The 2017 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition

             The Royal Academy "annual exhibition of paintings, sculptures and designs is open to all artists..., this started 250 years ago. According to RA website, this is to help the young and/or up coming artists to finance their studies at the Royal Academy School.
         
            Here is a big opportunity for young and talented artists to showcase their own art work! I got fascinated by the 'VENUS DE'MEDICI,' and I found out that his, 'unique fibreglas sculpture, hand painted with Dutch wax pattern, bespoke hand- coloured globe and steel baseplate was one of the most expensive sculptures with cost value of £ 162,000. The art works were made by Lagos-bred Nigerian UK-born Yinka Shonibare, who later returned to the U.K. to study at the Royal School Academy.

             See more photos after the cuts...

Queendaline Schneider, from London.
           
  Photo Credit- RA Gallaries.

Five Tourists Interesting Sites You Might Want To Visit In London

The Madame Tussauds.

The Madame Tussaud's, here you will meet the world celebrities in wax and take pictures with them on the red carpet. But then if you want to visit Madame Tussauds it will be good you go there early due to the crowd. You can also buy your tickets online to make things easy. According to Miss Ayo, one of the ticketing officers, she said that the place is very interesting that is why they are always having more people coming each time. Another unknown visitor at the Madame Tussauds said that the place has completely changed compared to what he used to know 30 years ago. He added that the Madame Tussauds is now like the Disneyland, it has people queuing to buy their tickets to take a selfie with their favorite celebrities.

The London Eye.

The London Eye, is another interesting place you should visit when you are in London. It is a big Ferris wheel that will enable you to view the whole of London. It is located on the south bank of the River Thames in London. It structure is 443 feet tall, and the wheel is 394 feet in diameter. As the wheels move slowly with the people enjoying the ride and the view. It is really exciting.

The Buckingham Palace.

 The Buckingham Palace is the official house of  the Queen Elizabeth II, it is located in the city of Westminster, on the Buckingham street. Along the street you can also visit the Queen's Gallery and shop, and you could get a ticket to view the royal pictures. There is also another section that permits you to use the horse carriage similar to the royal horse carriage, this takes place in the Mews. The peaks is the palace itself; the palace is considered to be the most expensive house in the world. The summer opening of the Buckingham Palace tickets are available now at www.royalcollection.org.uk

The Tower of London.

The Tower of London is located in the central London area, it is an historic place. The Tower of London has played a noticeable role in the English history.


The London Bridge/Tower Bridge.

The London bridge has become one of London's iconic landmarks due to its historic nature. All over the world people talk about the London bridge, however, the recent terrorist attack on the bridge killing eight people and leaving 48 people injured had the bridge decommissioned for a while. But now the London bridge is secured and reopened for pedestrians use. 

 Queenscourt: Travel Informationen/Entertainment from London.

How Safe Is The World Today?

I remember growing up in Africa (Nigeria) as a little child back then in the 1990s, the flying machine "Air plane" got most of the children in Africa fascinated, and when the children hears the sound of a plane they always ran out to see the flying machine. And they will start to sing a song in one of Nigerian dialects (yoruba), the song goes thus; "Aeroplane o da bò, bamí kí íyamí eloko, Aja wò efwu oro asò, owò bàtà esèkò, pamù pamù ginki ginki". Meaning goodbye aeroplane, please salute my mother the pudding seller when you get to your destination, a dog wear a shirt and wrapper with a one leg of shoe pamù pamù ginki ginki...

I personally got fascinated by the plane, that whenever I saw one, I will say to myself one day I will fly in the air. This reminds me of another song, " Queen where have you been, I have been to the London, London for what? London to see the Queen.''

Anyway, in this time no one talks about safety, all we see in Africa (Nigeria) are people who hsa traveled to oversea and came back from abroad to display their wealth from Europe. My personal encounters at the Nigeria and the Germany airport is worth sharing. Nigeria airport is more safe for those who are traveling to Abroad but it might not be really safe for those who are coming to the country from abroad, it is believed that the people have come with a lot of foreign currencies. It is not enough that the airport police and immigration officers are trying to collect some money from these people but also the armed robbers. When the people arrives in the airport they are always afraid, some of these people don't even tell their family/friends when they are visiting the country because of security reasons. They believe their family or friends could leak their information to robbers.


