Rainbird’s blog

There are so many days for or against all and everything that I normally don´t take notice of them, but today it´s a little bit different. The subject is serious: Violence against women is still happening everywhere on our planet. Women are still often the victims, suffering silently, because they don´t have power and they don´t have a lobby. In the case of war, it´s the women, who have to live with the consequences. Raping is officially a crime of war now, but what does this change in reality? The crime of female cicumcision is still not ended up with. This day should also remind us of the fact, that even in the so called "civilised countries", the situation of women is not always as it should be. There are many hidden cases of violence in the families or at work.
Here is the official website:

http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/violence/

What’s the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received?
Sponsored by Best Buy. Find holiday gifts for everyone on your list.

I remember one Christmas, when I was perhaps 8 or 9 years old. I suffered from migraine and spent the afternoon on the sofa. In the evening, I opened a paket from my aunt and found a wonderful baby doll with nice clothes and everything I´d ever dreamed of. A miracle happened: I totally forgot about my headeache and played with my new doll child till my parents had to send me to bed.

Most of us appreciate the possibility to fly, be it for a holiday trip, be it for business. We want an airport as nearby as possible that can easily be reached by car, by train or even by subway. We don´t think much about those living in the neighborhood. Airport noise day by day and often even at night is not only nerving, but can cause serious health problems. It is not surprising that people living near a big airport like in Frankfurt fight against the growing frequentation and want to achieve an interdiction of night flights. But as a means of transportation, planes have become indispensable. We want strawberries in winter and apples in summer. We want to see Australia as well as Norway, and we don´t think much about the climate. Nobody will turn back time, but everybody can fly in a responsible way.
There are many possibilities to support "green" programs while paying your ticket.
Here are some links:

http://www.myclimate.org/

http://ozonneutral.de/php/evewa2.php?d=1255303537&d=1220513800&menu=200101&artikel=3&GSAG=7a02f968dcc31d2ea682bc1bde3de3ea

http://www.klm.com/travel/de_de/about/co2/index.htm

So, have a good flight!

What's the last thing you won? How did you win it?

I recently won two tickets for a concert at the Cologne Philharmony on January 31, 2010.

How could the way we eat improve in the future?
Presented by Intel, Sponsors of Tomorrow.

There are a lot of things we can do to improve the way we eat. Most of them are not only good for the environment, but also for our health: We shouldn´t eat too much meat. Two times a week is more than enough. When buying meat, we should know where it came from and how the animals were treated during their lifetime. We should generally prefer regional products and support the farmers in our neighborhood. What doesn´t have to be transported, is fresh! We should, if possible, restart gardening. That´s not only a kind of soul-refreshing meditation and physical exercise, but also grants you fruits and vegetables free from poison and artificial means of conservation. We can try to consume less, but products of higher quality. We should bare in mind that everyone in this long chain of production and transport wants to make profit. Coffee is a good example here: Fair traided coffee is nearly twice as expensive as the cheap product from the supermarket, but only the price of the first mentioned is calculated in a way that the workers at the "poor" end of the productive chain can be payed sufficiently.

Last but not least, we should become more thankful for our daily bread. It is not self-evident to have enough to eat!

We should eat with awareness and with joy. We should rediscover the pleasure of cooking and eating together.

We should take time to eat, because eating is recreation!

Imagine you are planning a trip to Australia for the first time. You´ve read a lot of books about this country and know nearly every travel guide by heart. You´ve got a visum and all your new bought bags are ready to be packed and re-packed over and over again ... You have got your digital camera and you´ve distributed your e-mail-adress all over the world. But how to get there the cheapest way? There are many possibilities: You can ask at the travel agency, you can contact friends or relations, you can frequent the homepages of certain airlines, you can make use of a search engine, but there are also many websites on which there is a tool to compare the offers of some airlines to find your individual "best offer". Sometimes, even direct online-booking is possible. I found it worth a try.
Have you ever found your flight online? What were your experiences? Was the offer you got really bookable and was it in fact the cheapest one? I´d like to read some comments about that! 

What's your favorite Beatles song? Bonus points if you share it with us.

It´s "Hey Jude". I like this song, but I can´t really say why. Perhaps it´s the certain kind of tenderness lying in the words as well as in the music.

The economic crisis has already taken influence on the touristic sector. Even youth travelling, a formerly prosperating "industry" is suffering from its effects. In May, the WYSETC has published a report that illustrates, how serious the situation is. Young people often depend on the support of their parents. If these, e.g. have lost their jobs, there is nothing left for pocket-money or extra spendings like holiday trips. Taking into consideration that youth travels are relatively expensive (in comparison to trips of the same length for adults), it isn´t too astonishing that there are such negative tendences.
Many parents will try to find cheaper solution for their youngsters, but one thing is for sure: Young people will always yearn for independence and there will always be the (sad) moment, when the kids say: "Next time, I´ll take a trip on my own!"

Here´s the report for download:

http://www.wysetc.org/docs/Youth_Travel_Industry_Monitor_Issue_3.pdf

Why do you love your body?
Sponsored by Body by Victoria® from Victoria's Secret.

Loving my body is not always easy. It becomes the harder the more I compare myself to other women. I made the experience that I can live in peace with me and my bodily imperfections, when my soul is in balance and I care for both, my body and my soul. The longer I tried, the better could I notice what parts of my body I like and what´s worth putting an accent on it. For example, I realized that I don´t have to hide my legs, so I started wearing skirts and shorts more often. Every body, not only the female one, is worth making the best out of it and caring for it.

You won´t love anybody, before having learned to love yourself! Acceptance is the first step on this way.

What's the best compliment you've received lately?

It wasn´t really meant as a compliment, but for me, it was one:

In the supermarket, I hadn´t been able to make out the end of the chain correctly, because the woman in front of me still seemed to search something. When I passed her, she (friendly) said: "Hey, not so confident!"

Somehow I liked the way she smiled and made her utterance, but I liked the message even more.

I wouldn´t have acted like that willingly and naturally, I apologized, but something important became clear to me in this moment:

Those with enough self-confidence needn´t always take the last place!