theworldisatissue

Christmas Greetings and a Happy New Year 2010

2009-12-22T05:44:00.000-08:00

Hello happy people

Just a short message to get you away from the joys of christmas presents and the crazy eating binges of the next few days. I decided on writing here in the Blog because:
a) you can choose to click and read it or not, and
b) you know that I have a blog

SOOOOOO

I wish you all the best for christmas with your family and friends and a new years party that ends up like the guys in the movie "Hangover".

As you are all spread out all over the place and maybe sitting there thinking: "mitch,,,I haven't heard from him in ages" here is my 2009 in a nutshell:

- The big one: I got married to my longstanding Girlfriend Anne. Twice. Firstly a wonderful wedding on the beach in my hometown of Terrigal in Australia in January. Then again in August in Berlin in what was for the party of the century. So many wonderful people there and so little time. The planning was all worth it. If you want to read some more I sometimes blog on:
http://theworldisatissue.blogspot.com/

- I am still living in Berlin teaching Business English the Germans in different companies. If you're wondering, Business English is mainly teaching the English phrases and skills they need for their jobs e.g. meetings, telephoning, correspondence, negotiations, presentations etc.
I get to go to meet some interesting people and see interesting things. This week I did a training course at a nuclear research facility, last week I had lessons with a biological researcher from Bayer and a price manager of a major oil company.

- I became an uncle again, this time my brother in Colarado with the newest member to the McKenzie clan: Violette McKenzie. And no, me and Anne don't have any kids planned for the time being.

- 2009: the year of the weddings: nadine and sander in holland; sebastian and alex in Berlin; jan and johanna in Ludwigslust; My brother in law matthias and nicole in Senftenberg, Mhairi and Stefan on Majorca ...and there are a few others we expect sometime in the near future!! you know who you are

- 2009 trips: Australia; Holland (go team holland), Sweden (thanks to mats!), Germany (Stuttgart for Oktoberfest, Munich, Frankfurt) , Spain and Mallorca, Czech republic. I wanted more but time and money always restrict things

- My Australian Rules Football team, the Berlin Crocodiles, won the German second division cup in Frankfurt. I won the award for highest goalkicker in the second division league.

- Visitors to Berlin: many but not enough!!! a special thank you would be to my parents you came all the way to Berlin from Oz for wedding part 2.

NOW: our plans are for at least another 6 months in Berlin as Anne is doing an internship at a publisher. On top of working as a teacher, I am applying for training positions with Renewable Energy companies which has been a personal interest of mine for the last few months. I also plan to do some part time ski instructing in Austria this winter in the holidays when I get the chance.

Berlin has been great to us but we are now looking at different options. If you have any suggestions let us know!!!

Take care people and I look forward to hearing from you sometime in the near future. Drink a schnapps for me!!!

cheers

Mitch

How to get married in Australia in a month

2009-11-20T09:18:00.000-08:00

A wedding is rumored to be one of the most stressful experiences known to man. Apparently it's the only time when the difference between thick stripes and thin stripes on serviettes, and the difference between this font and this font can be the be all and end all of the universe.

Not for us. The secret is easy. Just don't give yourself the time to worry about these things, ie a month, and get married in Australia, the country that read the book "living for dummies" and decided to instill it as an institution.

Some dates:
11 December 2008 - Arrival in Sydney from Thailand with the surprising news that we are engaged

13 December 2008 - A quick search on the internet to look into the paperwork required by Germany and Australia for a marriage.

14 December 2008- Finish reading the list of German requirements. Time taken: approximately 23 hours.

14 December 2008- Finish reading requirements in Australia. Time taken: approximately 4 minutes. Float the idea with my fiancé that we could at least check out this possibility with the relevant authority.

15 December 2008- Monday-
- 10am After breakfast I called the celebrant Tony Thorrington just to ask if it would be possible to get married before the 20th January 09.
- 6pm we are sitting in his office signing the "intention of marriage" documents for a wedding on the 18th of January. Documents required: Bride-passport, groom- birth certificate and cash.
We decide on a ceremony at my hometown beach and he gives us some things to help us write a ceremony and organise the wedding.
- 7:30pm we break the news that we will be getting married.
- 7:32pm we open a bottle of champagne.

