My Carto family

Hi from Munich,

Hi from TUM,

Hi from the super cool international group of the 2015/2017 intake.

Many hi's over there but surely very warm and welcome. Last time I talked about Christmas, about the fact of how nice is to be in Germany during this time, especially surrounded with family and friends. Although, we international students usually don't have the pleasure of spending all these days with our families and native friends, we have learned to compensate and make new friends, build new life-long connections and enjoy the beauty of being a part of the international, diverse family. Gosh, this sentence was long, but I hope I expressed my notion clearly. So, having this in mind, I wanted to share my own feelings when it comes to my friends from this master course. At the beginning, since there are twenty-one of us, we grouped up a bit and spent time only with the people we spoke with first, or we accidently ended up walking home, or went for lunch during the break between lectures, or, or, or…

Later on, but not that long, we kind of opened ourselves towards everybody and become one, huge, happy, strong and above everything supportive family. This is why I like to say when I speak with somebody from my home country or from elsewhere, my cousins from Carto group. These people are not my classmates, not my colleagues form lectures, not my partners from assignments, these people are my true and forever loving friends, part of my life which I will never forget and which I will always be grateful for. It is definitely not that much who have the privilege to experience life like this and for those who wander how is it or if you should try it yourself, do not think more, just do it. (Now I sounded like Nike advertisement, but I hope you understand why. It is clear that I am overwhelmed with positive thoughts and words of recommendation for something like this).

Enough of me saying how cool and great my group is, but let me better show you. Here is the picture from our first party. It took place at our university, and it was meant to be the Christmas party for all of us prior we go home or somewhere else. It was suggested by our communal friend (she is actually our program coordinator but she has done and is still doing so much for us, she has been helping us whenever we need it, always there for us like a true and honest friend would do, so I do not have better words to express my admiration to her and her devoutness to everything she does). The party was organised by our student representative and the theme was “International Christmas”. We wanted to gather, have fun and enjoy but also introduce each other to our own culture, share some common things or customs, tell a story about how we usually spend a Christmas day or evening back at home and similar. Additionally, one of the tasks was to prepare a national dish. It did not, necessarily, have to be Christmas meal, but as long as it was traditional or country-specific it was ok. This way we got the chance to try some delicious food. I forgot most of the names, but some of my friends shared their recipes so I added them here.

But first and foremost, our Carto portrait (from left to the right, from top to bottom):

Caglar Satir

One and only. Our lovely friend from Turkey. Indeed, he joined us a bit later but that did not stopped us nor him to become friends very quickly. He looks so young here, without beard and with short hair. At the moment, he is serious macho with longer hair and way longer beard. This young man is famous for his imitation skills. I really think, that he should consider doing it more seriously, he would earn a lot of money. At least as a hobby, Caglar. He definitely has a talent. Other than that, he is a great friend, very communicative, open to partying and acting young and crazy. Very good as a group mate, positive and calm when it comes to solving hard and stressful tasks. I am so glad that I had to chance to meet him and a piece of Turkish culture and habits along with him.

Nevil Kodiyan

From the big country of India. He is so good with English words and terms that I use to think of him as of a “human dictionary”. He bet our native English classmate several times in word guessing (I have that weird obsession to ask for random words which you do not use that often, or maybe even never, but they somehow cross my mind and I would like to know them in other languages as well). Nevil and his wife (she came with him, so we had to chance to meet her too) are indeed great couple, inspiring and so pleasant to have conversation with. From professional side, Nevil is the guy who knows programming so whenever we had an issue, his doors were the ones to knock at. We tried not to use that too often, but still… and he was indeed always very welcoming to help and sort the things out. I did notice his great cooking skills too. I am not sure whether it is he or his wife, but whenever there was food involved (the one we had to bring from home) his was one of the best. So delicious, spicy and yummy.

