Back with a meme

I got tagged in a meme by Emily, and it's a good thing she did, because this blog was in desperate need of an update. So I'm coming back with a loooong post.

Here’s the rules of the meme:

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog
2. Share 7 facts about yourself, some random, some weird
3. Tag 7 more people
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

So here are my 7 facts. 1-6 were easy, but I had to think about 7...although it's so obvious:

1) In my familiy, we eat Kartoffelpuffer (potato pancakes) with Maggi. For those of you who don’t know what Maggi is, it’s a liquid seasoning and tastes sort of like liquid Marmite. Actually, we also don’t call the potato pancakes Kartoffelpuffer, but the dialect word used for them in my hometown is probably unintelligible and unreadable for you, dear reader – even if you speak German, so I don’t mention it here. Anyway, I have always thought eating Kartoffelpuffer with Maggi to be perfectly normal, but years and years of research have shown that we seem to be the only people on the planet with this obviously weird habit that everybody else seems to find gross. Normally, Kartoffelpuffer are eaten with apple sauce - which I, in turn, find unenjoyable.

2) I am a big cosmetics and make-up junkie. I buy tons of the stuff – I don’t think I can ever use it all in my lifetime. Thing is – I use make-up only infrequently, and if I do, it’s always quite subtle. Smokey eyes is really the maximum of glamorous you will see on me – anything else feels dolled up. I do use skincare regularly, but here again - I have vast arrays of moisturisers, face masks, eye creams and what have you. I have already started to store the stuff in the fridge (the fresh face masks), so they don’t go bad. Where will this stop?

3) I came by my job by pure coincidence. I have a degree in English and Linguistics, and when I left uni, I didn’t really know what to do. The jobs I was interested in are quite rare, so I was trying to figure out my next move. Then I got the opportunity to enroll in this post-graduate PR course, and I thought, well, it’s better than nothing – a career in PR was never something I had considered before. During the course, I realised that PR is something I could really be good at, so – here I am.

4) OK, so this is more like 3a – while I’m in PR right now, I don’t think this is something I’ll do for the rest of my life (then again – how many PR people do? Not too many, if you look at the age structure of a PR agency. Or do they all just go inhouse?). I have even done a coaching to find out what kind of (other) profession would fit me, and what I could be good at. After a lot of thinking and brainstorming, the coach revealed to me that she could see me in development aid. Which surprised me, the object of all the brainstorming, the most. While I wouldn’t mind being abroad for longer periods of time, even if the conditions are simple, I never saw myself as the fund-raising, well-digging type of person. But there are organisations for international cooperation, and coordinating projects at such an organisation does sound like an interesting job. Another dream I have is having my own hotel someday. Or a small, but nice and somewhat luxurious bed and breakfast somewhere by the sea. I have worked in a hotel for some years, and I have always enjoyed it. So…I’m curious where the road leads me.

5) The strangest thing I have ever eaten (well, in my middle-European opinion) is jellyfish salad. Not on purpose, I might add. That was during a press trip to Singapore. We had a very posh lunch with some of the execs of the client, and the course consisted mainly of steamed seafood. I like fish, but I just can’t get enthusiastic about prawns, crayfish, scampi or any other creepy crawly things out of the water – especially not when they’re steamed. So there was this one bowl containing what looked like marinated cabbage or some vegetable, and I thought it was safe to eat. Then one of the journalists asked one of the Singaporean people what all the dishes are. That’s when I learnt that I had just eaten jellyfish. It wasn’t too bad, but once is enough. Even if I had known what it was – I would have probably tried it anyway. When I travel, I’m always curious about the food – because to me, it’s an important part of a culture (plus I like good food), and I try almost everything. Which has cost me a lot of taste buds, I’m afraid, when the food was really spicy, and I had no idea what I was eating…

6) Everybody knows that most accidents happen in the house. Just recently, I have identified the most dangerous appliance in my household – the hair straightener. I have burnt myself a few times now. I even burnt my earlobe once. That happened during my last holiday, and I was wondering how I could get sunburnt there – until I realised that I burnt myself again. These things get damn hot! And for those of you who haven’t seen me in a while – my hair is getting curly! Does that mean I’m getting old?

7) I am not a morning person. Really, I’m not. I must be the grumpiest person in the world before 10 a.m. I hate everyone in the morning. Especially people on the train. Especially if these people on the train are talking. I wish they would all shut up. But the worst thing in the morning is people who whistle. They really drive me mad. I know that’s not very neighbourly, but I can’t help it. Best not to talk to me or even look at me before 10. At the same time, I’m an early riser. I hardly ever sleep longer than 7:30 a.m. I wonder – if I slept longer, would I then not be grumpy, or would I just be grumpy later? I don’t think we will ever find out.

I'm tagging Nazim and Shamina, if she thinks this meme fits into her fashionable blog :-)