#is this what it’s like for europeans visiting other countries? 😂

[ben-crytalker]

I wonder if it would’ve been different visiting Ottawa rather than Quebec… or if I weirdly would’ve been more prepared if I flew in and had to go through airport customs? Because driving here is so jarringly uneventful, like I basically just went through what felt like a regular toll but then everything became slightly off, including the language 😅

[solaireverie]

f1 | i'd be the man

summary: [ drabbles ] you're the formula one driver and he's your wag. (aka the toto wolff-ification of the fast car boys)

warnings: mentions of racism and sexism

author's note: i had so much fun coming up with non-f1 jobs 😂 i'm convinced that most of the boys would still be obsessed with f1. considering doing this for other drivers, drop some suggestions? 👀

→ CHARLES LECLERC

Charles is a fashion designer who works for one of your sponsors. You find his designs slightly... peculiar and aren't afraid to tell him. Determined to prove you wrong about his vision, Charles volunteers to be your primary point of contact for your partnership with the fashion house.

Your meetings are contentious in the beginning, neither of you understanding the other. You leave each consultation with a throbbing migraine and a barely suppressed urge to throw something at Charles. If only he weren't so damned stubborn. (At the same time, you know that his passion for his craft is half of why you even deign to meet with him.)

A grudging respect forms between you after months of friction and endless banter about what exactly you want your sponsorship to look like. If hard-pressed, you might even call it a friendship.

Charles has been a Formula 1 fan since childhood and is secretly a fan of yours. You find out after you meet him for a design meeting after a rough race and he suddenly goes on a rant about how the driver who took you out was being ridiculous and how you deserved better. You're completely charmed and interrupt him by asking him out on a date.

He's the absolute best boyfriend that you could ever ask for, following you to all the European races and supporting you from Monaco when he can't make it. Charles delights in being able to provide a bit of stability for you in your hectic life. He puts up photos of your race wins in his studio and proudly tells all of his clients about his girlfriend and her achievements.

(You still won't listen to his fashion advice, though.)

→ MAX VERSTAPPEN

Max runs the cat shelter that you adopt your cat from. You notice how cute he is the first time you meet him but you're too shy to make a move — besides, Max cherishes his quiet life and you don't know how open he would be to associating with a public figure like a Formula 1 driver. Still, he's funny and kind and you somehow keep talking.

It starts out innocuously, just pictures and updates about your new cat (because Max cares about all of the cats that he's ever taken care of, even the ones that have been adopted into good homes) and occasional behind-the-scenes updates when you find out that Max likes Formula 1.

Without realizing it, Max becomes one of your closest friends. He catsits for you when you're out of the country for races, picks you up from the airport after international races, and cheerfully beats you at sim racing whenever you have the opportunity to game together.

Max realizes that you're basically dating around a year into your friendship. You sleep at his place, in his bed, more often than not. Sassy likes you more than she likes him. You have his coffee order memorized and he knows your parents. (Your mother adores him and constantly encourages you to make a move.)

He's patient, however, and waits for you to realize your own feelings as well. Dating comes as naturally for you as your friendship did. Although Max doesn't always enjoy the media scrutiny that comes with dating a Formula 1 driver, he takes full advantage of the attention to defend you at any given chance.

In fact, you've been asked multiple times by your team principal to get your boyfriend to calm down before he offends another driver, but you wouldn't change Max for the world.

→ LANDO NORRIS

Lando is a Twitch streamer with a decent following who specializes in gaming, especially e-motorsports. He gets the chance to visit your team's garage when he wins a e-sport tournament. He's an unabashed simp fan and immediately makes a fool of himself when he meets you, but you find it adorable.

(Lando swears up and down to anyone who'll listen that he didn't mean to blush and accidentally propose on the spot.)

You cheekily tell him to take you out on a date first and he surprisingly gets his act together and actually follows through. Lando is incredibly kind and clumsily charming despite his awkward exterior. You can tell that he genuinely likes spending time with you and wants to hear what you have to say.

Lando switches to Youtube and vlogging when your relationship stabilizes so he can spend more time with you. His fans — and yours — love catching glimpses of his elusive Formula 1 driver girlfriend in his videos. It's a running joke among his fans that Lando is your sugar baby, which Lando finds extremely funny and shamelessly accepts.

Eventually, both of you realize that you've found the love of your life and you start thinking about marriage. You propose to each other at the same time, on the vacation that you each planned for the other, while your mutual friends who knew about both sides die of laughter from the sidelines.

Lando insists on taking your name as well and declares that he's now officially your trophy husband.

("Get it? You get trophies from your job, which brought us together, so technically I'm a trophy now too?" "Yes, Lando, I understand double entendres perfectly well." "Ooooh French, fancy!")