Kate Doyle

Her highness, Kate Doyle, our British girl. Actually, she is half British-half Irish but I think she still holds UK passport. Our blondie is just the perfect girl for parties, hanging out, talking, studying, hiking, ice-skating, drinking or whatever else you think of in the moment. She is one of the girls always up to do something, go somewhere, organiser of many events, participant in many competitions. Girl with many unique characteristics, recognised as old-school photographer. She made so many great images of us, with her small analogue camera and captured so many happy moments we had together. It is collection worth archiving, at least in our personal photo libraries. So Kate, be sure to share it all with us if you have not done it so far. Recognizable fashion style, always cool and unique as everything else about this gorgeous, true and sincere “Game of Thrones” lover.

Kaidi Guo

One of our Chinese friends. Quit, calm and silent, I would say. At least that is the impression she left on me during this one and a half year. She is always so diligent and hardworking, it seems she never gets rest and always seeks for more, especially when it comes to programming lessons, she got a thing for those. Very friendly, full of new ideas, always sharing interesting articles or videos on social networks, with an eye for good photography. Opposite of Kate, she is more into digital devices, and with her cool and sophisticated camera she was the one who made our Alpine excursion unforgettable (together with Mandy, I have to add, but later on about Mandy). Always stylish and with unique accessorize, either for her notebook or her bag, or whatever she wears or uses in a daily activities.

Junyan Li

Second of our Chinese friends, we have them six all together. From my perspective, she is even more devoted to work and studying than I wrote for Kaidi. Always so quit, making notes, testing examples while we are still on the class (I mean, come on, who does that? We all try and fail and then just leave it for later, but Junyan Li no, she deals with it until the end. ) I see her as a really passionate person in whatever she does, but at the same time a bit recluse. I happened to have several cool talks with her, but other than that we have not spend that much time together during this year and a half, and especially since we are doing our thesis at different cities. Nevertheless, great girl with great personality, and always in a hurry.

Ao Kaidong

Our male Chinese, a normal guy from a smaller place in China, as he would describe himself. As the picture shows, he loves beer more than anything else I think. No matter the time, the season, the place, he is always up for the beer (and I thought that Chinese drink only tee and perhaps some domestic drinks, I was so wrong). Very shy and quiet, at the beginning of the course, he was not talking much, always saying “thanks” even for a smallest thing you do or say to him. Afterwards, he became way more open, always in a mood for start or join good party, very attracted to many extreme challenges we encountered during some visits, excursions and leisure time. Most probably he tried them all, and enjoyed the adrenaline and new experience. A great friend, pleasant and positive mind, who cherishes every single moment of being part of our Carto family (even though he changed a lot during this year and a half, he kept his good manners in saying “thanks and thank you” for, literally, everything). That is so sweet, innocent and nice and I am so grateful to have this “normal guy from China” on my friends’ list.

Sir Cristopher Hogg

A young gentleman from London, UK. A real British, I would say, at least from what I have known about British people (either from TV shows, news or reading about them and their culture in general). I absolutely adore his sense for humour, that mixture of sarcasm and jokes in one, spoken in pure London accent. His ability to entertain and imagine stories, on a fly, is just remarkable. Very devoted to work, well organized, punctual (he was always on time and before time, totally opposite to me), morning person. I remember our Photogrammetry classes every Wednesday morning, starting at quarter past eight. With our first break, I would go out, craving for coffee or some snack, looking like dead and there he was, all fresh, talkative, shiny and full of energy. I envied him so much at that. On the other hand, he has his party side as well, he enjoys meeting people, talking with them, discussing, I think he checked all parties and gatherings that we had so far at this course. Great job, Chris, I really enjoy spending time with you, talking and improving my English, you really tought me so many cool stuffs.

Md. Marufur Rahman

Maruf, Maruf, Maruf is it like that? Maruf is our Bangladesh representative, and definitely one of my favourite people. He is so funny, nice and interesting, but at the same time always full of questions, doubts and suspicious. He always has to ask something, to say something or to clarify what he has in mind at the moment and you need to listen to him, like it or not. But he is, at the same time, so cute and amusing while he does it that you cannot ignore him and you will stay there and eventually enjoy conversation. He does not like mountains, that is for sure, he is not a party guy either, but he enjoys preparing food and hosting people. I think he is a King of making rise with beef, nuts and cranberries. Trust me, that is the best meal I have ever eaten. You literally cannot stop eating it, even now when I remember the taste, it makes me feel so hungry. Maruf is really devoted to studies as well, he is a teacher in his home country and he has serious plans in this area, so I hope one day when he gets all his titles, he will still remember that we used to study together and that we will remain friends for long, long time.

