EU - big dream or illusion ?

     Each day hundreds of emigrants from Africa reach southern Europe's shores. They come from many different countries and have different cultural backgrounds, but one thing they all have in common is a dream: a dream of a better life in Europe. To those who spend up to 7 days on tiny vessels, traversing the Mediterranean Sea, the EU might look like (the promised land). Affordable education, a functioning health care system and the freedom of prosecution are the main reasons for an ever increasing number of illegal immigrants to undertake the life-threatening journey to Europe without even knowing what awaits them there. Unfortunately, the conditions most African immigrants in the EU have to face are completely inhuman.

     Upon arrival Europe turns out to be a way more hostile environment to the majority of African migrants than expected, as the example of Dayo shows. The Nigerian refugee has spent the last seven months in a detention center on Malta while his request for asylum is being processed. Authorities have told him that yet another four months are to be expected in order for it to be passed through. Meanwhile Dayo is forced to share a small flat with other 97 people, not being allowed to work or leave the center. 

     Dayo's situation is not a solitary case. Christian Nana is from Cameroon and has migrated to the Netherlands when he was a little boy. His mother who had married a Dutchman, got a divorce which made her and her son undocumented residents again. Being undocumented means being inexistent to the federal system of a country, which makes finding a job or a place to live almost impossible. Christian now makes his living as a rapper, performing under the pseudonym "Scor.pi.o". He uses his art as a medium to raise awareness about the situation of immigrants in Europe amongst fellow Africans, who consider migration as a solution to their problems.

Migrating to Europe might seem like an easy way out of their misery for many Africans, but they have to be aware that their dreams will not be served to them on a silver plate. Obtaining the status of a legal immigrant in Europe is exacerbated by bureaucratic barriers, which also affect housing, finding a job and social integration. In order to build a future in Europe, immigrants have to adapt their expectations to their actual situation and be prepared in every possible way to try and overcome any obstacles that might present themselves on their way to a better life.

 

  

Third Star

I don’t know what it is with me and reviewing movies right now but I think it is the best to just go with the flow. And in the last few weeks I seem to have come across fascinating movies more often than usual. The one I am going to tell you about today, was a random purchase. I found it by accident and after seeing that it stars one of my all-time favourite actors, I bought it. The same night I put it on and watched it all by myself (apart from the feline company ^^).  I think it best to already admit here at this point of the review that I have never had such a good cry over a movie before. No other film has ever pulled on my heartstrings so much.
      The film called “Third Star” is a small British drama directed by Hattie Dalton. It is a small movie production that was presented at the Edinburgh film festival and received mediocre reviews. “The times” though, described it as a journey of “facing death like men: with beer, jokes and a holiday”.The plot centres around James Griffith, a 29-year old man suffering from a terminal form of cancer. After celebrating his 29^th birthday with his family and close friends he takes off to make his last hiking trip to the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales. His three best mates Miles, Bill and Davy are taking the trip with him to enjoy the time they still have left. The relationship James has with Davy and Bill is very strong. Miles though, has never even showed up to visit, unable to deal with James’ disease because Miles’ father also died from cancer.
      After driving with the car for a while, they set off with nothing but two tents, some necessary equipment and a cart to transport James (he has great difficulty with walking due to the disease). Their adventures starts and they enjoy the moments spent together having fun (having a brawl with some people at a renaissance fair) and meeting strange people (e.g. a man determined to find stranded limited edition figures of Darth Vader). But James soon starts to angrily criticise all of his friends because of their mediocre lifestyles. He wants them to take a leap of faith and to really do what they want to in life because to him, that is what life is all about. He is also upset with himself, partly because he never really managed to finish anything in his life and now he doesn’t have any more time left to do so.
     The situation gets more and more tense and after losing James’ transport cart they want to return back home. James is determined to keep going though, and his friends ultimately give in. Davy starts to carry him but after an accident of Davy falling down with James, Miles is desperate to return because James seems to be feeling worse with every minute. Davy, angry with Miles, tells him to stop being a coward and to pick James up and carry him like a real friend would. Finally, they arrive at the bay and James is relieved to have finally reached his destination.

