It's almost February: it's Carnival time!

In about a month, we will be ready to dress up and walk down the streets to celebrate Carnivals.

There are famous Carnivals around the world, especially in Europe and America.The most famous ones are Rio de Janeiro or Venice Carnivals. But there are so many more, as for instance Carnival of Cologn.

 It is a large ceremony that involves parade and big celebrations with parties, circus and masks.

 But why is the Carnival celebrated? 

It's usually the celebration of seasonal changes. Hundred years ago in Italy, before the first day of Lent,  the Catholics were holding a Festival called "carnevale" ( carne, levare) where they were dressing up. Carnivale means " to put away the meat", because during the Lent, Catholics aren't supposed to eat meat. After a while, this tradition spread in all the Catholic countries in Europe. Afterwards, French, Spanish and Portuguese colonies brought with them the practise of Carnivals in America and around the world.

Another legend says that old farmers dressed up in their monster's costumes to ward off the threat brought by the devil creatures and keep them away during the long nights of winter time.

According to the Religious Calendar, the Carnivals start on the 6th of January, the day of the Epiphany and end at Mardi gras, one day before the Lent. Mardi Gras is also called "Fat Tuesday" because it is the last opportunity for the Catholics to eat protein-rich food.

One of the most famous Carnival in Belgium is " le Carnaval de Binche" and lasts 3 days ( Sunday-Monday and Tuesday). The Gilles are the main characters: they wear wax masks, wooden footwear and vibrant dress. At Mardi Gras, they come up with hats decorated with ostrich plumes that cost a great deal of money. Not everybody can become a Gilles, you have to be born in Binche and live there, it's a tradition from generation to generation.



It's time to find your most beautiful costume because Carnival is almost there!

The famous Belgian Artists

Today, I'm going to write about the famous Belgian artists. Even if we are a small country, we still have a lot
to offer, especially in the arts.

Nowadays, one of the artist we talk about the most in the media is Stromae. Even in Graz, I've heard his songs many times on the radio.
His real name is Paul Van Haver. He was born in 1985 in Brussels where he's been living with his belgian mother, his three brothers and his sister. Stromae's father comes from Rwanda but he never recognised his chidren.
He's really appreciated for his musical skills, but also for his writing skills. In fact, Stromae's songs often deal with society issues as a one-parent childhood in Papaoutai, the unease of the youngs in Alors on danse, break-ups in Te quiero or couple issues in Tous les mêmes.
His nickname is  backward-slang of the word Maestro.
He's sometimes said to be the heir of Jacques Brel.



Since I wrote about Stromae, let me introduce you to Jacques Brel. This singer was born in Brussels in 1929. Raised in the flemish french-speaking bourgeoisie, Jacques Brel started writing songs in Dutch and in French. In 1952, he started writing his first French songs and gained quickly more and more popularity to finally become one of the most famous french-speaking singer around the world until he died in 1978 at the age of 49 years.



Among the famous Belgian singers, I can name the two groups Hooverphonic (Mad about you) and The Wallace Collection (Daydream).






















Belgium is also considered as the country of the comics. Many characters were created by Belgians. The cow-boy Lucky Luke was created by Morris, The Smurfs by Peyo, Tintin by Hergé or Spirou by Dupuis.























































Last but not least, one of the most famous Belgian actor is known all around the world. As Austria, Belgium has its own Arnold Schwarzenegger: Jean Claude Van Damme.
He was born in Brussels in 1960. At first, "the muscles of Brussels", as we call him in the United States, was a famous martial Arts fighter and then was elected Mr. Belgium. In 1982, he went to the United States and in 1988, he got known with the movie Bloodsport. After that, he started acting in many more action movies and soon became a legend in fight movies.

Improving my writing

Throughout the semester, I had to write many paragraphs and essays in every class. It was really hard at the beginning because I'm not used to writing so much back home!

But now, since I have been writing more regularly and made a great deal of exercices, it's getting easier.

I would like to go through one of the paragraphs I wrote in October with the corrected version and all the comments that go with it:

First version :

In order to do well on the vocabulary and grammar section of the first progress check and  avoid the mistakes I usually tend to make, I have come up with what I think is a smart plan. Firstly, I will study regularly; it is important to set up a plan with all the things you have to accomplish, as the "EVU, Innovations' and tenses'exercices. Secondly, I will draw up a list in a book with all the words I didn't know before; that can be vocabulary from economic newspapers, English books I read or from the shows I watch. Finally, I will attend every tutorial class after making my grammar and vocabulary exercises. It's important to have extra classes and learn from its mistakes. Moreover, I think that working as a team can bring huge benefits; it's obvious that two heads are better than one. That is my strategy and I hope my hard work will pay off at the end of the semester.

Corrected version:

In order to do well on the vocabulary and grammar section of the first progress check and avoid the mistakes I usually tend to make, I have come up with what I think is a smart plan. Firstly, I will study regularly; it is important to set up a plan with all the tasks I have to accomplish, such as the EVU, Innovations and tenses exercises. Secondly, I will draw up a list in a notebook with all the words I do not know. These can be vocabulary terms taken from economic newspapers, books in English I read or from the shows I watch. Each day, I will study 30 words from that list. I will also attend every tutorial class to make sure that the exercises I have done by myself are correct and that my self-study plan is efficient. It is important to take extra classes and learn from my mistakes. As I usually prefer to work in groups, I will contact my classmates to work together. In a nutshell, I am sure that if I put in the effort, I will improve my English skills and this in turn will help me succeed in the vocabulary and grammar sections.

Important comments about my writing:

1) First of all, all my supporting sentences have to support my topic sentence ! For example, on the first version, "moreover...one" is a general statement but doesn't tell me what I plan to do.
2) The conclusion sentence have to be stronger than the first version.
3) All the book titles in English are always written in italic font and without "...".
4) For the register, it's important to write I am and not I'm. I do not and not I don't.
5) I have to use the correct collocation: "to take extra classes" and not " to have extra classes".

I also learnt one important thing.

              The more I write, the better I'll be and the more I read, the better I'll write.

My Erasmus : a lifetime memory

Hello guys,

I'm finally back in Graz after two wonderful weeks in Belgium. It was a nice time but I'm really happy to be back to enjoy my last month of Erasmus here in Graz.

In four months, so many good things happened to me ! New life, new home, new friends and new tradition. Everyday is different and filled with new adventures. It's crazy... The time is flying so fast but at the same time I've already had a lifetime of memories...

First of all, I met incredible people from all over the world: Poland, Hungary, Germany, America, England and so on. We shared meals, experiences and had parties all together. We became a real family !
I also had the chance to share my flat with 2 Austrian girl and got to learn more about the Austrian culture and traditions : the typical " krampus" on Saint-Nicolas's day, the christmas cookies and the candles for the first Advent Sunday, the 6th of January or even the typical meal we cooked all together. There is no routine in Erasmus and it is what I like the most.

It was my first time here in Austria. So I also had the opportunity to travel a lot inside and outside Austria. I've been to Dachstein, Hallstatt, Mixnitz, Tauplitz ( skiing), Vienna and Salzburg. I've also been to Budapest, Maribor and Bratislava. I feel lucky to have travelled so much and discovered so many things.

Finally, I came here for one main purpose:  TO IMPROVE MY GERMAN. I feel like I made progresses. I understand the teachers better and I can say what I have on my mind without thinking too much...even if the Austrian accent is really difficult to understand!

So guys, if you have the possibility to go abroad and have an Erasmus experience, don't hesitate! And make the best of it!