Waiting and Exploring ...

Now we have been two days and 14 hours in Boring Green. No, it's not a typo, it's aword play. We are bored out of our minds. Really! We are still currently living on campus, meaning little bedrooms with nothing included. :) We have been at the mainstreet three times so far an tried to find something interessting, but that's quite impossible here. It's a big area actually, but nothing to do. I hope but I'm confident that this is going to change when the actual courses starts.

Yesterday, we have been at a shopping mal. It was pretty big, with an H&M, Pottery Barn, ... and a lot more. I just got some nice magazins dealing with filmmaking. That's pretty cool here, 'cause you won't find such magazines in austria or germany. Afterwards we went to Fred's house watching television and I was as happy as a child on christmas, because I watched a epsiode of House M.D. (Dr. House) of the third season which is not coming to europe untill this fall - but the best thing is that at the end of august Fox is going to show the fourth season of House, so I will donwload the third season via iTunes, watch it and catch up with the fourth season in fall. Live is good! I'm also looking forward to Nip/Tuck. That's going to be a blast. ;)

After having lunch at Subway, Martin and I were wandering around campus. We haven't been there, I don't know why because it's sooo awesome. It's like you would imagine it ... it's like you are on location of the Gilmour Girls or one of a romantic teenie comdy movie - Haha. You need a lot of time to go around the whole campus once. Never try to compare it with the area of the Salzburg Univertsity of Applied Sciences. We even found a large building in the middle of the campus which has a bookstore with all the books you need for your courses as well as a Starbucks, a Wendy's (a huge fast food company like Mc Donalds or Burger King) a supermarket, an arcade, ... it's so awesome. I'm pretty looking forward being here every day. I think it's going to be cool.

By the way. I knew it, the whole pregnancy stuff is all a big hoax. Yeah right, stork and female human being - this is were babies really come from:

Tomorrow starts our orientation week, it's for all new undergraduate exchange students. They prepared a whole lot of thing for us such as information events, an english test, a TB test but also some fun things like ice skating, movie night and a barn dance (pretty curious about that). So there are a lot of things ahead of me I'm going to write about the next days. Check back to see how "Boring Green" turns into "Bowling Green". ;)

The 1st day ...

The first day started with the humming noise of a ventilator. Yeah, we better get used to it since we are really going to need them for the next months. Ohio is in the north of the states but since they haven't any gulf stream the weather is more extreme. Currently it's pretty hot here. High temperatures and a high humidity, but I'm sure we get used to it. If not, next week we are going to move in, in our actual appartment which has a pool. Yeah!

After we got up today, we moved from Fred's house to campus. Precisely - Founders Hall! We got our rooms for the next week which are okay for a week I guess. Martin and I have seperate bedromms with a desk and a closet and we share one bathroom together. After putting our stuff in the bedrooms, we checked out the surrounding and found a nice pizza-pub opposite of the campus where we decided to get a pizza. The pizza was just 9" but neither of us could eat it entirely, so we had to take the rest with us. We looked a bit around and found a nice advertising in a shop-window which proves some of the views we had of america.

Anyhow, after we checked out the surrounding, Fred left work at about 3 o'clock pm and we drove to Enterprise which is a car rental company. You really need a car here because without a car you can't do nothing here. Unfortunately, to rent a car you need an international driving licence which neither of us posseses. So, since we wanted to know how to get such a driving licence we drove to the DMV, the Department of Motor Vehicle. They told us that we could get an international driving licence (idl) via AAA which is something like OEAMTC in Austria. Unfortunately, it's just the oher way round, so that american citizen get the idl from them. So, the only possibility of driving a car here in Ohio is to get an american driving licence for which we have to do a computer-based test and a practical test, this means driving on a parcour as well as driving on the actual street. Since, we are not permanent residence of Ohio untill the 20th of August, we can't take the tests. This means, we will be carless untill that and propably rent a bike. Well, at least we do something for our fitness. Hehe :)

After that, we went to the Enclave II Appartments. The one we are going to move in next week. We just wanted to see, if everything is okay with ouer leases and took a tour since we were there. Honestly, I only can say - Jackpot Baby! Hehe ... it's going to be soooooo cool! But more on that when we move in next week.

Yeah, that was pretty much the first day in BG. Not to bad. Let's see what the next couple of days, weeks and months are going to bring. :)

A Red-Eye ...