-----from then the dates are a bit unclear-------
Things that are clear are:
1) the paperwork is simplified in Australia. It is apparently more difficult (and expensive) when it comes to getting a spouse visa later. In Germany it's the opposite. The marriage is difficult (and expensive) and the visa is easy.
2) Australia has 20393049400 people who know about weddings and the Somersby Wedding Estate has freaking everything.
3) Venues in Australia are easy to find and almost all have some type of wedding catering/venue service.
4) Friends and family want to help you and can make things soooooo easy. Cake, Make up, Photos, Music, Security, Setting up, invitations, Decorating and design, lending out a house, driving,,,you name it our nearest and dearest where there to help. This made the whole day so much more closer and personal.
5) Time constraints make the decision making process so much easier. Invitations look good: send them now, Flower girl likes pink: she gets pink, Too hot for suits: don't wear one, Someone likes fish: serve fish, party must be finished by 11: start party earlier, and so on.

18 Janaury 2009-
Perfect summer day for a ceremony at Terrigal Haven with friends and (Australian) family and reception. The sky is blue, the music is ready, the flags are waving in the background, my friends and family are there, some people couldn't make it there on such short notice, onlookers gather from surrounding picnics to watch the wedding. One friend managed to make the journey from Germany.

The limousine arrives. Moby's "porcelain" starts. The waves lap. People start whispering "the brides here" and find a place to stand or sit. I stand with my back to the ocean and my brother and 2 oldest friends by my side. My nephews walk down the aisle looking a bit overwhelmed, little Sienna forgetting that the "Flowergirl" is supposed to throw flowers. It's ok. Annette, my sister in law cum bridesmaid walks down alone and takes her place on the left. All is fine. Then bang,,,I see Anne walking towards me accompanied by my dad. She is smiling. Well more like grinning as if somebody dropped some wicked drugs in her coffee. I realise I have the same dumb grin. The celebrant starts: "Ladies and Gentleman.....".... Time stands still. Time blacks out. Yes. Yes.

Now we are kissing. People are clapping and we sign the register. People are taking photos and wishing us congratulations. We drink a bottle of champagne between us on the way to the reception. We eat. All the speeches are incredibly poignant and touching. I get lost in the moment in my speech and speak too long.Uhh, it's my wedding, I can. I play the Anne song on guitar. We dance. We drink. We smile. We exhale. We find a bottle of champagne on ice at our wedding night villa (ie the Bed and Breakfast from across the street) . We take out the champagne and fill our glasses with...the ice and water. We breathe out. We breathe back in. We still have the dumb grins on our faces.

The day was huge but so short at the same time.

A wedding is like anything: it's what you make and expect of it. I looked at it as a day to have those near and dear to you all together, where you can announce "we think we are cool together", and celebrate that.

Luckily for us, we got to experience this twice. Both a different experience in itself but both just as distinct. The one regret was that the distance of our home countries didn't allow Anne's family, my Brother in America, and many friends around the world to be there. So the idea of a second wedding in Germany was never even a question but a formality. But the story of the Wedding part 2: Berlin Kesselhaus is for another time.

The marriage after a wedding is simply another name for relationship. Our relationship itself has barely changed. We are still happy about the same things as before, we still fight about the same things as before. People don't change. Perceptions and expectations may change but that happens with or without marriage. So you just make the best of it and enjoy the good as it comes.

And we are.

Blogging becoming obsolete? nöööööööö

2009-11-19T13:23:00.000-08:00

Blog blog blog. Forgive me everyone for I have sinned. It has been 10 months since my last blog. But to be honest, with facebooking and tweeting and emailing and podcasting and xinging and skyping and chatting and whatever else, I've been a bit confused as to where to focus the attention of the random comments to share.