→ LEWIS HAMILTON

You meet Lewis in your childhood. He karts at the same track as you and you bond over the shared experience of being "other" from the other drivers. No one ever bets on either of you to be fast, to win, so you bet on each other. Lewis supports you with his entire being, even when he chooses to leave racing to chase other dreams. You dreamed of reaching Formula 1 together but Lewis, in this world, is happy cheering from the paddock.

Everyone around you is convinced that you're dating Lewis, who has become a highly successful model and philanthropist. Who else would would take time out of their insanely busy life to follow you around the world? The closeness between you doesn't help either — Lewis acts like your partner more often than not.

Despite appearances, however, Lewis is just your best friend, and it stays that way until a PR disaster with your respective relationships calls for extensive damage control. The best distraction that your media teams can come up with is that you fake-date each other: what better to appease the masses with than the ever-beloved tale of childhood friends to lovers?

The fake relationship changes something in your previously stable friendship. Suddenly, you can't stop seeing Lewis in a different light and you find yourself wishing that the romance was real. You're terrified of losing one of the most important people in your life, so you keep quiet about your true feelings for months as things calm down.

Eventually, your manager gives the all-clear to end the ruse and you end up scrambling for a reason to maintain it. By that time, Lewis has caught on to you. He stops by one night with a bottle of wine and your favorite movie. As the credits play, he leans over and kisses you softly — the first time he's kissed you out of the eye of the public.

You're lost for words and he quietly assures you that no matter what happens if you pursue a real relationship, he'll always be your Lewis.

Ten years later, happily married with a couple of championships under your belt, you couldn't be happier that you had chosen to say "hi" to the boy at the karting track.

likes and reblogs are appreciated!

masterlist | taglist: @scenesofobx @vellicora @boiohboii

[phykios]

do you have hcs of percabeth and fam doing things that are culturally greek but arent part of tHe aMeRcIcAn pErCePtIoN Of gReEkNeSs like food music dress social norms etc? or of things they do when they visit the old country?

anon i'm so sorry about the can of worms you've just opened but this is literally the backdrop of my dissertation so

the "american perception" (/western/european perception) of greece is (currently, anyway) closely associated with what we think of ancient greece (largely ancient athens, sometimes ancient sparta, occasionally ancient crete), but the Greek cultural perception of greece is, on the whole, extremely orthodox christian, specifically in opposition to both a) catholicism and b) islam, specifically in the ottoman empire. in the nineteenth century there was a MASSIVE political and cultural debate in the new nation state of modern greece over what they would present as their national mythology, split down the middle between ancient pagan greece and medieval christian byzantium, and also the years of ottoman occupation up until the revolution. there were some writers like constantine paparrigopolous who tried to bridge the gap between the two (he claimed that alexander's military campaigns were done in part to "prepare" the territory for the coming of christ lmao), but even this was partly in response to western european ideas about What Greece Even Is, specifically jakob phillip fallmerayer who wrote a very poorly-received (in greece) treatise about how the Great and Noble Ancients shared no dna with the current inhabitants of greece, who were all "tainted" by the slavs. because european racism

so, all that aside, what is culturally greek? in general, being christian. modern greek life is built around the church, and a lot of the things that aren't Ancient Greece that we think of as being Authentically Greek have their roots in orthodox christianity: icons, byzantine churches, lamb as a central foodstuff, etc. of course, much as they are loath to admit it, a lot of greek culture today also comes from ottoman occupation: national costume (fezzes, silk brocade), music (~oriental~ tonality, distinctly eastern instruments), and, again, food (coffee, baklava [with apologies to my ancestors]). and then there's just a bunch of stuff in modern 20th century greek culture that's just a big mishmash of the population reshuffle in the 1920s, as greece and turkey had a big population exchange (that occasionally dipped into ethnic cleansing). in athens specifically, you would have greek refugees from ALL OVER asia minor, but also the islands, the levant, northern greece, and other places in the balkans, all with their own distinct cultural traditions, and historical explanations for those traditions, especially with things like dance and folk song. AND THEN ALSO the traditions of the greek diaspora, esp in america

in the 1930s, as part of the metaxas dictatorship, greek cultural policy was in the process of hammering out what it meant to be "authentically greek," in a familiar combination of ancient pagan and orthodox christian, before metaxas' death, the entry of greece into wwii, and then the greek civil war and the dictatorship of the colonels, but they never quite... finished the process

to bring this all back to your question, i dont' know. it depends. i will often hc percy/thalia/nico as being more greek-looking than other demigods bc of the big three, and sometimes i dabble with sally being greek, but whether or not they are Actually Greek is something else (in canon, anyway; in aus this is an entirely different situation). THAT SAID, the two greek traditions i know for certain that percy participates in are making great food and loving his mother. which isn't even a strictly greek thing anyway. i can't even joke about him having the traditional greek breakfast of coffee and a cigarette bc i hc him hating coffee 😂

[saraminia]

an embarrassing story

If you could replace any actor in any existing film or TV show with Noah, who would you swap?

