yeah

I just went on my first bike ride in vienna...and I feel like a new man (am I a man now?).  I swear this bike fits me like a glove and is by far the nicest riding/most solid/lightest bike I have ever owned (yes better than the eddy merckx....to me).  I can't get over how cheap it was--less than 200 for the complete bike (all dura ace parts)--and I had to buy pedals and grips for a total of 20 euro.  I am really glad I kept the box that the seller sent it in because this bike will defly be coming back to the US with me.  This morning I went and bought the pedals/grips/and pump just in case I would need it.  I will take some better pictures of it in the next few days so you can see the final trimmings.

In about 5 minutes on the bike I was already in new territory and i can't wait to get back into good shape so that I can ride all day and see more of vienna/austria.  I would have kept going but Fabio and I had plans to go on a walk to the park and then to the laundry mate and I was getting tired after about 20 minutes.  I just hopped right into traffic and was amazed at how easy it was to follow along.  Ruedee and I are going on a ride along the danube tomorrow and we are both really excited.  I am already thinking about a multi-day ride through austria....

Work on thursday and friday was good, but a little stressful.  Klemens and I played some ping pong and got to work together on a project for a few days.  I am really glad he is next to me now and I think we both enjoy having a friend at work.  

I went to the market after I got the bike finished and bought a bunch of groceries for the week.  Fabio made a great lunch for us and then we had some Krapfen and coffe with Miljan (our Serbian neighbor getting a doctorate in chemistry).  I feel like this has been my most productive day-off in vienna.

One last thing--the link to the pictures from the party a week ago.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dadova.jana/GeburstagLoic#

copy and paste the link--the page will say there is nothing to see.  Click View Janka's gallery--and then click the first image that says Geburstag Loic under it.

daily routine (hills can sea)

Today was officially Mo's last day at GP and I was litrally craving Kai's at 9:45--so it nearly killed to have to wait until 12.  We had a nice lunch and sent Mo off to sweden and then to his next job in germany.  It is weird to say goodbye to someone that you know pretty well-knowing that you will never see them again.  Roland and I made some decisions on our program today and I am excited to see where it goes.  I also got put back onto a program with klemens for a day or two to help get some stuff finished before a presentation.

Klemens' computer sort of went on the fritz a while ago, so when Mo left he took his spot next to me.  He is the youngest and funniest full time designer so I know we will have fun together.  We took the tram together after work and got to vent about work a little--he has only been there a few months longer than me, so we have a lot in common.

Today I was relieved to get a formal offer to stay the full 6 months at GP and also the details of "support" figured out.  Time is really flying here and I know I will remember this as one of the highlights of my life.

Mo monday

Work was good yesterday and early on Mo made everyone agree to go out to a bar with him in the evening to celebrate his last few days in Vienna.  Ruedee, Roland, Klemens, Mo, and I all went out to a place called Wirr right after work at around 6:30.  It was really fun getting to talk to the other designers in a more informal setting and I learned a lot about all of them--for example--Roland and Klemens had a semester with the new head of design at BMW as their professor.  We had a great time and laughed till about 11 when we decided to leave.  I have been fighting a cold since friday and I was worried I would wake up in bad shape--but I felt great this morning.  Roland joined me on the program I have been working on and we are moving into solidworks tomorrow in preparation for a review on friday.  Mo's last day at GP is tomorrow and I am a little sad to lose my travel partner but hopeful that I will be able to travel with Ruedee and Klemens--and I know that Fabio wants to do some traveling as well.  I am also hopeful that I will get a bigger piece of the workload--not that I am not busy--but I want to get pushed a little.  We are going to Kai's tomorrow to send Mo off in style. 

more baby alps photos

Here are some of the photos that Mo took--mostly of the last/best part of the trip where we took wooden sleds down from the top of the mountain-

my girls

Happy birthday Bubby and Mom!!!

I love you both so much!

baby alps

First off--Sorry about the link to the pictures from the party on friday--They were not my photos and the Slovakian girl who took them moved them or something and so now the link is dead

Fabio asked her to give him the originals so I might be able to get them back up here.  