Despite the fact that the Customs and immigration officers are doing a great job to make the airport safe for the travelers, it is not really safe compared to the Frankfurt airport, personally I feel very safe and secure each time I have traveled through Frankfurt airport; from the plane to the maximum security. Their are uniform men and criminal police in the airport, and well developed technology to handle any mishap. Apart from the security in Frankfurt airport, there is construction of more buildings and good roads going on. I was in Frankfurt few weeks ago, only to see the new train station, very modern and world class. The construction of the train station is breathtaking I must say. There is joy in safety, that is why safety should come first in everything we do. As for me, I think security is one of the most important thing in the world.
But then what is happening in the world and in recent times has given a lot of people cause to be more security conscious.


What About The U.K Terror Attack?

I have the intention of schooling abroad, to have a good standard of education, but unfortunately I lost my parents at an early stage of my life, and that really affected me morally and educational wise. Even though I lost my parents I never gave up, I kept on believing in myself. But I still have the dream of schooling abroad. At the age of 15, I tried to publish a magazine newspaper which I titled "Taking Nigeria To A Greater Height.'' I had thought that because I love writing I was already a journalist and when I publish a magazine that I will become the youngest publisher in Nigeria. But unfortunately I couldn't publish the magazine because I didn't get all the support that I needed at that time.


When I spoke about my dream of becoming a publisher and a journalist at that tender age, a lot of people in Nigeria thought it was not possible. That is another story of an African child. Dreams have been kill in my continent every day. I am so grateful that I came to Germany because since I started writing for the newspapers, I have come to realized that I needed to learn more, I have tried to get a place of study in Germany but for now it is not so easy, so I decided to go to the London School of Journalism to run a short course during the summer holidays.

But now, with what happened at the U.K terror attack at the Ariana Grande concert in last week. That killed 22 children including an eight-year-old girl, leaving several children injured. It is really giving me so much concerns, about my safety and the safety of other people. But then I need to go to London to learn the new trend in my career as a journalist.

That reminds me, last week in the train from South Frankenthal to Grünstadt, while in the train the ticket Controller officer, had asked me for my ticket; so I gave him my online printed ticket, as he looked at me he said, " Queendaline Schneider, you look very good and different in your new hairstyle". And I asked him, please do you know me, and he replied me saying yes I know you as a journalist, you write for the Rheinpfalz Newspaper in Grünstadt and I do read your articles.

I love feedback and I really do appreciate all my readers because as a lifestyle journalist/storytelling or writer our work is incomplete without a feedback from our readers. I remain your humble friend and writer.
My life as a lifestyle journalist.
From the desk of Queenscourt- Rheinpfalz Newspaper 

Easter Customs In Germany And Nigeria

Easter is a Christian festival celebrated in all Christian nations. Easter festivity takes place at the end of a-40 day fasting and prayer activity among Christians. However, the Easter idea itself is a feast that hardly falls on the same date each year. I may not really be able to say much about the irregularity of the date. 

Not many people believe in the idea of Easter festivity due to doctrinal issues and difference. The Easter festive celebrations in Nigeria are heralded by Palm Sunday, a period depicting the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. During this period,Christians whose doctrinal beliefs align with this period go to church. In some churches, people assemble on the street with palm branches, and in sober reflection, as a form of commemorating the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. The presiding priest or pastor reiterates the selfless sacrifice Christ made for the church and His suffering for humanity. Some Nigerian Christians, when the Easter service is over, will go on the streets waving homemade palm branches, dancing and singing ‘hosanna in the highest’. Some also achieve various crafts using the palm branches, in their homes, as a symbol of His (Jesus) thorn crown.

On good Friday, the people forbid eating of meat and fish or any of such food with blood. It is usually a dedicated belief that shares in the sufferings and death of Christ when his blood was shed through crucifixion. Some churches hold various vigil or drama programmes, where the people act or imitate the passion of Christ. As part of what looks like reality in the programmethat same day, someone is dramatically nailed on the cross, acting out the reality of the role of Jesus. It is always interesting though to see a black Jesus. What a great faith! 

On Easter Sunday, the people clad in colorful attires to church expressing their joy and thanksgiving for the resurrection of Christ Jesus. The white garment churches (Aladura) also parade in their garments with sound of music filling the air accompanied by other instruments to make a joyful sound to the risen LORD!

On Easter Monday, some churches celebrate at the beach. They gather together to make a joyful, noisy shout in rapid succession with the restless wave of the beach, saying Christ has risen and has appeared to them. Easter celebrations are big Christian festival in Nigeria.

However, Easter celebration in Germany comes with different varieties. These varieties are celebrated on different Easter days. On Easter Sunday, children are tasked to search the garden for a nest containing variety of Easter gift items such as eggs, chocolates, rabbit candy etc. These nets containing these varieties are hiding by parents as a form of surprise and Easter treats for children to experience.