Zeinab Torabi

A Persian pearl in our Carto family. Absolutely gorgeous and beautiful creature. Her beauty and smile are just way above the average, surely one of the prettiest woman I have ever seen in my life. It is not just that she is incredibly pretty, she is also very smart, hard worker, devoted, fast learner, great at languages. I admire her English skills, really, and how good and clear pronunciation she has. She is also the Queen of making rise. My Gosh, I have never thought that there is a whole science of making rise (what I do is to put the bag in a boiling water and wait for twelve minutes to take it out). This girl, she does it with style. She never revealed the secret of how she prepares it, nor what is the key but I saw her once and she kind of put a lot of effort into it, I recall. However, the rice is perfect and you literally do not need anything else. You could just eat it as main course, without any side dish. So yummy and delicious. Also, my great friend Satare is somebody who is worse in being on time than me, which makes her the winner of showing up late for lectures, meet ups and everything, in general, among female population of our group. If it was not for her, I think I would be the one but there are more candidates, so the battle was quite tight. Nevertheless, Satare came out as a winner. She is also very friendly, polite and nice to everybody. She adores Irish snap, her favourite card game, surely. She likes nature, freedom and liberty. Her constant thought is how to make money but skip regular nine to five job (I think we are all obsessed with it, honestly). My dear Satare, I am more than happy and honoured that I met you and that I have you as a friend.

Yueying Lu

Third Chinese girl. She is absolutely the sweetest, smallest, cutest human being here. Always so organized, perfect, on time, with all planned ahead. She is a travel addict, I think. As from what I noticed, she cannot be on one place for long, but rather move around, explore and enjoy life and new things. This course of ours was definitely the right choice for her. One of the girls who enjoys spending time with friends, playing games (she is so passionate when it comes to games), hiking or any other outdoor activity. She is diligent, balanced and perfectly neat. You have to adore her from the first sight.

Koni Han

Now we have three Chinese in a row, they stood somehow next to each other. So the next one is our fashion icon Koni Han. If I have to think of just a few words to describe this young lady, I would definitely fail in description. It is not possible to say a word or two, there is so many things about her that I like and admire, but I have to narrow it down, of course. When I met her for the first time, she seemed to be so confused and lost in this crazy world of ours. Whenever we had to do something or go somewhere she would looked at it with her beautiful, big eyes with a huge question mark in the background. Today, she has become a strong and determined young woman. She knows what she wants and she does everything to get it. She has a great personality, she is friendly, honest, supportive, talkative and really open-minded. She also has that habit, as Ao, to say thanks or thank you for everything, but I think that is something related with the Chinese culture. Even they were not able to explain why they do it, it just comes out. They do not control it. She likes sports, trains a lot and quite hard-core. She likes hiking, everything that involves spending time outside, traveling, eating. She prepares great food though, the true and native Chinese specialities. Sometimes I don't know what I eat, but as long as it is delicious I do not mind. Koni is indeed one great human and I am more than delighted and thankful to have her as a friend.

Jiaqin Ni

But we call her Mandy. That is her nickname and, honestly, way less painful for my tongue since I always had troubles to pronounce her and Junyan Li name, one after another. Somehow, I mix the letters and it sounds more than weird. But luckily, she told us to call her Mandy and that, my dears, saved me so much troubles. So, cute, little Mandy. I think she is the most serious and devoted football fan among female population in our group. She knows a lot about football, she watches all matches, goes to some, she has that fan accessory like scarfs and jerseys. She likes playing games as well, I noticed that. She always has some new stuff on her phone or laptop, and she is so fast with keyboard shortcuts (I believe playing games tought her that). Other than these hobbies, she seems to be very quiet and shy, but at the same time when you know her a bit more you will see that she is really talkative, cool and fun, it just takes a bit longer while you both adjust. She is a great individual, polite and kind and I really enjoy our small talk.

