Controversial Opinions on Feminism

The title says it all really. I am aware that this is going to upset a few people, but please respect my views and opinions, just like I respect yours.

I have been feeling that I need to explain my opinions for quite a while now, but have been afraid to voice them because of fear that I'll upset all of the feminism fans out there. Is that what feminism stands for? Being afraid to voice opinions?

I have noticed while scrolling through BuzzFeed and Facebook that feminism is becoming a massive deal. 

To be honest, I think the time for feminism has passed. #controversial. 

I'm not saying that I don't believe in gender equality. However, back in the 1900s when feminists first raised their voices, women of that time could not work and could not vote. We can luckily do both of these things now thanks to those women who sacrificed so much.

I recently shared this link: 11 Things That Are Supposed To Happen On Real Dates That Don't Anymore on my Facebook page the other day. A good friend of mine said that it was gender stereotyping and that I should take flowers on a first date.

I believe the opposite. I think men should be chivalrous. I am a very traditional person. Is that so wrong? Why is it gender-stereotyping if I agree with everything in that article? 

What do you consider gender-stereotyping? I don't agree that all women should be in the kitchen, but I also don't want men to stop being polite, or men to stop buying me drinks at the bar just because "they don't want to bought into the stereotype of believing that women can't buy their own drinks". I know someone who refuses to be bought anything by a man. What if he wants to buy her something? She is degrading him by not allowing him.  

Another friend of mine once asked me "why do you wear so much make up and high heels all the time?"

She asked if I felt like I had to wear make up. What sort of a ridiculous time do we live in if people begin to question the things that make me feel good. I wear make up because I like expressing myself and enhancing my features. It also gives me half an hour every morning for some Me Time. I wear heels because I am short. 

I have been judged by my feminist friends because they found out that I would like a traditional wedding. Y'know, one with the big white poofy dress in a church with people wearing massive hats. Surely it's against the "feminism code" or whatnot to not respect my views?

And does it not work the other way? When we see a picture of a half-naked woman, people think it's degrading. However a half-naked man is considered eye candy. Is there going to be a rise of "masculists" who feel that the men in this world are being degraded and are not treated fairly?

People bring feminism into situations where it is not needed. I have discussed with many people various characters from books that the author "portrayed in a sexist manner." What if that's just the way the character is? So what if it's a woman who enjoys baking? So what if she gave up her job to raise her child? 

In real life, the choice of a woman to leave her job and to raise her child is a very personal one, and therefore should not be attacked by the feminist views out there.

In conclusion, I am all for gender equality. However, I don't believe in feminism. 

Feel free to discuss anything I have written in the comments, I would welcome any other points of view. :)

Travel | Seeing Barcelona in an Afternoon

As my flight home from Spain left Barcelona, I thought I'd go to the city where I heard so many wonderful things a day early, and see as much as I can before heading home. 

I was welcomed so warmly at my hostel, I think this was one of the reasons why my (short) stay in Barcelona was so great. So I arrived, and I was sat down and asked what I would like to do with my time and was shown all of the best places to go. I only had 3 main things I wanted to see: Las Ramblas, the Sagrada Familia and the beach. (as someone who lives on the island of Great Britain, and never being more than an hour away from a beach, living in the actual centre of Europe is a little terrifying and claustrophobic being so land-locked.)

Right, so after I settled in, I headed out to the wind and rain. I was armed with my camera, and had my Nashville soundtrack to keep me company on my walk. I headed to the direction of the beach. I saw the sea, but didn't manage to get to the beach. (Mainly because I couldn't find it...) but hey, sea! check. 

Luckily, the little sea-place I was stood was directly at the end of Las Ramblas. Completely going against my morals of not looking like a tourist, I wandered up the street with all the other flaming tourists, with a map in one hand a camera in the other. I walked past the opera house, and some of the architecture of the buildings is phenomenal. As it was autumn, the trees that arch over the street were magnificent colours of orange and yellow. I also got the impression that it was not as busy as is probably is during the high peak seasons. So I walked all the way up, past the waiters calling you to eat some food, and past the tourist tat shops up to Placa de Catalunya. Las Ramblas? Check.

Opera house

Las Ramblas

From here, I decided not to get public transport, to put the map away, and to figure out a way to the Sagrada Familia. I knew the vague direction, so I picked a street and hoped for the best. While being super observant, I noticed a lot of signs for the Arc de Triomf. Obviously, I had the amusing thought of "well, I know I've been walking a while, but I didn't realise I'd made it to Paris." ha ha ha. I found it, and it's what I expected: a slightly less grand Arc de Triomphe. Oh, and it's red. 

Hello, this is me taking a self-timed tourist shot looking very uncomfortable.

