Denglish

You know how in America we have this word Spanglish- for the confusion of Spanish and English?

Well in Germany/Austria, we have Denglish. And that is a language I am most definitely fluent in. I'll start a sentence in English, throw in a few German words, and by the end of my train of thought, the language has switched over entirely. It's pretty sad- I really shouldn't be allowed to call myself a native speaker anymore. For example, while I was giving English tours, sometimes I forgot words and phrases mid-sentence. Sometimes I would accidentally just say things in German because I would get so confused (My English grammar is the worst of all)!

So I meet new people everywhere in Germany and Austria, and they all become so amazed and impressed that I've learned German in a matter of two years. 'What a talent!' they say. Little does everyone know that my English mind is slowly deteriorating! I think in German mostly now. One of my jobs in the office here in Innsbruck is to speak a lot of English with everyone, so that they get a good grip on speaking it and learning business English. 

Another thing- I'm going to Florida in 3 weeks (hello sunshine and shopping!) and I'm terrified because if I forget how to say something, it's not like I can just say it in German- no one will understand!

While I absolutely adore world languages, I can't help being embarrassed as someone who spent 16 years growing up in America and can't make sense of sentence structure anymore. Ze German mind is taking ova! ;)  Still, when I find I've spoken mostly English in a period of time, I start to really miss speaking German. And then vice versa.

Anyway, Innsbruck has been totally fabulous. All I can see here are possibilities- for growth, new friendships, crazy opportunities, love, whatever! There is some kind of special energy in this place. The day before yesterday we drove up to a cabin in the mountains, where a friend of mine's family has a lot of land (and a lake!). I totally embarrassed myself too- there was a really steep hill I tried to run down but being the India that I am, I tripped, fell, and slid on my face instead. I am the essence of grace.

But anyway, being up there in the sky, above the clouds reminds me of when I was eleven or twelve. I would look at the clouds on the horizon back at home and imagine that they were mountains- I pretended I lived in a much more fantastic, interesting place. And now I'm really here! It's literally everything I've ever dreamed of- farms, wide open spaces, infinite skies, horseback riding, was auch immer!

Deep inside I'm really a country girl. Can you believe it? I absolutely adore the country. I may hail from New York City (and that is truly my hometown), but every time I would visit the southern states and the west I was completely in love. When I was 15, it was my dream to buy a farm estate in England and become completely self-sufficient! Well, I have a lot of dreams, but I can see them coming true before my eyes- and that just makes me dream even more.

Innsbruck is truly special. (I'm really starting up a hype here, aren't I?)

Music for the morning: Up In the Sky by FAMP (normally I wouldn't post the same band twice in a row, but this song just fits perfectly!)

The Learning Curve

Here I am in Innsbruck! I could not be more in love with this place. First of all, it's a really small town with a big city feel. Only around 120,000 people actually live here- which is fairly awesome for me because that's the same size as the place where I grew up. Still, when you're walking downtown it really doesn't feel so small! 

Another really cool thing is that at every vantage point you can see the mountains, because we're smack dab in the middle of them! Plus the people here are so friendly- I'm 100% sure that this move was exactly the right thing for me.

So what am I doing here anyway?

Simple: networking! Now as much as I'd love to explain what exactly that means, I will just say it's fast-paced, fun, and a good road to success. Of course my goal is to be a singer- but that's for later. Right now I'm just concentrating on working hard at this game that's totally new for me. And yes, it's definitely a learning curve. First of all, I'm a really really shy person. I mostly always have been. So coming to Innsbruck, meeting tons of new people all at once, and being really extroverted is of course fun, but can be scary! And as the word "networking" would suggest, being outgoing is definitely a pre-req. At least I know where to improve though! That's the really fun part though, because I realized in order to succeed, it's all or nothing- stepping outside of your comfort zone 90% of the time, breaking personal records, and committing to self-improvement every single day. When you do that, the results come so quickly. Change yourself, change your life, change the world!

But I better not get too far ahead of myself ;) I'm just excited, because so far Innsbruck has been a place that challenges me- and where there are challenges, there are HUGE opportunities for growth!

So bring it on! ;) let's see what 2014 has in store for all of us!

Music for the Morning: Damn Beat by FAMP (a really awesome Austrian band- check them out!)

PS- I know this is a really short post- it's busy, busy around here! I'll be back later this week ;)

Am Meer (by the sea)

So far, La Palma is fantastic! It's beautiful here, the food is great and cheap, the sun shines and I can hear the ocean from our hotel room! On January 1st we went sailing from Tenerife Island and we saw dolphins! That was incredible. I had never been on a sailboat before but always wanted to, so it was really cool. That night though we took a ferry to La Palma island, where we've been ever since. On Thursday (2. January) we hung out at the black sand beach in the small port town we're staying in, Puerto Naos. 