Asides that, Easter is also celebrated in churches as a form of appreciation and commemoration, it also serves as a tie that strengthens The German’s family bonds as members of the same family come together to eat on either Easter Sunday or Monday. 

As part of the German Easter tradition, the celebration of Easter is always heralded by blossoming spring flowers and various traditional Easter trees decorated with different colourful painted eggs, as a symbol of newness of life. The various bright colours are symbolic of sunlight and growth. This practice has become a custom that started centuries ago. Other attractive fun-filled Easter celebration is the Easter rabbit, Easter bunny, which symbolizes fertility.

Though Easter celebration and festivity begins with Good Friday (Karfreitags),the German families avoid eating any blood-carrying meats in the spirit of solidarity with the death of Christ by eating fish, egg or spinach, which is traditional Good Friday lunch. Easter Saturday is a floor Easter market where handcrafted Easter eggs, a special Easter treat, is found. 

The German families treat themselves to a good Easter lunch, which is the German traditional Easter food, after Easter Sunday church service. These foods include lamb, potatoes and fresh vegetables. On the evening of Easter Monday, each family comes together to drink coffee and eats Easter cakes. All these are significant and a commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Praise God he is risen from the dead! Hallelujah!

Immigration Reasons For My Tears...

Immigration is becoming one of the world's biggest problem today. Migration is as old as the world, even when there were no any means of transportation, people still have freer movement, where people moved from one state to another mainly by walking or trecking. For instance, in Africa (Nigeria) according to the history of human settlement, some people emigrated from Ile-Ife to other parts, these people did not have any means of modern transportation system, they trekked from one far distance to another. However, in time past people emigrate for different reasons; some of the major reasons were war, famine or natural disasters; but today terrorism and abject poverty are some reasons of emigration. One can say, people have been moving before the creation of borders or existence of  any nation.

Recently I have been thinking if they will be any solution to the issue of illegal migration, but sadly even if there were, it would not be enough to fully eradicate or reduce the number of illegal immigrants smuggled into the EU each year, it would take a long time and a lot of money and this may even affect the economy of the European nation. So, I think to tackle the problem of Immigrants; first is to end the wars in all the nations where there are constant wars and to eradicate poverty completely from the third world countries (undeveloped). But unfortunately no one can eradicate poverty completely from the face of the earth. Even in the time of Jesus there were poor people; "the poor you will always have in your midst"- Jesus said. 

No one can tell what will happen to these people who constantly seek asylum and what they passed through just to be saved or to have their daily bread. I heard some of the African Immigrants go through to get to Europe in the desert. For example, the number of asylum seekers: of Nigerians who arrive in Europe, has increased in the last years, and even though the chances of being granted asylum are minimal for Nigerians, the numbers contiune to rise; many of them travel from Benin city via Togo, Niger, Libya through the desert to cross the Mediterranean to Italy by boats. Many of them died in the desert and some of them meet their end in the Mediterranean. 

According to one Asylum seeker from Nigeria, she explained her experience in the desert, how they were starved for months without good food and water. Many of them died on the road as a result of starvation, some were bitten by scorpions and snakes in desert and died from the poison of these animals. And some died in the cold water of the Mediterranean from Libya; because they could not swim.

 "I will never advice anyone to go through this means, it is dangerious, and it is map that leads to early grave"- said Sofia Johnson an Asylum seeker from East Africa. 

There are no wars in Nigeria but people are leaving the country as a result of Hardship, Abject Poverty and Insurgency in some parts of the country. Nigeria is one of the richest countries in Africa but the government has failed to use her resources to develop the country. Personally, I can only imagine my 5 hours flight from Lagos to Frankfurt Airport each time I have travelled before I settled down in Germany. I cannot comprehend how the journey of 5 hours turns into 1095 days (3 years) in the wilderness to Europe. 

Speaking, to some Asylum seekers in the Tafel where I did some Volunteer work, some of them even see me as asylum seeker, as many believe all Blacks (Africans) came to Europe by boat, I have had encounters where people questioned me of how I emigrated to Germany? Anyway, I did not come to Germany as asylum seeker. I am a legal immigrant too. 

My Sweet and Bitter Experiences at the Tafel during my volunteer work; the Tafel is an organization where the refugees or Asylum seekers in Germany come to buy raw food stuffs for "1€  to 2 €", and there is also a clothing section for the two fashion seasons: Spring/Sommer and Fall/Winter. I volunteered to work with the Tafel, when I met one of the boss Barbara Böckmann who told me about the Tafel.

