I am SHERlocked

No kidding.

I am seriously SHERlocked. I need the new season. Why, Moffat, why?! I know Benedict is busy with Star Trek and The Hobbit, but I don’t think I can wait till next summer for the next installment of Sherlock. At least I have Facebook photos of Benedict Cumberbatch <3 and Andrew Scott <3 to stalk until then. Seriously, these men are kinda perfect. But that’s enough fangirl ramblings for today.

Exams are in a week, so you can imagine in what state the students are. What I noticed, however, is that Spanish students are ridiculously laidback and are fine with learning everything the night before the exam. I tried to do that a couple of times, but it always has resulted in me having a panic attack before/after the exam due to insufficient amount of sleep. So this semester I am trying to do as few all-nighters as possible. Not tonight, although I have so much Spanish Administrative Law to learn, and let’s face it, there is nothing that could ever motivate anybody to read about methods of presidental elections in public administrations of autonomous communities in Spain. The only reason I took this subject is because of the timetable issues. Also, I am really tempted to procrastinate – my friend sent me this: http://artofmanliness.com/2008/05/14/100-must-read-books-the-essential-mans-library/

These are the 100 books everyone must read before they die. I was pleased to see some of my favorites on the list – The Master and Margarita, The Catcher in a Rye, Crime and Punishment, The Count of Monte Cristo, Gatsby… I actually finished re-reading Gatsby for the nth time a few weeks ago. Love this book, so pleased that there is going to be a film adaptation at the end of 2012 (not too pleased about Di Caprio starring though!). What I was not pleased to see, however, was “Lord of the Flies”. This book is seriously horrible. I couldn’t get past the first three chapters because they made me sick to my stomach. No kids should ever be allowed to read that stuff. I talked to my Mum about it, who is the Russian Literature professor, and she wholeheartedly agreed with me. I was surpised that “The Clockwork Orange” was not included – I haven’t read it but everybody is talking about it. Boy am I tempted to start reading/rereading stuff… No matter, I have two months of summer holidays to work on my knowledge of literature. Currently I am reading “The Prisoner of Heavens” by Zafon. Some of you may know “The Angel’s Game” and “The Shadow of the Wind”. The Prisoner is the sequel to them, although I don’t think it’s out in the UK yet, so I’m reading it in Spanish (!). Zafon is certainly on my list of Top 10 authors of all time. Speaking of books, has anyone seen “The Hunger Games” yet? I liked the books (even though they left me feeling bloody hopeless) but I heard mixed reviews about the film. Should I go and see it? I probably will, but after the Admin exam.

Ok, should probably go to bed now! Long day ahead of me.

Kate xx

I am back

Hi all,

Wow it’s been more than a year since I visited this page! I have my reasons for neglecting it, one of which is the fact that I am super-busy on my year abroad in Bilbao, Spain (or should I say País Vasco?). I only have a month and a half left here, which are going to be spent studying for exams as well as travelling after I am done.

Now, this year was an experience like no other. I wish I could describe all of it in a single blog post, but I am kinda pressed for time – got class in 15 minutes. So in this post, I am just going to list the modules I studied this year:

First semester:

Derecho Romano (Roman Law);

Ciencia Politica: Organizaciones Internacionales (International Organizations)

Derecho Internacional Privado (Private International Law)

Marketing

Español (Spanish)

Second semester:

Historia de las Instituciones (Spanish Legal History)

Administraciones publicas y su actividad (Spanish Public Administrations)

Formacion de valores: Globalizacion, Ciudadania y Multiculturalismo (Ethics of globalization, urbanization and multiculturalism)

Social Law and International Contracts (the only module taught in English)

Spanish as a foreign language.