But on the up and up....Mo and I met at 8 this morning at the train station and bought tickets for Semmering, Austria.  We boarded the train and slowly made our way out of the station.  Mind you it has been snowing in Wien for the last week--but we didnt really know what to expect when we got to the "baby alps" (i called them that in the morning and it stuck).  We also started to notice that we were the ONLY people on the train that didnt have skiis or a snowboard.  We figured that everyone was going to Graz--the last stop for the train we were on.  But--when we reached Semmering--everyone got off-skiis and all.  We stepped out into litrally a winter wonderland.  atleast 2 feet of fresh snow and much more packed underneath, beautiful old houses and hotels, and nothing else but trees and mountains.  We realized there would be no hiking today--but sort of decided we had to go skiing.  We just sort of followed a big group of people (with skiis) up the street and about 5 minutes later we saw the resort.  It was really small--and had only about 200 people but it was a really nice spot with a huge mountain.  It was really surreal to be in such a beautiful place totally by accident.  We rented our equipment and went to the bunny slop (mo had a little anxiety about the full on runs--and I was secretly glad I didn't have to be the one to chicken out.  We bought a 2 hour pass for the bunny slop and had a really fun time.  Mo got his bearings eventually and after 2 hours I was ready to go to the more advanced runs---but We would have had to buy another pass and the train was leaving at 4 and it was already 3 and blah blah blah.  We went and had a coffee at the restaurant and decided that we couldn't leave without taking a trip to the top of the slop---with one of the wooden sleds that they rented out!  It was one of the most fun things I have done in a while--and so unbelievable beautiful.  We tobogganed down this huge mountain cutting through trees and snow banks and tunnels and all sorts of amazing stuff on vintage style wooden sleds with almost zero directional control.  It took about 20 minutes from top to bottom and it was a no brainer for 6 euro.

We were both exhausted on the train home and I imagine I will be asleep before 10.  I posted a few pictures from the day--but my camera battery died about halfway through the day.  Luckily Mo had his camera and we took a bunch of the toboggan trip that I will post up when I get the pictures from him.  On a sad note--Mo is leaving GP in 2 weeks so this is likely our last trip together for a while--he may be working in germany and if so Im sure I will see him again..

also--the black dot in all my photos is driving me crazy!!!

falco

yesterday was a whirlwind.  Work went fine and I got a few more concepts out--but am glad to have a few days off to think about something else.  Mo and I asked Roland and Klemens where to go for a one day hiking trip and he suggested Semmering, Austria.  It is only about 70km away and we can get there directly from Vienna--one direct train.  Mo and I are meeting at 8:30 at the station and are just going to figure out what we are doing once we get there.  Klemens and I were leaving at the same time so he took the tram home with me instead of the U6 and it was nice to have someone to talk to instead of listening to my ipod.  I was planning on going out to the market and getting some food for dinner but Fabio invited me to a birthday party for an erasmus student that he met in his german course.  We took a few trains to get there but it ended up being only about 5 minutes from where I work.  The flat was really really beautiful and probably the nicest apartment I have ever been in--atleast the nicest apartment that students live in.  It had atleast 15 foot ceilings, one big room in the middle (atleast 45x15) with a beautiful vintage kitchen with thick butcher block countertops.  It was super old (like all of vienna) and had really thick white paint on the walls and old wooden floors.  There were kids from all over--brazil, slovakia, france, italy....and it was a really fun night--with really good food that Fabio and Carlo (another italian student) cooked up for us.  We didnt get home until around 2:30 or 3 so I got right into bed with intentions to get up around 10 to get to the bike store and finally get some pedals.  

When I finally did wake up it was about 1:15 and I realized I missed my only chance to get some shopping done until next weekend.  I was hungry and craving a donor so I got on the train and went to the naschmarkt.   I got my donor and a pastry and walked around/inhaled the food.  Next I went to the Asian super market and got some really good vegetable dumplings that Ruedee had bought last week.  After that I got back on the train and came back to the dorm to get out of the cold (it has been snowing here for the last 5 days--and it looks like it will keep snowing for the next 5. 

here is a link to photos from the party last night-- http://picasaweb.google.com/dadova.jana/GeburstagLoic#

sleepyhead

I tentatively finished updating my portfolio--I am not 100% loving it--but I think I am at the point were the next iteration will involve a total redesign.  I may end up redoing the whole thing in a few months while I am here--but for now, it will do.  I have already applied to a few firms and am frustrated with the job hunt process after less than 2 days.  It is zero fun and I feel like I will have to apply to so many companies that I won't have enough emotional energy to really put myself into every application.  I hate that feeling that whatever job I get will affect the rest of my life.  I know it isn't true (I have already had some crappy jobs) but I just don't want to have to settle for a company that I am not excited about working for.  I really love GP--the size, location, projects--and I wish I could go ahead and settle down here--but the austrian government makes that nearly impossible.

