Santa Claus Pub Crawl

Hi all,

the finally week before Xmas and frankly I have to say that I am unfortunately not in Xmas mood at all - it is kinda hard to get into the spirit if you are at the beach with sun all the time. Nevertheless there is a lot of Xmas related stuff going on like the Santa Claus Pub Crawl in Manly for example. Funky shit - I have to say. I estimate that about 600 people dressed up as Santa and were crawling the pubs. Quite funny and there also is a looooot of alcohol involved ;)

On Sunday we've played the last tournament of this year - the NBVA #5 and we made it to the semis were we lost to Aaron and Richy. Was quite good and we are looking forward to next year for the remaining 5 tourneys. Kenno will be in Manly over Xmas and NYEs to train unlike me - I will just get stuffed in Germany ;) I will fly out this Friday after our IT Advisory Xmas Party at Bronte Beach.

Alright people - I will be in Germany from the 22.12. - 5.01. and I can be reached on my usual German cell phone number.

Be in touch.

Cheers,

Mike

Ps: Pics of the crawl are on flickr ;)

Bad weather

Hi y'all,

Christmas is closing in and the weather in Sydney is kinda weird. Obviously it is a pretty bad summer so far and we had lots of rain and thunderstorms (which is not entirely bad cuz of the lack of water).
It's quite warm and humid and therefore it is not that bad ;) Still playing lots of beachvolley and meeting new people (at the moment we have some teams from Sweden and the Netherlands training in Manly)

Only a couple of more days till I head back to Germany for Christmas (brrrrrr - it's gonna be cold) and I still need to get some presents (I just don't like shopping after all)

Anyway, tomorrow I have to fly to Melbourne for the day and do some work there and then back to Sydney. The upcoming weekend has the Santa Claus Pub Crawl and another tournament waiting.

Be good,

Mike

Xmas in Summer

Ladies and Gents,

yep I know it's been a while since my last update (again). There are definitely some new stories to tell after nearly three weeks of absence. I've been busy working during the week and spending pretty much every free minute during the weekend on the beach either playing or bumming around. Two weekends ago we've ended up in the final of the NBVA Tournament #4 and came out second. Which was not bad at all ;) I've also got myself a new pair of Boardies (more or less forces to the various Tourist calls by Katie, Lynn and some other fellows at the beach) Apparently you cannot wear Speedos in Australia.

I still did not have time to buy my new iMac that I'm waiting for so dearly - but you just cannot go to the city if the weather is that nice ;) Sooner or later (hopefully before xmas) this new toy will be mine. Last week was a massive week at work - I got sucked in a "not so well planned" project and ended up clockin in about 70h. At on point we nearly stayed in the office all night. Due to that I have the chance to take this week a bit easier than usual cuz I have plenty of hours to move around. So I try to play VB in the morning and go to the gym in the evening - paying tribute to my sport addiction.

This weekend will be sort of a party weekend - we've got three birthday parties schedule for Friday/Saturday and a lot of VB of course. I hopefully will make some pictures so that you guys get a better idea of all the people I've met so far.

Alright. Stay in touch,
Mike

Ps: It is so weird to think about Xmas in Summer. It just does not feel like Xmas at all ...

Packed place

Hey there,

I guess it’s time for another update. It's been nearly two weeks since the last time that I've published a post. Important things first: My stuff finally arrived this Wednesday so I was/am busy w/ unpacking and sorting things in. It's quite a step from having nearly nothing to a complete household again. So many things and practically so lil space ;) No, just kidding everything fitted in. I will put some pics up on flickr w/in the next couple of days.
One word about the moving guys - they were by far not as professional and helpful as the guys in Germany. The looked at me with big eyes when I was asking them to assemble the wardrobe ... answer was: we are just doing basic assembly - well after I've had to explain them for 15min how to set up the bed I just figured it's better to not let them touch anything else and rather do it myself instead. Did not take me too long though, but still it was an unnecessary pain in the a$$.

What else - well, I am starting to get to know the city and the places a bit better - found some guys at work that love to dine out, so I am getting to know all the good food places - sound's like me ;) On the weekends I am constantly playing beach volley at the beach and last weekend was full of training w/ Kenno. We had a couple of awesome hits against the #3 in the country. Good games ... Rumors go that one of the German top teams will be coming over in December or January to prepare for the upcoming season in Germany - we will see.

Other than that everything is pretty fine, I am enjoying work, joined a gym ... oh and I finally got a bike ;) At some point the next couple of weeks I have to get the new iMac w/ Leopard and then I am all set for video phone calls 'n stuff. Looking forward to that.

Alright - ferry is nearly at Circular Quay. Be in touch. Cheers,

Mike

Halloween

Hi everybody,

I guess it's about time that I write something again and more importantly upload some new pictures ;) Yep, I did and you can check them out at Flickr.
So what happened the last week - frankly not a whole lot. I'm settling in, getting to know more and more people, enjoying the beachlife and of course a lot of time just vanishes at work. The highlights this week were definitely the Halloween Party over at Nigels place right across the beach. Nearly all people were dressed up and it was really funny (not scary ;) Cool party - Rock on Nige!!