Here, I figured that if I wanted to see the Sagrada Familia before nightfall, I should swallow my pride and look at the map. 40 minutes later, I arrived! It truly is an amazing piece of architecture. I didn't realise that it was still being built! I joined the end of the queue, and stood in line for 30 minutes behind a noisy French family and in front of a pushy Spanish matriarch-type woman who kept trying to get ahead of me. With my ISIC (International Student Identity Card) entry to the Basilica was a little over €12. I don't really agree to paying for entrance into a place of worship, but I figured that there must have been a reason.

To be completely honest, I was very very disappointed with the cathedral. Usually when I enter a place of worship with that amount of grandeur, I can feel...something. I don't know what, but I can feel that it is a sacred place. Not here. The atmosphere was ruined by all the tourists using their selfie sticks, and taking photos of literally everything. (WHY DO PEOPLE NEED PHOTOS OF A SIGN EXPLAINING WHATS ON THE STAINED WINDOWS? JUST READ THE SIGN!) I wandered around, didn't take many pictures, and had to leave. I felt quite uncomfortable in there with the lack of respect these people had for this amazing building that has been being built for almost 100 years. However, Sagrada - check.

When I came out of the cathedral, the sun was beginning to set, so I sat on a bench and watched the Sagrada Familia catch the colours of the sunset. That was pretty magical. 

By this time, it was time to head back to the hostel for dinner. All in all, I was walking for around 4 hours. 

I would like the chance to go back to Barcelona, simply because I know there is so much to see and do in a big, bustling city like that. However, I am proud of myself for exploring my first city solo, and not managing to get lost or resorting to using public transport. 

To be honest, visiting Spain for a few days did not calm my wanderlust. Every time I go somewhere new, my wanderlust is fed, but yet the more I feed it the stronger it gets.

Erasmus Applications Advice

I know that its around about the time of Erasmus applications and trust me, I know what it's like. It is a complete nightmare. It will become the bane of your life for what feels like months on end.

However, it is totally worth all of the effort.

I thought I'd share some of my experiences and tips and tricks and what I did for those who feel a little stuck on what to do. Believe me, I wish I had had something/someone to guide me.

(This is going to be catered for the conservatoire students, as that's what I have experience in)

I think the Most Important Thing about undertaking a rigorous application process like this, is to remember why you're doing it. 
- If it's to improve your understanding and learning of your instrument, great!
- If you feel like you're not getting enough opportunities in college, perfect!
- If you just need to escape for a few months, fabulous!
- Knowing why you're going through with this will be what's driving you forward throughout everything.
Whatever your reasons are, they are your reasons, and no one can take that away from you. They may not be what other people considered the "right reasons". but they are yours.

Research
Oh my word, my ex-flatmates would be able to tell you the hours and hours I spent trawling the internet researching the endless amount of schools that were suddenly available to me. You're only given 3 choices. Use them wisely.
- Research the schools, the opportunities, the teachers, the style of teaching, past students, current students, anything and everything.
- Speak to people you know who applied/went to the schools you're looking at.
- Find the Erasmus groups for the city on Facebook. Believe me, they're there, and it's super useful to see what's going on in the city!
- Oh, and research the cost of living within the country. There was one point where I had a short-list of the Czech Republic, Norway, Denmark and Switzerland. I told my father and he said "I think you've managed to choose 4 of the most expensive places in Europe." After looking some more, I revised my list.
- Contact the school international department (usually the information is on the website) to say you're interested in applying and ask what the requirements are for your instrument.
- Also, be realistic with your choices. Don't go applying to the Paris Conservatoire or Vienna Conservatoire if your teacher doesn't think that you can do it. Try to aim for places that you feel are attainable and within your reach.

Learning Agreements and ECTS
Oh trust me, even after you've completed your application, these do not go away. I submitted my application 9 months ago, and been studying here for 6 weeks, and I'm still not convinced it's correct.
After you've made your decision on where to go, you print off a scary looking form, with scary looking words on it.Once you have your head around it, it's pretty simple.
- ECTS will become a thing that you hear far too often. ECTS stands for the European Credit Transfer System. Each school has a certain number of credits that every student has to gain in order to progress to the next year. The complicated thing is trying to match up the subjects available and the amount of credits that you need.
- Contact the school international department (again) and ask if you can have a breakdown of their modules and courses available, if its not available online.
- After you have found out how much each course is worth in credits, make sure you have your calculator handy, and write down enough subjects until you have 60 ECTS.

Recording
Man oh man, was this stressful. I booked a studio in college, got an accompanist, gathered my friends (one of whom is luckily a techie wizz with cameras and such), and videoed my audition. I played Handel's Concerto in C Minor, Britten's Pan and.....something else which I've forgotten. Sorry. But best stick to the standard 'two contrasting pieces'! My friend very generously edited it for me and then I burned it onto 3 DVDs and popped them into fancy plastic wallets with my learning agreements for RNCM to send to the other schools. OH! Don't forget to have your teacher validate the recording to make sure that it's actually you. 