 All the volunteers usually line up on a front roll to wait for the customers as they call each customers by their number for the day. The store is usually open Tuesday to Friday but only sell on Wednesday and Fridays the other days are for sort the products. I enjoyed working with the people, as it was quite interesting and educative. Some of the fellow volunteers were really nice and friendly, while some did not really like black people from Africa, I did not know why; but often they would ask me questions like ''Are you from America''? And when I say no, ''I am a Nigerian from Africa'', their countenance towards me changes. That was nothing for me. My godmother is a white American and she once told me, that I should look for a voluntary job, to help my community.

It gave me joy to help others but the Arab refugees made me weep so many times; I did not know why, but whenever they assigned a customer to me, they would always insist on a German (white) to serve them. I am also a German citizen but unfortunately no one recognized me as a German, they would rather see me as a poor Africa child because of the colour of my skin.

I told my husband about my experiences at the Tafel and he advised me to resign. I worked for one year and on my last day of work same thing repeat itself, on this day I summoned up courage not to cry but leave, so I told the bosses and my fellow volunteers of my resignation.

I am writing this because I have always reported about the evil and wicked acts of politicians of my country (Nigeria), and I will be falling in my duties if I did not write or report about how I was mistreated at the Tafel by some customers...

"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything"- Albert Einstein. 

Germany has played a big role in the immigration crisis; Germany took over 1 million refugees and they are all living in good and better conditions; as they are given shelter, food, clothes and every other provisions including their healthcare. 

Also, Non Governmental Orgarnisation (NGOs) like the Tafel played a major role in catering for the Asylum seekers or refugees in Germany.

The European and America Government, can only find a way to reduce the number of illegal immigrants because global migration has come to stay, it will remain a fact of life on earth. No government can stop Immigration, not even by building high or big or giant borders or walls. 

Thanks to Barbara Böckmann, you are woman of virtue, don't change who you are, and thanks to all the real souls, my fellow volunteers at the Tafel. I love you all. Shalom!

German Carnival And Nigerian Lagos Carnival

Every year before the easter celebrations is the carnival in Germany. The carnival usually starts with the 'fastnachtskampagne'. It is usually done indoor officially with the committee of the carnival, and they have some politician in attendant who also dress up in costumes. This usually takes place between November 11  at 11:11 AM (11th month, day, hour, and minute). And it runs till 'Ash Wednesday' which makes it 46  days before Easter Sunday. In some part of Germany the street carnival comes up on Rose Monday (Rosenmontag),here in Grünstadt the carnival is celebrated on Tuesday "Faschingdienstag". The Street Carnival is always colourful, as the young and older people dresses up in carnival costumes to participate in the carnival as all the participants walk across the main street in colourful costumes. Some of them go 
in a carnival wagon or trucks with music, food, and other gift items such as; candy, popcorn and so on. They throw these items at the people standing along the street to cheer them up. 

Grünstadt Street Carnival takes place today, as all the carnival clubs members parades in beautiful costumes. Starting from the Grünstadt City Hall. Although the weather was not so nice, raining and very cold but this couldn't stop the carnival, and the people still have their fun. The groups parades start at 2:20pm. 

This is also the first time for me to take part in the celebrations of carnival here in 
Germany. Most times I just watched the people as they paraded in their beautiful costumes but today I took pride in using few carnival costumes to honour the occassion. I also learned that Carnival is a christian festivity that takes place in many Roman Catholic countries in the last days and hours before the Lenten period. 

Lagos Carnival Nigeria. 

In Nigeria some christians do not really celebrate carnival because they believe carnival is a pagan festival. However, there are people who still celebrate carnival in Nigeria even though they don't really know the origin of the festival, in Africa (Nigeria and Rwanda). For example, in Nigeria, there are different kind of carnivals across the country. The two famous carnivals, is the Calabar carnival and the Lagos carnival. These two carnivals are well known internationally. But I will like to talk more about the Lagos carnival because I was born and raised in Lagos Nigeria as a child. So, Lagos carnival also known as the "Fanti Carnival" of Lagos Island it usually folks festival which holds annually in Lagos, the carnival celebrations is totally different from what we see here in Germany. 

According to Mr Oladokun James, a Lagosian and a civil servants, he explained the origin of the Lagos carnival. The  carnival is said to have been dates back to the Lagos colonial period when the Brazilian former slave returnees came back to reside in Lagos in the 19th Century.The event is usually centred on Lagos Island, filled with carnival trucks displays of beautiful costumes and various forms of entertainment including music and dancing. The carnival portrays a taste from a broad and diverse range of source mixture of Nigerian and Brazilian heritage.