     During the night though, James reveals his real motive for coming to the coast. He wants to drown himself in the sea because he doesn’t want to continue a life suffering from chronic pain. He wants to be able to choose his own death, simply to finally be able to finish something. He wants death to be his choice and he wants to feel it until it is over. He asks his friends to let him drown himself, to pull his body out of the water afterwards but to tell his parents that they found him dead, drifting in the sea, the next morning. They refuse and James is visibly upset. Afterwards James is in immense pain again but his medication has gone missing and therefore there is no morphine to soothe his suffering. He is in agony and his friends desperately try to find the lost medication in the dark. They succeed in finding it at last but seeing how much their friend suffers makes them realize how desperate he really is.
     The next morning they sit at the shore and watch the waves together. Shortly afterwards they carry James into the water and their decision becomes clear. Miles and James swim away from the shore and remain in the deeper water. Miles, showing for the first time how difficult it is for him to deal with the situation, asks James if they all just couldn’t go home. James shakes his head and begs him to help him do this. Miles is reluctant but in the end they both drift under the surface and Miles helps his friend to drown himself.
     The next scene shows Miles dragging James out of the water. Then, in the very last scene, you hear James (also the narrator in this story) talking one more time, dedicating what he says to his friends and family: “So I raise a Morphine toast to you all. And if you should happen to remember it’s the anniversary of my birth, remember that you were loved by me. And that you made my life a happy one. And there’s no tragedy in that.”

     Even though some people might consider the plot foreseeable and, I feel like the ending is as unexpected as it is surprising. Hints all throughout the film might let you guess, but when James finally voices his intention it is still very moving and painful to watch. The chemistry between the four actors in the movie is fantastic and especially Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance is phenomenal. He succeeds in creating a so vulnerable character that tries to hold on to each and every moment of his leftover life, while already planning the departure from his terrestrial existence. Something you realize very soon though, is that he doesn’t want to die. He says that “he wants more time”, independent of whether or not he spends it doing mediocre or exceptional things. What moved me the most though, is another thing he said in the movie. He talks about the fact that he was most scared of the fact that after he passes, everthing is gonna go on without him. But after arriving at Pembrokeshire Coast he realized, that this is the best way for things to be.Knowing that your beloved ones will go on without you and that, even though you're unforgotten,  you are no longer a part of their lives. Facing his imminent death though, he realizes that this is the best possible way for everyone to deal with it. Knowing and facing the fact that somebody is gone and carrying on with their lives, instead of holding on to the heartbreaking “what-ifs” seems like the best solution to him.
      The title of the movie itself is not easily explained. I first didn’t have any idea as to why it is called “Third Star” but after doing a bit of research I realized that I might have overheard something the main character said in the movie. I re-watched a couple of scenes and finally heard James saying “Third star to the right and straight on till morning” only to be corrected by Davy saying “I thought it was the second star”. After hearing that, I felt even more clueless than before so I had to surf the internet again. Finally, I found out that this is a reference to Peter Pan, giving instruction as to how to reach Neverland. In Peter Pan’s movie, Neverland was considered a magical place where you don’t grow old and don’t have any responsibilities. James, who keeps talking about what he imagines after life to be like, also talks about being dust or simply a source of energy floating in the sky. Maybe the title is a reference to "Neverland", that is located somewhere in the skies, as James' final resting place.
   Altogether, I simply adore this movie. I can highly recommend it to all the ladies out there, believe me. It is a beautiful story, and the fact that it is such a simple story (nothing action or fantasy related) and still succeeds in moving the audiences, makes it worth watching.