Kamila Ćwik

Sweetheart from Poland. This great girl is all in one. No matter what you think of, or what you have in mind, or where, she will always be there to say “yes, let’s go guys”. She is very talkative which is why we have chosen her to be our student representative and she is the one who actually organised this party for us. Kamila has an eye for nice stuff, always seeking for more in perfection, completely devoted to her work but to friends as well. The coffee girl, I would say we can go in line, I am a coffee addict but she is too. No matter where or when (it can be 4 a. m. ) we both will be holding our thermos bottles with coffee. I noticed that she has way better skills in combing our native languages than I do. Very often she would understand if I say something in Serbian, and she would tell me how to say it in Polish. Naturally, I have not memorised the words and what is even worse, when she talks I cannot understand a word. She also likes traveling, as we all do, playing social games, organising girls’ nights with some sweets, snacks and of course, coffee. She has a Spanish speaking boyfriend so she is mastering her Spanish skills now, and I hope in the future we will be able to communicate on that language as well (I really put myself into this one). So Kamila, mi querida niña, it is my pleasure to call you a friend.

Moustafa Mahgoub

An Egyptian treasure. This guy is just one of a kind, one in a whole universe. He is so relaxed, chill and calm. He joined our group the latest, even after Caglar, but that didn't make any difference. He was still at all events, all gatherings, all happenings that we organised or planned. I think he mastered the “don’t worry, be happy” quote, but truly and indeed. Always smiling, with positive thoughts and spirit, never angry, upset or in a hurry. Also, he is the winner of being late in male population. Nobody could beat him there. He is one of these people who just enjoy life and every single moment of it. So inspiring, interesting and international human being. He is also a great fan of gym, and it seems he spends a lot of time there from what he looks like. I heard him several times sharing advices with less muscled guys of our group, and he sounded indeed really professional. Moustafa is also a guy who is always up for anything, no matter if it's just a regular going out, watching the football or any other sports match, going for a walk, swimming in a lake or in the Danube river, chilling in somebody’s garden, he will be there. Usually, it will take him time to come but he'll come eventually and make a great atmosphere. I think we all enjoy his company and his attitude as it is so unique and rare.

Miss Jensen

Alika Jensen, native American, one and only representative in this intake. This girl just knows how to enjoy no matter the time, the place, the people. She is just full of life and an inexhaustible spirit that you have to like her. She was one of the first people I got introduced to and it was love at first sight. This gorgeous is absolutely stunning. I like her humour, her commitment to everything she does, her openness towards other cultures, people and places. She has lived in more places than some have travelled to, has more friends worldwide than some have met in their whole life and she keeps growing her network and extending her sights. She is a true artist, not just professionally (she is the only one among us with the background in Science of Art) but as a person. So dedicated, so passionate with all she does. I just adore watching her as she does her drawings at random places, of random people. Her small notebook is always side by side with her and she captures every precious moment better than any camera will ever do. Alika is one of the most positive and inspiring people I have had the chance to meet, and my dear friend, I hope we will stay friends until death do us apart. And just wait to hear how she quotes Shakespeare, my muse in human body.

Dragana Subotic

Or Dragan’ca as I like to call her. My friend, my compatriot, my bachelor classmate. This lovely girl comes from Bosnia as well, and you can only imagine how surprised we both were when we heard that we were accepted at the same course. The funny thing was that we did not know each other personally before that. We indeed lived in the same city (which is not that big, around two hundred thousand people), we went to the same bachelor program (she is just one year younger, but still our university was not that big) and we both got enrolled at the same master (which is actually the time we met in person). I think that was such a comfort to have somebody from the same country, speaking the same language, having similar interests, enjoying same stuff. But, there is much to come with Dragana and me involved so you will hear this name very often in my stories (other people as well). Absolutely wonderful human, great personality, open-minded, funny, crazy and positive. Her moto is “girls just want to have fun” and she really follows it. Super girl to hang out with, go for a walks, go outside, drink and eat, travel and enjoy. Complete addict of Milchreis and Apfelschorle.