The Canary Islands are pretty cool because they remind me of Hawaii; they were formed out of volcanoes, there's a huge variety of flora and fauna, and the best part: there are few frangipani (plumeria) trees! Those are the best smelling flowers I know. Anyway, on Friday we went to a special boulder beach where you can actually go surfing. That night we went to a really great unknown restaurant and just ordered a menu of the typical food of the area, and it was so good. I don't know what made it so good, it just was! 

On Saturday we visited a national park in the mountains where they have an observatory and we went on a walk through there, but then we visited some land in the area where there was a small farm with horses and chickens and it was pretty cool- one of our friends said it might even be possible to ride the horses! Ahhhh! Sunday was just been another chill-out day, laying on the beach and turning brown. Sunday was actually the first day I went in the water (and got tossed by the huge shorebreak about a million times), getting tons of black sand in my hair and bathing suit. Man, I love the Atlantic but I don't know if it loves me!

I do have a pretty big and exciting announcement, however!

Everything's changing! I'm moving again! This time to a new country- to Austria! Okay, it's not as big of a deal as I make it seem- I'll only be 90 minutes away from Munich, but still... I'm thrilled! The town is called Innsbruck, well-known mostly because it's a huge winter sports destination- deep in the Austrian alps. It's a beautiful spot and I'm so excited to start a new adventure there! For now I'm networking there (which is going to be awesome), working hard, hey who knows? I might even sing in a few clubs! If you can't tell I'm excited, then you haven't been reading ;)
 Austria, are you ready for me?!

More news when it's more exciting!

Music for the morning: Only the Young by Brandon Flowers 

Countdown!

The New Year is upon us!
 
...look at me, Madame Creativity over here writing about the coming New Year just like anyone else.

But how could you not think about it? New Year's is the time when everyone is thinking of change, and many people are hoping this is the year that will change everything (just like they hoped that last year and the year before)...

I don't mean to sound morbid or cynical by any means. I actually want to say that I'm as excited for 2014 as anyone else and hope it will be magical and wonderful and all of those things.

I know there are also people who couldn't care less about the approaching year. I have noticed people become a bit discouraged at New Year's because they begin with so much gumption and motivation and little by little it fades away... and that's sad.

What I want to say here, is that every year can be your year. It's purely up to you what you want to do with all of the January's, February's, March's and so on that you get. New Year's happens to be a great time to get in the mood for fixing things (maybe you want to quit your job or learn guitar). The thing is, you have to stick with it!

Think about it. Mostly everyone makes New Years resolutions. Then the year goes by and most people break them. They get disappointed and hope the next year will be better. But they don't change the input! Giving up each time will take you nowhere.

So whatever it is you want to accomplish in 2014, just do it!

Dont't fall into the trap of thinking whatever you want is too hard or impossible. Don't worry about the how's and why's. Just know that if you want 2014 to be great, then make it great. Be the person you'd love to be best friends with. Be the person you would love to date. 2014 is the year for you to achieve your dreams and goals. They might be huge or extremely small, but each are significant and the point is to make steps. Each day, take one step closer to where you want to be- and by the time 2015 rolls around, you'll be amazed at where you are.

So that's just my motivational speech. As I said, I am very excited for 2014, as I will be spending the first two weeks of it in Spain, somewhere I've never been before! 2014 Also looks very busy on my horizon, with prospects of visiting my family and being able to start a lot more work on music. I'm halfway done with my very own first-ever song! I don't know what I'm calling it yet, but it's got a very personal theme to me (family). I've also started a second one (it has a title ;)) and this one is also pretty personal (a guy). I'm excited to start sometime on recording them and sharing.... I hope sometime before April or May!

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great Winter so far.

See ya next year! ;) (I know, that line is also pretty original).
Love
India
 
Song for today (or Tuesday): The New Year by Death Cab for Cutie

Writin'

Love is in the air... wait, that's the smell of Glühwein! Which is almost the same thing, right? Especially for single people like me ;)

Glühwein is one of coolest things ever. It's a hot mulled wine, mixed with delicious spices and it's the perfect winter drink. In Munich, there is more than just the red wine kind. There's also a white one, and when I was in Nuremberg yesterday, I tried their traditional Glühwein made of blueberries! Delicious. It's a typical thing to have at christmas markets anywhere in Germany, and I love it! I love the markets too. In Munich there's a huge one right in the main town square (Marienplatz) but there's also other smaller ones all across the city center, in any little square they can manage to squeeze one into.

Nuremberg- I went there yesterday (as I said) to see a concert of a band I always really liked but had never seen live. It had been a long time since I had been to that kind of concert, so it kind of threw me back in my pre-teen punk rock years. I used to be a little rocker chick. I was really excited to because Nuremberg is one of my favorite cities in the whole world, and because right now Europe's most famous christmas market is happening there! So of course I had to pay a visit, try the Glühwein and have a Nürnberger sandwich (3 breakfast sausage links on a roll). Yum!

The band I went to see is called Silverstein and they're from Canada. They gave a really good show yesterday! I'm really happy to finally have seen them (the more you read my blog here, the more you will find what a vast range of music I enjoy). What I really liked about the concert was discovering a band I'd never heard of, Dream On Dreamer from Melbourne, Australia! They were so cool.

