Andy.at

2007-11-11T13:10:00.001-08:00

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.

2007-10-16T08:46:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-09-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-08-10T00:25:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-07-19T02:30:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-04-22T04:18:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-02-04T02:12:00.000-08:00

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...

2006-12-17T17:58:00.000-08:00

Minneapolis may have the cherry and spoon sculpture, but Melbourne has it beat with "Cow in a Tree"

Now that finals are over, I've had time to check out the city a bit more. Went to the National Gallery of Victoria to see an exhibit by a Japanese animator. Also went biking along the Lilydale-Warburton Trail, which travels along an old railroad line. The bottom photo shows one of the old station platforms. A decent trail, with no real hills (since it was an old railroad), but still a long ride - apparently went about 55 kilometers (34.2 miles). The full trail is 40 km each way, but it just got too late to make it to the end and back. And I was tired and sore enough from the 55 km.

2006-12-13T19:32:00.000-08:00

Well, finals are now over. So now I have some time to check out the city and state a bit more.

Victoria and Tasmania are currently suffering from major bushfires. Melbourne was a bit hazy a few days because of the smoke. Although generally it's still clear.

Anyway, below are much delayed photos from the Polish fesival and G-20 Summit in Melbourne in November. As expected with any economic summit, there were some police clashes and property damage. Although most of the stores in the area were unaffected (except a few banks such as ANZ). And the event and protests had no real effect outside of a four block radius.

2006-11-10T17:33:00.000-08:00

So I finally decided that it was time to add another blog update. And since quite a bit has happened, and I’m in the midst of working on all the projects I’ve been putting off all semester, I’ll use an outline format to maximize my return on investment (with the investment being the amount of time spent typing).

I’m taking part in Movember. It’s a charity event in which participants grow moustaches during the month of November. Proceeds go to charities relating to prostate cancer and depression. For more information, visit www.movember.com.au/au/home/. Should you wish to contribute to charity by sponsoring my mo’ click on the “Sponsor a Mo Bro” link and search for Rego Number 18318. If the mo’ ever becomes visible (i.e. more than a few random hairs that can’t be seen without a zoom lens), I’ll post a photo.

Classes are going alright, but still pretty busy. Only four weeks left, including finals. Next few weeks will be pretty busy.

Attended my first non-US concert. Went to see the Nortec Collective as part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival. So I saw a band from Mexico perform in Australia.

Went to a Halloween party. Halloween must not be a holiday here, because I didn’t see anything in the way of Halloween costumes for sale in stores. Kind of odd, given how commercialized Halloween is back in the states.

Got a bike. It was about A$115 at Big W (which I still think is owned by/affiliated with Wal-Mart). So now I’m biking instead of buying the A$100 monthly tram pass. So my payback period is two months (when you consider the other costs associated with the bike, such as lights, helmet, and lock). It’s interesting, you can bike on the street and cars will actually be courteous and give you space. Another one of those cultural differences from the states I guess.

My bike plans were almost foiled when I found a nail in my tire (see below). Fortunately it didn’t puncture the tire or inner tube, just went through one of the treads. So my asset (the bike) wasn’t impaired.

Learned to use business terms such as “ROI”, “asset”, “impaired”, and “payback period” in common language, such as blog postings.

Anyway, I think that’s it for now.

2006-10-19T21:15:00.000-07:00

Midterms this week, including one at 9 AM on Saturday. In the meantime, enjoy the following link.

http://au.pfinance.yahoo.com/features/forbes/mr_t.html

2006-09-30T19:57:00.000-07:00

For those days when regular, amateur gum just won't work...

2006-09-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

I was going through pictures I had taken, and came across the ones below. For those of you who have been to Winnipeg, and realize the craziness and illogical design of some of the traffic lights there, the one below (at LaTrobe and Swanston Streets) has it beaten with no contest. I’ll explain it as best I can. In picture 1, the green arrows in the bottom corners mean cars can go left or right. The solid red light means cars can’t go straight. The white arrow on top means trams can turn right, while the red “T” means they can’t go straight. In the second picture, the red arrows and light means cars can’t go at all. The green bike means bikes can go straight, and the white “T” means trams can go straight. So if you ever find yourself driving down Swanston (from the university to the Yarra River) and cross LaTrobe, you should now have some understanding of the light. But you might not want to quote me on what all the lights mean. I could be way off. And FYI, streetcars are called trams in the local lingo.

Because of the trams, Melbourne has some odd traffic rules. One of them is that, at some intersections, a car turning right needs to pull over to left (called a “hook turn” in the local lingo). This sounds a bit backwards, but they also drive on the left, so the odd driving rules shouldn’t be a surprise. Anyway, whenever an intersection has this sign posted:

A car needs to follow the turning rule I’ll try and explain. Suppose a car is heading down street A and wants to turn right on street B. The car would pull over on the left, so that other cars driving straight on street A can pass on the right. The turning car then waits for the light to change (so that street B has a green light) before turning right and proceeding. Crazy as it sounds, it does make sure that turning cars don’t block the trams. And it probably helps ensure that tourists are less likely to drive. Hopefully the photo below clarifies. The police car is going straight. The white pickup (or “ute” in the local lingo) is turning right, waiting for the light to change.

