Bunny holidays

What do you do on Bunny holidays in Australia? Going to the beach of course ;) and watching IceAge2! We were six people and a four-wheel-drive driving along the beach of Noosa Heads. Great! For five minutes I could show them how to drive properly, like in Germany. They really check the speed on the beach so I couldn't pump up the speed as I would like to. The six people were Lynn, Rob, Mhairi, Alex, Andrew and me. Alex and Andrew are colleagues from Rob at Leica. We had a good time.IceAge2 was great as well. Sid, my favourite actor, did his part just perfect again.
In general it is great to be back, but it is really cooling down here. Over night 'only' 16 degrees and during the day warm 26 degrees. I still can keep my wooly socks in the office but now I need in the evening and in the morning my beloved jumpers.

I am currently looking for flats. I hope to find something more normal than the two crazy shared flats I had before. My luck is that I can stay at Mhairi's and Rob's place. They are hardcore veggies, but that's ok. :D They compensate this with Rob's interest in football and Mhairi's scottish humour.

Ok, cross the fingers for me that I will be a good student for Lynn's high expectations. I know it won't be easy. But that's the way I have chosen. ;)

Have a good start in the week! Take care!

P.S. Don't blame me for no-pics. We all forgot the camera or the batteries etc.

Back in Oz

Three months Germany are behind me, and three years of Australia are waiting for me. I arrived last Thursday here in Brisbane. The sun is shining, as usual! Am I happy? Yes, I think so, but it is hard to let parents and friends back in Germany. The flight Berlin-Frankfurt-Singapour-Brisbane was surprisingly without any problems. No delay, no toxic air or something like that. So I arrived on time and my boss, Rohan Teasdale, picked me from the airport. I will stay the first days at Mhairi's and Rob's place. I noticed my English knowledge descreased alarming too much. I don't understand any british english word anymore. Why should I actually? I need proper aussie accent now. So, I shouldn't worry about it. ;) NO WORRIES!
I spent the thursday already at the institute. There is a lot of paperwork waiting for me. But then I had a nice shower and slept almost 12 hours. Yesterday I had a really lazy day. I almost feel bad about it. But today I couldn't resist. I need internet so I got up at 6.30am without any problems and went to the office. I know it is Easter and Saturday, but ....

So, I hope to give you some more report the next days and weeks and I think I will find some nice pics again to show you. You take care!

Cultural shock

HELP! HELP! First Mozart and now the Pink Panther with Steve Martin. What a combination! But one after the other! As you should know Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is celebrating his 250th birthday this year. Ok, we celebrate more or less his birthday. I shocked myself with a visit in the theatre yesterday evening. The show was called Mozart's night. I expected songs I know, but I noticed one little part of one song. The rest I have never heard before. But please don't tell anyone. ;)
Tonight my parents went with me to the new Pink Panther movie with Steve Martin.

Quote of my dad after the movie:

American bullshit!!

And I have to agree. I just wanted to see this movie because of the lovely french accent. How sweeeet! *sniff*

Here is the proof for the snow we had the last 24 hours.


I upload some pics to show the winter we had and still have. Since I am back from Aussieland there was now day without snow.

It wasn't me, I swear!

And here some cute pics of Freddy. Isn't he sweet?

the one on the right side :)

bye bye cambridge

I spent some time in Cambridge to say mainly 'Good bye' to my favourite glorious best friends. I was unfortunately not in the best constitution but I really enjoyed the time.

@Bene: Thanks for sharing the time with me and Mandy. I have to say this english breakfast will be an exception. Never again! White beans in the morning, yeark! I promise somehow and somewhere we go to a pub and get really pissed!

@Markus: We more or less missed eachother this weekend. But I am pretty sure, everyone of us lives in his/her own world. And we will never find something to share, won't we? Thanks for the dinner, was surprisingly good. I really liked it. Dani and you are welcome in Brisbane, but only when you have finished your Espresso-PhD. :)

@Flo: Finally at the end of the studies we found a topic to talk about. Your advises about men (mmm *hard thinking*). I am not sure if I can handle this. But I will ask you from time to time for a piece of advice. I mean finally you are the expert, hihi! See you at the beach somehow!

@Georg: I met you briefly in Cambridge (45min). But it was good to see you and say good bye. I am looking forward to hear from you again, if you ever will leave Bavaria again for such a long time. ;) Take care Georg! You are always welcome asking me question about the weird 'female' gender, hihi!

@Micha: Michalein, first a big thank you for letting me overnight at your place. All the other guys were occupied already. ;) Second, I wish you good luck for your thesis, in general for the next semester. And I see you next year at Surfers Paradise, hunting sharks! I will be there! Take care!

Ok, back in Germany the last preparations started. I am just waiting for the result of the english test, quite annoying actually. My Diploma is getting translated properly now for a lot of money, grrrr! I let you uptodate! Take care!!

some pics

The evidence! :)

The frozen river Oder behind me - a natural border to Poland

Katja and me at Fratscher's :)

From now on ....

