With one week left in Ecuador time was due to do something else than hiking. Galapagos is too expensive, the coast something I´ll get enough from in New Zealand, so the choice fell on going to the Amazon jungle for a few days.
After a beautiful 5 hours busride, I arrived on monday at 3pm in Tena, a 10.000 habitants village located at the gate to the Amazonas. The climate was quite a change, beautifully hot and sweaty humid. Two big rivers - Pano and Tena - come together here and build the heart of this adrenalin tourism place.
Parque Amazonico
One thing I´ve noticed very fast was that the girls from Tena seemed to like me a great deal for some reason. I wasn´t in town for half an hour, when I suddenly found myself accompanied by two of them for a visit to the Parque Amazonico, a kind of zoo stretching over about a squarekilometer. The girls were everything but shy and wouldn´t let go of me till I caught a little ride on a rope between two towers.
Finally free, I enjoyed the most peculiar zoo I´ve ever seen. There are some interesting plants and very few animals, of which particularly the Jaguarundi impressed me, locked up in cages. Since the park lies on an island, however, most animals are walking aroung free and are about as shy as the two girls.
So you suddenly hear a noise in the bush and out comes a wild pig on a mission, you look amazed into the snakes cage and a monkey grabs your legs and looks at you hopefully or you have to get away from the track cause a big fat tapir ir filling it all up - welcome to the jungle.
Jungle experience near Serena
The next day I met Fausto at 6.30am to spend a day out in the forest and discover its miracles. He is a native from a tribe near Coca, studied chemistry and biology and has a travel agency in Tena. We went by bus to a small native village called Serena, where he prepared a wholesome breakfast. Then we went for a walk straight into the jungle, where he explained me fascinating things about the whole ecosystem. There weren´t many animals, mainly insects and butterflies as well as a sloth and a snake, but therefore a broad range of beautiful trees and a stunning view over the hilly countryside. After the tastiest spaghettis I´ve ever had in my live, I relaxed at and in the nearby river, visited a museum about the Kichwa (native people), a large family from the town as well as the local school and caught the 6pm bus back to Tena.
Kayaking with more girls
On wednesday I tried myself in a new sport - kayaking. With all the equipment and my private teacher Boylan, a young fella just slightly older than me, we drove up the river Pano to a nice beach where the water is deep and calm. One day is very little time to learn kayaking and I first just tried to get comfortable in it.
It went all well till noon, when about 15 jungle-beauties arrived to swim in the river. Whilst I was trying to focus on learning the escimorole - something very difficult for me because being head upside down in the water isn´t exactely where I feel comfortable - they all gatered around me, asking me all sorts of questions (Where from? Girlfriend? How long in Tena? What doing tonight?) and making remarks (ojos bonitos, muy simpatico).
After being head upside down for at least 30 times and being kayaking for about five hours, I was getting really exhausted, blisters all over my hands, and decided to call it a day. The weather had been most welcoming the whole day, but now a storm was creeping up and we tried to make it back to Tena before it started to rain. This didn´t work, but it did´t matter anymore anyway cause the river had been stronger than me, leading me too close to some low branches and I capesized, just about saving my paddle. Luckily Boylan caught the kayak and we somehow made it back without another accident.
After this tough day out on the river, I just relaxed the rest of the time in Tena, enjoying the good restaurants and bars as well as reading near the river. I was quite happy to make it back to Quito on thursday night, since the mozzies got me really badly. Apparently there are very few in Tena, I hadn´t seen any at all, but I had at least 50 bites in each of my calves.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Ecuador - Laguna Quilotoa and Cotopaxi Volcano
After finishing my four weeks course at Simon Bolivar Spanish School in Quito, I had two more weeks left for traveling the small but diverse country of Ecuador.
The time at school was great and learnful. In a total of 80 private lessons with my teacher Julio we went through the grammatical basics, but most of the time we were just conversating freely about all sorts of things (mainly girls). Therefore I feel very comfortable in talking and understandig, but am usually just guessing the right conjugation.
Fiestas de Quito
The last week at school coinicided with the fiestas de Quito, celebrating the foundation of the city some 474 years ago. On friday afternoon, the school held a party with heaps of silly foodgames, shows and more. After skipping out of the salsa show the night before, I was still busy taking part in all the games, a funny play and - last but not least - the Miss Simon Bolivar election. Me and four peers dressed up as girls and did some catwalk and dancing in front of a laughing-out-loud crowd. I came runner-up...
