger after only 30 years. This means that Jim, a young engineer – played by Chris Pratt – finds himself completely alone on the spaceship running on autopilot with everyone else, including the crew asleep. It is a gripping and tragic story that unfolds as Jim realises why no one else is awake and that he will never reach his destination but will spend the rest of his days on this spaceship. His terrible isolation certainly hit a nerve during the corona crisis!

Without giving away too much of the plot, you may guess: If Jennifer Lawrence is in this movie, she’s bound to find her way into the storyline…

The movie was nothing like I expected. It is a touching love story. But also, a tale of choices and moral dilemma. It is an action movie too, something that I tolerated well enough because the whole film is so enthralling and visually exciting that the action scenes bring excitement and move the story forward. Two people trying to keep power stations on board from melting down seems a bit unrealistic but, hey, that’s what sci-fi is about…

All in all, “Passengers” is a movie that surprised me in its depth and the incredible storyline. In fact, I ended up googling the author because I was convinced it was based on a novel I might read. I guess this says a lot about screenwriter Jon Spaihts and his truly brilliant imagination.

Also, with no holidays in sight due to corona, the sparkling white, minimalistic interior of this massive luxury liner in space (including a pool looking out into black star-studded eternity) seemed like it would offer a welcome change, at least for a few days.

So, I was surprised – in a good way – by a genre I had put down as a bit geeky and dull.

Do you know the movie? And what did you think of it? Check out the movie trailer here

Have you watched any good films lately? Or have you been hooked on a series?

Share your thoughts in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you and be inspired.

Shakespeare’s early comedy “The Taming of the Shrew” about marriage as an institution and economical transaction, not about love is a play that does not sit comfortably with modern-day audiences and teenagers of the #MeToo generation.

Hence, Vienna’s English Theatre has reworked the original and recast the roles in a gender-reversed version called “Pretty Shrewd”. The result, a modernised, light-hearted version of the old comedy, could be seen on January 10th in Steyr’s historic theatre.

The students of 5AKM were there too and here’s what they thought of the play!

Hello world, and welcome to my new blog entry. In this blog I will talk about Christmas in my life.

The most of the people in Autria celebrate Christmas. Because I think is’s a very important tradition for all of us. Perhaps everybody likes the christmasmarkes in Steyr or ather cities.

When I was younger, I celebrated christmas a lot. All over the year I dreamed about christmas. I got such a lot of presents, and I loved it. But now I still love it, but not as it was then.

I think christmas is a verry important celebreation for familys. Because I don’t see my famaly often, but on christmas evening I see them all, and we always celebate, laugh, and have fun together.

Christmas is not presents, Jesus or the tastefull meals. It’s the time, where you can think about your life, can spend time with your family or help poor people.

I hope my children will love christmas either I do.

Yours

Leopold Mottas

Hey guys!

Lots of people are listening rap music or hiphop. I don’t like these kinds of music. I don’t think, this is music.
I am listening two kinds of mucis.

When I am playing the computer, i normaly listen rock&roll. And when I am thinking something or I am seraching something elese in the internet, then I listen heavy metal.

 

See you

Leopold Mottas

This week’s Blogging Challenge is centred around emojis. We’ll not be spending too much time with them but there are three things we’ll be doing:

1. Random Emoji Story

I’d like to do a classroom warmer with this random emoji generator.

https://byrdseed.com/emoji/

Let’s see what emojis come up and what we in turn come up with!

2. Write about your three favourite/most used emojis

In the comment section below, I’d like you to write about your favourite emojis. What do you like about them? When do you use them? Have you invented your own use or meaning for them?

Let’s hear it for those little pictures!

3. Read an article about emojis from The Guardian

Read the article “New emoji set aims to shatter image of Africa as zone of famine and war”. I’d like to discuss how emojis can shape our identity and how we see the world.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/nov/18/new-emoji-set-aims-to-shatter-image-of-africa-as-zone-of-famine-and-war

I hope we’ll have some fun with emojis and some interesting discussions too!

(The funny thing is, I can’t find any emojis here to embellish this post. Laughing emoji. Eye-rolling emoji. And monkey covering eyes. You know the ones…)

I just managed to embed this video by The Clash. They’re a band I was really into as a teenager and I remember whole afternoons spent listening to music with my next door neighbour and best friend Ruth. CDs were quite a new thing at the time and The Clash’s album “London Calling” was among the first CDs I bought.

I love the punk sound that’s not too wild and I think some of their lyrics are crazy and others are just fun. “Lost in the Supermarket” ticks all those boxes – it’s silly and has a fast-paced beat that just makes me happy.

