Mathias Gabler´s surprise party in Neupölla!

What a successful weekend!
First I corrected the last test of my class and had no fail grades, then Rita and I went to a wedding and to a surprise party for a friend of mine in Lower Austria´s northern area, the "Waldviertel" and then I had a really good football match on Sunday, too... our team did not win, but we put up a real fight for the last time, as we´re being relegated to the 2. Klasse Nordwest in Upper Austria. Check out the blog about football here.
So, there are a few more pics on my flickr page, check them out, too, they are good fun. Mathias was so incredibly happy when he saw Rita and me arriving a little late (3 hours after the real surprise) but were basically a new surprise again, which was super... so we had too much drink and too much fun to be described in a little diary entry, but... groovy night, singing on singstar, drinking excellent wines, talking to fantastic and friendly people. Sabine and Mathias´ relatives are amazing! :-)
So, there´s a pic here: It shows Mathias and me singing Father and Son... he did not quite know how to sing it, but I reckon we didn´t do too badly, considering we´d already had a few... so, it was a great weekend,... there are more to come, I hope as our present was to spend a weekend somewhere in the Burgenland tasting wines... looking forward to that one!
ERF

Martin "Xi" Kopf - my man in Denmark!

Hi there, folks...
Today I just want to send you a link to one of my mate´s travel blogs... he´s a really funny man who has done journalism and English so the whole thing has been done up really properly and he always gets pics on his blog too... he started out his journey in Denmark and has now moved on to Sweden!
We studied together in Vienna, and he´s good fun, always up for a laugh! (as people from Vorarlberg normally are!) Xi, if you see this, haha!
Check it out - that´s his blog: http://mann-von-welt.blogspot.com/
ERF

Some new pics on the picture site!

Hi everyone, I haven´t been in touch for a while, due to several things that have been going round my head for too long, really...
Stressful times at school, no success at playing football, a hamstring injury on top of all that and not a lot of motivation to write even more things on the pc, when correcdting and preparing take up so much time in the first place...
Anyways, don´t want to bore you with details about teaching, it´s still an amazing pastime, am really happy to be allowed to have such a marvellous occupation, it´s so satisfying... that´s what the kids would lkike to get, haha!
Yeah, apart from that.... Rita and me are going to Barcelona end of July, Zweilaenderlauf is coming close, a lot of work ahead in that respect, too, and also, preparation for the summer courses is about to start - beforehand, though, I have to grade about 115 students to make sure that they receive the grade they deserve, so there´s still a lot of responsibility there too, am not willing to decide about students fates too lightly!
The picture you see was taken last year in Paris and shows Eros, standing on the tip of the Opera House, which has been placed where there used to be.... damn, I´ve forgotten!
Yeah, well, look at my pics and enjoy your time, I´ll be back soon - by the way, if your write a commentary, I get an info mail, so I´d be happy to receive one every now and then... ;.)
ErF

Eric - happy birthday!

Hi mate, as you are one of the few people checking my blog every now and then, I´m hoping this receives you well and in the shape that I expect you to be in - which is, as always, a very good one! ;-) Happy birthday, I do not know how to get in touch with you - well, I could have phoned your parents! But I have no new mail address not anything like a phone number, and the old one is not in service anymore, is it?
Take care, hope everything´s going well, have even bought one of your great shavers!
Cheerio,
ERF

Birgit, my friend from school!

this is a picture of Birgit, my friend from school!

ERF

Winton weekend - I´m coming!

Something really exciting has come up - not that I have a lot of time and so on, but still... Karl, my mate, and me are going to Winchester next weekend! Yeah, there´s a grand reunion at King Alfred´s College every year, where people from former uni sports teams meet and compete against the momentary teams... good fun, and some great partying involved too!
Apart from that, there´s not a lot to tell... have been really busy in the last three to four weeks, what with writing papers and correcting them as well, and so on... it was good fun as well though! Next week we´ve got the semester break so there is some time to relax and some more time to go out and have some fun too! ;-)

Merry Christmas - for everyone!!!

Hello out there in the void of ever so hectic last minute arrangements and present gathering! I hope you´re all coping with the pre- Christmas stress that has become a ritual for so many people that it´s very unlikely anybody out there still considers the traditional ideas of Christmas as a welcome time of peace and quiet! Anyways, to all of you, have a Merry Christmas with all your loved ones and enjoy the restful days afterwards, when business has died down and people slowly get back to normal activities! Also, enjoy your New Years Eve, wherever you decide to spend it or wherever you might be at the time - I hope your new year will be a successful and exciting one, just as the past few years should have been!
Today, I had something like a small first Christmas present already! I went to Hinterstoder to watch the World Cup Giant Slalom there with my and my colleagues classes! It was fantastic, a truly enlivening experience - frigging cold but really cool! The winner, Aksel Lund Svindal from Norway, you can see on the pic below - there´s a lot of training ahead of me if I ever wanna get near their skills - actually, it´s too late for that now!
Anyways, enjoy your days and have a rest, take care and talk to you soon, probably in the new year!
Cheerio, XXXXXmas,

ERF

Long time, no see!

Hi everyone - well, there´s not many people out there, following my life I guess, but still, you know...
Sitting here in a little room behind the conference room and using the time to give you some info about life´s progress while a student of mine is concentrating on her exam - life´s unfair sometimes!
Has been good lately, though! Parties at home, an invitation of a friend on Wednesday to watch the Champions League, great feel in our flat.... life´s good!
Hope everyone out there is ok and too cold, as winter´s coming up - but also the Christkindlmarkt and so on - yeah! Well, mind you, you don´t get that anywhere besides in Austria or Germany - what a shame!
The pic shows AMrtin Jech, an old friend of mine and me having a drink at Alex´ farewell evening before she left for France - and returned with a little Jonas and a tall Jeff... groovy!
Ok, gonna go, talk to you again soon,
ERF

Pictures!!!

wow, what a beautiful kitten!