So the day actually cam when my flight to the states departed - so my journy beginns. I took an airport-taxi from vienna city to vienna Schwechat (the airport) where my flight to London-Heathrow left. There were actually 2 connection flights ahead of me. So, Ieneterd the flight and since there were no internet access at the airport or the plane and since I was travelling without any technical equipment but a digital camera and my phone, I couldn't blog from there. This is why I invented time-delayed-blogging which means I wrote the blog manually with a pen on paper and I'm going to post it in here. The advantage is, it's not a summary of the situation which I remember it, but it's right from the spot with all the emotions and impressions I had at that very moment. I call this section RFOL (right from on location). They are specially marked so that you can identify them easily. I also provide the place and the time on location. So here comes the first RFOL-Entry:

1:00 pm (+1 CEST) / Vienna
Finally ... the plane took of. We had a one-hour delay because of luggage problems. We had to sit in the plane, not knowing exactly what was going on. that was not the biggest problem we had to face. I really don't want to exeggarate here, but it was way mor hell than any terrorists hijacking the plane, well it's a BABY on board. Dear god, I now officially commit: "I do hate babies from now on and shall never have one of my one" - that's my contribution to a quite and relaxing future. I mean it's unbelievable. They are as small as a football, can't even concentrate on one thing for more than 10 seconds but cry like there is no tomorrow and that for an insanely long time. After 45 minutes, I kind of passed out or dose off, or whatever. Seems to be an evolutionary technique to pass out before crossing the line to insanity. However, we are currently 37.000 feet above the earth, the embodiement of Satan, young Damien, asleep or whatever an I just got a a cheese sandwhich with orange juice - life seems to turn around to the bright side. I really need to use the chance and are going to focus solely on my cheese sandwiche now.

So, that were the first impressions from the plane. The flight turned out to be quite okay the baby slept for the rest of the flight. I read some magazines and chilled and we arrived London Heathrow, where the real and pure horror was waiting for me. But more in the RFOL-Entry I wrote right after surviving it:

4:45 pm (0 CEST) / London
I'm pissed and I'm fucking angry! This can not happen. I don't understand it, I'm not quite a fan of bad expressions but if there is nothing other than that to express it precisely so please allow me to use one: FUCKING ASSHOLES!
Okay, here is the story. Since we had an one-houre delay in Vienna, we arrived one hour late in London, but I still had two hours an 45 minutes to get from terminal 4 to terminal 3. The lady in Vienna explained it quite nice to me:"It's just a short bus ride, another security check and that's it." Well, the bus ride was indeed short but the security check turned out as 700 people (no jocking, it was for real 700 people) in front of me and one-fucking dedector you walk through. Can you imagine that? One-fucking dedector for 700 people?
Someone told me once, staying calm and positive thinking brings you further than any stress - well, it doesn't bring you past 700 people to one dedector. I guess that's lesson number one on my journy to adulthood. I talked several times to the herd-observers, as I called them, that I really need to catch the flight but they assured me that it's going to be okay. As there were only 30 minutes left, I asked them one more time and then, finally they brought me to the front. 30 minutes before my flight departed!!! Then, it took me another 25 minutes to fight for getting through this fucking dedector so that I had only 10 minutes left to get to the gate. I ran as fast as i could and of course the gate closed already. I knocked like crazy against the door because I really needed to get to Chicago on time, since I have abnother connection flight from there to Detroit. Thank god, a flight assistent opened the door and checked for me to get a seat on the plane, since they gave away my original seat already.
Finally, I entered the plane all sweaty and gasping for oxygen 5 mintes before take-off. This is simply not exceptable. I'm going to complain about this for sure and I do want at least an excuse. Assholes! However, while I was searching my seat 36A, there was a man starring at me, saying:"I know exactly how you feel". At least I'm not alone on that. Anyhow, I'm waiting for my meal now, watching a movie on my little private screen in front of me and afterwards, I'm going to sleep to get at least some energy back for the last part of my journy to Bowling Green.

This was the last quater of the 700 people in fron of me.
There were another four hallways full with people around the corner in the front.

I know, there are some expressions in it I woulnd't have wrote afterwards. But, since this were my feelings at the very moment I thought I'm not going to cencore it, since it should be honest and authentic. Well, the rest of the journy turned out to be more relaxing than the beginning. After the meal, I had a little chit-chat with my seat/neighbour who was I business man from asia who travells several times a year to the United States. After that, I took a sleeping pill and slept for 4 hours, which was pretty recovering. We landed in Chicago, where I had to go the the immigration service, since this was my port of entry, as well as to the US costume with my luggage. I had also to switch the terminal and stuff, but it was all way more comfortable than in London. I had even a little time to grab a bite at Mc Donalds. The last last part of my journy was then the connection flight from Chicago to Detroit, which lasted approx. 1 hour. I didn't remember a lot because I was sleeping for 50 minutes or so, I even slept away the take-off. :)

In Detroit, Fred ( a formerly exchange student in Salzburg from Bowling Green) picked me up. We also met Martin, at a different terminal and drove then to Bowling Green - which lasted another hour and some minutes. I have to admit I really was relieved to arrive in Bowling Green on time, after the problems I had to face at that day. Anyhow, we drove through Bowling Green to Fred's house. It's a quite and so typical american neighbourhood which everyone knows from shows different Tv-shows. We saw some raccoons, squirrls and rabbits running around on the street - it was kind of strange. hehe We went for sleep early, because Martin and I was pretty exhausted and we anted to prepare for our first day in Bowling Green.