I got a bunch of renderings done today and I am really liking how they are turning out.  I am sort of taking my time with each one and trying out new techniques.  For some reason I was straight starving at lunch today and ate a big salad and a microwave lunch and was still scavenging the fridge for scraps.  Mo and I still don't have solid plans of where we are going--but we arent going until sunday (so that we can shop saturday).  I guess we will figure it out tomorrow...

today and yesterday

I can't really remember yesterday morning--so that probably means it went ok.  I left the program Mo and I were working on to start on the new one.  I spent the whole day sketching and rendering concepts which was really fun and a good exercise for me as I am trying to change my sketch/render style.  I like my current style--but think it lacks a little bit of confidence--or style or something.  I included an example--one of my renderings (camera) vs. something that I can't do...yet.  More samples of baller renderings here www.simkom.com/sketchsite/  .  On my way out the door Mo said that he could only go on a one day trip this weekend--leave in the morning come back the same day--So I dont think we will go to Tyrol.  

Today was more of the same at work--bunch of renderings in painter/photoshop and I am starting to see some potential in a few new techniques.  We went to Kai's for lunch and I am now positive that I could eat there everyday--by far the best buffet I have ever been to.  Ruedee sent me a bunch of info on some design schools that she was looking at in Scandinavia and from what I have seen so far--Scandinavia is where its at for me.  I ate 4 eggs with cheese and salsa as well as the last sharon fruit for dinner.

Gyroscope

I kind of feel like a broken record with these blog openings "today was great..."--"today started slow..."--"today was fun...".  But, Im not sure how to spice them up, so, for now this is what you get.  This is definitely a journal not a blog but I never promised anything amazing...

Today was great...It snowed about 2 inches during the day.  Work went well, I got to start on a new project while continuing the current project with Mo.  We worked together in the morning and then I went to a meeting in the afternoon to get introduced to the new program (the program that got me interested in GP 4 months ago).    

Klemens took Mo and I out to a local Cafe/Pub for lunch and we had some really good soup/salad/lasagna.  The four regular ping pongers all assembled for the first doubles game in over 3 work days--im not sure about the others, but i was having serious withdrawal.  

I got groceries after work and came home while Fabio was making yet another italian dish from scratch--and there was no way I was going to turn down his offer to try some.  After dinner I took Fabio to the WashCenter so that we could both get some laundry done and now our room has wet laundry hanging from every possible spot.  Also, I will never clean shave in the winter again.

today

Today was really slow and relaxing.  I slept in until around 10:30 and didnt get dressed until around 2.  Fabio made me some really great authentic pasta for lunch and I started to update my portfolio in the afternoon.  I got out the beard trimmer to tame my face pelt and was only able to trim a big chunk out under my chin before it died.  I started to charge it---but then zapped the motor because the plug adapters I have aren't actually converting 220 to 110--just allowing an american plug to fit into the austrian outlets.  Sooooo, I had a big patch of beard missing right in the middle of my face and no trimmer to finish the job.  But, I did have a small pair of scissors...So I reenacted my favorite scene in movie history from the Royale tenenbaums, and cut my beard short with scissors and then clean shaved.  This is the first time in over a year-maybe 2 that I have used a razor to shave my face and it took about 45 minutes from start to finish--reminding me why I started wearing a beard in the first place.