Beautiful Quilotoa
Ecuador has basically four different regions - the mountains, the jungle, the coast and the galapagos islands. The first week was supposed to be spent in the mountains, with a climb to the top of the Cotopaxi volcano as the big objectiv. Davide from Boston and Daniel from Sydney, two peer students, had the same plan, so we decided going there together.
To succeed in climbing up to 5897 meters above sea level, we were desperate for a good acclimatisation. We had started with hikes around Otavalo two weeks before, then climbed the Pichincha volcano near Quito twice, before catching a bus to Quilotoa on Monday. This little village on slightly less than 4000 meters altitude was a highlight in itself.
The reason is a beautiful lagoon in the middle of a fascinating mountain landscape. The volcanoes definitely created some nice places on this planet, and I reckon Quilotoa is the greatest of them. We walked all around the lagoon on the crater, which took us about 4 hours, and then enjoyed a great dinner at our hostel. In the evening, a strong wind was blowing some chilly air and was shaking the house during the whole night. I went out for a little walk in the bright full moon and the sparkling stars, deciding that, apart from Maria Island, this was the most awesome place I have ever been.
Bloody Dogs on the Way
Next day, we walked down the crater, did some kayaking on the lagoon (where I got my only long pants soaking wet) before we walked off to Chugchilan, another little town some 12 kilometers away. The challenge was to work out the right track and, most of all, surviving the protecting dogs on the way.
I do not have anything against dogs in general, but I can´t stand the barking ones. Last year in Italy I was attacked on the bike by four huge dogs fearing death and escaping luckily - an event which will leave me traumatised forever. The experience here was nothing in comparsion but scary nevertheless.
What happend was, that a little black dog was barking at us, more afraid of us than we from him. My mates, armed with sticks and stones, considered it harmless and everbody thought we were out of trouble once he moved off the track and let us pass. Shortly after, however, I felt a bite in my left shoe.
We made it safe and sound to Chuchilan where we spent one and a half days relaxing in a hostel with a remarkably tasty dinner. Then we caught a 3am bus to Saquisili, where we visited a big market, eating all sorts of stuff and observing the buy and sell of chicken, rabbits and guinea pigs among others.
Freezing, Cloudy, Snowing - We Made it
After spending the night in a luxurious hostel with a godly wirlpool, we set off towards Cotopaxi on friday. Together with our guides Fernando and Sergio as well as Ryan, a former Simon-Bolivar-student from California, we got all our gear and drove off to the parking lot on 4500 meters. From there we walked to the basecamp Jose F. Ribas, located just below the snowboundary on 4800 meters above sea level. There we made last preparations, got some food in our belly and slept a few hours.
The climb started at 1.20am, in order to walk on compact snow. The weather was really ugly, it was snowing most of the time and troubling our adventure. Despite fears of having to return, we were right below the top at 5.30am - too early. We had to wait for dawn before making the last 100 meters to the peak, where it was so cold that the water in my bottle froze. Usually there is a breathtaking view up there, but unfortunately it was all cloudy this saturday morning. However, we were just happy that we all had climbed the highest active volcano in the world without any problems.
The time at school was great and learnful. In a total of 80 private lessons with my teacher Julio we went through the grammatical basics, but most of the time we were just conversating freely about all sorts of things (mainly girls). Therefore I feel very comfortable in talking and understandig, but am usually just guessing the right conjugation.
Fiestas de Quito
The last week at school coinicided with the fiestas de Quito, celebrating the foundation of the city some 474 years ago. On friday afternoon, the school held a party with heaps of silly foodgames, shows and more. After skipping out of the salsa show the night before, I was still busy taking part in all the games, a funny play and - last but not least - the Miss Simon Bolivar election. Me and four peers dressed up as girls and did some catwalk and dancing in front of a laughing-out-loud crowd. I came runner-up...
Beautiful Quilotoa
Ecuador has basically four different regions - the mountains, the jungle, the coast and the galapagos islands. The first week was supposed to be spent in the mountains, with a climb to the top of the Cotopaxi volcano as the big objectiv. Davide from Boston and Daniel from Sydney, two peer students, had the same plan, so we decided going there together.