Taras Dubrava

An Ukrainian macho. Together with Moustafa, a huge gym lover. Healthy lifestyle advocate, always prepared with his lunch boxes and maxi water bottles. He likes a beer or two once in a while, but just as long as it is under control. I quite like this sunshine. He is indeed a unique soul and characteristic individual. He likes football as well, many times he would do his assignments by projecting this topic somehow onto it. He has a strong interest in psychology, as I noticed because he asks some weird questions sometimes. But you would not find that annoying or disturbing, rather cute and curious. Taras also enjoys hanging out with our classmates, going out, meeting new people (especially women), hiking, sightseeing. He has very interesting and unusual stories to tell sometimes which makes a really good atmosphere among people. He also has a great mom who likes and comment most of our pictures and a cute younger sister (she is literally Taras in female body). Perfectly different from regular but certainly respectful and determined.

Chenyu Zuo

The latest among the Chinese representative. This cute, small, lovely girl is just a salve for everyone who knows her. Always smiling, always kind and welcome to help or assist you, if she can anyhow. She is so devoted to her studies, her work, her wishes, like a small bee. Never too relaxed, but still fun and amusing. She always has some advices on many things which she shares gladly, but only if you ask (she is never intrusive nor starts talking by herself). She is also very stylish and fashionable, and everything looks so nice on her, our small model with long, black hair, natural beauty. Chenyu is very pleasant, kind, helpful, caring, good person and a great friend. I'm so happy that we got to meet here at this course and make this friendship ever-lasting.

Ana Carolina do Nascimento Melo

The girl with the longest name in our group. If I recall correctly, first is her given name (of course), than it comes her mothers’ surname and then her fathers’. All together you get this, so imagine our surprise when she first told us her name. Of course, we got used to it afterwards, but still we call her either Ana or Caro or Carolina. I have never asked her what will happen when she gets married and, for example, takes her husbands’ surname. Nobody will ever be able to forget this Brazilian cutie signature. Caro is so sweet and gentle. Sometimes it feels that she is sad and she will start crying if you tell her a word, but that is just how she is, so who would not be able to like her. From my perspective, she is an absolute angel, true and loyal friend, very open-minded and quite interested in her studies and European lifestyle. Also, very afraid of cold weather and unexpected outdoor conditions.

Susanna Abraham

Last, but not least, my true and honest friend, the girl I like so much and whom I definitely want to keep as a close friend for eternity, Miss Susanna Abraham. Unfortunately, she is not at this picture since she was not able to join us at this party. We missed her at that time, and we missed her every single time she was not with us. Such piece of crazy, fun and interesting human being is just impossible to find in one person, but she has it. This African beauty brought so many of her culture and customs to this group. I heard so many stories about life in Namibia, about Windhoek, about their weddings, wild animals on the highways, best homemade porridge, meat and only meat for every meal that I cannot wait to visit her and see everything with my own eyes. I could talk about her for hours, how funny and interesting she is, how good in imitation she is (she and Caglar are just great team), how loyal and caring she is, how crazy and cool hair she has and much more. My lovely Susanna, so gentle and mild, I am so happy to have you as a friend, my love.

And that's it, all member of my intake, all friends of mine, one big family. The three people on the back are PhD students at our university, they also did the same course as we but few years before. The girl next to Chris, on the left, is our friend Lisa. She was the only German at our course, but she left the course few months after we started. That way we lost all chances to have native German within our group.

One more person is here on this image which I have not mentioned, but I wanted to keep her for the end, as a cherry on a cream. That is our lovely program coordinator and among everything, our great friend and support Juliane Cron. She is this young women, in front of Ao, with the glasses. Juliane is the first person we got in contact to when we applied for this course, the one who answered all our questions, doubts, worries and at the same time was having a small baby so you can only imagine how passionate and devoted she is to her job and to all of us. She welcomed us on our first day, she was there always and it is still there for us, whenever we need something, ask for something, wish something. She always tries to find a best solution, to help, to support, to be there when you need her most. Definitely, one of the greatest humans I had chance to see and meet in my whole life, and I will always be grateful that I had this chance and that I have you as a friend, as a spiritual guide and unconditional support. To the Moon and back, our dear Juliane.