🥰❤️

An embarrassing story:

This was surprisingly hard! I guess either I don't get embarrassed easily or it's because I never go anywhere or do anything. You know, it's hard to get embarrassed when only your cats are seeing you lol. I had to call my friend and consult her, but even she couldn't remember anything that would have happened to me. Maybe a few things from when I was living in Italy as an au pair when I was young and irresponsible. Once I got so drunk on a night out that I was still drunk in the morning when the baby woke up, so I went and picked him up and was carrying him and the baby monitor down the stairs and feeling very woozy and so I fell and dropped the baby monitor and in all honesty was this 🤏🏻 close to dropping the baby as well. And that's when I heard the cleaning lady come running from the kitchen. I had just got back on my feet and was in so much fucking pain and just sucked it up and smiled and told her I just dropped the baby monitor. She only told me to be careful, but I'm sure she could see and smell that I was drunk. But to my knowledge she never told the parents about this. Oh, and the baby was fine! Like I said, luckily I didn't drop him. Oh, and another tale from those days. My friend had come over from Finland to visit me and I wanted to take her out one night. So we got ready, wore our best clothes and what we deemed very pretty make up and I drove with her to another town where my boyfriend was living at the time. We came to a parking lot and were looking for a parking spot (probably looked a little lost or unfamiliar with the place) when two police officers came up to the car and told me to open the car window. He was asking me very sternly why we were there and what we were doing etc. I was talking to them in Italian, telling that we came to town to meet my boyfriend bla bla bla. This conversation took a while, so my friend asked me in Finnish, what we were talking about and that's when the policemen's suspicions amped up tenfold and they asked to see our passports and why we were in Italy in the first place. That's when it clicked for me. I realized that they thought we were sex workers. We found out later that there is apparently a lot of prostitution in that town and most of the women working the streets are from eastern European countries and I guess these police officers counted Finland as such and our clothes and make up didn't help lolololol Also try explaining to a person who's never heard the word au pair, what it means without it sounding sus 😂😂😂😂😂😭😭😭

If you could replace any actor in any existing film or TV show with Noah, who would you swap?

The first character that came to mind is the og sad boy Christian from Moulin Rouge! But on the other hand I would love to see him in a really good action-drama. Maybe even as a villain. So maybe another Ewan McGregor character, Father Patrick McKenna (the camerlengo) in Angeles & Demons. Or nah... Ooh, I think Noah would be great as Colter Stevens in Source Code! Oh! I know! This is my final answer! Sam Bell in Moon. That's it. That's what I'd love to see the most.

[definitionsfading]

I'm really intrigued about that bedding poll (or your tags that is) because I know bedding culture varies so much even between european countries (I had an exchange student from Italy once and because I had been to Italy first and had been rather overwhelmed with how to use the bed there, I was aware enough to ask if she knew how "the bed worked" when we were about to go to bed at night and she just looked at me helplessly and said "no" lol) - anyway I have two questions:

1) that flat sheet (which I have never heard of before in my entire life): do you lie between the fitted sheet and the flat sheet or between the flat sheet and the duvet?

2) did the duvets in England have no duvet covers?!

in America if you buy a set of sheets at the store, every single standard set comes with two pillowcases, a fitted sheet that goes around the mattress, and then a flat sheet that goes between the fitted sheet and the duvet lol. this is without exception! the flat sheet gets tucked under the corners of the mattress at the foot of the bed so it stays put while you sleep, but you can still pull it back and get into bed as needed up at the head of the bed. 1) we lie between the fitted sheet and the flat sheet, and the duvet or blanket goes on top of the flat sheet. lying between them prevents body oils and other things (heavy lotions, etc) from getting directly on the duvet or the blanket. it's just general consensus here for most people that two cotton sheets are easier to wash and deal with than wrestling a duvet or duvet cover every week. much of the American South also deals with horrifically hot summers, even at night, so some people tend to sweat in their sleep and don't even need a duvet for half of the year. it's nice to have the breathable flat sheet on your body without the heaviness of a blanket or duvet. 2) the duvets in England DID have duvet covers, but at the airbnb we stayed at especially, it was clear the duvet cover had not been washed ahead of our visit 💀 it had some kind of smudge/stain on it and when we first arrived to drop off our luggage, only the fitted sheet and the pillowcases were in the wash at the time (the duvet was just sitting on the bare mattress). I'm sure some airbnb hosts probably wash their duvet covers but ours DID NOT lmao and I was so jet lagged and exhausted and without any other options so I just....did what I had to do and went to sleep. but it bothered me immensely while I was there 😂 later when we were in a hotel, there wasn't a flat sheet either, nor anything to bathe with!? the beds were horrific and from the 1980s at least though so I have no idea if they washed the duvet covers or not, but with the poor quality of service provided I'm guessing they didn't wash them between every guest and stay. I probably just had two bad apples while I was there, I'm not holding it against the entire country...but I do think in high traffic places like hotels that a flat sheet would be a more sanitary option.