To succeed in climbing up to 5897 meters above sea level, we were desperate for a good acclimatisation. We had started with hikes around Otavalo two weeks before, then climbed the Pichincha volcano near Quito twice, before catching a bus to Quilotoa on Monday. This little village on slightly less than 4000 meters altitude was a highlight in itself.
The reason is a beautiful lagoon in the middle of a fascinating mountain landscape. The volcanoes definitely created some nice places on this planet, and I reckon Quilotoa is the greatest of them. We walked all around the lagoon on the crater, which took us about 4 hours, and then enjoyed a great dinner at our hostel. In the evening, a strong wind was blowing some chilly air and was shaking the house during the whole night. I went out for a little walk in the bright full moon and the sparkling stars, deciding that, apart from Maria Island, this was the most awesome place I have ever been.
Bloody Dogs on the Way
Next day, we walked down the crater, did some kayaking on the lagoon (where I got my only long pants soaking wet) before we walked off to Chugchilan, another little town some 12 kilometers away. The challenge was to work out the right track and, most of all, surviving the protecting dogs on the way.
I do not have anything against dogs in general, but I can´t stand the barking ones. Last year in Italy I was attacked on the bike by four huge dogs fearing death and escaping luckily - an event which will leave me traumatised forever. The experience here was nothing in comparsion but scary nevertheless.
What happend was, that a little black dog was barking at us, more afraid of us than we from him. My mates, armed with sticks and stones, considered it harmless and everbody thought we were out of trouble once he moved off the track and let us pass. Shortly after, however, I felt a bite in my left shoe.
We made it safe and sound to Chuchilan where we spent one and a half days relaxing in a hostel with a remarkably tasty dinner. Then we caught a 3am bus to Saquisili, where we visited a big market, eating all sorts of stuff and observing the buy and sell of chicken, rabbits and guinea pigs among others.
Freezing, Cloudy, Snowing - We Made it
After spending the night in a luxurious hostel with a godly wirlpool, we set off towards Cotopaxi on friday. Together with our guides Fernando and Sergio as well as Ryan, a former Simon-Bolivar-student from California, we got all our gear and drove off to the parking lot on 4500 meters. From there we walked to the basecamp Jose F. Ribas, located just below the snowboundary on 4800 meters above sea level. There we made last preparations, got some food in our belly and slept a few hours.
The climb started at 1.20am, in order to walk on compact snow. The weather was really ugly, it was snowing most of the time and troubling our adventure. Despite fears of having to return, we were right below the top at 5.30am - too early. We had to wait for dawn before making the last 100 meters to the peak, where it was so cold that the water in my bottle froze. Usually there is a breathtaking view up there, but unfortunately it was all cloudy this saturday morning. However, we were just happy that we all had climbed the highest active volcano in the world without any problems.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Ecuador - Yasmin
Quito is about 50 kilometers wide and divided into two parts, the north and the south. Whilst being in the north, which offers all the parks, attractions and beauties, you easily forget that you are in a developping country with lots of poverty and problems, located in the south of the city - where people just pay 90 bucks for a 3-room-apartment a month, but where there is a lot of traffic and violence.
On tuesday last week, I was walking along a street coming from a tennishit, when a little girl overtook me with a huge smile, pointing to her pocket and offering me a bunch of candy. I shook my head, but she was explaining me that it wasn't a question, but an obligation. She put the candy in my hand, asked me for 25 cents and ran off happily and lighthearted.
On friday, she wasn't happy anymore. When I walked past her, she was sitting in a dirt corner, her head hanging lifeless on her neck, with a sad and hopeless look. Again she offered me some candy, which had been as oversugared and horrible as expected, and again I shook my head. If her expression was hopeless before, it was the saddest look in the world I've ever seen afterwards. It really touched me, so I took out a dollar, bought one of these delicious fried bananas, walked back, shared it with her and gave her the change. We talked a little, her name was Yasmin, 12 years old, orphan, living in the south, comig to the north to sell candy every day.