After it's all submitted, it gets given the once-over from college, they let you know if there are any problems (there most likely will be.....!) and then send them off. Then the waiting game begins.

When I got my first offer, I was in such a state of shock I managed to make a plate explode by cooking it on the hob.

In my opinion, although the application was hard, confusing, and exhausting (I was running round like a headless chicken for most of the time), a few months of hard work will definitely pay off when you get there, and you're about to embark on the best/scariest/most exciting year of your life.

If you have any questions about applying, or want to find out more about why I applied to the places I did, then please don't hesitate to ask in the comments below or tweet me @angharadowen :)

Erasmus isn't a year of your life, it's your life in a year.

Returning To The UK

Although I'm not going to write here about the actual details on this weekend, I am going to share the experience of going back to the Motherland after spending 6 weeks living here in Prague.

So I got off the plane and it was warm. Whaaaat? I then entered Manchester airport and was welcomed very warmly and Britishly with a 25 minute queue. Welcome to Britain.

My friend picked me up at the gate, and when we went outside, I'm not going to lie, but I had no idea which way the traffic was supposed to go. In the UK we drive on the left, on the continent (and most of the world), you drive on the right. It had taken me about three weeks to get used to looking the other way in Prague, and even so I'd look both ways just to make sure I was looking the right way. So imagine my confusion when I had to start looking the other way. Again, I just looked both ways to make sure.

When you live in a foreign country, you also get used to not understanding a single thing that is going on around you, so you end up living happily in your own little world. So obviously, when you hear someone speaking English your ears are immediately picks up on it. This happened to me, in England, I'd be walking down the street and my ears would be hearing English being spoken and I'd then think "Oh! English speakers!" and then my logical thinking would follow with "of course its English, you're in England." That took around 24 hours to get used to.

Normality. I walked into College where I have studied for the past two years, and it was all so normal. And nothing had changed. But at the same time everything had changed. This is difficult to put into words, but I happily went back into my own habits and sat on a sofa in the refectory and chatted happily to those who walked past. I mean, who wouldn't? I looked around and it was as if I had never been away. It was all so familiar. And normal. I mean, this was my normal, right?

It's also difficult returning to somewhere after being away, where life has gone on without you. I went to the college Halloween party. Despite everyone being dressed up and me not having a single clue who anyone was, I felt like a total outsider. It was as if I shouldn't really have been there. Did I belong there? Technically I should. I studied there for two years. I am a registered student there. I have my friends there. But yet, I didn't really belong there.

I think for me, the strangest and hardest part of going back to the UK was the constant questioning of what is normal? College and being around my friends felt so easy, it was as if I had never been away. But yet, landing back in Prague, and hearing Czech being spoken, and getting off my local metro station and walking back to my flat, It felt so normal and familiar. Prague is my norm now. This is where I call home.

But what if I never again feel at home in the UK?

A Month in Prague

So I have officially been lucky enough to call this beautiful city home for a just over month now! 

Happy monthaversary to me.....

The time has flown! I have already visited so many places, and the list of places I'm planning on travelling to just keeps on growing. 

Winter has arrived here. It arrived overnight, literally. Three days ago I was walking in a strappy top and sunnies, and now I'm huddled in woolly clothes, a coat and wishing I can take my blanket with me everywhere,

Autumn is stunning in this city. As there are quite a lot of trees on various islands in the river and parks around, they have been changing everyday. I can highly recommend visiting at this time of year, and I just hope that the rest of the year will be equally as beautiful.

It still feels like I'm not really here. I don't quite know how to word it... I'm living my fairytale. Yet, it doesn't feel real. Although I am living here, and have a bank account here, and have a Czech phone number, and I walk to school everyday, I still feel I'm on this working holiday. I don't know if any other Erasmus students feel the same? 

The way of life over here is much different too. People aren't afraid to go out to a restaurant alone, people take their dogs for a walk at all times of the day or night. This city never sleeps. I have been awake at various hours of the day, and it is never quiet. 

There are days when living alone in a great big scary city where all you can say is "Good day" is very hard, I think in the month I have been here, I have had two of those days. The amazing days completely outnumber and make the crappy days worth it. There is so much to do here, and so much of the city to explore that I never ever have a reason to say that I am bored. 

My friends here are great, and I'm having the best time of my life. I need to pinch myself almost every day to prove that I have done this completely amazing thing, which I will treasure for the rest of my life. A year ago, this was only my dream. 

P.s. I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to go back to the UK and pay more than £1 for only a pint of beer, not have Becherovka in every corner shop, and no proper Milka. Seriously, the food/drinks here are amazing!