journey of a pike...

Well, the movie is just capturing a glimpse of a great day outdoor. This photo album will give you an impression of how ice fishing works. For me, a total beginner in fishing, it was a great experience to go out with my fellow students and some guys from the activity outdoor center. Have a look at a journey of a pike from the lake into my plate :-)

can't see the movie below?!?

If you can't see the movie from my ice fishing trip. Download the newest flash player here and install it...

back from ice fishing...

This morning, I headed off north west to St. Cloud for ice fishing. The activity is organised by the Outdoor Activity Center of the University of Minnesota. Mike and Andres lead Bryan, Mark and me to the Little Rock lake near St. Cloud (download the Earth Google Flag in the sidebar for the exact location). Ivan and some fellows from the St. Cloud University brought the equipment (drill, tents, gas-heater, fishing rod...). We spent nearly 4 hours on the frozen lake. The ice was about 40 cm thick and even supported the weight of a small truck!
We first put the bail on the hook, and waited as instructed for the fish to bite :-) I caught one after 10 minutes, but it was too small to keep. Nevertheless, Mike and Ivan finally caught a big and a huge fish. They are called Northern Pike ("Hecht"). After our feet almost got frozen (it was -19 Celcius and windy), we returned to the Rec Center of the University of St. Cloud to clean the fish.
By the end of the day, everyone got home with some fresh fish... so tomorrow night, I will cook pike with vegetables and rice - enjoy :-) .

my apartment and my street...

I thought it would be cool to upload some pictures of my apartment at Dinky Town. The pictures were taken after a night of light snow fall. On the last picture, you see the view from the stairs in front of the entrance to the apartment building. I live at the edge of Dinky Town, where all food chains are present and also many coffee shops an bars.
It is a great location; close to campus and with very good bus connections to the campus, to downtown, to uptown and with one change to the airport.

e-mail subscription added...

I added the tool "e-mail subscription". Subscribe if you want to get updates via email.

16 exchange students...

Here you go with a picture of all the 16 exchange students, that participate in the exchange program during spring semester 2007. Most of my fellow students are taking part in the undergraduate program. Monk, Bryan and I are taking MBA classes.
As you can see, the whole group consists of 11 asian students from Hong-Kong, Singapur or Bejing as well as three Austrian students, an Australian student and me - a pretty international group, though.

I finally signed up for the following subjects:

- Andvanced Corporate Decision and Analysis (Corporate Finance)
- International Accounting
- Strategic Alliances
- Presentation Skills for Non-Native Speakers in English
- Complex and Cross Cultural Negociations

getting settled in Minneapolis...

Almost one week has passed no and I am getting settled here in Minneapolis. The Exchange Office of the Carlson School organised a great orientation week, during which we could enroll for the courses and getting organised. We were thoroughly briefed about visa issues, do's and don'ts in the US as well as how to succed in academic matters. It was all very well organised, sometimes even with breakfast and lunch - well twice pizza but I like that :-)

Just to give you a short impression: The University of Minnesota, where the Carlson School of Management is attached to, is quite a bit bigger than the HSG... all in all, there are 45'000 (!)students, assistants, profs and other employees working on the campus. The UofM itself is like a city within Minneapolis: There are three buslines on the campus for free usage. The UofM offers furthermore cinemas, bowling, a vast amount of computer labs, libraries, student lounges, restaurants, a huge bookstore, a bank, huge recreation center with pool, tennis, football, squash and so on... During the colder months you are also able to walk from A to B in underground tunnels or covered skyways - all in all over 3 miles! They even have "wärmelampen" at the bus stops, but believe me I already used one of them... ;-)

Today was the first day, that was really cold: the temperature went down to -16° Celcius, somewhat I have experienced last time at Brice Canyon. It is so cold, that I am voluntarily wearing a cap! The next two to three weeks are going to be the worst, I was told... afterwards it will steadily get warmer.

first signs from the west...

After a rather long flight I finally managed to get to Minneapolis. My flatmate Anne picked me up at the airport and helped me getting settled. I live at the edge of Dinky Town and the Campus area, a pretty cool place. I added a section with Google Earth Flags - you can click on the link, download them while having Google Earth opened, and then you will fly directly to the place indicated.

The last two days were pretty easy: a lot of information about the University of Minnesota and Carlson School, getting organised with the apartment, bus system, courses. Besides the vast quantitiy of information we also had time for socializing: yesterday we went to Famous Dave's for Spare Ribs, country fries, cole slaw corn on the cob and so on.

I will post some first pictures within the next few days...

ready to leave...

I have now packed all the baggage and I am finally somewhat like ready to go. The only thing I feel really sad about is to say good bye to Carole tomorrow, but otherwise I am looking forward to a great time in the USA - Volume 2 of tomy going abroad ;-)

Just a remark: I checked the weather forecast for the next 10 days... the low temperatures are around -10° to -12° Celsius... freezing!

I keep you in the loop when I am settled in Minneapolis, regards so far.