So as a letter to the editor; we could send a please explain as to how many ways people need to publish that they are "tired" or "cant wait til work finishes" or what other banal things we can come up with (me included).

Maybe talking is the one that is becoming obsolete. Old school face to face communication is bound to make a retro style comeback soon. But with time and money being the 2 resources we have to manage most effectively, unfortunately we aren't allowed this luxury as often as we may want.

But my statement comes here: the blog is back and will be updated as I can rack my memory to recall the details of this year 2009 that need to be respected with their own articles:

- Our wedding in Terrigal and all to do with how to get married within 35 days.
- Back to Germany
- Holland trip to old friends and married friends.
- If god lived on Earth, he'd spend some time in Stockholm in Summer.
- Our Berlin Kesselhaus wedding part 2 in Summer...Zweimal hält besser, this is your life. Some parties should never end.
- The Australian Griswalds, ie the McKenzie parents, go for part 2 of their European vacation. Aka hanging out with the oldies in Berlin and Prague in summer.
- How to understand taxes in Germany for married couples
- Berlin has AFL...road trips and victory
- Spain Spain spain. Mallorca wedding for scots and making the most of October on a shoestring
- and many other adventures and musings.

So stay tuned. Watch this space and keep on your toes cause the blog is back.

How to propose to your girlfriend in Bangkok

2009-01-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

Out last day in Bangkok was an eventful one.

December 9 was a day of shopping,,,and getting engaged.

After battling our way for xx hours through the famous MBK shopping centre collecting more things than I have ever purchased in one day, our night was supposed to be just to relax in the 5 star hotel we had booked into for the last night for some luxury.

After dinner at a small thai street eatery we decided to investigate the local "German Beer House" in the Sukhumvit area of Bangkok. It was that German but we had a nice spot and there was a burning question that i'd only really started thing seriously in the course of the trip. But honestly: how do you pick the right time to ask someone to marry you?

I had had some moments on beaches in the south but things had always been tainted by drunk bystanders, street vendors, fatigue, intoxication, rain, those damn singing birds, the colour of the napkins,,,something.

We were both sitting reflecting on the trip over a beer when I decided to ask:" so Annie, what plans do you have for next year? cause if you're not too busy I was thinking that maybe you'd like to marry me?"

Anne: shocked look, no answer, beaming smile: "um what?"

Mitch: Straitening himself up and placing his beer back on the table, takes Annes hand "I guess I´m saying, Anne Lidzba, my angel, my best friend, the love of my life, will you marry me?"

Anne: big smile, a tear, a happy face ,a big kiss, excitement but no answer
Mitch: blurts out more things about how he would be honoured and how great Anne is...
Anne: speechless, kisses me, "oh my god oh my god oh my.."
Mitch: "well um does that mean yes?"
Anne:" yes yes yes yes yes that means yes"
...the rest is history.

So, due my lack of proper planning our ring for the occasion ended up being a natural shell ring from Ko Lanta beach that fits her finger perfectly. I had kept it for Anne in as a momento, now it takes on a whole new significance.

The irony of everything was that we had avoided the 39208 million dress and suit makers that abound throughout Thailand with a sense of "yes they are reasonable but we would never need that". Now on our last night we both thought,,,geez If I'd proposed earlier those clothes could have come in handy.

So that was our engagement on the 9th of December. I'm now writing this Blog back in Berlin on 27 January as a married man. huh? you ask. How this happened will be the subject of coming blogs.

How to almost miss a train in Chang mai

2009-01-27T13:07:00.000-08:00

I know this is not the biggest news from the last few months but It has to be told before going onto the other big events.
So,
As I was writing that last post in Chang mai, killing time before the train trip to Bangkok something had eluded my memory. The fact that all our important documents lay in a locker at out hotel was only noticed as we were at the train station, 20 minutes before departure time.

Normally no problem to get back and pick it up if our hotel hadn't been 20 minutes away. It struck me and Anne as our happy faces, busily chomping on ice creams, turned sour and that look of 'oh shit' hit us both.

