Merry Christmas to everyone!

Hi just a quick note from Oberkappel.

We wish you all a wonderful time with your friends and family and a very happy Christmas 2008. Enjoy the peace and quiet for as long as it lasts and make sure you value these periods of the year as much as they deserve. Reverence, harmony and happiness cannot be weighed up with anything else - so, hopefully, your momentary lives are full of them!

All the best and a happy new year, 2009 - we´re coming fast!
May the changes happening around the world make it a better place!

Rita and Ernsti Fi.

Breaking bones....

Guess what happened to me on my BIRTHDAY? Well, on my way home from the volleyball course I was teaching at, lost in thought, I had a crash with my bike... when I got up from the road I was like - "Wow, I can move my shoulder, lucky me!"
But when I took a second feel, I realised I had not been so lucky after all - I noticed my right collarbone was facing the wrong way!
So I went to hospital to have an x-ray done - it looked a little like the pic above - was slightly flustered, got a corset at first, which should have moved the bone back where it belonged. But when I had a check up with a second X-ray on Thursday it had not moved as far as the docs had anticipated and, considering my profession and interests, I was advised to have it fixed with surgery... and then it will look a little like this:
So, on Monday next, I will undergo my first real surgery, well, I had my tonsils taken out when I was 8 or so, but I do not think that counts - it´s too far back, I guess!
Anyways, just wanted to give you guys and update on my situation, it´s not that bad, though, sounds worse than it really is - the pain is acceptable, I actually returned to the volleyball camp for Thursday and Friday - did not play, naturally, but was there to assist. And my lovely Rita is there to help me wash my hair and everything, so I´m alright, I reckon, and soon, we´ll be laughing about it.
Alright, gonna go now. If I get the x-rays, I´ll put one in here for you guys, maybe you´re interested? Wish me luck!
ERF

Back from Benenden, into the middle of MAYHEM

Hi there,

Have just come back from 3 wonderful weeks in England, check out www.benenden.at to see more pics like this one, showing Lisa, me and Ellie on our way to Rye Royal,


or that one, showing the whole group of TU 6 at lovely Brighton seaside.

So, having returned from my summer in Benenden could mean that I now have some time to relax and enjoy the last part of the holidays - well, not for me, it doesn't! As soon as I returned on Friday, reality kicked in again - in good ways, though!
First, I was able to play in my team´s second game of the season and we won 2:0, a relativley good performance by me as well as the rest of the team!
Then, on Monday morning, Rita and I started moving flats. So, we got up at 7 and started kicking boxes around - thank god, Mum, Dad and my friend Alexander helped us, so we managed to get ready by something like 6 pm - wouldn't have happened without Christian and Arthur who came to the rescue at the end of the day and helped us with the last truck load.
On Tuesday, we still had to paint the old flat, so up we got at 7 and started working on it - took until 2 when we finally handed over our flat to its new owner - so, now, we still have to organise our new appartment so people can actually see it, open the doors, etc... a lot of work ahead of us still... but good stuff!
And, at the weekend, Rita and I are going to the Südsteiermark with a few mates - that'll be awesome, good relaxing down there! Talk to you again soon!
ERF

The holidays have started... not really though...

Hi folks!

.... sorry for not having been very active on this account for the last half year, folks,.... or, actually, whoever is out there.
It seems I might have been a bit more active on another account though, but make no mistake, this is my god son, Georg Jakob, and not a baby of my own! But he`s groovy, and I'm getting into this thing quite a bit, so who knows.... ;-)
I've just finished the school year and needed to relax and fill up the engines for a while before the new stuff ahead is kicking in... Rita and I are moving to a different place here in Linz, so we're organising things like a new kitchen, a new rentee for our old flat, a moving van, and so on, and so forth... quite a few things, really.
And in a week and a half I will be leaving Austria again for a while to go to England and do my course at www.benenden.at again... Looking forward to that actually, that'll be good again... and I do not have to worry about putting up stuff in the new appartment or about cooking without a kitchen or about... about nothing really, so that´s magnifique!
The picture I'm showing you today is from my Matura... A-Level exams, as others might call it... it shows the group of people who I taught for the last 4 years... they were my first group of students of English and I daresay they all did a great job and I feel they actually learnt something... and I do not mean just for the finals, in general is what I meant...
Here they are with their teachers (can you spot me?):

I wish them all the best in their future and hope to see them again some time to be able to reminisce in the good old times! Cheerio,
Ernsti

Bush Government Count Down!

Check this out!
I have just found a George Bush Countdown Clock for my Blog!
I´m gonna install it straight away, seems pretty cool!
Find it yourselves here!
ERF