Explaining Maria how it works!

Hi there today I´m showing to Maria how a blog works... hopefully she´s gonna be alright! -9

ERF

Mathias Gabler´s second birthday do - wow, what a party!

Well well well.... who would have expected that! After having invited Mathias to a couple of days full of wine and no worries, Sandra, Sonja, Joachim, Mathias and I met up in Gamlitz last Wednesday to reminisce in the good ole times and spend some quality time together - it was great fun!
We ended up sitting outside at a "Buschenschank" (a vinyard´s place where you canget food and drink directly from the wine makers) in the rain and tried various different tasty wines until we finally had had too much and then went back home - as far as I know anyways...
On Thursday, we got up relatively late and ended up going home quite a little earlier than I had planned, but we were too knackered to stay longer... The picture shows Mathias enjoying hisHavana cigar, which I had got for my birthday the other day from Josch.... Look at more pics on my flickr page!
ERF

Photographs of Benenden online now!

Hi there, as promised, there are some of the pics I took online now! Check them out on my flickr page!
Also, more on www.benenden.at or on http://benendenisfun.googlepages.com/home, a site created by Matt, one of the students of TU6! The picture here shows the teachers of my TU: Lisa, Alex, Cass and Ernsti (well, I, actually!) We were cool! ;-)
ERF

There and back again - an Austrian´s tale!

Hi, it was ingenious once more to be able to spend some time in Benenden... wow, I cannot believe I´m still saying that after 7 times of going there... you´d expect to get bored by it, wouldn´t you? Well, I am not and I was not. Just lovely it was!
So, back in Austria, I´m trying to make amends with my sleep deficit, going to bed before midnight is not such a bad thing after all!
Thanks one more time, GB, I don´t know what I would do without you and your beauty sometimes... Ok, that sounds really gay. but you gotta be there to understand I guess, the area around Benenden and the places we go to are just fantastic! Pics to be seen soon! For got my camera....
ERF

Being in Benenden!!!

Hi there, I havent been writing as I have been really really busy in the last few days what with all the England thing going on and stuff! ;-)
No, seriously, check out the page: www.benenden.at - it´s just groovy and contains lots of pics that suit the occasion....
ERF

Hola from Barcelona!

Wow, the first 3 days had quite an impact on us... we saw loads of things, had really good weather for sight seeing and managed to get locked in the house... all in all quite an amusing first few days.

Crossing the Alps already proved to be an amazing experience, the beauty of these mountains is virtually undescribable!

Then, when we had arrived we were not certain whether Esther would find us - she was there alright, and so we went to their flat and took off for a first walk through Barcelona...
Along the Avinguda Diagonal, one of the longest streets of Barcelona where we came across houses of the typical Barcelona Jugendstil. Quite nice - the most striking feature of the first few hours was "la poya" though, the dick... I wonder why they call it that, do you?:

So, anyways, we went into town, met up with Llorenc (Lorenzo), Esther´s boyfriend and had dinner in a beautiful Catalan restaurant, mmmh, very nice food there, especially the sea food was delicious for me! Not for Rita, though! Look at Esther and the beautiful "bombas":

The following day, Esther and Lorenzo took us to Montjuic and the Olympic village of 1992! Beautiful area, lots of huge monuments and superb view over the city! We had a really good time there, enjoyed the atmosphere while a guitarist was playing outside the museum up there.

Then we went back home and watched Fernanda Alonso win the Grand Prix of Germany on Nürburgring, which also was an interesting experience... fantastic atmosphere again, I can tell you!
On Monday, Esther and Lorenzo had to go to work, so we took by ourselves and went up the second hill which captivates Barcelona in its valley: Tibidabo, slighlty higher than Montjuic and with a huge chapel on top! Also, they have an ancient amusement park up there, which looked quite cool and bars with brilliant views over Barcelona! See for yourselves:


Afterwards we went to one of the highlights of my tour! The "Estadio Camp Nou", where Barcelona FC plays their home games in front of as many as 85000 people sometimes! I have to say, Rita enjoyed the toour probably even more than I did, as I have been to other stadiums before and she´d only been to the one of LASK Linz (not very impressive after all), but it was really cool. I want to show you the changing rooms and the grounds from above:

In the end we were really tired again and returned home, where Esther and Lorenzo looked after us like little birds - this has been great so far, honestly, Barcelona is well worth visiting! Check this blog for more in the next few days, also check out my flickr page for more pics!

3 hours to go...

Hi there, we only have like 3 more hours until we leave for Barcelona, and I am still stupidly trying to get some info on this page... that´s a bit stupid indeed, considering I have not been writing for the last year, roughly, and now I want to make up for it, it seems.
Well, nevermind, that´s cool we can relax for the whole of next week, just today, we should actually go to a little village outside the city in order to experience some of the good ole "real" Spanish surroundings...
Cool, we cannot wait anylonger, will be cool... are already planning our trip for the next year... Washington! ;-)
ERF

Barcelona, we´re coming!!!

Hi there, everyone out there in the void... isn´t the heat virtually unbearable? I think, my mind is totally numb most of the time from trying to cool down, I´d love to have a air conditioning system in the house... but, no, there isn´t one and so I have to bear with it for as long as it lasts... I know that many of you guys suffer from the same heat, so I should stop complaining! And I will, as Rita and I are going away soon! On Saturday morning, we´re off to Barcelona for a week! Can´t wait! Here´s one of the things waiting for us... The Arce de Triomphe of Barcelona! Nice, ey?! Hopefully, it´s not too hot! ;-) More pics to be delivered soon! ERF

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