Without a word I raced out to find a way back. The funny thing about tuk tuks is that they are a constant presence when you have no need for them. This was different.
Instead I managed to find a pick up truck driver who was willing to emulate those car scenes from James bond and race down side streets at 80km/h beeping his horn to rescue our precious documents.

In the end, mission complete. I made it back to the station with 1 minute to spare with all our passports, cards and whatever other things deemed locker worthy. Close call

Porn porn porn

2008-12-07T03:54:00.000-08:00

Those coming to thailand will be shocked about the amount of porn here. We have come across "porn restaurants", "porn bars", "porn hair salon", "porn tailors" and the list goes on. I even saw porn snooker.

Gotta love the misunderstandings in other languages. "porn" in Thai means "blessed",,,a whooooolllee different packet of chips than what you might expect. "Moo" is pork,"guy" is chicken,,"shit" is a good friend.

So some people go to the porn restaurant with their shit for some moo curry and a guy soup. Love it.

Chiangmai, Gibbons, Massages and Food

2008-12-07T03:29:00.000-08:00

Chiang mai is fantastic. We had had a lot of reports that it's a nice place but I was honestly not expecting much. Very wrong.

Well, our first accommodation was a bit strange. With 5 rooms in a bed and breakfast including shared bathrooms, our older English male neighbours with their young thai girlfriends seemed to be more interested in the bed than the breakfast part. Uncomfortable. So we found a new place with a pool, spectacular rooms and service for 550 baht,,,a very good deal.

So what has been so great you ask. For all of you who have been to Bangkok and were impressed by what they had to offer, but were distracted by the size, the smell and the stress of it, you would love it here. The days have flown by in whirls of food, thai massages, pool, markets (night bazaar is big but over priced and full of a lot of rubbish but there are others), beer, walking and tourist activities.

Our first thing was the "flight of the gibbons". For the uninitiated the flight of the gibbons is a series of cables high in trees through the rain forest along which you fly from tree to tree. The 6:30 start was not to our liking but definitely worth it. Between the 7 people in our group I'm quite sure we took enough photos to fill the internet so I'm sure Anne will have some up soon. Unfortunately, my camera decided to have a rest day leaving me with zippo.

The kings birthday came and went. Another night full of fireworks and lanterns shooting off into the nights sky. The royal family is revered here like nothing i've ever seen. I've been told that you can land in jail by uttering any slur on the royals so none of that for me. Yay, I said and celebrated with my little thai friends.

Further reason to celebrate has been the exit of the prime minister and his party after the stand off that lead to the occupation of Bangkok's airports. Qantas starting flying from there again yesterday so we think it should be fine. Most Thais we met seemed not to be too fazed by the situation. Apparently every prime minister in the last 40 years has been ousted before the end of his term so not a big surprise. I just hope that things get back in order. This place really relies on its tourism industry.

Today we did cooking course. To any fan of Thai food (ie Mitch) this is an absolute must. I was surprised at how quick and simple the actual cooking is. The only difficult part is getting together the 20349503 rare thai ingredients that you need, in the right proportions, cut the right way and hey presto. Even bottomless pete couldn't finish all the food we came up with. Sooooooo good.

So tomorrow we leave for Bangkok on an overnight sleeper train to check into our 5 star hotel there. Last minute shopping Tuesday then Wednesday night is time to fly. The time has absolutely flown by and I'm very jealous of all the people we are meeting whose trips don't finish until next year.

Mango shakes, pancakes, panang curries, phad thai, thai massage, energy drinks, fruit in general. It is all soooo good.

Into the north, demos and thai winter

2008-12-02T03:12:00.000-08:00

So finally get time to write something on here.

Well since my 15 hour bus trip from the south sitting on a wet seat that reminded me of old running socks we made it up to Ayuthaya for the start of the cultural element.