               

RUSH

Fast cars, adrenaline and loads of testosterone. Those three things basically describe the new movie hit “Rush”. Sounds like a movie specifically created for men? Surprisingly, this is not the case. Even though “Rush” tells the story of Formula 1 drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt and the glamorous appeal of Formula 1 driving in the 1970s, it is a movie not only suitable but also highly recommendable to all the women out there. It is exciting, moving and the occasional naked piece of skin does undoubtedly have its appeal as well.
     I would be lying if I said that I knew about or was aware of the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Frankly, I didn’t even know James Hunt existed. But after having heard a little bit about both of them in the run-up to the movie’s release, I became more and more interested and realized that this film is a definite "must-see". After having seen it, I felt like I just came across one of the few movies produced nowadays that don't leave behind a bland impression. It was a refreshing film production that created a beautiful insight into two men’s minds that struggle with their own fears as well as their motives and ways for overcoming them.
     Here goes the plot of the movie: Be warned! If you still plan on going to see it, you might want to stop reading the post NOW!!!!   If that’s not the case, you might as well go on reading.

     Niki Lauda and James Hunt were two icons of the 1970s Formula 1 driving. Both started off like everybody else did, as thrill seeking men wanting to prove themselves to their parents. After having been promoted into Formula 1 they soon develop a rivalry that will change their lives forever. Niki, signed by Ferrari, is a more focused and mathematical driver. He is praised and greatly respected for his knowledge about setting up his car and his precision. James, signed by McLaren, is a more impulsive but precise driver that was still undefeated. They soon discover their dislike for each other but secretly admire some of the other’s qualities. Niki admires James’ bravery and his attitude towards life (“Live every day like it’s your last”) and James envies Niki’s dedication and devotion to formula 1 driving.
    In a course of a couple of years both become the most successful drivers with both of them having won several races. Their ongoing fight for the first place on the podium finish still becomes even more heated until one fateful race comes to an unforeseen end. A race at the “Nürburgring” in Germany almost ends lethal for Niki Lauda. Despite the horrendous weather conditions, the majority of Formula 1 drivers competing want the race to take place. James Hunt was one of them while Niki Lauda voted against it. Niki said that he accepts the 20% chance that he might die in a race, doesn’t want to tolerate a single percent more though. James, who is aware of this fact, wants to drive anyway. The vote ends in James’ favour and the scene ends with James saying: “Let’s race”.
     The unspeakable happens as Niki crashes against the crash barrier and his car bursts into flames. He is trapped in the 800° C hot burning inferno for a minute and sufferes from serious second degree burns all over his face and in his lungs. James, feeling somewhat guilty for what has happened, tries to write a letter to apologize but doesn’t seem to find the right words. To everybody’s surprise, Niki recovers and watches James win all the upcoming races from his hospital bed. Seeing him win makes Niki want to recover even faster because after all that happened he still wants to go back to Formula 1 racing.
     The Japanese Grand Prix takes place 42 days after his accident and at that point Niki was still world champion. That was the day he chose to return to race driving and this race also represents the  climax of the movie. Niki, still in a quite bad condition, wants to compete with James even though the weather conditions are horrendous AGAIN. Before the race starts they salute each other out of respect and the race begins. Niki, struggling to see through the visor because of his burns, decides to end the race after two laps. James, coming in 3^rd succeeds in getting enough points to win and becomes world-champion. A few months later they meet again at the airport and have a talk. In the end, both of them seem to have succeeded in what they wanted to prove or to do. James did become champion and beat Niki, and Niki succeeded in recovering and proving his strength and abilities the whole world.

Daniel Brühl as Niki Lauda & Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt

    The farther ahead you get in the film, the more obvious it becomes that both James and Niki walk a very fine line between friendship and rivalry. Hatred would be a too harsh word to call their dispute because at the end of the movie they seem to have great respect for each other. Certain scenes during the movie also make the viewer aware of the fact that Niki and James weren’t enemies as much as they were friends e.g. the one where James beats up a reporter that asked Niki whether or not he thinks his wife Marlene will leave him now that his face is so horribly disfigured. Also an interview with Niki Lauda explains that the movie rivalry between James and Niki is a bit exaggerated. For dramaturgical reasons the tension between the movie characters was heated up. They were in fact very good friends and according to Niki Lauda, James was the only person he’d tolerate to be defeated by.
    In total, the movie is simply fantastic.There is no more suitable word to describe it. Ron Howard exceeded in making the film not only exciting and refreshing, but also created a rivalry that consists of two equally lovable characters. Both of them deserve to become world champion and as a viewer you can’t really decide for who it should be in the end. To my mind, creating such a strong relationship between the audience and the characters is simply unbelievable: And for that, I raise my hat to Ron Howard.

