1st day in (French) Polynesia

Yesterday night I arrived at Faa'a International Airport in Tahiti, French Polynesia. From the first moment, this flight seemed to be like a trip to a holiday destination. Even the boarding pass looked like holidays. The flight attendants were all beautiful Polynesian ladies with flowers in their hair and at the arrival three men welcomed us with their ukuleles while another Polynesian lady put some flowers on our ears. By now you should know you're on a vacation.

Today I took some time to discover the "city" of Faa'a, where the airport is located. I found some traditional Polynesian bungalows, some interesting churches and saw the harbor of Papeete (capital) from the distance. My first impression of Polynesians is very very good, since they seem to be friendly, polite and honest. And gorgeous.

Apart from that, I'm still trying to get adjusted to the exchange rate (1 EUR = 119 XPF) and to the (of course beautiful) bank notes that come in towel-size and the coins with the diameter of a beer coaster.

Ia orana from Tahiti!
Harry

today's lesson

Due to the fact that there are so many ignorant, retarded, dishonest, shallow, untrustworthy and intolerant people on this planet, I genuinely appreciate the presence of the few who are the exact opposite, like all of my friends and my family. However, I'll continue to go my own way (because I know it's gonna be successful) and stay true to myself and to all these people out there who are important to me. And I give a big FUCK YOU to the rest.

But what today's lesson has taught me: everybody gets what he/she deserves.

Keep it real!
- H.

only human

the last couple of weeks were like a rollercoaster ride... ups and downs and ups and downs... I've been socializing a lot and had plenty of time to observe other peoples' behavior and reflect on my life - even during one of my final exams, haha.
In this time, I realized even more what I want and what I DON'T want and I've figured out that I made some mistakes. Some things I said and did were wrong and probably inappropriate, I know that by now.  It seems as if I needed this time to improve my personality and to learn from my mistakes.

Bottom line: I'm only a guy and I'M ONLY HUMAN

Last class at VCU (?)

Today was my last class at VCU and I think this last class (ECON 203) was a worthy end to my (first) semester abroad. I was surprised that my professor knew my name (in a lecture of 300+ students) after we only had one short conversation at the very beginning of the semester. It seems as if I've left a mark, haha.
When I told him I don't want to take the final exam because I already have a solid B (Midterm + average Aplia grades), he told me: "Man, that's smart" and used me as an example of how to use your resources carefully.
Additionally, he told me "This is America, you can do whatever you want, man" when I decided to stay for this very last class.

By the way, the final question in this class was: "Professor, what's your favorite beer?" and he answered this question with the marginal revenue model and with his beer consumption being at the very bottom of the MR curve. Simply hilarious.

Next week I'm gonna have a beer with my two ECON Professors, after I've already had beer with my literature (!) professor.

I really like(d) the easy-going way of my professors at VCU because that's just the way I am as well. It's all about having a good time.


Honestly, I can't imagine studying in Austria (or returning to Austria) at the moment... and who knows, maybe I'll return to VCU for a graduate program... For now, it's my #1 option. But let's see what the future brings...

- Harry

Spring Break 2011: Route + Pics

>>> Click here to see our route // Hier klicken für die Route <<<



>>> Click here for pics // Hier klicken für Fotos <<<



Enjoy! :-)

- Harry

University Update III / Midterms

3 von 4 Midterms sind nun Geschichte. Hier die Resultate:

- Introduction to Political Economics: 88,7% (Gesamt)
- Marketing Principles: nach 2 von 4 Tests habe ich 203,2 von 200 möglichen Punkten :-)
- American Fantastica: für diesen Test habe ich wirklich sehr viel investiert... es hat sich anscheinend gelohnt... es ist eine 1 :-)) die erste 1 in meiner Literaturkarriere... ich bin gerade sehr happy :-))

am Donnerstag folgt noch der letzte Midterm für dieses Semester, dann gehts bereits auf die Zielgerade...

//

3 out of 4 exams have now passed. Here come the results:

- Introduction to Political Economics: 88,7% (in total)
- Marketing Principles: after 2 of 4 exams I scored 203.2 out of 200 possible points! :-)
- American Fantastica: I can't tell you how much effort I've put into this exam... I've been studying days and nights for this exam... but it has paid off... it's an A! It's my first A in literature ever! I'm really happy and more than relieved now... :-)

the last midterm's gonna be on Thursday...

Stay tuned!

Harry

measurement misunderstanding

Heute war ich das erste Mal beim Friseur... ich hab mir gedacht, dass ein halber Inch ungefähr eins komma irgendwas Zentimeter sein würden... na ja, das Ergebnis ist dann doch etwas anders ausgefallen als gedacht:

siehe Foto!

//

That's the result when a European ( - yeah, we use the good old metric system!) wants to get his hair cut:

I never thought that 1/2 inch is THAT short... and now I look like a soccer hooligan lol