And NBVA Manly#2 of course. The second tournament for this season and I've teamed up with a new partner. Kenno is a former Australia national tour player that unfortunately had to move down to Canberra. But nevertheless he drives up here on the weekends and we can practice a bit. It's good fun playing with him and we came out 5th in this tournament. Looking at the competition there this is not a bad result. There are a bunch of good players here in Manly.

Well, and I finally reactivated my Facebook account. So if any of you guys are on Facebook feel free to poke me or just add me as a friend. I try my best to keep that account up2date as well. (Facebook apparently is very big in OZ).

Oh and last weekend apparently the ship with my things arrived in Sydney - BUT I have not heard any word yet from the moving company, so I'm still in the empty apartment.

Right, that's it for now. I'll hit the sack. Cheers,

Mike

Ps: Don' forget it's daylight saving now. Time difference to Germany is 10 hours now.

Pps: Say hi to this lil fellow. A real cutie:

Summer approaching

Hi y'all,

time for an update. Well, a bunch of things happend the last couple of weeks:
- Got the fridge, washing machine and broadband (finally!!!)
- Actually I think I will receive my OZ credit card on monday
- Bought a blender today (yum yum - Banana shakes)
- Found an excellent thai place in CBD
- Ate a bad kebab ... yep, I clearly know every detail of the restroom now :/
- I drank beer (I know, not many will belive that - Belgian beer not OZ beer ;)
- Some new pics are on our flickr page
That's it in a nutshell. Today was a beautiful day at the beach and I finally made it over to Shelly Beach w/ some friends. That place is really nice to chill out after some beachvolley and the offer free BBQ facilities.
We've also met this lil fellow there - catching the last sunrays:


Yeah, another topic - work. So far I definitely can not complain. Everything is good, the people are friendly and helpful and certainly have a completely different mindset than most of the people in my old office. They also heaps of interesting project and I actually got assigned to a long term BCM (Business Continuity Management) project which is done KPMG internal. So that is pretty good as well. There is also a lot of social events going on - pretty much one every week and if not some guys from work always go out ;)

Alright, I'll hit the sack soon. Be good,

Mike

Ps: The next tournament is coming up next weekend and daylight saving finally kicks in ...

Volley update

Hi,

just a quick post. Here are some pictures from the first NBVA Beachvolley tournament. Actually, if you look close enough, you'll find me on those pics as well.

The NBVA website with the latest tour infos can be found here.

Cheers,

Mike

16 things I've learned so far ...

Hi all,

just a brief message from Down Under. What have I learned so far about OZ:
- Driving on the left side is pretty weird
- The toilet flushes really the other way round
- Small waterspouts (tornados) pass by every now and then
- No encounters with deadly animals so far
- Beachlife is great
- The bank system is horrible
- You won't find a fridge in your apartment
- Insulation is not in the Aussie vocabulary
- People are generally really nice and helpful
- It is next to impossible to find a real Aussie in Manly/Sydney
- Ferries are a good way to get to work
- Aldi is also around
- Buses are not that realiable
- Cockatoos are damn loud
- No worries ;)
- If you go down south it actually gets colder?!?
Yep that should summarize it pretty good. Anyway work is fine so far, people are nice and I have enough time to settle in and I actually do get some trainings.

A'right, stay in touch. Cheers,

Mike

Moved in

Hi again,

so, today I finally moved in the new apartment w/ my belongings, which actually just consist out of two trollies and a new tuffel bag. So now I've set up my airbed and I'm waiting on our things to arrive in Sydney. Here you'll find some pics of our new place.

Furthermore I've participated in the first NBVA volleyball tournament in Manly and ended up being third in our pool. Therefore we did not make it out of the pool and the final result was the 9th place (out of 20). I have to say that there are some pretty good players around here ;)

Well, tomorrow is my first day at KPMG Sydney - let's see how that goes. I'll have to wait for my home DSL line till approx 12. October ... so probably there won't be many posts the next two weeks.

Be in touch. Cheers,

Mike

A place to live ...

Hi all,

time for a new update from OZ. I just came back from signing my lease and hanging out at Manly beach w/ some beachvolleyball players. Yeah, I even played one game and I will be back tomorrow. But back to the apartment, I got this nice, cosy apartment with a garden and pretty close to North Harbour Reserve. It is a 2 bedroom unit w/ a big living room and polished timber floors - quite nice - I'll put on some pictures as soon as I move in.
Just to give you an idea where it is:

View Larger Map

I've also signed up for the first tournament of the season right there in Manly for the Manly Jazz Festival this upcoming Sunday. All I need is a partner but that should be no problem I suppose.
Alright that's it for now. More updates will follow soon.