... you have to call me 'Lady of Bioinformatics'. No, I am kidding! :) I should really stop watching IceAge all the time, hihi! I got the info today that I passed my final exam. Conclusion is that I should get the Diploma soon. I am sooo happy. It is done! I don't care about the title. I just can go on with the next step. Three years PhD in Brisbane. (if I have passed the IELTS) ...

Looks like I am back soon! Be warned! :)

Take care!

Three weeks Germany

Hi folks,
So, now I am in Germany since almost three weeks and I never get temperature above 0°C. Ok, it is the winter season here, but I really deserved a more human way to adapt to this temperature. :)
I have to apologize, but I have problems to upload pics. Otherwise you would have seen me in winter clothes, i.e. up to five layers!! We expect tonight -15°C here again. I am used to my wooly socks over night again. I was wearing them in BNE at the office. ;)
Any news? More or less no. I went for a couple of days to Munich. The main reason was my hopefully final exam in Bioprocess-Engineering. I have a better feeling compared to last time, but now waiting is worse than before. The result should be available in more than a week. AWFUL!
Currently I am learning for an IELTS in Berlin next week. I bought 2 books as a preparation and I am shocked. The listening part is ok, but the reading part is a nightmare, I swear. As some of you know I hate interpretation of texts I don't care of. Now everyday I am really trying my best, and it is a pain in the a.. , sorry!

Ok, guys , I will try again to upload some pics during the next days. Keep you up-to-date!

Take care! Greetings to Brisbane, Cambridge, Berlin, Munich, Freising, Auckland and the rest I forgot!

In 80 days around the world :)

12th of January 2006 12:30am (BNE-time)

Yep, nice change. When I came here I flew twice with British Airways and once with Qantas, although everything was booked with Cathay Pacific. Now on my way back I got Cathay pacific until London. I will see how it is. Another thing is that they booked my luggage already until Berlin. I doubt about it.

Last night I slept only 4 hours. Can you imagine I got fish and chips for my farewell party?! This english-scottish couple did this to me. I could avoid this traditional "island" food for 12 months in Cambridge, but here not even for one. But if you see the seafood here, you will understand why. It is DELICIOUS!! I will miss all this. Especially Mhairi and Co. :) Currently I am waiting for my flight to Hong Kong (HKG). I couldn't resist to buy something sweet, australian macademia nuts with chocolate. But that is a present for german relatives. Getting tired now.

BNE-HKG 6956km 8:17 hours

16:45 (BNE-time)

After 2,5 hours the captain decided to land in Cairns. 30 minutes ago there was a burning smell in the air, but it stopped again. But the captain decided to stop and let the plane check. We should land in Cairns in 30 minutes. They stopped the TV and the radio. Then the smell again. Suddenly smoke came out of the aircon. People were screaming "Fire, Fire!". How would you behave? I am not panicing, but I am not calm either. The crew calmed the people again. The smoke was there to remove the burning smell. Surprisingly I am not tired anymore. Every single move of the plane, every unknown noise is scary now. I am ok.

17:20 (BNE-time)

We landed in Cairns. Even the fire brigade is following us. At least I can now pretend that I was once in Cairns.



17:20 (BNE-time)

No Cathay pacific engineer in Cairns. Conclusion => We all stay overnight in Cairns. I am fine with it. Safety has the highest priority.

18:20 (BNE-time)
Sitting now in the coach, which should bring us to the hotel (Why does all this remind me of my trip in October?) ;) I calm down now, although we still don't know when we got to HKG tomorrow. I called my mum and hopefully I can give her more info later. (I am laughing inward)

22:00 (BNE-time)
We got 5min to give a free phone call. I called mum. At least they know where I am. I got here a whole studio and again two huge beds. They still don't know about tomorrow. So I just watch a bit TV. Unfortunately I can't use my laptop because of the black screen. I wish you all a good night.

13th of January 4:45 (BNE-time)
The phone is ringing. "This is your reminder call. This is your reminder call. This is ....". I didn't ask for one. I got up and went to the bathroom. Fortunately I saw a sheet of paper in front of the entry : 6am bus to airport; 8am flight to HKG. Looks like they could fix something.

9:22 (BNE-time)
Ok, sitting on the plane again, same seat. This is important, because there was no one next to me. We got a voucher for breakfast at the airport. They offer us to spend another night in HKG. They have heavy seasonal passanger loads for the flights to Europe. I don't know yet. I will check in HKG what kind of option I have. Would be great to go directly to Germany. I will see.

CNS-HKG 5572 km 6:39 hours

10:00 (BNE-time)
Now we take off, at last.

11:45 (BNE-time)
Just got lunch. The chinese Year of the Dog should start soon. Don't know the exact date for it. The flight is ok, except that I am a bit freezing. But I have to get used to it anyway. I have now enough time to learn for my exam. So I am not too upset with this delay. I could go to the cafe I found in October in HKG to get free internet access. I will see. I think they don't want you to switch to another company.

