this past week......

..... many things happened here. At first I have signed now a new contract. I am not longer a Trainee anymore, but now an official employee in the position of assistant manager. I am very happy about that, because it means that I can stay for many years longer in my beloved Thailand........ YEAH!!!!!!! So if you have plans to travel to Thailand, now you know someone who lifes there!!!!!

Also in this week, we had our CEO from Germany for a visit. I had the chance to join dinner with im Tuesday and Wednesday. We also chatted for a little while. I find it quite funny that I was invited both to both dinner :-) It was also interesting when I said good bye to him. He mentioned that he can truly see that this is the right place for me here because I look very happy here. He also mentioned that he heard many good things about me.... wow..... not to often for me to hear that from the CEO.

And with the new job there also comes a lot more responsibility and with that comes also longer working hours and with that comes the need for a car. So I have started to look for one. Today I went to a car dealer, to see, what kind of car I can fit in...... Hopefully soon, I will have my own car. I can't wait to have one. With a car, I will have more possibilities to make trips outside of Bangkok to the nice beaches here...... SWEET!!!

bye bye cd! I will miss you.....

tonight I heard from some friends that the biggest cd store in town is closing down. That means that I will hardly have an opportunity to buy leagel cds anymore. Some of you might think, why not downloading of the internet? Well, the download speed of my connection is approx. 10kb/s. Not kidding guys. Even I pay for a 2Mb/s line, the provider is giving me this download rate. Did you ever try to donwload 700Mb with your 56k modem many years before?..... It sucks.

there and back again.......

yes ladys and gentleman. i am back in Thailand after a wonderful week with my friends and family.

30 celcius degree did pick me up from the airport and guided me safe to my appartment. I never realized how poor Thailand looks like, but after spending the last 3 month in a rich part of Hamburg (Rotherbaum) I saw Bangkok with different eyes. Never the less, this is my beloved hometown for now and the next years to come.

I know I have not been the best blogger in the past year, but I want to start sharing with you what is happening in my life here.

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

still alive...

i know i did not take care of my blog over the last months. many things happened, things i could have written, things would have kept for myself. at the end it was a lack of motivation that kept me from sharing about what is going on here.

right now i am in hamburg, north germany. my company did send me to this beautiful city until the end of this year. on the 01st of january i am already flying back to thailand. that flight date sucks. even though i am back in germany, i do not have much chance to see my family and friends, cause my hometown stuttgart is in the south. so it does not feel like i came home, it feels more like i moved temporarily to another city again.

never the less, i am happy to be at home for christmas and have a week vacation after the holidays.

cheers!

innovation sucks.......

i am getting more and more annoyed by the new ways of communication: mobile phone and e-mail. maybe we should call them already old ways of communication?? well anyway, in these days i start to develop some kind of anti mobile phone and e-mail attitude. it is stressing me that people expect that i immediately answer the phone or an e-mail, as soon as they have send it/made the call.......thailand is very extreme with this, especially when it comes to their phones. you can talk to a person, but as soon as their phone rings they cannot concentrate anymore, they have to know who is calling them. sometimes they answer the call, while i am still talking to them. also in meetings, they do not turn of their phones, or at least put it on silent mode. very annoying, because i get interrupted so many times.....i do not get bothered by people calling me everywhere and whenever they want, but i get sick of people complaining that i did not pick up their phone call…..sometimes i just don’t want to answer my phone. there are phone calls which are important, but be honest, how many of the phone call you receive every day are really important and cannot wait?

It is also bothering me that the quality of our communication seems to decrease while the technology is increasing. Can a “conversation” via text message be more impersonal? How much input can you put into 160 letters? I don’t know….. I guess I am getting old ;-)

it is also funny that i complain in my blog, which is even more impersonal than an e-mail....lol

And what is your excuse?

“If you are not involved in any service or ministry, what excuse have you been using? Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Samson was codependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair and all kinds of family problems, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi was a widow, John the Baptist was eccentric to say the least, Peter was impulsive and hot-tempered, Martha worried a lot, the Samaritan woman had several failed marriages, Zaccheus was unpopular, Thomas had doubts, Paul had poor health, and Timothy was timid. That is quite a variety of misfits, but God used each of them in his service. He will use them in his service. He will use you, too, if you stop making excuses.”

Rick Warren “The Purpose Driven Life”

i took this pic at a zoo the other day.... poor little rabbit :-)