Some of the subject were tougher than others (PIL especially), some were easy but ridiculously boring (Legal History). I can’t say which one is my favorite because I don’t really know myself! All of them had their advantages as well as downsides. One thing I can say is that I have learned a lot. My Spanish has improved drastically – I went from not being able to read a short text without a dictionary and not being able to watch films without english subtitles, to being able to read massive Law textbooks without really using a dictionary and understanding 98% of the films’ content without subtitles. Also, I have to admit that I am sort of addicted to languages now – studying in Spanish was difficult but unexplaineably satisfying – that feeling I got when my Marketing professor told me that I’ve gotten full marks for my 20 pages paper on Marketing of tablet computers was simply amazing.

Truly sorry, guys, but I gotta go to class now! I promise I will post more regularly from now on!

Kate

Frisky lambs and panic attacks

Hello all, sorry for the wait, the last couple of weeks have been crazy! I have 2 essays due on the 28th – one formative for EU and the assessed one for Land and I’ve only got the introduction for Land so far; on top of that, there are two seminars next Monday for Land and EU and the EU one is about the Frisky Lamb disease and whether it is legal to prohibit the export of them to Europe. Also, I finally had a meeting about my year abroad where we were given a bunch of forms we have to complete which include the learning agreement where I have to write the modules I chose for the year; but the problem is that the website of the Bilbao uni is so confusing! They don’t have a list of modules. So I emailed the Erasmus person there as well as the accommodation office, because apparently it’s really difficult to find accommodation in Bilbao.

All this paperwork and coursework as well as the Law school’s lack of action regarding the EU exam and the lack of thoughts about Michael’s birthday present finally led to a panic attack which happened on Monday. But no worries, I am recovered and back in the work mode now! The other news is that I saw Hamlet on Friday which was an amazing performance! Even making Horatio a woman somehow worked. Hamlet was exactly how I always imagined him to be and the acting was really good.

Oh and Happy International Women’s Day for Tuesday, ladies!

Gotta go, sorry it’s short but I really am busy

Kate xoxo

Hello Law kids/non-law wordpress kids,

Right I know I haven’t posted a photo or a recipe this week but I have good reasons! First, I’ve been really ill since Friday, thank God I am better now. Second, I’ve been ridiculously busy as I’ve realised that I only have about 8 weeks till the exams start and we aren’t even done with negligence yet for tort and I am not even mentioning EU which is seriously effed up. No kidding. They are restructuring the whole 100% close-book exam on a subject on which we only had about 6 lectures this term – the lecturer is awesome, but she has another job somewhere and she said she was going to reschedule. However, now she’s been in an accident and won’t be able to teach at all! I feel sorry of course, but the Law school hasn’t really been doing anything about it, until last week when they said that they will tell us as soon as possible. But it’s so not fair, I mean we only learnt about 7 topics out of 12 on the syllabus and it’s a 100% exam. If the Law school doesn’t decide anything, we are seriously screwed. Never mind that we don’t even have Law school, it’s college of something and something. Come on Exeter, I mean you just announced that you are gonna be charging over 9 grand in 2012! That’s gotta mean something right? Riiiiiiiiiiiight.

In other news, today is Wednesday. And that means – Post Office time! I love Exeter post office, it’s so quaint Today I haven’t sold anything unfortunately but I had to send a postal order for the boots I won on eBay. Can’t wait for them to arrive Wednesday also means lunch from the bakery – we have two next to each other and I can’t decide which one I like more

Speaking of exams and revision, I have discovered a wonderful program which allows to make mind maps on the computer and the space is unlimited! I actually used it today to take Land Law lecture notes and it’s so cool! It’s called Freemind and you can download it for free – just google Freemind. It’s an amazing revision tool – attached are a few mindmaps I’ve made already

 

Spanish Food and online selling

Good evening all,

As promised, here are the recipes for two dishes I cooked yesterday which were both great btw! The first one may not be relevant to those allergic to nuts though.

Panellets – Catalon analogy of marzipan. For 12 cookies you need:

- 250-300 g (1/2 pound) baby potatoes

- 1/2 cup ground almonds or grated coconut (I got them from Sainsbury)

- 1/2 cup white sugar

- 1 egg white

- 1/2 cup chopped almonds, but if youre short of time, don’t worry about chopping them.

