Well, it's now mid November, so I figure I'm overdue for another post to keep the monthly posting going.

This morning my windows were covered with snow - I'm on the top floor of the building so the windows are slanted with the roof. There wasn't much snow - none really on the ground - so winter activities were ruled out. But it was the first snow I'd seen in almost 20 months. I'm continuing to very slowly learn German, and work on the job front. But still quite a bit to go.

Traveled around a bit more, heading to Budapest, walking through Liechtenstein (purely for the novelty of walking through a country), and going to Grindelwald (Switzerland) and Bratislava. My brother visited for a bit over a week as well.

Budapest is a decent city. And very easy to get to from Vienna. The ticket back to Vienna cost under US$20. Some similarities with Vienna in terms of architecture - St Stephen's Basilica (below) looks very much like Karlskirche in Vienna. There's a park a bit outside of the city with a collection of statues from the days of communism. Generally though, Vienna seems to be in better shape, more maintained and modern.




Liechtenstein is a collection of quaint villages that seem to flow together, with a castle overlooking Vaduz, the capital. Given the size, it's easily walkable within a day - and provides a degree of novelty in doing so.




Grindelwald is an alpine town in Switzerland. In the Jungfrau region in sort of central Switzerland. Definitely impressive scenery, with mountains and lakes. Good hiking, with the downside being that things were rather expensive in town. I tried hiking up a mountain my last day there, but never made it. I think I may have ended up on a different trail, and when I got back into town I saw a sign that I think meant the trail was closed. But still a decent hike, and I see some Ibex (I think they were Ibex). Too far up the mountain to be anything more than a blob in a photo, but cool nonetheless.




Finally, Bratislava. It's the capital and largest town of Slovakia, and only about an hour from Vienna - perfect for a day trip. It costs EUR12 to get there from Vienna, and EUR8.50 to get back on the same route. Apparently rail tickets are cheaper in Slovakia. Anyway, Bratislava is a mix of an old town and new town with communist-style architecture. The added advantage being that I can just head home instead of paying for a hostel.

Art, or food?



Seriously, I don't know. It was at an art museum (Secession building) in Vienna. It is apples on a plate, and there was no sign designating title and artist. But then it is on par with other art at the museum (such as a bunch of crumpled plastic bottles).

Had the chance to travel to Prague (first three pictures) and Krakow (last picture) in late September, which was a good trip. Classes started in early October, with German class being the only one with a regular schedule (every Thursday). Other classes meet at odd schedules, which the professors are apparently able to change.

Jetzt bin ich in Österreich.

The past month felt a bit nomadic, with a trip to Brisbane/Gold Coast, a return to Minneapolis, a visit to New York, and a move to Vienna for a semester on exchange. Now I'm in Vienna, and staying here for a few months, so I'll be settled in, at least for a bit.

Travel went well, and seeing friends and family again was good. Vienna is a pretty cool place. Everywhere in the city there are amazing old buildings that are actually well maintained. The process of settling in took a bit longer than in Australia though - I just opened a bank account today, a week after arrival. I probably could have opened it sooner, but banks close for lunch (12:30 to 1:30 daily) and are closed on the weekend. Not sure how anyone with a job goes to the but I guess they must be resourceful. Although the banks do have change-counting machines, so that's one up on Australia.

Language is still a barrier, but most people know English so I can get by - such as getting a SIM card for my phone and opening a bank account. Need to work on re-learning German - and soon.

Photos are below: Last days in Melbourne (1), time in NYC (2 & 3), and first days in Vienna (4 & 5). Enjoy.

Today I got my passport back, which had been sent away to get a visa. So now I am actually able to get back home.

Finals week this term is pretty easy, with one final due today (take-home exam) and one in class on Thursday. However, my time is consumed with packing and checking out Melbourne in my last few days here, at least for a while.