2006-09-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

Classes started last week, so I’ve been somewhat swamped with a large volume of low-level coursework. It’s not that the work is difficult; the challenge comes merely from the volume of work. On the bright side, with much less free time I’ll be much less capable of spending money.

While I did nothing this weekend, last weekend I went out to the Grampians with some fellow MBA students. For those of you who don’t know the Grampians, it’s a national park a few hours outside of Melbourne, in one of the Australian mountain ranges. It’s a pretty cool place, although the mountains aren’t that impressive – they’re like the foothills to the Rockies. But all in all it’s a pretty nice place. And on the way there, we took the Great Ocean Road. Apparently it’s one of the top scenic drives in the world. While I’m sure that’s a matter of opinion (I-94 from Minneapolis to St. Paul is also a top-notch trip), I’d be inclined to agree that it is quite the scenic drive. See below.

2006-09-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

I’m feeling more settled in. I now have an apartment, phone, and bank account – some of the critical things. I actually opened a bank account the second day I was here. After comparing a few banks, I went to ANZ (Australia New Zealand Banking Group, I believe – and the “z” is pronounced “zed” down here) to open an account. Interestingly enough, no banks offer free checking accounts regularly, only to students. Quite a shift from the US, where everyone offers a free checking plan. Anyway, At ANZ, I asked about opening a checking account. For a few seconds I got that look from the teller like I didn’t know what I was talking about – or was just another uncultured American – before she asked if I meant a “”transaction account.” So I guess in reality I don’t have a checking account here, rather it’s a transaction account. Just a technicality.

Last weekend and the weekend before I got the chance to check out some of the Australian sports – Australian rules football (“footy”) and rugby league. Both were interesting. The games seem a lot more fast-paced than US sports – the play rarely stops. Also there’s very little protective gear in use. The top photo is from footy, the middle from rugby, and the bottom for humor – apparently some guy name Batman had some role in Melbourne’s early days. Or the government is just a big fan of the superhero.

On an unrelated note, I applied for (and was granted) permission to work, so I now have a visa label in my passport.

2006-08-31T02:23:00.000-07:00

Having been in Melbourne for over two weeks, I’ve finally decided to start a blog. This first post is a bit long and somewhat dry - mainly a summary. But future ones should hopefully be more interesting.

The flight in went well. I managed to fit most important stuff into two suitcases, a laptop bag, and a backpack. Although in retrospect, I should have bought a bigger suitcase (one was really big, the other was smaller – the advantage being that one fits inside the other for storage) and evaluated a bit more adequately what to bring and what to leave. And I should have started packing much earlier. Word to the wise – if you’re moving overseas, give yourself more than three days to pack. But all in all, I’ve got a lot of stuff in my parents’ garage, and I think I have everything here I need.

Getting back to the flight, it went pretty well. Had quite a few transfers – went from Minneapolis to Denver to LA to Sydney to Melbourne. Fortunately, my procrastination paid off to some degree. I was up all night packing before the flight, so I was pretty tired and had no problem sleeping on the plane. So that went alright. The only flight delay was at Sydney, when everyone’s carry on bags were checked for toothpaste, shampoo, etc. That was the first I heard of the recent terror plot, and apparently the new regulations (prohibiting toothpaste) went into effect the night before.

Since the first email, a number of things have changed. I’ve moved into an apartment in downtown Melbourne, shared with another student. I had been living in a dormitory style accommodation next to campus. The location was good, but I’m glad to be out. It was more expensive, and it was essentially just a dorm room. It also included meals, which was nice. When I arrived, they told me the meals were “buffet style”, but then I noticed a sign saying that you could only take one tray of food each meal, a far cry from the buffets to which I’d grown accustomed at home. And on my penultimate day there the lunch lady told me that I wasn’t allowed to have two plates on my tray – just one plate and one bowl. But enough of that.

Searching for an apartment was an interesting experience. It’s very much a landlord-friendly process. Each apartment is open for “inspection” for about 15 minutes on one day. If you miss that inspection, the landlord/realtor will generally not show you the place. Maybe it’s because realtors show you the place, not the landlords. But maybe not. Anyway, it was quite different from back home – I remember my landlord bringing about a dozen people through my old place at all times of the day.

I’ve also had a chance to check out the city. Melbourne has a very vibrant nightlife. Although I did get carded at one of the bars. Which in itself wouldn’t be noteworthy, except that the legal drinking age here is 18. And later that night, I won $300 at the casino.

When I arrived in Melbourne, I was still on the waiting list at NYU. I had been on the list since February. However, I was recently downgraded to the “Rejected” pile. I wouldn’t have left Australia if I got in at NYU, but I was just curious to see how it would play out. But MBS lets students go on exchange to NYU or Columbia, so maybe I should take that route. That way I can foil their efforts to keep me out. It’s all about being resourceful.

Enjoy the following pictures. More to follow.