Cultural you say. One day of ruined temples there was enough so we hurried along to the next bunch of ruins: Lopburi. Anyone going there should know: there is only one bar (a nice one next to the only good guest house), the womens shopping is unbelievable as I was to find out the the hard way following Anne around, and the Monkeys are very very cheeky. I was standing near a group of them holding a closed bottle of chocolate milk. The one monkey decided that by the look of my stomach I didn't need any more calories and jumped on me, ripped it out of my hands, skipped away, opened the bottle and drank the whole thing in front of my eyes. Hilarious.

Anyways,next we took the train/tuk tuk/bus combo to Sukhotai national park for some more Wat (Temple) ruins. The place is great and blah blah but the thing that really hit me was the fact that there were no tourists. The thai people told us that this time of the year is normally time for them to stand at the guest houses beating away the prospective guests. We were courted from the bus stop by several proprietors who are all definitely feeling the pinch from the stupidity that is taking place at the Bangkok airports at the moment. We only saw about 30 tourists in the Sukhotai World Heritage sight that is normally guest to hundreds.

Yesterday we made it up to Lampang in the north and spent the evening walking awound aimlessly hoping to find something of interest that didn't involve street food or a medical practice. I swear that town had a good 40 practices in one street, a giant hospital if nothing else. Needless to say I was very careful with my food there and happy to leave this morning.

We took the local bus to an Elephant centre on the way to Chiang Mai. Mannnnn I so want an Elephant for christmas. Those things are so great. We watched a show, then went for a 1 hour jungle tour whereby the elephant showed us he can climb things I wouldnt even attempt (and would be a mean customer at a buffet). As we left and waited for a bus on the highway 2 friendly old thai ladies stopped and gave us a ride all the way to Chiang Mai,,,just great.

Anyway. As more of the political crisis comes to hand Ill let you know if im gonna be able to get out of here. Sabai Sabai

Beach, Rainlay and Animals

2008-11-24T01:50:00.000-08:00

Just as an update we are currently in Ao Nang in the south getting ready for the so called "Travelling" part of the trip. Up to now we have spent out time going from island to island, beach to beach. Ko Phi phi, Ko Lanta, Railay bay and now Ao Nang. In every place we have spent more time than was planned (except Railay where the great scenery was soiled a little by the constant rain, hippies, package tourists and extreme prices). Loved it all.

In the last post I mentioned the some of the human species that we have come across, this time its the animals. I think every day we stumble upon some different random animal. Better than my trip to Berlin Zoo last month:

Bangkok: Turtles and Iguanas in the park, Geckos in the Room (and in every room since)
Ko Phi Phi: Monkeys, Healthy cats,Sharks,Tropical fish, Dolphins, biting ants (and a hell of a lotta fish and prawns on my plate)
Ko Lanta: A tree snake in the restaurant, an elephant on the road, industrious ants and some lizards. And of course all sorts of animals on my plate.
Railay: stinky diseased cats in the restaurant (not a good way to get more customers), hippys, a rabbit next to the toilet and some very happy mosquitos.
Ao Nang: Squirrels, lizards and OYSTERS the size of a fist on my plate (the oysters, not the lizards).

So maybe Zoo time is over. Tomorrow we are leaving for Ayuthaya on a nice long 15 plus hour bus trip. The goal will be to get to Chiang Mai in the next week, become extremely cultural in temples and most probably add to the list above.As long as they have green curry and pad thai I think i`m gonna be fine.

oh Ko Lanta

2008-11-18T05:10:00.000-08:00

So 3 days ago we made it all the way across the Andaman Sea (20km) to Ko Lanta. Ko phi phi was great but after 7 days we thought it was time to move out of our bungalow and enjoy another island. It was so great to meet up with some old dutch friends of ours, Lennart and Marijlene, who just happened to be in the same part of the planet as us at the same time. Fantastic to meet up with familiar faces so far away from it all. I'll always remember all four of us being contorted like dough by 4 thai massage experts, all of us being stretched and wretched in ways I never knew possible.