I see now that this introduction was quite long, but what can I do when there is a lot of us, and there is so many great things that I can say about everyone of these beautiful people, that there is no end, no matter how concisely I wanted it to be. Our Carto family counts twenty-one members from thirteen different countries, you cannot blame me.

Here, Moustafa acting super hungry and willing to eat a whole bowl of hot and spicy Indian food (he did not do it eventually).

International dishes

Finally, let me tell you a few words about all these delicious foods we got the try on that day. I really focused myself to remember what was all we had on the menu, but more than a year went by and I remember only from the images. I can tell you that I prepared something that I call “pita” in Serbian language. It is basically a dough filled with cheese and eggs. In general, if you want to have the original version you would need to make the dough yourself, and that would mean to make it and roll it on the table to be very thin. You then cut it into square pieces and dry it on the stove (but it has to be wood stove, not electrical one). Then you wrap all these tiny dough leafage and leave it to overnight. The next day, you unwrap it and prepare the stuffing, which usually consist of cheese, eggs, salt, oil, a bit of mineral water and milk and as you wish you can add either spinach, mushrooms, zucchini or whatever else you like. You put the dough leaf and a bit of stuffing, and repeat the process until you use it all. Then you bake it in an oven for about half an hour and serve it with pesto, more cheese, as a side dish or just as stand-alone meal.

On the image, that is this round green thing. I prepared it to look like a snail house and added spinach.

I remember that Dragana prepared something we call “sataras” and which is pretty cool meal, especially during hot summer days. It is quite easy to prepare. You can just chop vegetables (onion, tomato and papers are a must), but also you can add anything else you like. Add a bit of salt and other spices and either egg or sour cream when it is already done. Really tasty and light.

I think Maruf had his famous rise, Nevil also brought something with the rise but it was super spicy and Satare did her secret rise, as well. Carolina had some great cheese balls which I think are very easy to prepare, at least that was what she said, and Chinese brought a lot of their own specialities. We got to try many new stuffs and kill me if I remember any of the names, but I assure you everything was tasty and delicious. Kate made this star cake, very sweet and yummy, and Alika was responsible for drinks so we had some punch and cocktails. I am not hundred percent sure, but it was a bit of juice and a lot of vodka. There were other snacks, a lot of them, I did not took the picture of every single thing I tried, but I did photographed the table and here is how it looked like.

What is the game that every nation knows?

Afterwards, we had fun while playing games. Since we all come from different countries, most naturally, many social games are different and it is always cool to learn some new things. However, this usually ends up with somebody explaining how the game is supposed to be played and then we all ask so many questions “what if I do this, what when I have that, in case I got this situation” and so on. Sometimes, we all like the game from the beginning, but very often we just switch to those we all know how to play and we all know the rules. One of these, silly and easy games, is this one with guessing names. We agreed that we all know this, and more or less, we all have the same rules, so we played it. I think I was Charlie Chaplin, but it took me so long to guess, shame on me. Unfortunately, I forgot who was the winner, but definitely none of these babes here, since they still have their tags on the forehead.

Give and get time

We also had this event of giving and getting presents. It was basically meant to be put in/take out. Whoever wanted to participate could buy or bring something, put it in the Christmas hat and be part of the game. Quite nice and cool, real Christmas mood and feeling thou. Here is some of the guys filling up the hat.

And here is Chris with his present (he got big one).

So, this is my crew, my lovely friends and our lovely Juliane. We indeed become one true family and I do not have enough words to express how lucky and joyful I feel to have them all as friends, as classmates and perhaps future colleagues. They are indeed great people and I am more than honoured to be part of the intake as this one is.

Cheers guys!

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