Boil water in a saucepan and put (unpeeled) potatoes in. Cook for 20-30 minutes till they fall off the fork. Drain, cool and peel. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. Mix sugar and ground almonds. Add potatoes and mash until it becomes a very thick paste. Roll into small balls which you then roll in chopped almonds. Place on a baking tray and brush with egg white. Don’t worry about too much egg, that would make the flavour stronger. Bake for 15 minutes until the tops are brown. Gently remove from the tray and place in the fridge. Serve cold.

They were delicious and very filling! Now for the main course we had Valencian Chicken in Orange sauce. For two people you need:

- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

- Salt and pepper

- 1 1/2 carrot

- 1/4 of an onion (I don’t really like onions so I only used a little bit)

- 3 oranges

- 1 lime

- 1/2 cup white wine (I used German, can’t remember the name, but it’s sold in Sainsbury’s and “great with chicken curries”)

Season chicken with salt. Fry thoroughly in olive oil in a frying pan on both sides until brown. Set aside. Dice the carrots and onion. Put in the same pan and saute until onions are brown. Gradually add juice of 3 oranges and one lime, as well as the wine. If you get pieces of orange in the sauce, that would make it even more similar to a homemade version. Simmer for 5 minutes stirring occasionally on a medium heat. Return the chicken to the frying pan. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Place chicken on plates, spooning sauce over each piece. Garnish with orange slices. I made it with 3 chicken breasts but Michael and I ate it all because it was so good! Hope you enjoy it.

No lectures for me today (yay) and it’s warm and sunny here (double yay) so I grabbed my articles for the Land essay preparation and headed to Starbucks for a frappuchino and an apple fritter. One of the articles was surprisingly useful. Ugh I really am not a fan of law combined with philosophy! I mean, why would they ask us to analyse whether the LRA 2002 made the whole estate dealing system more flexible or not and how does electronic conveyancing fit into it? I’d much rather write an essay for EU about free movement of goods because it’s actually interesting and I don’t like the thought of 100% examination; or even another tort essay. Although I suppose I’d rather have an EU 100% exam than Land (shudders). I have 8 Land Textbooks and 6 EU! I am honestly addicted to buying law books on Amazon and in Waterstone’s – every time I am in town, I always go into Waterstone’s – has to be my favorite shop after New Look Even when I am shopping for food every Wednesday and carry heavy bags from Sainsbury’s I always stop by the bookshop. Amazon is pretty cool too though – I am waiting for a copy of “To Kill A Mockingbird” – I heard great things about it and it features law and gothic atmosphere – what more could I want? I sell lots of stuff on Amazon too – a book every week which I also traditionally post on Wednesdays I also recently became addicted to eBay – sold a New Look messenger bag today which I shall post ASAP and I am bidding on a Burberry bag – where else can you get one for 5 quid? Besides, what an excuse to spring clean my closet, sell old stuff and buy new stuff eh?

Right I better get on with that LRA…

Have a good evening people,

Kate xoxo

To-do list and evil people

Hi all,

Yes I am blogging at Land Law again. I can hear the lecturer fine, she’s going on about bankruptcy and TOLATA again. TOLATA and co-ownership revision tables are next on my to-do list. I will publish them just for those who are quite understandably having troubles with studying Land Law because I am so nice The other things on my to-do list are to collect my Hamlet ticket from the University theatre, read the articles I printed out for the Land essay (see above) which I am hoping are useful. I am glad I started in advance, because the topic is really confusing, re-organise my Spanish file which is falling apart, and buy food for tonight. I am cooking Spanish for Michael because it is Defenders of the Motherland Day in Russia today which is traditionally regarded as National Man’s day. I may publish the recipes later. I love cooking, and I can honestly say I’m quite good, for someone who had no idea how to scramble eggs this time last year. Cooking helps me with stress reduction and this week’s been stressful so far. I always say what I think to people’s faces or at least I never say it anonymously. Quite a few people dislike me because of it and I am frequently discussed behind my back. This doesn’t bother me because I know that if they’re behind my back, I am way ahead of them. However, I am not a fan of hatemail which tells me I am evil and everyone hopes that I will die soon. Of course, I didn’t believe any of it as I know myself better than anyone and I can safely say that I’m not evil. Cold-hearted at times, yes. But there are no evil people in the real world, according to my favorite novel The Master and Margarita, and I agree. No one is truly sane and evil at the same time, however debatable the definition of insanity is.