There is a lot of poverty on earth. Especially in south america, there is this huge difference of wealth and poverty in such a little space, in order that you really have to ask what is going wrong in this world. And you can't help it. Giving money, charities, whatever - these things are not gonna change anything. They may be able to support idividuums, give them a little pleasure or hope or just quiet their hunger. But in the longterm, there is only one thing that can help: If humanity stops thinking that money is the most important objective and starts putting in an effort in giving everbody food, water, warmth, education and hope for the future.
On tuesday last week, I was walking along a street coming from a tennishit, when a little girl overtook me with a huge smile, pointing to her pocket and offering me a bunch of candy. I shook my head, but she was explaining me that it wasn't a question, but an obligation. She put the candy in my hand, asked me for 25 cents and ran off happily and lighthearted.
On friday, she wasn't happy anymore. When I walked past her, she was sitting in a dirt corner, her head hanging lifeless on her neck, with a sad and hopeless look. Again she offered me some candy, which had been as oversugared and horrible as expected, and again I shook my head. If her expression was hopeless before, it was the saddest look in the world I've ever seen afterwards. It really touched me, so I took out a dollar, bought one of these delicious fried bananas, walked back, shared it with her and gave her the change. We talked a little, her name was Yasmin, 12 years old, orphan, living in the south, comig to the north to sell candy every day.
There is a lot of poverty on earth. Especially in south america, there is this huge difference of wealth and poverty in such a little space, in order that you really have to ask what is going wrong in this world. And you can't help it. Giving money, charities, whatever - these things are not gonna change anything. They may be able to support idividuums, give them a little pleasure or hope or just quiet their hunger. But in the longterm, there is only one thing that can help: If humanity stops thinking that money is the most important objective and starts putting in an effort in giving everbody food, water, warmth, education and hope for the future.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Ecuador - First Impressions
Before arriving in Quito I was told by a couple of people how beautiful Ecuador is and how much they envy me for spending six weeks there. Another thing I've heard was that the country has a massive safety problem, that you can't trust in its inhabitants. By arriving here I've got all kind of advice - from teachers, family, brochures: everybody. Be careful on this street, don't go to that park, better take a taxi in the night, never walk close to walls, keep your money hidden well, keep as little money with you as possible, never stop walking when called by a stranger...
The story of two fellow students from germany: One night, they took a cab for two dollars back home. They first paid with a 20 bucks note. The cabdriver took it, said he didn't have any change, so the girls got them back and paid with a couple of coins. Later on they worked out that the 20 dollars they received were faked.
A week later - it was 6pm - the same girls walked along a street in the citycentre. A car passed by, two men came out, pointed on them with a riffle, pushed them against the wall, camera, cell phone and money were gone.
May I was just lucky in my first three weeks, but everything I can say about the inhabitants of Ecuador I met so far is the following: They are friendly, helpful, trustworthy and openminded. For example, one day I was reading in a park, when a guy walked past. We started chatting despite my very basic Spanish, and we went for a drink. When the waiter arrived with the bill, he insisted on paying my juice! Although there certainly are robbers in this city (like in every other), I feel absolutely safe and welcome here. One should be careful, but one should never judge upon people he doesn't know.
Spanish and tennis
I had a great time the first three weeks here in Quito. I live in a very kind hostfamily - Carlos and Edith, two spanishteachers - in the middle of the city, just five walkingminutes away from the school. There I have private spanishlessons from 8.30 to 12.30 every weekday. Although not having had any knowledge before arriving, I picked up the language pretty well and talk a lot with my hostfamily and random people I meet. I struggle with the grammatic, especially with the conjugations, and therefore still make lots of mistakes. But my conversationskills are fairly good, and its a lot of fun to speak with the people here.
After class I go out for lunch with mates from the school. For usually less than two dollars, you get a whole meal including soup, main with meat, juice and dessert. Afterwards I either play tennis with one of a few young coaches that are working in the national trainingcentre - five claycourts close to my homestay - or study or read in one of the parks or waste my time in the internet. Late in the afternoon the school offers some special courses or salsalessons I always participate in. Then I have a great dinner with the family and my housemate Simon. Afterwards I either go out to the Foch - the great clubbing centre - or am too tired, do some homework, read, go to bed and dream of something sweet.