yesterday

I woke up sort of early to get to the big sports store just a few tram stops away.  I was able to get an allen key set, and a rear bike light--but didnt buy any pedals because they were all plastic and made for mountain bikes.  Fabio and I met Ruedee at the Naschmartk at 11:30 and we walked around for a while and bought a couple of things each.  It was my second time there but the first for both of them so it was exciting to show them around.  Ruedee bought a fruit I have never seen before--called a Sharon (persimmon)--they are a really beautiful color orange/yellow and I decided I needed to have some too--and they are super good.  Fabio left around 1:30 to meet with some fellow erasmus students and tour the city but Ruedee and I decided to stay in the area and wait for Mo--who was meeting us at 4.  We walked around/shopped/talked/had coffee for 3.5 hours and it was really great getting to know her.  For example--she studied at the Design Academy Eindhoven for a year (one of my favorite places from my last europe trip and one of the most avant guard schools in the world).   She told me all sorts of stories about UMEA and I am really seriously starting to think that I may try and get a masters there in the future...if I can get in.  It is really exciting being around such talented people and it is impressive how humble they are.  We waited for Mo from 4-4:30 but gave up and decided we had been out in the cold (really cold) for long enough. 

Fabio and I went out to a bar around 10 last night and had a great conversation.  We got back around 1:30 and I went right to sleep.  We are going to go to the laundry mate tonight, and then I think I will start updating my portfolio with my thesis work and the table saw to start sending out in the next few weeks.  The picture is from one of the less crowded spots of the naschmarkt (it is about .5k)--where I could stop and take a picture and not create a major jam

friday

Today was really fun...Work went well and Mo and I had our review with Christoph in the afternoon.  I think it was the best critique I have ever experienced--not because he loved everything--he didnt really give any praise--but he was really good at building on our concepts and being open to our suggestions.  He was really positive and it made me feel so much more involved and not like I was defending my decisions.  It is one of the first reviews where I really felt on the same level as everyone else/part of a team--and not like an intern.  

Also, today I google'd the table saw that I worked on while at CCI and for the first time I actually got a hit!  The saw is on a flyer sent out by The Home Depot in Canada.  It was really exciting to see it and I was relieved to see that it didn't get the axe at the last minute (like I was starting to think).  

After work, Mo and I went to the english movie theatre and watched "the International" with Clive Owen.  It was really good and a nice treat to my usual routine.  Tomorrow morning I will go to the bike shop and try and get the needed parts to get my bike up and running.  Rudy, Mo, and I are going to meet at the Naschmarkt tomorrow afternoon to get some fresh food.  

club soda

After being so close to getting my new bike yesterday I got up at 8 this morning and walked to the post office and carried the bike box back to my room before work.  My mom had also sent me a package, so I had to make two trips to the post office to get everything back to my room--but I had plenty of time to get to GP.

I opened the bike box and in less than 2 minutes had everything assembled and took a step back to look at my new pimp cane.  It is in a lot nicer condition that I was expecting and all the dura ace components are in great shape.  Also, the seller never mentioned in the description but the bike has campagnolo dropouts--making this one of the nicer bikes I have ever owned but also one of the cheapest!  It still needs pedals and a front brake lever but I imagine I will be able to ride it by saturday afternoon.  It also has room for some wider tires--which is good news for use on the city streets in Wien.

Work was good--but the highlight of the day was Kai's for lunch.  I cannot get over all you can eat real/fresh chinese food and sushi--for 5,90 euro!  It is the best deal ever when you consider buying a microwave lunch, apple, and drink is normally 3,25. 

Mo and I have a review with Christoph tomorrow and it will be busy getting prepared but I really love the work so I am looking forward to it.  I think I will stay around this area for the weekend atleast saturday so that I can get my bike up and running.

MC Miker & DJ Sven

I missed the austrian post by about 20 minutes today.  The attempted to deliver my bike at 9:30 this morning and left me a note in german--that I think says I can pick it up from the office tomorrow.  So, I will go there at 8 and try and pick up my new bicycle!

Work was good--I got kind of bored doing illustrator renderings but I felt like a little bit like the AI wizard--known to mere mortals as Alex Marshall.  The presentation is tomorrow and I think I finished up all the AI work that needed to be done for it.  I wanted to write about this yesterday but forgot--for some reason Rudy asked Christian if there was a circus school in vienna.  Christian thought for a second and then said "No" and everyone was quiet and sort of wondering why Rudy wanted to know--and then christian says "I've always thought the streets were the best school for those things" and I laughed the hardest I have since being in vienna.  