Niki Lauda and James Hunt

EU individual paragraph

Paragraph Brainstorming

Original Paragraph:

A topic I would gladly look into is food safety in the EU.  The European Union is known to have rather strict and environmental friendly laws but barely anyone can really pinpoint what exactly these are. What are the rules concerning the use of pesticides or herbicides? Is the disposal of genetically modified food allowed? Does the meat that we eat come from animals that were fed with natural feed or with concentrated feed? All these questions come to my mind when thinking of food and I must admit that I am not able to answer them. What I do know though, is that food safety and health should be more important and that is why I would like to find out more about it. The people aware and interested in how healthy or unhealthy our nutrition is are a dying species. Being aware of what decision the EU makes when it comes to health-related issues should be more important. After all, it is true to say that “you are what you eat”.


Feedback Summary One:

Altogether my paragraph has received quite positive reviews. Still, there were a few flaws that Katrin and Orsolya uncovered and they gave me advice as to how to correct them and how to improve the paragraph. The first things they corrected were two mistakes concerning grammar. They reminded me that in the second line, where it says “to have rather strict and environmental friendly laws”, it is necessary to use “environmentally”, thus the adverb.  They added a missing comma to another sentence which was very difficult to understand without it and also condensed a clause that included too many prepositions. According to them, the topic sentence was okay but not really strong. I completely agree because it does introduce the topic but to I think it would be beneficial to rewrite it. Lastly, they took a look at the register of my text and came to the conclusion that it is formal enough. I personally feel like it is not as formal as it should be and that is why I consider it best to add “register” to the list of things that need revision.

Revised Paragraph Nr.1:
 
Food safety regulations in the European Union are a topic that the majority of European citizens are unaware of.  The EU is known to have rather strict and environmentally friendly laws but barely anyone can really pinpoint what exactly these are. What are the rules concerning the use of pesticides or herbicides? Is the disposal of genetically modified food allowed? Does the meat we consume come from animals that were fed with natural or concentrated feed? All these questions come to my mind when thinking of food and I must admit that I am unable to answer them. What I do know though, is that food safety and health should be more important and that is why I would like to find out more about it. The people aware and interested in how healthy or unhealthy our nutrition is, are a dying species. Being aware of what decision the EU makes when it comes to health-related issues should be more important. After all, it is true to say that “you are what you eat”.

Final Paragraph Nr.1:

Food safety regulations in the European Union are a topic that the majority of European citizens are unaware of.  The EU is known to have rather strict and environmentally friendly laws but barely anyone can really pinpoint what exactly these are. What are the rules concerning the use of pesticides or herbicides? Is the disposal of genetically modified food allowed? Does the meat we consume come from animals that were fed with natural or concentrated feed? All these questions come to my mind when thinking of food and I have to admit that I am unable to answer them. What I do know though, is that food safety and health should be more important and for that reason I would gladly inform myself on the matter. The people conscious of and interested in how healthy or unhealthy our nutrition is, are a dying species. Being aware of what decision the EU makes when it comes to health-related issues should be more significant to us citizens. After all, it is true to say that “you are what you eat”.

Final Paragraph Nr.2:

Food safety regulations in the European Union are a topic that the majority of European citizens are unaware of.  While the EU is known to have rather strict and environmentally friendly laws, hardly anyone can really pinpoint what exactly these are. What are the rules concerning the use of pesticides or herbicides? Is the sale of genetically modified products allowed? Does the meat we consume come from animals that were fed natural or concentrated feed? All of these questions come to mind when thinking of food and I have to admit that I am unable to answer them. What I do know, though, is that food safety and health should be more important and for that reason I would gladly research the matter. The people conscious of and interested in how healthy or unhealthy our food is, are a dying breed. Being aware of what decisions the EU makes when it comes to health-related issues should be more significant to us citizens. After all, “you are what you eat”.