So Ko Lanta. It's definitely not difficult to find a place to stay here. The only difficult part is sorting through the 203940 alluring offers of "cheap cheap, on beach, with pool, with elephant, with fire dancing elephant, with fire dancing elephant with snake on head and free beer" (well the free beer thing is pushing that a bit too far) but you get the picture. We decided on a place for 300 baht a night, with a pool, right on the beach, which doesn't require a mosquito net. 300 baht is about 6 Euros so a bargain. To add to this we found a place offering a 3 course meal with a whole fresh tuna as main for 150 baht,,,

We've met some more fantastic people and observed many more. Just a few:
We have the "I don't talk swiss couple"
- the "we want to get into porn positions in the pool in front of everyone" German couple
- the "let's take all 20 of us to thailand cause it's so cheap" swedish family
- not to forget the "yes we know that we look like absolute super human good looking and your jealous that we are so damn perfect" swedish couple
-the "I don't want to admit we are German" German people
- and of course Lindsay and Lincoln the down to earth good americans (people like them should be sent overseas more often to remind us that the bad Americans are the exception)
- the English guys here in groups of 5 who can always be found in the bar, any bar
- the English girls who we just keep running into wherever we go
- the French who just refuse to speak to anyone who is not French
- the Thai people everywhere who have to be some of the warmest amazing people on the planet.

The sunsets, food, people and the beaches are incredible here but the show must go on. Today was motorbike day around the island. Tomorrow we are off to Railay-Ton Sai Beach for some more of the same.

If you want to see some photos just go to the link to Anne's blog on the right.

Boat boat?

2008-11-15T05:23:00.000-08:00

Now,I could go on forever about the thai massages, the food, the beaches, the people, the shopping, the snorkelling, the fruits,the cocktails by the pool, the afternoon beer and nap, the full moon party of fireworks and lanterns,the thai buckets, the fruit shakes, the long tail boat trips, the (sometimes) unbelievable prices, the thai hospitality, the happy travellers, and and and...

However, After 8 nights on Ko Phi Phi (or Pi Pi, or Pee Pee however you choose to spell it) I am still absolutely amazed by the way time stands still here. I was surpised today (after snorkelling all morning, pad thai, lazing on the beach, fresh mangoes followed by a thai massage and a panang curry) that it is actually a Saturday. Amazed as it seems that it makes absolutely no difference at all, the little long boat drivers will be out there every day screaming out the highly addictive (and effetive) selling line "boat boat".

For those of you who want to know if the Tsunami has had an effect, undoutedly, but that seems to have only been on the coral and the buildings,,,the people themselves do not appear to be carrying any baggage.

Surely everyone should experience this place once in their lifetime. Then again, maybe it is better if more people stay away,,,all the more pad thai for me.

So next stop will be Ko Lanta either tomorrow or the next day.

Obama and some Bangkok with the lot please

2008-11-06T04:26:00.000-08:00

Well we got here. After being seen off by the wonderful sofia we made it across with a few little bumpy extras:

Firstly: turbulence sucks. Its the only thing whereby I think "we really dont belong up here". Expecially over the English channel.

Next: Qantas are really polite, but Im sorry. Telling us that they apologise for not being able to offer any entertainment package thanks to some "small technical issues" on an 11 hour flight is not my cup of tea. Anne also forgot to tell them shes vegetarian which meant all the more food for me,,,yeh.

Next: Obama. How great was that!!! The captain announced the election result mid flight which resulted in screams of joy and clapping. Awesome.

So in Bangkok we've been coming to terms with the heat but all round smiles here.

- Soooo much great food. Pad thai, green curry, street food. I want it all.
- Tuk Tuk, gotta love it. Sky diving is nothing as an extreme sport compared to these guys.
- Jim Thompson house,,that guy had things very nice here (until going missing...whoops)
- Khao San Road. You could seriously make a really entertaining film by just taking a camera around here for 24 hours. So many images. Sensory overload.
- Boat. Would never swim in that water but its still nice from a boat.
- Lumphini Park. Big, Green, No traffic with resident turtles and iguanas. You seriously don't see that everyday.
- Markets. I really should have brought just an empty bag with me.

and and and...