Oh the lecture is almost over, I’ll blog later today or tomorrow

Kate xoxo

This week’s agenda

Bye bye beautiful weather now it’s raining in Exeter again!

I detest the rain. And the cold. But not the snow! I mean I am Russian after all But seriously, I bye one umbrella per month at least, because they can’t handle wind and I lose them all the time!

Other news are that I am actually blogging from home and not my Land Law lecture! I just got back from my EU seminar about freedom of movement of goods. Seriously, some of the cases are amusing! Like the one about mountain ham, where French law regulated the use of words “mountain ham” which is particularly good. It could only be called so if its production complied with a number of rules, however, it was only possible to comply with them if the ham was produced in French mountains. Realizing that it was discrimination, govt chose not to apply the rules to imports. In this case, the French producer was prosecuted for selling French “mountain” ham without complying with the rules. He challenged the legality and the French govt claimed that the rules did not apply to import. It was held that it does not matter whether the event is happening within one member state or abroad. I was actually really prepared for this seminar, well I normally am for EU which I actually enjoy; too bad our lecturer is ill this week Oh well. Now all the seminars are out of the way for at least two weeks, I can start my research on my Land assessed essay which I REALLY can’t screw up. The title is “The ultimate achievement of the Land Registration Act 2002 lies in its ruthless maximisation of rational legal order, an aim which is symbolised by the statutory vision of an electronic register of virtually indefeasible titles, transactable by automated dealings and guaranteed by the state.  Under this tightly organised regime, estate ownership, as constituted by the register record, becomes a heavily protected phenomenon, leaving little room for the operation ‘off the record’ of some ancient and pragmatic principle based on sustained possession. Discuss”. It is a quote from my Land Law textbook I never used because it’s written horribly and its about 1’000 pages long. I have 8 Land Law textbooks now! No kidding. That includes a statute book too, I really hope we are allowed to take it in our exam :S. Anyway, any help with the above essay would be much appreciated because I actually have no idea where to start. Thankfully, it’s only due on the 28th of March so I have plenty of time to do my research, along with another task I allocated for myself. I decided to participate in the UK law students essay competition. Yes, that’s how crazy I am. The title of that is “Is the law degree fit for purpose?” Any help with that would be appreciated as well!

I have my last piece of Spanish coursework tomorrow which is a listening task on environment (again). I guess I should do some work on that when I get back from my Land Law lecture which finishes at 5 pm.

Oh and I booked a ticket to see Hamlet in our Exeter theatre! I LOVE the play, definately my favorite. I’ve already seen it in Stratford with David Tennant as Hamlet a couple of years ago which was great. It would be lovely to see a different interpretation of it. Other plans for the week are the celebration of the Motherland Defendants’ Day which is on the 23rd of February and is a Russian holiday which marks the date in 1918 during the Russian Civil War when the first mass draft into the Red Army occurred in Petrograd and Moscow – originally Red Army Day. Following the fall of the USSR in 1991, the holiday was given its current name. Officially, the holiday celebrates people who are serving or were serving the Russian Armed Forces (both men and women), but unofficially, it came to include the celebration of men as a whole, and to act as a counterpart of International Women’s Day on March 8. We are celebrating it on Friday with Russian Society. I think the plan is an army fancy dress thing. What an excuse to shop for a military-styled clothes eh? Too bad it’s last season.

Anyway, I am going to have my cup of tea before I get started on essays.

Kate xoxo