Fanti carnival was brought to Lagos Island by the Brazilians who settled down around Campos area of Lagos Island here in Lagos state Nigeria. The names of the families behind the carnival is the Da souza family and Kanaku family. There are two well known carnival groups on the Lagos Island which are the Lafiaji carnival with a red and white costume and the Campos (Brazilians)  carnival with a gold and green costume , although, there are some other carnival groups,and they are as follow;  Epetedo carnival with a blue and white costume, Olowogbowo carnival with a yellow
and white costume, Okoo-faji carnival with a red,green and white costume, Obalende 
carnival with blue and yellow costume and Isale-Eko woro carnival with green and white costume.The carnival is just to catch fun all around the local community and it gives a chance of meeting new friends and loved ones  within and outside Nigeria, because people travel down to have fun too from abroad and it even serves as a tourist attraction to Lagos state, beacuse the carnival comes up just three times in a year; The christmas day, New year celebration and the Easter celebration.

The only flaws attached to it was the battle of supremacy amongst the two major carnival groups which so many times turned to serious violence,injury to the party, and lost of properties most of the times: and that led to the government intervention and was later hijacked by the state government during the Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola administration and was later rebranded to "Lagos carnival", However, there are carnival in other local government areas of Lagos state; for instance, the Ojo Local Government Area Street Carnival usually comes up during the Easter period. 
This is unlike the Lagos carnival where people put on beautiful costumes, in Ojo carnival only the Carnival Queen dresses up in a gorgeous and beautiful costume, every other person only wear customize T-shirts to celebrate the occasion. And also, everyone of the organizers of the carnival are expected to pay some amount of money for the carnival celebrations. Moreso, the carnival organizers will close some 
part of the streets and collect money from car and bus drivers who use the road on this day for a good will project.  

Festivals are one of the oldest traditions of mankind, There are other festivals that is similar to carnival that is been celebrated in some African countries. Most of the African peoples were brought to the Caribbean as slaves from countries in West and Central Africa; and this include Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Ivory Coast and so on. And today some people in Nigeria take part in this Caribbean festival and other rituals. This Caribbean tradition is practice among the Yoruba people in Nigeria, as they see it as strong civilisation and socialisation. 

Another example of such festivals is the "Kwita Izina" Event in Rwanda. Speaking with Solange Buch from Sausenheim, a native of Rwanda who immigrated to Germany by marriage some years ago, and a Kindergarten teacher. She said there are no carnival celebration in Rwanda, that the first time she witnessed a carnival was in Germany. During one of the Grünstadt Street Carnival and in this time she has no Knowledge about carnivals since she has not seen such in her country. Although the Rwandan celebrate other traditional festivals such as; FESPAD, Umuganura, and Kwita Izina. 

 

As for me, I have never partook in any carnival in Nigeria because my father always advised us his children to stay at home during such festival because it could lead to violence. Carnivals are meant to be fun but in the case of Nigerian carnival, this could lead to violence and lost properties and serious injury without any compensation from the Government to the affected victims. I have never be a fan of carnival, until my childhood love for social events like carnivals and other festivals was rekindled through my participation in the German's carnival. How sweet! To see the people on the carnival floor singing and laughing. 

"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days"- (Colossians 2:16). 

Let us preserve our heritage because our cultural heritage is the mirror to the world. No matter where we go, our culture goes with us because culture never die. Culture is the identity of a person or a nation. Not even the rain or the cold weather could stop the street carnival from taking place today, how cool! To see the people who know the importance of culture or carnival. I also noticed that the event is like a social meeting where people could use the opportunity to advertise their products and shows. 

Halau! Helau! Helau! Is the greetings on carnival days in Germany!

Nigerian Social Media Celebrity Laura Ikeji Weds Ogbonna Kanu Today In Her Hometown in Nkwerre, Imo State Nigeria.

Laura Ikeji's traditional wedding to Ogbonna Kanu today in her hometown, Nkwerre, Imo State, Nigeria. Ogbonna is the brother to one of the Nigerian footballer Kanu Nwankwo, and Ogbonna is a retired footballer as well.

The couple recently had their court wedding at the Ikoyi registry, Lagos. (19.01.2017)

Linda Ikeji, Laura's sister shared some lovely photos of the bride traditional wedding today. Check out more photos of the beautiful bride in her African attire below...

Nigerian celebrity entertainment news, wedding 2017.
Photo credit: Linda Ikeji....