Went up to Sydney in late July, for a sporting competition with another graduate school. While I didn't do much/anything in the way of sports, it was still a good trip, and a chance to visit Sydney again. Having already seen the city center and bridge/opera house, I decided to check out Bondi Beach. Photos are below for your enjoyment.

Well, it seems the French have finally found a way to stop the Germans (note that Burghardt is from Germany). The other big news comes from Tennessee.

A while back I went to the American food store in Melbourne. Interesting enough that there is a food that specifically imports American food into Australia. Also interesting was the Pop Tarts Box - promoting a free music download with purchase. Two points of note. First "Crazy Good" is apparently a trademark of someone. Second, while the circled text on the bottom is difficult to read, it states "Content Kelloggs deems explicit according to its standards has been excluded from this promotion." To apply corporate strategy terminology I've learned this semester (and thus make myself sound smarter), apparently Kelloggs believes there are synergies between food production and music censorship. More likely, Kelloggs has decided not to allow Pop Tarts consumers to download tracks given "Parental Advisories" by the RCAA, but I think my conjecture is more interesting.



As for the Melbourne update that typifies my blog postings - winter has arrived, and while it is not really cold, it's rainy quite a bit. Classes are going alright. And I've moved from my downtown apartment to a near suburb.

BTW, both dog and biker are alright.

So when I started the blog a while back, the plan was to update it somewhat regularly. I’m sure nobody really expected that to happen. After all, updates require some level of effort. But after some commentary about the dearth of updates, I figured I’d actually do something about it.

Yesterday, I was once again disappointed by the Australian banking system. Being used to the American currency system, where change/coins are only good for laundry and parking meters, I developed a habit of dropping all my change in a box at the end of the day. I’ve been continuing that habit here, and since August managed to build up quite a collection of coins. The difference being that here there are A$1 and A$2 (US$0.82 and US$1.64, respectively) coins. So I finally took my box of change to the bank, and walked up to the teller to deposit it. Her response: here are some bags, go sit at that table and sort it out by denomination into these bags and bring them back to deposit. So I sit at the table for about a half hour sorting coins into piles and then into bags so that I can deposit them. Fun times, and a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Classes go for an additional two weeks, including finals. All the big projects are now done, so not quite so busy. Easter break was good. Had Friday and Monday off, so a long weekend. Took a trip out along the Mornington Peninsula, went to the beach on Easter afternoon, and otherwise relaxed and didn’t do any school work.

So on to the updates. I’ve moved back into the place in which I first lived in Melbourne, since my apartment lease ended April 19. My friend Mike is coming to visit in May. Probably taking classes the first half of next term – late May through June. Not 100% sure, but 6 weeks of classes and then traveling sounds like a good plan. So I might graduate in December 2007 instead of May 2008. Then off to Vienna for fall semester (northern hemisphere fall) on exchange. Hopefully I’ll learn my German back. That’s what I tell myself anyway.

I guess that’s it. Mornington photos are below.

So break has come and gone, with classes resuming tomorrow. A bit unfortunate that break is ending, but classes should be interesting - operations and strategy for instance.

Break was good. Got to check out more of the city. So I now know Melbourne better than before, when much of my time was spent at campus in class or studying. Now I'm in the middle of an internship search, which means the return to the real world is inevitably near.

I was hoping to travel around Victoria more than I did over break. However, I did make it to Perth. STA Travel in Australia had a deal where you could get a free domestic flight if you booked five nights accomodation. So for less than the price of airfare, I got a round trip flight and five nights accomodation in Fremantle, a suburb of Perth. Perth is a decent city; although smaller than Melbourne (about half the size), it has more consistent weather and better beaches. And I got to go to the Indian Ocean - the beach photo below is the Indian Ocean from Rottnest Island.

Anyway, that's all for now. Tomorrow, the Super Bowl is showing at 10:25 AM on a Monday. Fortunately, there's an evening session of my day class, so I can watch the Super Bowl in the morning and then make up class in the evening. Nothing like Super Bowl Monday...