“I’m all lost in the supermarket, I can no longer shop happily, came in here for the special offers, guaranteed personality.” (Maybe you know the feeling of being totally overwhelmed at a supermarket and just wanting to get your shopping done…)

I’m not sure what exactly I did to embed this video: I copied the URL, then pressed enter (I think) – and there it was!!! Perhaps my blog simply wanted this song more than Guns N’ Roses. 😉

Enjoy.

There are many clichés about Ireland. Some are not true, for example, that all Irish have red hair and freckles. Others are partly true, like the fact that there are just as many variations of bad weather as legendary castle ruins. But it is completely true that Ireland is a country which – apart from sheep and whiskey – is characterized by breathtaking landscapes. It is very green and it’s a nation which has left its mark all over the globe and in whose cities history and modernity create a fascinating mixture.

The Irish are drinking people. The pub is their place to go every evening, where live music and Irish dance performances are served. Locals are also active in sports. One is Gaelic football. This ball sport, contrary to its name, is played more with hands than with feet. Jerking and pushing are explicitly allowed and if you fall you immediately get up again and continue playing despite possible injuries.

The Irish have another traditional sport. It is called hurling (the variant for women is called camogie). For this game, they still have the Hurley. With this bat made of ash wood, a small leather ball is carried into or over the opponent’s goal. Professionals manage to hit the ball with a speed of up to 150 kilometers per hour around 80 meters far over the field. It is also noticeable that town signs, street signs, and documents are written in both English and Gaelic. Gaelic is the second official language of Ireland. But it is no longer really spoken but taught in school.

Liverpool, on the other hand, has a very different story to tell: From a fishing town to the hippest metropolis in England. The docks, a promenade with museums, galleries, food stores; the center, lively boulevards with theatres, shopping centers, street cafés; glass towers next to neo-baroque, parks and canals, everything comes together. The trick of the city: Attracting attention to art.

From the slave trade of the 18th century to the Beatles – no other city in Europe had so many ups and downs. Liverpool is and was very industrially rich and the townscape is adorned by warehouses, factories, workshops on the edge of decay. Basically, it has to be said that Liverpool is a much more modern city. It’s practically throbbing with the pulse of time. However, this metropolis has to struggle with its enormous homeless problem. On almost every side of the road, you can see people without a home. Ireland also seems to have more homeless people than Austria, but the number seems to be lower compared to Liverpool. In general, it should be noted that people in Ireland appear more conservative and proud of their culture and history. Their behavior also seems to be more influenced by various traditions and rituals.

In general, we fell a little bit in love with Galway. The town, as well as its surroundings, have remained very green in our memory. Liverpool, on the other hand, is a very grey city. In Liverpool, you are reminded that you are in a big city and in Galway felt homely.

Both cities are by the sea but in Liverpool, everything appears a bit strange and so big. There weren’t any green areas but the landscape in Ireland is beautiful. Galway has the vibes of a small city but still allows you to feel like you’re in the country when you walk out of the town for a few minutes. In Liverpool, the centre was also a lot bigger. In Galway, the inner part of the town consists of only a few alleyways, which look much more rustic than the modern buildings in Liverpool. Basically, we can say that we felt much more comfortable in Galway. Of course, this was not only the city itself but also our nice host families.

 

Aline und Magdalena

Apart from going to the language school and sightseeing we also had the chance of going to pubs for some little get-together.

In Ireland it’s quite common to go out after an exhausting work day or a school week. Pubs are comparable with the bars in Austria but there’s also a different thing about how the nightlife is seen by society. While going out for some drinks in Austria may give you a bad reputation it’s more common for Irish people to go to the pub to end a day cheerfully.

It doesn’t matter when or where you want to go out, Ireland offers you a lot of possibilities for spending an evening with friends. It is very unusual for Austrians to visit pubs during the working week so we were really impressed that we already spent the first night in Dublin in a pub. If you go to the city centre you are spoilt for choice looking for the perfect location. You will also realise that it’s not that easy for young adults (of 18 years) to  get in because every public house may have its own age limitation, so we already got held up by some doormen as we wanted to go in a over-21-pub even though we brought our teachers with us. However, without any worries we got in the next one.

But not just in Dublin the night never ends, we also made this nightlife experience in Galway where the centre is surrounded by musicians and different pubs, too. To let you hear something from the inside, it’s very loud and you will meet very funny, open and friendly Irish people who’ll welcome you to drink a Guinness with them. It’s a traditional dark Irish beer which tastes a bit like chocolate but – one warning – it’s not to everybody’s taste!

A thing that also became very common in Galway is its internationality. Tourists, but also exchange students are everywhere in the town. When our class went out for some drinks, I got into a talk with some people but nobody was “real Irish” and for them it became already normal just knowing other migrants and exchange students.

My grandma told me before I left that pubs are known as a woody little location just for drinking whiskey and beer by men who end their day there. I think this statement has its truth but fortunately now they are visited by women too.

PS: Sáinte is the Irish word for “cheers”!

Lisa Z.