on my way up to Queensland

I'm about the leave the office and will fly up to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland tomorrow morning - my first holiday in Australia - yipieeehhh!

In the gym

I've started gym training last week. It's related to my research but also out of personal interest to become better in volleyball (my goal is to jump higher than Mika, my 2.05cm tall colleague :). It's much more fun than I thought (thanks to my trainer Peter), but it's also far more difficult than I had assumed.
Anyway, my colleagues suggested that I should use myself as a case study and take a picture each day to track the progress. Not sure if that's a good idea :)

movie: forever never anywhere

Does this movie title ring a bell? The original title of the film is "Für immer nie am Meer". It's an Austrian movie by two of my favourite comedians, namely Stermann & Grissemann. (the trailer is on youtube)

I almost couldn't believe it, but I found this film in the program of the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF). The film was shown last Friday and the huge cinema was almost sold out. I didn't have high expectations, but I thought it could be nice to get some kind of experience from at home, listen to Austrian dialect, music and jokes. And the film didn't disappoint me. It felt almost like sitting in a comedy program by Stermann & Grissemann. I enjoyed it a lot and I think my two German-speaking colleagues who joined me might also had a good experience. But I'm not so sure if the subtitles in the film provided the same experience (I'm not even sure if it was the same for non-Austrians). Anyway, there must have been a few more Austrians in the audience, because a couple of people also laughed with me during the jokes that definitely only Austrians could get (or consider funny).

To sum up, I had a good Austrian experience here in Melbourne, and I think I can recommend the movie, at least to FM4 and/or Stermann & Grissemann fans.

Visitors to Melbourne

Elisabeth, mum, & I on the Shrine of Remembrance,
originally uploaded by bernd ploderer.

My mum and her friend Elisabeth spent the last week at my place and explored the city and its surroundings. In their few days they saw far more than I've seen so far (I'm still waiting to see my first kangaroo). We had a great time, but now I'm looking forward (to working and) my travels in Australia, which will bring me to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland (where I will meet (not only :) my mum again) and to Adelaide in the next half year. And of course I'm looking forward to welcoming friends from Austria in November (And I thought I would be far away and have time to study :)

Brighton Beach

just very relaxing,
originally uploaded by bernd ploderer.

Today I explored a new beach in Melbourne - Brighton Beach. Steffie Matzer came to Melbourne this weekend and besides all the good places I already knew I wanted to explore also new spots.
I know it's summertime in Austria and we here have the coldest winter since 19... But nevertheless a walk on the beach and chilling out in the sunshine since can be so fantastic (and bad for my poor skin - I have a slight sunburn :) You can find a few more winter impressions on my flickr website

PS: I have to admit the sun today might be a bit misleading, because we had really bad weather for the last few weeks :| (and sometimes I wish I could be in Austria and enjoy the fantastic weather on a beach volleyball field or on a lake, but not today :)

guests in melbourne

It's holiday time and this means guests for me in Melbourne. I had a wonderful weekend with a guest from Brisbane two weeks ago :) This weekend a friend from Austria, whom I haven't seen for years, is here in Melbourne. Finally next weekend my mum and her friend (the mum of one of my best friends) will come to Melbourne. That's fantastic, I enjoy it when I can present my new hometown to guests from all over the world, especially with people with whom I spent great times in Austria.

update #3

I just finished my last major update again on my PhD Research website (at least I hope so) - thanks in advance for any constructive feedback :)