[yeahxsurexokay13]

lovers to enemies?, lando norris

summary: lando and yn find themselves in a friendly rivalry when their national teams clash in the euro2024 final [singer!reader]

warnings: a couple of negative??? comments and i think that's it!

inspired by pierre's and george's posts about their national teams playing against their girlfriend's national teams (:

y/n.y/l added to their story.

ynupdates

Liked by user4 and 1.034 others

ynupdates Y/n via her broadcast channel. Where do you think she's off to?

view all 103 comments

user2 touring in Spain and now flying somewhere else when she's got another concert in 3 days? isn't this going to tire her out even more? 😕

user4 Hope she has an amazing time wherever she's going 💗

user8 with no race this weekend, maybe she's off to visit lando? they're such a cute couple 🥰🥰

user1 wouldn't it make more sense for him to visit her?

user9 GUYS YN IS NOT TRAVELLING TO VISIT LANDO BECAUSE LANDO WAS SPOTTED AT THE AIRPORT TOO

user10 i love to see everyone speculating 🤣

user6 if lando was at the airport too maybe they're escaping for a mini vacation?

user3 it'd be mini indeed! she's got to be in Marbella for a concert on Tuesday

user5 but if they were going on a trip together they'd travel together???

user7 i mean they're in different countries so maybe they're just meeting there rather than one of them taking a flight to where the other is and then another flight together

user11 why has no one considered that she might be flying to another part of spain to visit her family?

13 July 2024

y/n.y/l 📍 berlin

Liked by maxfewtrell and 1.079.218 others

y/n.y/l ready to see who takes home the bragging rights tonight. VAMOSSSSSSSSSSS @/sefutbol ❤️

view all 2.980 comments

user3 y/n better get ready to comfort lando when spain wins 😉 ♥︎ by author

user2 a house divided 😅😂

carmenmmundt ¡A por ellos! [Let's go get them!] ♥︎ by author

user1 ok but this is cute

user13 I WANT WHAT THEY HAVE 😭😭

user12 Good luck guys 😂

user11 FAVOURITE COUPLE 😍

user9 LET'S GO ENGLANDDDDD 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 we've got this

user4 Good luck to both teams!!! May the best team win! 🌟

user14 u guys 😭😭😭😭🥹🥹🥹

user7 let's be honest spain's got this in the bag...

user14 who's side do u guys thin the kid is on? (the kid being @/oscarpiastri)

oscarpiastri Mum's!

user14 OMG OSCAR I LOVE U HAHAHAHA

user15 @/user14 honestly silly question

georgerussell63 Two of us will be happy tonight 😂

y/n.y/l and it won't be u and lando 🫢

user14 are you sitting by each other? plEASE TELL ME YOU ARE

user8 Enjoy the game 🫶🏼🫶🏼 ♥︎ by author

landonorris Someone's in for a tough night… You know where to find me if you need a shoulder to cry on ❤️

y/n.y/l yi kniw whiri ti find mi if yi nid i shildir ti cri in

user10 I LOVE THEM YOUR HONOUR

user6 TEAM YN HERE!!!! 🇪🇸 sorry lando

carlossainz55 VAMOS! 🇪🇸❤️ ♥︎ by author

user5 IT'S COMING HOME!!! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿❤️

14 July 2024

landonorris

Liked by masonmount and 1.300.234 others

landonorris Ready for the boys to bring it home 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

view all 2.908 comments

user10 if Lando wants it to come home, then it better come home!!

user1 LANDO WE CAN BE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS I SAID

user11 I LOVE THIS

user2 sorry lando but it's not coming home 🇪🇸🇪🇸

pierregasly Its all fun and games til one ends up sleeping on the couch 🤣 ♥︎ by author

user4 trust him Lando, he's speaking from experience 🫢

user6 YOU'RE DEFINITELY BRINGING THE HOTTEST COUPLE AT THE EURO FINAL AWARD HOME

user3 .............that first pic is doing things to me

lnfour LFGGGGG ENGLAND ♥︎ by author

user5 im with yn!! lets go spain!!! 💪🏼💪🏼🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🏆🏆🏆🫡

user7 mum and dad don’t fight each other tonight pls im begging😭😭

maxfewtrell Hope you know whoever wins, you're going to lose mate. ♥︎ by author

user9 Good luck with yn rooting for spain next to you😅😅😅

user8 let's hope the car ride back to the hotel is just as cheerful 😂

14 July 2024

y/n.y/l

Liked by judebellingham and 1.378.002 others

y/n.y/l it didn't come home: a short story

view all 3.490 comments

y/n.y/l the caption was obviously just a bit of banter guys!! massive congrats to england who played their hearts out. proud of both teams tonight xx

user2 Savage caption 😂😂

user15 tough break for England, but congrats Y/n!! Hope you both had fun!