Anyway, everything in my life is just same old story at the moment. Lots of work, lots of music, lots of writing. I've been trying to sit down every morning and every evening and write a few lyrics (if I can). So far I'm getting pretty excited about all of it!

Well as the year draws closer to its end, I am thinking more and more about how the year has been. Usually I do this really corny thing and write a summary of my year, just highlighting the main events of each month. For example, last January my family came to visit and we moved into a new apartment. In June I travelled nearly all of Germany. In September I started my job as photographer (can you believe how much time has passed since then already?!).

One more thing, I just want to say thank you to all of you who read this. I am already way over a thousand views on this page (although I think I could be at more if I would write more often)! So thanks. Keep reading and I'll keep writing ;)

'Til next time
India

Song of the Day: Something by The Beatles

Round and Round

On a more unfortunate note, I am not traveling to Kiev in November as planned. Though I am slightly disappointed, the trip has not been cancelled altogether- just moved to mid-January. Every cloud has a golden lining. In this case I am grateful as this allows me to continue working through the end of the tourist season (til New Years). Plus it gives me more time to learn Russian better. Then it's off to the Canaries and then Ukraine! 

I am totally excited for what the New Year has in store. Let's just say I am working on various projects on the moment, mostly involving music. I'm doing all kinds of things- writing songs, imagining some album concepts, and trying basically to get a clear image of what I want to achieve as an artist and a singer. For the moment I'm concentrating a lot on pop rather than opera. I was always better at pop anyway ;)

A number of you might be wondering why I'm talking about Kiev and the Canary Islands at all. One evening I was working at a club and I got to know an amazing group of people called the DO Team (do-people.com). These people are revolutionizing the way network marketing works (basically that means promoting a product through word-of-mouth) with a really cool product called Lava Vitae. This is a health supplement made of activated volcanic ash that helps your body detox and promotes brain and digestive health. I took this while I was getting over a second round of tonsillitis (I am the luckiest person alive) and it worked wonders. Anyway, what the DO People do is promote the product worldwide through personal networking, and the next market to open is in Ukraine.

Besides that, the people I've gotten to know in this team are just the loveliest bunch. I've had so much fun in such a short time with them and I'm really excited for our future projects together (exciting details to come)!

The weekend is also going to be busy and exciting and crazy (story of my entire life)- I'm moving- again! This time to a more long-term place. And I'm photographing tonight and Saturday night! Check out my galleries- these are my two personal favorites: 
http://www.nachtagenten.de/fotos/list.php?gallery=914733&public=GLDIlL3f914733

http://www.nachtagenten.de/fotos/list.php?gallery=914808&public=CKuCwLo1914808

Have a terrific Friday everybody!

Music for the morning: I Couldn't Care Less by Leslie Clio (she's so cool, check her out!)

Catching Up (идеальное время)

So! Now that I have joined the 21st century and gotten myself a smartphone, I can write posts anywhere, anytime! My life in the past month has turned upside down. I moved out of home and it's been a blast. Yes, the "real world" has its challenges but I am actually thoroughly enjoying adulthood. But one thing is for sure, I don't have time for anything!

My tours have hit full swing, I've been running around town and down to the castle Neuschwanstein at least once a week. I really really love giving tours. I love meeting new people and hearing their stories, and being outside is wonderful. We've been having the most gorgeous fall. It's been balmy and beautiful all the way through. Except I've had to miss most of it because I got really sick with tonsillitis (ew and ow!). Lucky me.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of photographing in my favorite club, P1. It was such a blast. I got to meet my favorite photographer, he was so lovely and such a talent! When I think about where I'd like to go with club photography, I definitely think in that direction. If you guys are interested in seeing  his work check out p1-club.de and click galleries. Faaantastic.

Besides that, I'm hitting the road in a few weeks for Kiev! That's right, I'm going east! I'm very extremely excited about this trip. I've been dreaming of going to Kiev for like the past 6 months. Dreams come true! Naturally I figured it's going to be very cold, so I did the only thing any sensible girl would do and went shopping! I got myself a long-needed parka at the North Face. No more freezing to death every winter! And I got a really good deal on a pair of fuzzy Manolos that I just could not resist!

I'm not sure yet if I'm driving or flying to Kiev, but I kinda hope it's the former because I LOVE road trips (complete with good music of course). I was raised on car trips back and forth to New York City my entire childhood (9 hours in the car). So I'm kind of a veteran ;)

I'm trying to learn a little bit of Russian for this trip (I finally have a good excuse- I've wanted to learn since I was 13!). So my friends, как дела??! ;) I'm also not sure how long I'm staying in Ukraine, but I am just hoping it will be some kind of adventure.

How is everybody doing? Enjoying the change of seasons I hope!

до свидания! And have a great lazy Sunday!

India

Music for the morning: Video Games by Lana Del Rey- Joy Orbison Remix