Blind Hotel Booking

2008-11-02T05:07:00.000-08:00

Damn. Anne already talked about this subject, but in German so I'll try not to copy.

So, why is it that things that were invented as miraculous "time savers" end up taking more time/energy than beforehand.
Cars need to be maintained. "Hunting" is now spread over 8 hours and in offices and the mother of all: Internet. Really, for something that gives you instant access to a resource or knowledge unheard of in the history of humans, you need a lot of time to wade through a lot of rubbish.

We decided to book a hotel for the first two nights in Bangkok. It's a long flight. Try googling "hotel, Bangkok". Holy crap. Not just the amount of web pages, but every page has different prices, different ratings, different reviews apart from the fact that what you see is not always what you get. Like online dating pages, nearly every hotel is made to look like a palace, all of them in "central/convenient location" which on closer investigation can mean: convenient for the proprietors but in the middle of nowhere for the poor souls who booked online.

And just as with online dating you have to understand the lingo: It's always "short distance to transport"(non stop traffic or under flight path), "Thai charm" (that could be anything),"with wellness area" (old fat Euro clients),"with western breakfast" (toast with coffee) "Close to night life (lots of sex tourism/drunk English backpackers),"near sky train" (in boring area) etc.

Also, there is a road/area in new Bangkok called Sukhumvit road where a lot of the expedia hotels reside. Now, this road actually leads from the middle of Bangkok all the way to the Cambodian border. Definitely recommended to check the street number before booking.

We settled on a little place in Old Bangkok near Khao San Road that has a pool and a roof and walls(I hope)but no bells and whistles. Getting exciting now.

Flying south for winter and Noah packing

2008-11-02T04:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday as I was trudging through the streets of Friedrichshain the people in front of me stopped, in that sudden "oblivious to the rest of the people around me"way. They weren't the only ones. Looking up to the sky they were watching a flock of birds, in formation on their way south for winter, and you could see the envy on their faces. Yep very clever.

So coming down to the last days before any trip, no matter how long, it always comes down to the question of what to pack. I can just imagine Noah talking to Mrs Noah, let's call her Doris, as they had finished the ark, all the animals on board and the first few drops of rain:

Doris de Ark: so Noah, what about if it's sunny,you'll need some swimmers.
Noah: yeh, but I think I might just stick to the white sheet and beard look.
Doris: then you'll need some changes and jeans, what about if we're invited to a formal thing?
Noah: white sheet should be fine.
Doris: what about a jacket,,,do you think I'll need a jacket?
Noah: geez woman, I told you the white sheet is just fine. Just one. No change. No socks,,,just the white sheet.
Doris: but what if it rains?
Noah: I've got some pretty trustworthy insider information that It'd be a good idea to bring an umbrella. But come on, the white sheet is enough isnt it?
Doris: but what if it get's dirty?
Noah: What do you think the soaps for?
Doris: what about...
Noah: look. I think you know the answer. I'm taking one white sheet and that's it. If it's cold: white sheet, Hot?:white sheet, snowing?:white sheet. Let's just drop it.

Now, i think he's onto something, but still, when you have an apartment full of stuff,tucking one little backpack full of things for 3 months seems a little insufficient.

A visa for Thailand?

2008-10-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

Only several days left until we leave for Bangkok and still can't believe that we'll soon escape the Berlin Autumn yo-yo weather.

We got the Visas for Thailand this week. I know some of you might say "hey Mitch, When I went to Thailand I didn't need a visa" but we need one.
Why? If your stay is longer than 30 days, i.e your outgoing flight is after 30 days, then you need a tourist visa.
"But you can just go to Cambodia and get a new one on the way back in". Yeahhhh No. That's what my very informative and friendly (let's not forget motivated) travel agent told me...I now know why internet travel agencies are prospering. The Thai embassy also just said "no pwoblem, no wori, you go in, border guard check passport when leave". So far so good.
However, after stumbling across some stories on the internet about people not being let on planes by their airlines I thought we should call Qantas. And yes, Airlines leaving Europe (and I guess from anywhere) will NOT let you board without proof of meeting the entry requirements, regardless or whether that country enforces them or not. There are stories some funny stories of very stressed travellers if you take the time to look on Lonely Planets Thorntree Forum. Quad erad demontrandum...we got visas.