ERF

Alwin and I

This is my blog, I´m showing it to Alwin!

Back to the roots - not!!!

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Hey people,
I have just organised a new internet connection for my laptop and it´s just about the grooviest thing I have ever seen - in comparison to the one I had before it´s just too fast!!! Wow, I like it a lot and I´m hoping to be able to play on the net more again - so, today, I want to give you one picture, showing a sight in London: it shows the caviar counter at Harrod´s of London, a beautiful and luxurious shopping centre in the heart of London, amazing there!
Well, the rest of our stay was really groovy, too, obviously there are many things that I still have to learn and change for future visits, but oeverall I was quite pleased with the outcome of our trip - the kids who tried really got something out of it, too, that´s the most important thing, if you ask me!
So, I´ll leave you to it - check out my flickr page also to find some more new pics!
Our flat is basically finished, we just need to get the rest of the decoration sorted, so that everything is perfect - but it´s great the way it is!!! Talk to you guys soon!
ERF

Back to school, back to business!

And busy-ness it is! Having to cope with a bunch of pre-pubertarian pupils or the ones that are just about trying to cope with this state of growing up does not always fulfill people with the greatest of pleasures! But I have to admit that, although I feel I´m far behind schedule, I still am enjoying this routine of standing in front of the class very much! It´s lovely, school is just the place where I can see myself for quite a while still!
Apart from that, there´s not a lot to tell - having returned from England the other week where I spent a week with my oldest group of pupils, I´m still recovering from the aftermath of too many sandwiches and unhealthy eating, meaning that my bowel activities needed somewhat more attention than I wanted to give them.
Well, that´s over so it´s time to horse around again!
Next, I´ll put some pics on again from London, we did a lot of sight seeing, good fun!
ERF

Explaining ernst how a blog works...

Hi this is me explaing to Ernst how a blog works - funny that!
ERF

Finally done - it´s heaven!

Hi there, Rita and Ernst productions proudly present their new flat!!! It has taken frigging long to get there, but we have in the end! Today, our kitchen arrived and we managed to get it sorted - well, apart from a leaking tap that needs to be looked at! Pity, but cannot be helped right now, is a real bad leak, too, so there´s no chance we could use it right now - but the dishwasher, a fridge, storage, ... wow, it´s amazing what you can do with a kitchen, I can tell you... I´ll put some pictures on Flickr.com in a minute!
ERF

Hi there this is me showing Barney how to make a blog...

Our new flat is nearly finished!

Hi there, people!
As you might have known, Rita and me have recently moved in together - we have rented a beautiful 70 m² apartment, totally new and unfurbished, and have been decorating it since - well, it´s about to be finished! On Tuesday, the 12th September, we´re getting the kitchen! That´s it then! Scary thought, actually having brought together so many new things, arranging them and so on - not looking forward to building my own house at one point! Well, pics will arrive soon, so stay in touch! Oh, and if you can, write a comment every now and then, ok?
ERF

Here we go again...

I want to try again and send a picture to you guys... so there goes... this pic shows me and Karl getting there, well, we were trying anyways! Before that we´d been taking pictures with Amando´s MAC, which was great fun cos he has this distortion thing goin and it was just a laugh to see Karl look like a big monkey!
Ok, gotta go, its really late! if the pic isnt here, dont worry you ll find it on my flickr.com page---
ERF

Back from GB - and it was groovy again!

Hi everyone, I´m back - and it was great to be in Benenden again this year - 2006 was a lovely Benenden, with a heap of brilliant people and more than fun to spare all around! So, here I am, back from the Crusades, what a programme: London 3 times, Brighton, Canterbury, Leeds Castle (not Leeds!!!), Chessington fun park, loads of lessons in between and so on and so forth - stress, hectic periods, altogether just an amazing experience with friends from all over the world and amazing and motivated students - THE IT for any teacher I can tell you!
Back again, after having to fly from Heathrow with 3 kids with an expired ticket who managed to get on the plane just on time, I used the last two days to relax and start getting Rita and my flat sorted - all the stuff from IKEA needs to be put together, so there´s a lot of work - luckily enough I had Evelyn and my dad to help me with a few things, thanx a lot, fellas!
Ok, gotta go, pics from the apartment to be online soon! ERF

One more today - Zidane´s Summer "HIT"

This is just too hilarious - check this out: the French have created this song, meant to become this year´s absolute all time summer HIT - Coupe de Boule... Too good to be missed, ERF

Long time no see - and there´s more to come...

Hi there folks!
This time, well, it´s been a while again, I´m sending you a post to let you know that I´m leavong for England the day after tomorrow, that is Wednesday, 2nd August! Yeah!
Will be teaching at Benenden again, so lots of fun is to be expected! Check it out here
In the past 2 weeks, I have been havbing quite a bit of fun, except that sometimes I have had one drink too many and had to suffer from bad hang overs a couple of times... this should be over now, as the "holidays" are nearly over now!
I have one pic for you, taken at the tennis tournament in Neustift, that shows me with my mate Christian - we didn´t have to play against each other, but I lost in the quarter finals, well.... practice makes perfect... check it on my flickr.com page
In my next entry I will send you some pics of Rita and my new flat... yeah! Talk to you again soon, cheerio, ERF