iPad2 DodoCase for my Birthday <- clicken Sie here ...

Wohoo! My best son in the world Mathias gave me a DodoCase for my iPad for my birthday. It just arrived and it is awesome!

Australia

After a little more than four months here a first impression of our new home Australia. I think it is fair to say that Mathias and I are lucky bastards: Melbourne in many ways is a hidden treasure tucked far away on the other side of the world, too far to reach for many, but paradise for those who do make it here. That is certaily just a rosy first impression I have, and in time I will probably find a more realistic description, but for now that's how I have experienced it.

We have managed to hit the ground running because life is easy here: I found a decent job and a nice place to live within three weeks. Everybody is very helpful and has made us feel welcome here.

We found a great school for Mathias, that didn't mind at all that Mathias was out of school for 6 months. He was integrated right from the start, and made many friends already. Mathias actually likes school now, and managed to get satisfactory grades on almost all subjects, some of which he even excells in.

School was one reason I wanted to come to Australia for, and so far I have not been disappointed. Imagine this: Even though the kids get graded there is no failing a class or a grade. Grades only start counting in 11th and 12th grade, where the kids take exams to assess their qualification for university or vocational training.

Besides everything being awesome there are also a few issues that need resolution. I still don't have the full picture of how much the cost of living here is. Every month a some new payment comes up that I didn't expect, and that throws our budget off. Yesterday I got a bill from school over $650 to cover the expenses for next semester. That's a lot of money that I had planned in for other things. Nobody can be blamed, but it is frustrating, because currently we cannot save much money for important Items such as a car.

The other issue on my mind right now is work. I am in one of the most progressive project I ever could have imagined: We are using bleeding edge technology and management techniques. While this is interesting I cannot use much of my hard-earned Know-How from the past 10 years, but have to learn many things anew. I hope the weeks to come things will settle down, and I will not be overwhelmed by all the new things to be learned.

Considering that we just moved half way across the world into a country that we never sat foot in before I think we are doing great. I am looking forward to the months ahead!