y/n.y/l we did!!! thank u x

user22 well at least YOU did lmao

user21 NOT THE I LOVE SPAIN AND WINNING THE EUROS TOP 😭

user3 I expected more sportsmanship from you. Disappointing.

user14 she already said it's just banter... let’s not take everything too seriously.

user8 Hope Lando isn't too upset 😅❤️

user5 you can tell he's smiling through the pain in that 1st pic

user6 u 2 are adorable even with the rivalry!! hope u both had a blast. ❤️ ♥︎ by author

user16 jude liking this.............. LOL

user17 they're friends

user16 ik but girl have u SEEN the post? 🙃

user7 It really didn't come home... again 😢

user10 that was uncalled for.

user20 AAAAHHHH QUÉ PARTIDAZO [what a match]

user9 @/LANDONORRIS I HOPE U DO NOT FORGET HOW MUCH U LOVE THIS WOMAN NOW ENGLAND HAVE LOST OK I WOULDN'T HANDLE BECOMING A CHILD OF DIVORCE ♥︎ by author

sefutbol ¡¡Te esperamos con los #/C4MPEONES de Europa, Y/N!! Vente mañana a celebrar ❤️ [We're waiting for you with the #EUROPEANCHAMPIONS, Y/N!! Come celebrate tomorrow ❤️"]

user18 lando's 13th reason

user19 i hope she goes 🤣

user1 that’s not how you treat your partner’s team...

user4 omg they’re just teasing each other!! it’s clearly all in good fun

user11 why you gotta rub it in? 😂 poor Lando haha

danielricciardo Enjoy the bragging rights, Y/n! ♥︎ by author

y/n.y/l i sure will 😋

14 July 2024

extra:

y/n.y/l

Liked by fernandoalo_oficial and 1.239.609 others

y/n.y/l QUÉ NOCHE INCREÍBLE CELEBRANDO LA 4º CON LOS CAMPEONES DE EUROPA!!!! gracias por invitarme @/sefutbol ❤️ día para recordar siempre [what an incredible night celebrating the 4th with the european champions!!!! thanks for having me @/sefutbol ❤️ a day i'll always remember]

view all 2.072 comments

user10 So happy for Spain and for you, Y/n💗💗 ♥︎ by author

user1 literally living your best life omg

y/n.y/l a pinch me moment honestly!!!!

nicolas_williams9 La mejor ❤️ [the best] ♥︎ by author

user14 don't even think about it bro

user15 they've been friends for literally years wdym lol

user13 HOW AM I JUST FINDING OUT SHE'S FRIENDS WITH SOME OF THE PLAYERS

user2 ATE 💋💋💋💋💋

user4 You and the champions look incredible🫢

alvaromorata Gracias por el apoyo! ❤️ ♥︎ by author

charles_leclerc You'd make a great Ferrari supporter

y/n.y/l please delete immediately before my poor boyfriend, who i highly doubt could cope with this right now, sees!

user12 I AM HOWLING

user6 nuestra reina👑 con los reyes de europa!!! [our queen with the kings of europe]

user3 yn like this if your relationship survived these last 24h it's a life of death matter for us your children ♥︎ by author

user3 she liked evERYBODY BREATH

lamineyamal ❤️❤️ ♥︎ by author

user16 el más feliz de conocerla ajajaja [he was the happiest to meet her]

francisca.cgomes Bonitaaaa ❤️ ♥︎ by author

user11 spain's win against france was totally yn avenging you 😂

user5 So happy to see you enjoying the celebration:)

user7 QUÉ GUAY HA SIDO VERTE AHÍ CON LA COPA [it was so cool to see you up there holding the cup] ♥︎ by author

maxfewtrell Rubbing it in a bit, aren't we?

y/n.y/l i did say i'd enjoy my bragging rights didn't i? only four more years to go x

user8 Hope Lando wasn't too jealous! 😂😂

landonorris Good to see at least one of us is happy and having fun…

landonorris Genuinely happy for you getting to experience this amazing opportunity though, baby ❤️

y/n.y/l 🥹🥹🥹 thank u my loveeeeeeee! miss u already

15 July 2024

[puckinghischier]

Wow that’s so cool! I love Disney 🥰. Haha well, don’t want to offend anyone but I could definitely grill some French people for a certain something which I guess would be a little related to geography….

they sat me down one night with a blank map and had me try to guess what country was which and i got maybe like…4 right 🫣

Hahaha awh omg no! But it’s unfair though, I mean we learn that in school. Or at least I did.

but then they asked me if they could take a day trip to new york from orlando and then i felt better about myself hehe.

