“I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.”
Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

It all began…

Dear Alice,

My name is Madalina (and full name Madalina Hodorog Andreea). You may probably know me as madi, as this is the nickname I grew up with as I was a little girl. Shortly on my background: I am born in Romania in 1983, where I spent my early childhood and student years until I came to Austria in 2006, first for studying and later for working and living here. In Life Events that Shaped Me into Who I Am you will find a bit more on my road to Austria. In 60 Things I Enjoy The Most you can find some of the things I enjoy doing, as you will find out below.

Short weekends in Amsterdam, 2015, happily celebrating round birthday of the loved ones are the best!

I now live in a beautiful city called Graz, the second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. After years of (let’s say) searching, I can say I have finally found a city that understands me, and that I can call home. For starting you can see some shades of Graz in the pictures above. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. I decided writing to you for a long time and now I am very happy that this moment has finally come.

Some of me in Graz 2013, celebrating the name day of a very good friend of mine by strolling up at the Schlossberg in Graz.

So here I go…

I have always admired you. Ever since I was a little girl. I used to listen to your stories and read them over and over again… Even now after many many years of first discovering you, I still find myself going through the pages describing so uniquely your wonderful adventurous world. A world full of mystery that always fascinated me. I enjoyed every little piece of that world: the fellowship, the scenery, the dialogues, the symbolism. But I will not bore you with all of this. Not now at least. It is not the time nor the place. Since…who else better knows this world other than yourself?

If you allow me (and I truly thank you for that!), this is the time to shortly introduce to you my world. A world quite different from yours, full of beauty and innovation, with unique landscapes and people, in which every moment counts. Since you were so generous with me as I was a little girl and you showed me the beauty and the uniqueness of your world, I would like to repay you in return in a way (if this is even possible), and present you pieces of my world. Every now and then.

Enjoying the city garden in Graz 2013, on a sunny day in a hippie outfit. I do love some hippie trends.

I am a big fan of a lot of things 🙂 , in 60 Things I Enjoy The Most you can find some of the things I enjoy doing. So during our encounters you will probably often hear me talking about a lot of things among which:

Lifestyle

• I looove reading, (some extreme) sports, game boards, (some) computer games, science and technology (yes I am partially a nerd), concerts, movies and TV series, and sunny days.

• Everything that is sport related, i.e. swimming – I loove swimming and I try to practice it at least 2 times per week; fitness, kart racing, etc.)
• Any other life aspects concerning my world.

Traveling

• I am a big fan of nature and recreation is one of my favorite things to do in my spare time so travelling and hiking are one of my best friends.

• I love traveling, hiking, and I want you to see the world “through my own eyes”. Some eyes that have seen beauty, sorrow, sadness, happiness, and nonetheless tears of joy and tears of regret or desperation. Either way seeing the world out there is something that I pretty much love to do. What I love about visiting different places is the way in which I get to learn the people up there, their mentality and the way in which I try to incorporate the new experiences into my own life. Just as you did when you fell into the well-known “Rabbit Hole”!
• I hope that you will enjoy every little piece of this world!
  

  Enjoying yet another view from Mount Teide, Tenerife, Canary Islands in 2015 after an astonishing hiking round.

Artwork

• I am addicted to drawing, painting, and most of the things that are art-related. I restarted painting and mostly drawing a couple of years ago, and this time I plan to stick to my addiction.
• Why “artwork” in my world? It is because I want you to see that anyone should listen their inner voice and do what they love the most. Even if this thing is not even slightly connected to their main field of expertise.
• I now have to be honest with you and I must tell you that my field of expertise is technical mathematics and computer science (It can be that this is something new for you. If this is the case, just think now at computer science as a closed box which you cannot open – for the time being – but keep it close to you! Or just think of Ada Lovelance , I am sure you read about her in your father’s books maybe? I am pretty positive he must have one hidden somewhere 🙂 ). Or for instance here is one of my posts on 4 Reasons To Study Computer Science.

• I love this creative activity of painting and drawing. It calms me down, and I try to do it as much as possible. Even though I had never studied art, painting or drawing. But I always wanted to pursue this activity, and a voice inside always told me I should do it. And I did! Of course I have some help from time to time, by attending two times per year for a couple of days professional seminars or workshops. Like this I have the chance to learn a little bit about the hidden secrets of pantry 😉 !
• I hope that you will understand every little piece of this world!
  

  A Lesson of Autumn, Watercolor Painting, Madalina Hodorog, 2015, painted during an amazing watercolor painting course in Graz. Love painting!

Cooking

• I enjoy cooking. I find it fascinating how you can mix a whole range of different spices to create a unique and most of the times memorable taste or flavor.
• So why “recipes” in my world? Because I know you like cakes and tea, and probably good ones. And I do to! Therefore I will present you some recipes I came with either from my adapted family’s recipes, from my (adapted) friends’ recipes, or any other recipes that I have found, tried, loved, and decided to also present to you.
• I hope you will enjoy every little piece of this world!
  

  Vegan Recipes, Cooking Course, Graz 2014, me being extremely concentrated on shaping those muffins. Cooking is the best!

Fashion

• I love fashion. Yep, I am yet another fashion addict up there, but I hope I have it under control…
• Why “my style” in my world? Well, this one is more than easy and quite short. Because I am a woman, and so I am quite into fashion, sometimes even more than I should. But all in all I think that being into fashion, helps my creative part as well as my self-control ability. To buy or not to buy? That is the question..
• I hope you will enjoy every little piece of this world!
  

  FOAM (Photography) Museum, Amsterdam, 2015 Wearing: ASOS dress and accessories, ZARA scarf, H&M bag, Corti shoes, Certina automatic watch, Ralph Lauren sunglasses

So that’s (some of) me. I hope we will have a great time and thank you for being such a good friend and listening to me.

Sincerely yours,
madalina

P.S. I also love cats. I do know you love them too 😉 .