Mo and I made plans to go Tyrol Austria not this weekend but next and I am really excited for my first big weekend trip.  I came home as Fabio was starting to make dinner and he offered to cook some more for too.  He made risotto with veggies and we ate with our new neighbor Milian from Serbia.  They both speak good english and it was a really fun time.  I think Fabio and I will have great time together and we have already gotten to know each other more than Pierre and I ever did-not because Pierre wasn't a great guy--but his english was about half of what Fabio's is.

Zimmer 602

Work got off to a slow start this morning and I was sort of having writers block with sketching concepts.  Roland and Klemens are working on a project that has a sort of progress report meeting with the client on wednesday, so they recruited me to do some illustrator rendering work for it.  I ended up working on that stuff the rest of the day and didnt get home from work until around 8.  Everyone at the office was in a really good mood today and there were a lot of jokes and laughing around studio.  

When I came home tonight and opened my door I could here the shower running and immediately saw the evidence of a new roomate.  His name is Fabio and he is from northern italy.  He is an exchange student at the university of Vienna and he seems really nice and actually speaks above average english for austria (meaning better than most austrian's I have met so far).  He was really excited to hear about industrial design and he pulled up the Alessi website to show me some of his favorite designs!  It is nice to be somewhere were people know that Industrial design doesn't mean that you designing factories--or machines.

balance, repetition, composition, mirrors

Yesterday was really nasty and cold and icy and rainy.  I planned to go out after the rain/ice stopped...but it never did...and I never did.  I watched a bunch of movies and tv shows on my really slow internet connection and ate almost all of the groceries that I had bought friday.

Today was really beautiful and I really wanted to be outside in the alps somewhere.  I have been waking up in naturally good mood the last week because I am excited to go to work.  Rudy told me that she was going to invite me to go to the naschmarkt this weekend (i ended up going by myself by coincidence)- but I left before she could, so I will be sure and invite her along to do whatever it is I do this weekend.  Mo said Halstatt was really beautiful and that I should go when it gets warmer...I was going to anyways.

Mo got assigned to join me on the new project today at our monday meeting and the managers are organizing the meeting with the client to present the work that we finished last week.  I am really excited for my bike to arrive sometime this week and it is starting to feel like spring is just around the corner (besides sunday).  I just watched the movie Seven Pounds with Will Smith and it was really beautiful and has me feeling like I need to go out on an adventure sometime soon.

Naschmarkt

I got my first pastry that I didnt like friday morning.  It was called a cremekrapf and was really similar to a sugar donut but had a really gross black jelly filling.  I dont know what it was but I will never buy one of those again.  Work was good, and towards the end of the day it started warming up.  I left  a little early to go home and get some groceries before everything closed.  I made plans to go to the Naschmarkt (vienna's famous weekend market) today and had to take my first U bahn trip (train system) in order to get there.  The market is really famous for selling fresh fruit, fish, meat, and cheese and If I had been looking for something in particular I am sure they would have had it.  Also--on saturdays there is a flea market at the southern end of the naschmarkt that draws just as many visitors as the food does.

I walked the market/flea market for a long time just sort of watching and listening.  It was really exciting being in such a large crowd of people and it was obvious that there was a market culture--sort of like at blacksburg surplus auction.  

On my way out of the market I stopped and got a huge box of teriyaki chicken with noodles and began my walk home--about 3.5 km.  I decided to walk along the danube canal that goes through vienna.  It was really peaceful and there were lots of bikers and walkers to keep me entertained.  By the time I reached the street that I would normally turn on, I had decided that today would be the day that I finally see the danube.  I kept walking along the canal as I knew It eventually meets back up with the danube at the northern tip of Vienna.  I walked for a long time (probably another 4 km) but the perfect weather made it easy to keep going.  I finally reached the danube and was surprised at how wide and fast it was.  It was also really excited to have reached the edge of the city.  When my bike gets here i think I will take a long ride out along the canal--to the danube--and then go as far away from vienna as I can.

I have no idea what I will do tomorrow but am more excited about dinner right now.  The pictures I posted are of...the Liechtenstein palace that is litrally right behind my building, a few shots of the danube canal path and finally the mighty danube!