Hahhaha yes I can imagine 😂. I remember when I lived abroad and there were American’s there they took like two day trips to other countries that were like two hour flights and we Europeans were all like: why would you go /that/ far away for just two days and then the Americans would be like: I have to travel further than that to get out of my own state or visit my grandma and my mind went like 🤯 with that realisation. I mean obviously I know the US is big but I guess it never fully sunk in before that moment hahah.

Yes I really would love to visit, especially some of those national parks because wow! I’m an outdoor lover hahah. Ah what would be the first country you’d like to go?

- 🏔️

P.s. I have a confession 😂. I’m also the anon that made the request you wrote the ‘Suds n Sorrows’ piece for and omg?! I just love love looove it! It’s so perfect. It’s so sweet and well written and just 🤩😍

yes!! the u.s. is literally huge!! where i live on one end of my state it would take me over 10 hours just to drive to the other side, which is the coast. it took me 12 hours to drive to orlando when i moved down there! whenever my friends and i want to go to concerts, we always have to drive a minimum of 4 hours to get anywhere with a venue. we usually go to nashville, though, which is a 6 hour drive. but that’s also just partially bc of the area i live in. it’s very rural and there isn’t much here.

i’m no stranger to traveling long distances, though. my dad is from Michigan, so nearly ever summer when i was a kid we made the 8 hour drive to go visit his family.

i haven’t been out west to any of the big name national parks, but i’d love to one day!

the first place outside of the u.s. i’ll be going is the uk/ireland!! i’ve wanted to go ever since i was in, like, middle school! my sister has traveled all over europe, but i haven’t had to chance or the funds to do so yet :/

i’m so glad you loved the nico fic you asked for!!! i had so much fun writing it 🥹

[dashingwishes]

Oh okay my biases for groups I love: EXO (Baekhyun), SNSD (Taeyeon; my female ult), Red Velvet (Seulgi), Monsta X (honestly I DONT KNOW, choose one for me :) - and Enhypen (Heeseung). Yeah, these are my favorite kpop groups <3

Yes, many turkish foods have meat in them. But the good thing about them is that there‘s also meat-free options like you could just leave out the meat or use cheese instead. But our cuisine is also more than just kebabs or lahmacun. There’s so many vegetarian or even vegan dishes made out of lentils, bulgur or chickpeas. Ahhh it‘s so versatile I wouldn’t know where to start. My family is very considerate of me being a vegetarian. Like my mom or grandma know I wouldn’t eat that one particular food if it wasn’t vegetarian. It‘s not even that I‘m insisting on having food cooked for me. I can handle that myself. But you prolly know how moms or grandmas are. They want to feed you. For instance, they cook mine separately in a different pot without the meat or there’s times they don’t use meat at all. I‘m glad my family is like this. It‘s not necessarily common especially for middle eastern fams. But I like my fam‘s mentality. I‘m very grateful <3

I don’t care when they‘re eating meat in front of me but with fish nah I‘m more sensitive because they‘re my favorite animals. They can eat it - of course, please have what you want - but I don’t like seeing dead fish so I just leave for my room :D but I‘m 100% fine with them eating meat in front of me. I‘m not one of those vegetarians that‘s trying to convince others to be vegetarian themselves or making them feel bad for eating meat. I DO NOT CARE. Eat whatever you want. As long as y‘all don’t bother me, I‘m fine with you eating meat. And we‘re living Germany that means we‘re also having non-turkish foods. There are so many cuisines from all around the world. In supermarkets there are international aisles or there are restaurants, even afghan ones.

Nope, I‘ve never been to the US. But it‘s on my top travel destinations. I want to travel to every country on planet earth, so I‘ve already been to many european countries but only left the continent once when heading to the anatolian or asian side of Istanbul 😂

What about you? I feel like I‘m spamming. It‘s your turn, I‘m listening to your story :D

Great choices! I love Enhypen’s music so much! And Heeseung is my bias as well �� & Sunoo & Jake are great too! And for Monsta X I would choose Hyungwon for you ✨

Yes I know like I said Turkish food is my favorite. When I was Istanbul the food was one of the best part of the visit. I know there’s a great selection of vegetarian things too like Dolma which I love so much! And Borek & Bulgur rice as you mention, Salat too everything is good. And I have seen some restaurants serve Hummus as well which I love eating I even bought at Aldi yesterday. Of course I know they always scream out your name saying dinner is ready or making sure you ate something.

I am glad they respect and don’t try to eat meat around you. That is super sweet and thoughtful. You’re super kind for not forcing them saying it wrong to eat animals. I don’t like eating beef these days because it makes me super sick and I throw up. I can’t digest anything it happened because my anxiety and health issues.

We eat other culture food too but as long it is halal you know how it is. Oh my Afghan food have you ever had any before?

Aww I hope you get too see more places. Oh what European country have you been to? Which was your favorite?