HKG-KUL 2546km 3:15 hours

18:30 (BNE-time)
Yep, it is getting more exciting. KUL is Kuala Lumpur. Arrived in HKG, the ground staff was waiting for us to organize further details. Either you could stay in HKG for one more night or get a immediatly flight to KUL and then to Paris - Charles de Gaulles. Because I had to fly to Berlin via London I am now about to fly to KUL. I think 90min after we arrived in HKG I am back in an airplane and in the air again. Still could find time to call mum.

MHAIRI!! Guess what I am watching here!
1) Corpe's Bride
2) Wallace & Gromit
3) March of the penguines
4) Brother Grimm
5) Oliver Twist ..... hihi

21:00 (BNE-time)
Preparing for landing.

21:40 (BNE-time)
I should be in Berlin now. Where am I? In Kuala Lumpur!!!!!

KUL-CDG 10.769km 12:50hours

14th of January 11:00 (BNE-time)
I am on the way to Paris with Malayasian airways. We should land in less than 4 hours.

18:15 (BNE-time)
Looks good. I am in the plane to Berlin now. This plane is soo small, hihi. But the seats made with leather!!! My parents pick me up. Yeark, never eat german sandwiches. Why, just why do they put soooo much butter on it? It is cold here and they feed me with butter.

I want to go back to BNE!!!!

P.S. sorry no pics so far, cause the cable I need is still on its way! ;)

Wet Friday

My friends invited me to my own Farewell-trip. Lynn's car brought us to Wet'n'wild, the Water-Fun-Park at the GoldCoast. We had a great day. The queueing was a bit annoying. Even our british couple was a bit upset about it. :) Covered with our new shirts, Mhairi and me were well protected against the UV-rays. Although it was cloudy I got a bit sunburnt in my face and my arms. The day in the park was finished by a huge storm with lots of thunder and lightning.
Absolutely exhausted I tried to catch the CityCat in WestEnd to go home. But the final 500m I ended up in the storm which arrived Brisbane by then. I was completly wet. But I really liked it, it was such a great warm rain!


I want to thank you for this great day and for everything you did for me, including surviving my devil eyes and my nasty humour. But actually your humour is not better at all! :) Oh yes, thanks for the first aid, all the drinks and food, parties and especially the shirt! Hopefully see you soon back in Brisbane!

Xmas and New Years Eve

Santa Claus, sunlotion, fireworks, 35 °C in the shade, palm trees, punch, seafood, Dinner for One, beach

How is all this connected? Yep, right, this was my last week in Aussie-land of the year 2005. My first Xmas and New Year Eve ca. 16.000 km far away from home.

On Christmas Eve Rob, Lynn and me went out for drinks with Tim Bailey and his wife. The place was a bit noisy but I liked the decoration and the food. I enjoyed the evening.

Maybe I should mention that the night before was a bit short. I went to Stéphane's place to say goodbye, before he starts his business trip. I felt asleep on a desk in his office. No wonder, it was between 1am and 3am. Stéphane!! Don't forget the postcard from Papeete and Auckland!! Nevermind about the postcard from Noumea, I hope I will see it this year in real!! ;) Take care!
(That I always zone out so easily!! *g*)

Back to Brisbane!! After the drinks I overnight at Mhairi & Rob's place. Their guestroom is already called 'Josefine's room'. The next morning we put a lot of stuff in the rent car and went 2 hours north of Brisbane to Noosa to spend the day at the beach. It was hot, windy and great. We had lunch at the beach. The sea was really refreshing.

The Pacific and me

Rob and his biggest fans! :)

In the evening we had nice dinner with great seafood and some drinks.

Queens of the night

Kings of the darkness

New Years Eve (german: Silverster!!!). Now it was my task to bring over some german traditions. First the most impossible thing: 'Dinner for one' the british comedy, but completely unknown in english speaking countries. This has to change. My mission !!! All four native english speaking friends laughed about it and Rob got a copy of it!! So, it is in british (more clearer: in english) hands now!! Let's wait and see what will happen!!


Then I created an english punch. Mmmh, delicious!! One bottle of red whine, half a litre of Rum, lots of sugar and lemon juice!! Almost perfect. I think you can really enjoy it only when u turn down the aircon to at least 10°C. :)

Lynn and Mhairi

Lynn and me. I look like a french Sans-culottes.

After this we went to South Bank. There was a lot of entertainment. Here some impressions from the fireworks.

2006 - How will this year be? Any resolutions? I have my ideas for the next months, and I just can hope and do my best, that they will come true! The first step is done. The next one is up to me alone. I will give my best.

Anyway, I will let you up-to-date, so you can see how things are going in my life. Any comments are welcome, as long as they are not anonymous.

Take care and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!