Wed/thursday

Yesterday was pretty exhausting at work--Mo and I finished up the project but had to do a bunch of small changes after a review with the managing partners in the afternoon.  

This morning started slow and I didn't have anything to work on until about 11:00 when Christoph gave me a brief on a new project...I am really excited about it and I really wish I could talk about it.  I spent the morning looking up places to visit in austria when it gets warmer and was pretty much drooling over the photos I was finding.  I have a word document with the names of at least 10 spots in austria that I am going to visit (and it is growing every day).  I have a new favorite adjective--"alpine", as in "alpine lake" or "alpine city"...the alps make anything better.  Mo and his girlfriend are going to Halstatt this weekend (a place I told him about), so I am sort of jealous.  I am going to try and plan a little trip tomorrow for this weekend but I don't think it will be anything crazy.

Klemens and I ate lunch together and he showed me an interior design magazine that he had some work in..as well as his picture.  I am really thankful to have him at the office--I can tell that if he spoke better english--or I spoke german--we would be really good friends.

I had a hard time getting up from bed after watching like 6 episodes of Law & Order last night.  Work went well today and Mo and I should be done with everything for this project by tomorrow.

I'd like to give a shout out to the lovely/elderly austrian woman that sat next to me on the the #5 tram to Westbanhof today.  You sat next to me after I helped that other woman lift her baby stroller off the tram and you immediately smiled and started speaking german.  I apologized for not understanding and asked if you spoke english--but all I heard from your response was "Nien, Nien--blah blah blah (in german) blah blah Hitler something.  You kept talking a mile a minute in German, knowing that I didn't understand a word you were saying, but I really loved every minute of it.  By the time I left the tram, 10 minutes later, your arm was wrapped around mine and whenever you laughed you laid your head on my shoulder like we had known each other for years.  We had a short but honest embrace when I left and I wish I could have told you how magical you were.

when I walked into GP this morning I saw Christoph giving the new interaction design intern the same tour I had gotten 3 weeks ago.  Her name is Rudy and she is a masters student in interaction design at UMEA (same school as Mo) in sweden--again, the most highly regarded school for ID.  She is originally from Bangkok, Thailand and seems really nice.  

Mo and I sketched and brainstormed all day and it was crazy to look at where we started in the morning to where we ended up.  Design at GP has been about simplifying....everything.  It is a new design perspective to me and it is exciting to see them work on really complex systems with the main goal to make the most simple product possible.  The concept of simplifying a product isnt new to me, or anyone in design--but having that constantly driving decisions is not something I have done before and I am developing an appreciation for simple forms that before I would have overlooked as "easy"--subtlety is something that GP seems to have mastered and I am eating it up. 

Mo invited me to Prague this weekend---but he is going with his GF, and I dont really want to be the third wheel.  Roland told me about a huge outdoor market in the 8th district that I will check out this saturday, but those are my only plans for the weekend so far...

schonbrunn

I finally made it out to the schonbrunn palace today.  When I woke up it was snowing--but by the time I left around 1 it had stopped.  I got to the palace after two 10 minute tram rides and am again so thankful for the miracle of google maps.  The palace was really pretty and the snow definitely added too the drama of the scene.  It is for sure the hottest tourist spot in vienna and today was no exception.  I made my way up the big (icy) hill behind the palace and toured the woods/gardens on the grounds.  It is the first time I have been in the woods since arriving in Vienna and it felt really good to be there.  There were a lot of other people around but it was really easy to be alone.  There were small walking paths cut through the woods and there were hundreds of really old, hand made bird houses that I started taking pictures of---for my mom.  Then I came across an emu.  It was behind a fence--but it was still an emu...Later I saw his friends the reindeer.  Walking in the woods with snow everywhere was really refreshing and gave me a really good feeling.

After Schonbrunn (3 hours) I took the first tram back to my building but starting walking around before getting on the second.  I found a big shopping district that sort of reminded me of a big american city; lots of Mcdonalds, starbucks, and crazy people.  I walked around for a long time and found some good shops to return to if I ever need some new clothes.  

I got back home around 6 and am glad to be inside and out of the cold--it was about 30 here today--and being outside for 5 hours sort of wore me out. 

Here are some pictures from the day