Me well I was doing some homework assignment, I clean the house. And I have test I need to study for which I am not ready. & we are invited to a party on Saturday which is exciting. No worries it will take time for me to open up talk more. It’s okay you’re doing fine 💕

[alsjeblieft-zeg]

229 of 2023

1. What is one thing you will never do again?

I’d say have sex, but I don’t want to disappoint my husband.

2. Would you rather be twice as smart or twice as happy?

Hard choice. Twice as happy, I guess. I’m already smart enough.

3. What happened the last time you cried?

I don’t cry.

4. What happened the time in your life when you were the most nervous to do something?

I wanted to confess to someone, but I didn’t because I was too anxious. Nothing cae out of it. Well, maybe it wasn’t meant to be.

5. What would your parents be surprised to learn about you?

They were very... surprised to find out their son likes other boys lol. They couldn’t get over it for a very long time.

6. What’s your worst habit?

Biting my nails.

7. What superpower would you have for one day?

For just one day? Invisibility. I would pull lots of pranks on people.

8. What fictional character do you have the biggest crush on?

I’ve never had crushes on fictional characters. Not even when I was 12.

9. Where would you live if you could live anywhere in the world?

Here. I love my damn country so much.

10. What is your most bizarre pet peeve?

Fries are not French okay?

11. Who knows you the best?

My sister.

12. What after school activities did you do in high school?

Photography, drawing, maths, basketball.

13. What “most likely to” superlative would you be most honored to receive?

Most likely to make eveyone’s day better.

14. What’s the last book you really loved?

I’ve answered this question too many times.

15. What was the greatest television show of all time?

All these old British sitcoms.

16. What’s been your favorite age so far?

23 to 25.

17. If you could go back in time, what is one piece of advice you would give your younger self?

Prepare for pain.

18. What one thing would you be most disappointed if you never got to experience it?

Travelling.

19. Apologize or ask permission?

...wut?

20. Unlimited love or money?

I already have unlimited love. Money wouldn’t hurt then, even though I’m not the materialist type.

21. If you knew you would die in one week, what would you do?

Everything I was not allowed to do.

22. What’s your most listened to song?

Lange Frans & Baas B - Ik Wacht Al Zo Lang.

23. Beach vacation or European vacation?

Pffft I can have both if I come visit my hometown 😂 I come from a Belgian coastal town.

24. If you could have been a child prodigy what would you have wanted to be skilled at?

Physics. Wait, I am already.

25. What’s the first thing you would do if you won the lottery?

Buy a house.

26. What celebrity would you trade lives with?

None, I like my life in privacy.

27. If you were a performing artist, what would you title your first album?

No idea. Probably self-titled.

28. What story do your friends still give you crap about?

I don’t even understand this question.

29. If earth could only have one condiment for the rest of time, what would you pick to keep around?

Fritessaus.

30. What is the ideal number of people to have over on a Friday night?

10 to 15.

31. What was the worst age you’ve been so far?

17 to 22, I was through a major depressive episode.

32. What is your weirdest dealbreaker?

People who stink? Otherwise my dealbreakers are common.

33. What fictional character reminds you most of yourself?

Can’t think of any.

34. Do you believe in karma?

Yeah. What goes around, comes around.

35. What was your favorite TV show as a kid?

Smurfs probably.

36. What is the weirdest thing you find attractive in a person?

Thighs. And sometimes scars.

37. What Jeopardy! category would you clear, no problem?

I barely know what it is.

38. What is something you’re superstitious about?

Talking loud about some things making these things really happen.

39. What is the scariest experience you have ever had?

Brain haemorrhage.

40. Who is a non-politician you wish would run for office?

No.

41. What cheesey song do you have memorized?

Man, there’s a lot. Can’t remember from the top of my head.

42. What one dead person would you most like to have dinner with, if it were possible?

Nikola Tesla.

43. Do you think it’s important to stay up to date with the news?

Probably, but holy shit, all the news these days are so depressing.

44. What is the best present you’ve ever received?

The presence of people who mean a lot to me.

45. Would you give up one of your fingers if it meant you’d have free wifi wherever you go, for the rest of your life?

Nah. Internet is not that important.

46. What’s the first thing you’d do if you were the opposite sex for one day?

Hate myself.

47. If someone told you you could give one person a present and your budget was unlimited–what present would you get and for whom?

I’d buy a house for my husband and me, and his son of course.

48. What is the nicest thing someone could say about you?

That I’m intelligent and fun to be around.

49. Giant house in a subdivision or tiny house somewhere with a view?

Tiny house.

50. What is the weirdest quirk your family has?

The fact they exist. I love my family nonetheless.