Cheers, Mike

Settling in

Hi y'all,

it's been a couple of days since the last post. I was busy finding a place to live down here. As it looks I was able to find a place but I have to wait with signing the lease till next week. So if everything goes right we should be living down in Balgowlah which is close to Manly and right at the Fairlight Walk.

I even had some time to stroll around the city and do a bit of sightseeing but not too much till that point. So far Sydney is definitely a cool place, pretty international, good public transport, lots of shopping options, good places to go out and cleaned up ;)

Yeah, so slowly I'm getting to know the area and I start to settle in.
So be good and enjoy. Cheers,

Mike

Ps: As always => New pics are on Flickr "Mikes and Siiris Pics" !

Welcome to Sydney

Hi again,
I made it to Sydney and to the hotel - everything quite easy. Took me 15 minutes and AUD$14 to get from the airport down town to the town hall. Then 10 minute walkin to the hotel, check in and get a i-net connection. So here I am sitting in my hotel room and getting myself organized. Here are some recent pics. I'll go and get myself a brand new prepaid mobile card now and something to eat...

Well, and sleep at some point ... Till later,

Mike

Hopping over ..

Hi people,

again its been a while since our last entry - but as you probably can figure we've been pretty busy with the move, work, paperwork and saying good bye to as much people as possible.

Right now I'm sitting at Singapore Airport waiting for my flight to continue - unfortunately there is no free wireless connection. To summarize, in the air since over 13 hours and still 7 to go. Weather in Singapore is nice and humid.

Alrighty, now back to were I stopped the last time. Status now is that I'm traveling on a Business ETA Visa so far and that we are still waiting on our 457 visa. We had the big move last friday and the container is already on its way to OZ. That was a whole lot of fun watching those people pack and wrap up our stuff and put it in the container - pictures will follow soon! Before that we had another tiny move ...

Now only 7 more hours and I will touch down in Sydney and moving into the York Apartment Hotels for the next two weeks. During that time I will try to find a nice apartment for me and the incredible number of visitors of course ;)

Right, enjoy the day & be in touch,

Mike

Back from Sweden

Hi!
Yupp it's been a while since our last post. It's been quite busy and hectic lately. Anyway we are back from our short vacation in Sweden. We've been doing a canoe trip in a lake area about three hours north of Goeteborg. That was awesome trip, lots of nature and finally a chance to switch your regular work life off!

We got everything (canoe, tent, little food box, water barrels, ...) at the camp and the next day we started our tour around lake "Stoa Le". We were extremly lucky with the weather and there we were also able to enjoy some beautiful sunsets on various islands.

You'll find some pics one Flickr (check the Links Section "Mike and Siiris pics"

Enjoy your day,

Mike

News on OZ

Hey y'all,

so finally I've got some news and updates on the further progress for our move to Sydney. First the contract is finally signed and on the way to Germany. So after it arrives here I have do to do some paperwork (filling in visa information, signing up for the health insurance and so forth) and obviously I also have to sign the contract. After that it goes back to Sydney and the visa process will be initiated. As soon as the visa is granted we can start to make the final arrangements for the move - we just have to discuss what things we'll take w/ us and which ones we'll leave back in Germany.
Anyway, here is some brief information about an international move that I want to share. The cost of the move can roughly be split up in the following parts:

• Costs of packing up things, disassemble of furniture and putting them on the truck to the harbour
• The shipping/place/storage costs for the container
• Customs / Fees
• The cost of unpacking and setting up the things at the destination

The most important thing to mention is the point that the costs for an international move are on an allowance per cubic meter. That means there are no extra costs for the time is takes or the number of people involved! One thing that you definitly should not forget is the insurance for your goods! I don't want to go into to many details here, because these points can vary from moving company to moving company and also the procedures might be different depending on the country your are moving to. We are going to the get most of the quotes for the move sometimes this week. The first estimates are around 6500 Euro for the whole move.

~ Mike

B-Day warp-up

Well, birthday's over ;) It was a lot of fun and a lot of my friends have been there - although some of 'em were missing.
I've got some new cool toys to play with, like a backpack for my camera and my laptop, an extensive BBQ set for our BBQs in OZ or the cool Elgate Video Encoder for my PB. Thanks again for the good time and the great presents ;)

Pictures of the party can be found in the link section under Mikes and Siiris pics. Have fun,

~Mike

B-Day

Hey ho, yesterday I've turned 28 - hm - guess I'm kinda gettin old now ;) Anyway, today's the "party" and unfortunately I had to change plans from doin a BBQ to just hang out at a coffee place. Main thing is that my friends and family are there. Let's see how it turns out.

Later ~Mike

Mikes lil big space blog launch

Ok, today's the day. I finally got the contract from KPMG Australia. Now I know some more details about the things that need to be done the next three month before I start at the anticipated date (1st of October).

Next step is to negotiate the terms of the contract - like the relocation package ;) Anyway, lots of things to do. Gotta run for lunch.

~Mike