In the end the visa application was a nice way of getting into the Thai way of life anyway. The embassy is in a nice leafy suburb, the people aren't in a hurry, nothing was made complicated(I neeee passport,ok, form please, money please,ok you come back, one week) and I actually saw people smile. When I think of my visits to the German Immigration Department to get my visa for here...

3 weeks to take off

2008-10-12T03:46:00.000-07:00

So this is how things are looking before the trip to Thailand and Australia:

- I plan to go and apply for the visas for Thailand this week in between lessons sometime (very busy at the moment)

-Anne is busy studying for her final uni tests

- It's only another 3 weeks till we leave and we are almost certain that a friend of ours will sub let the flat while we are away

- We are getting terribly sad that we'll miss the German winter and have to go and hang out on tropical Thai island beaches and in Sydney in Summer.

- The general plan for Thailand is: arrive 5 November in Bangkok, avoid riots and eat curry; take bus down south to Krabi and hit Ko phi phi, Ko lanta, Seafood, Thai Buckets, Massage, Boat Tours, Snorkelling, Railay and another Ko or two maybe (pan ngan, tao etc) on the other coast; Nice and sun tanned we plan to go back north on about the 23 Nov to Bangkok, get visas for Cambodia and go looking for lara croft at Angkor Wat; back to Thailand for more curry, pad thai, tuk tuks and red bull; north towards Chang Mai from start of December, lounge, wats, hippy about; then leave Bangkok for Sydney on the 10 December.

- In Sydney the general plan is:arrive 11 December, see family and friends, see the McKenzie manor in Sydney, beach, more sun tan, Terrigal, Sydney, Anne's first birthday celebration in Summer, Anne's first Christmas in Summer, New Years Eve on Sydney Harbour, Camping in January, etc. etc. leave on the 20th January for wintry Berlin and back to work.

I don't believe in signs but-...

2008-10-12T03:28:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to wonder if it is the best time to be travelling. Ever since we booked the flight:

- Thailand has had its biggest time of unrest in the past 15 years with travel warnings for some parts.

- Qantas (our airline) has had 3 separate incidents involving words like "passenger safety""torn fuselage""emergency landing" and "we don't know how this could have happened".

- The world financial crisis has reared its ugly head making everyone just flip out (in turn making the situation worse) . Just hoping my banks stay strong and that there is still enough work available when I get back to Berlin in January. It's also not an ideal environment for new graduates who will be looking for work in January 09.

- The AFL season finished.

- I've had some ongoing health issues that have led to me giving up smoking, cutting back on alcohol and eating a (relatively) balanced diet.

- One of my language schools has reassigned all my classes to other teachers because of my prolonged absence. This means I'll have to find all new classes on my return to Berlin.

- In Anne's ongoing battle with the university red tape and professors who don't reply to emails, it seems that she won't be able to finish all of her tests by the 4th November as we had planned. So she'll have to wait until January to finally do her last oral exams. The German university system needs to look up the word "system" in a dictionary,then "service" and then "yes that is my area of responsibility, how can I help you" and then "oh gosh, you've been waiting for 6 weeks for a reply so you can find out when you can do you exams and get on with your life,,,I'm so sorry, we'll do something about that immediately".

In the beginning there was a...

2008-10-12T01:55:00.000-07:00

...blog.

So welcome to my first blog.

The inspiration for the name came from an in joke with Anita Hernandez that the Spanish for "it's a small world" is "el mundo es un panuelo", meaning "the world is a tissue".

So I do intend on writing in here as often as possible during the trip( and afterwards too) to keep everyone up to date. Anne has a blog as well however as it's in German, I thought I'd spare you the time of deciphering it and write mine in a sensible language.

I hope you take the time check in now and then and hopefully you'll be part of some of the stories that I put up here in the near future.

Mitch