[thisandthat-whatever]

And a bit more personal post now…. This video below is footage of how Turkey at 9:05 am on every 10th of November comes to a stand still to pay respects to Ataturk, the founder of Turkey, as he died on that date at that time. It is the 83rd anniversary of his death this year. So when the clock turns 9:05 am, people just stop walking in the streets and people in the cars get out, and everything pretty much comes to a halt for one minute. People have been doing this every year since his death in 1938. He didn’t ask for it. People just have been doing it to honor him out of their love and gratitude for all the incredible things he had done.

I am sure he is turning in his grave though, because of how current president Erdogan has been systematically taking the country backwards with his right-wing, Islamic mindset… Ataturk is the only person in history that I truly wholeheartedly revere. He was an awe inspiring man who saved the nation at a time when it was just the remnants of Ottoman Empire and was being attacked by every other country under the sun, and after saving it, he founded a secular , democratic republic giving it a makeover that no other nation has seen, making dozens of reforms including alphabet (introducing Latin alphabet) ,clothing reforms (banning fez for men and veils for women), making economic reforms and also giving women’s rights to women at a time most European countries didn’t even yet have women’s rights, and with amazing foresight he built a secular foundation, and also (rightfully) banning headscarves from all schools and government buildings to separate religion from state, and thus keeping secularity intact in a predominantly Muslim country (which unfortunately has been all gone to shits thanks to the Islamic right-wing Erdogan taking over power in the past couple of decades).

So, yes, Ataturk was like no other man in history; and today’s Turkey under Erdogan’s presidency is not the one he left for us. The amount of love I have for Ataturk is in almost equal proportions of amount of hate I have for Erdogan.

Anyway, watch the video if you have a couple of minutes, but turn down the volume because there is a lot of car honking and alarm sounds. Like I said people stand still for about one minute and then everyone goes about their day. I can imagine the tourists visiting Turkey on that day and not knowing anything about it all going: “what the hell is going on? Why is everyone not moving like that?😲😲”. ..😂😂

Here is a pic of Ataturk:

[bettykimviscom-blog]

Mobility

Why come to Slaka? Malcolm Bradbury

Malcolm Bradbury 1932-2000 is an English novelist and writer who is notorious for his dark themed and often satirical books.

Why come to Slaka? by Malcolm Bradbury is a ‘pastiche’ travel guide to a fictional Eastern European country called Slaka. The novel is written with satirical lexis employed throughout; with references to European stereotypes. It was proposed by critics, to be a satire of Romania or Bulgaria during the 1980s.

The reading has a clear, direct link with the theme mobility as it is a parody travel guide to a country called Slaka. In the seminar we explored the notion of mobility being the combination of movement with meaning. Inevitably, as it is a travel guide, Malcolm conveys this idea of meaningful travel through the various reasons he offers us of why we should come to Slaka; especially evident in the two sections of the book: Making a tour in Slaka and Travelling in Slaka.

What I loved most about the book was the author’s wit for creating humour, that carries the ever so slight potential of being deemed as controversial and offensive, by doing everything a travel guide should do (appraise the country’s values in terms of attraction and induce the tourist gaze) whilst somehow simultaneously doing the everything but that. A few examples of how he achieves this would be the terrible grammar and spelling mistakes throughout the novel. At first I thought the author was trying to convey the sense of a tour guide native to this European country whose English wasn’t that great, perhaps their second or third language. But as I read the novel more, it just felt as though he purposefully and meaningfully tried to portray the lack of enthusiasm and effort put into making the leaflet. This not only created the essence of humour in the book but also seemed to reflect the subliminal ulterior feelings of the narrator’s views on tourists visiting the country, exploring the negative impacts that increased mobility and travel induced - another theme we discussed in the seminar.

Another way he the book is effective was the use of moronic, satirical lexis employed liberally throughout the entire novel. To be honest, this was what tied my interests to the book more than anything😂. I thought this was what really conveyed the author’s motives for the book and I just loved the calm anarchy and craziness to it. Here’s one of my favourite quotes:

“Especially lovely is the month of May, when the magnolias bloomb. But other excellent seasons include autum, spring, summer, and winter. However you like to come in Slaka, we oblige. And if our transports of hotels are some-times not quite perfect (we do not mind to make a criticicm), we recall a wise saying of our Russian brothers: ‘A little rigour makes a holiday better!’”

(from the section Slaka: why to come? P28)

Personally, I really enjoyed the read and I think that it creates insight into the effects of tourism coated with a bit of humour. And I think it gives way to expressing the reality of travel, which is relevant in the modern and global world we live in today where mass tourism and travelling has become so popularised and easily accessible. However, it does delve into mockery of political constructs (lightly on capitalism and communism as the country seems to be reflective of an ex-Soviet country) and although this relates to the point discussed in our seminar about how power and politics affecting mobility and how ideas such as migration occurs and is an example of mobility, it can be controversial and offensive so if you read, just bear in mind to take it with a pinch of salt. But overall I think the book is a perfect mode for travelling through your imagination. I recommendo👍

Illustration by Gunduz Agayev