On friday the 3rd of august, I had my fare-well party back home in upper austria. I must admit it was quite a bad time for a fair-well party, since so many people were on vacation or had to work, but some of my closest friends took the time to party with me a last time. The whole thing started at 9 o'clock with a little chit-chat and nice drinking.

A little later, they all surprised me with presents like cakes decorated with fruites like the austrian and the american flag. That was such a nice idea ... and such a tasty one too! :)
They also made a kind of a friendbook, where a lot of them wrote personal stuff in it with photos and letters and little presents. I was very overwhelmed by that, and allready read it severl times so far, and I will open it another dozen times the coming year, that's for sure.

After that the whole party actually started, we drank booz from a bucket through straws or sniffing snuff, the switzerland tradition which keeps Jonas alive. We partied untill 6 o'clock in the morning - and it was such a nice end. It really was. Thanks to all for coming, I really appreciated it.

Here, you can find the pictures of the party:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fincher85/sets/72157601208780212/

The day after, we cleaned the house and Astrid drove Manuel and me to the train station in Linz, since he was going to London this day and I drove to vienna for a last night out. I met Michael there. We watched the Simpsons movie, in english of course, and went out in vienna - unfortunately I was pretty tired from the party last night, that we went home at 2 o'clock am and went to sleep in order to be full of energy for the journy to the United States of America the next day.

Going Abroad is Good

Well, there are several good reasons why to study abroad. To learn another culture, to get independent - but one very good reason why everyone should go abroad is to learn the language of a country. There are some people who I think should go a abroad - yeah well - and some of them should stay there too! ;)

The Treshold

So, now I think the time has come where I really do realize what's going on. Untill today, the whole moving to another country thing was a pretty nice thought and it was somewhat away, but now, 5 days before I enter the airplane, during packing things and cleaning up my room I somehow realised that's for real baby! And it's going to change my whole life. It's not vacation and it's not youth camp. You ... are ... actually ... moving ... thousands ... of ... miles ... away. Something like that echos constanly through my head.

The consequence: I need to grow up. I need to take respoonsibility and I need to care for my self. Of course I thought I did that already during my time in Salzburg - bullshit - it's nothing like that. An one-hour train ride and 20 € and I was home where someone took care for me if I needed it. But it's not going to happen now. I'm not really scared, I guess I'm more - hmm - sad. I need to pack my past into boxes and put it up in the attic. It's truely a strange feeling.

Anyhow, I think this feelings are neccessary in order to say goodbye to all and everything and close a really cool chapter in my life - but you know what, this means I'm also going to open another chapter and I'm fucking curious about what the author is going to write - hehe

Chaos all over ...

So, most of the stress is over now. All exams are done, and done fairly well as I think. All projects are finished including the first season of "The Sign" which I wrote and directed. I moved out from Salzburg, after a nice cleaning session with Manuel, thanks for helping again! I have now my visa, my flight-tickets, insurance and hopefully an appartment - at least we signed the lease. ;) If that works out it's going to be really cool :)

Currently I'm trying to organize my life or in geek term, I defrag and backup my life - haha! It means rearranging and throwing things out I won't use or I won't need anymore, making room for new stuff (dollar sign appearing in my eyes) ... Yesterday I started sorting out my clothes. My god, I found pieces in my closet which I could hardly look at - meaning they were so 90s ;) haha It's been a lot actually which I won't wear anymore, but that's okay so I have more space to buy new things in the USA. ;)

Meanwhile, I try to backup all my videos and photos I created the last 12 years in order to take them with me on an external hard drive, since I sell both my notebooks on eBay. Honestly, I'm kinda addicted to eBay right now. I sell everything which brings a quick buck - I guess better than loosing it's value while getting dusty at home, right?

Oh btw, don't worry if you fear that I won't write anymore without notebook over there, I will but I'm going to be a Mac then! :)

Anyhow, this was a short update on what's going on in my life concerning the moving to the States. Since I have more time now, I'm going to write more often - promised!