Banos and Otavalo
At the weekends I have some time to discover the beauty of Ecuador. On the first one I went with a group of seven students from the school and my teacher with his family to Banos. Thats a little town four hours away from Quito - at the foot of a reasonably activ volcano - that offers a great deal of adventure-attractions. It started very slowly with a horseride in the countryside, and highlighted with a bridgejump. The bridge is maybe some 30 meters high, you fall about 25 of them and then you swing back and forth. I was really scared standing on that bridge, but was in free fall before I realised I really had jumped - and that adrenalinrush was just one of the coolest feelings ever.
The next weekend I went with five other mates to Otavalo, two or three hours - depending on the trafic - away from Quito. There we visited the big traditional saturdaymarket, and then went for some walks. On saturday we hiked along lago Cuicocha, a big lagoon with two little islands and massively beautiful. The next day four of us climbed Mount Fuya Fuya (4286 meters above sealevel), before we enjoed the lago Mojanda on its foot. It was a decent first training for the Cotopaxi volcano, the big hikinggoal of us.
Pollution and mangos
There are also a couple of not so great things in Ecuador. Or particulary one, the pollution. There is no visible smog in Quito, however, what especially the buses and trucks omit is just horrible. Another - rather crazy than bad - thing is the weather. Since Quito is near perfectly on the equator, it doesn't change much all over, but therefore during the day. In the morning it's mostly sunny and warm, but at midday there are always some huge clouds coming up - which not seldom result in massive downpours and wash away my tennishopes.
But I want to finish this post with something good, and one of the best things of Ecuador is certainly the food - fresh and healthy, not fast and canned as in Europe. I especially love the whole lot of fruits you can get fresh or as juices - some of which I've never heard of before - and all incredibly tasty. The mangos are my favorites, I can't get enough of them.
The story of two fellow students from germany: One night, they took a cab for two dollars back home. They first paid with a 20 bucks note. The cabdriver took it, said he didn't have any change, so the girls got them back and paid with a couple of coins. Later on they worked out that the 20 dollars they received were faked.
A week later - it was 6pm - the same girls walked along a street in the citycentre. A car passed by, two men came out, pointed on them with a riffle, pushed them against the wall, camera, cell phone and money were gone.
May I was just lucky in my first three weeks, but everything I can say about the inhabitants of Ecuador I met so far is the following: They are friendly, helpful, trustworthy and openminded. For example, one day I was reading in a park, when a guy walked past. We started chatting despite my very basic Spanish, and we went for a drink. When the waiter arrived with the bill, he insisted on paying my juice! Although there certainly are robbers in this city (like in every other), I feel absolutely safe and welcome here. One should be careful, but one should never judge upon people he doesn't know.
Spanish and tennis
I had a great time the first three weeks here in Quito. I live in a very kind hostfamily - Carlos and Edith, two spanishteachers - in the middle of the city, just five walkingminutes away from the school. There I have private spanishlessons from 8.30 to 12.30 every weekday. Although not having had any knowledge before arriving, I picked up the language pretty well and talk a lot with my hostfamily and random people I meet. I struggle with the grammatic, especially with the conjugations, and therefore still make lots of mistakes. But my conversationskills are fairly good, and its a lot of fun to speak with the people here.
After class I go out for lunch with mates from the school. For usually less than two dollars, you get a whole meal including soup, main with meat, juice and dessert. Afterwards I either play tennis with one of a few young coaches that are working in the national trainingcentre - five claycourts close to my homestay - or study or read in one of the parks or waste my time in the internet. Late in the afternoon the school offers some special courses or salsalessons I always participate in. Then I have a great dinner with the family and my housemate Simon. Afterwards I either go out to the Foch - the great clubbing centre - or am too tired, do some homework, read, go to bed and dream of something sweet.
Banos and Otavalo
At the weekends I have some time to discover the beauty of Ecuador. On the first one I went with a group of seven students from the school and my teacher with his family to Banos. Thats a little town four hours away from Quito - at the foot of a reasonably activ volcano - that offers a great deal of adventure-attractions. It started very slowly with a horseride in the countryside, and highlighted with a bridgejump. The bridge is maybe some 30 meters high, you fall about 25 of them and then you swing back and forth. I was really scared standing on that bridge, but was in free fall before I realised I really had jumped - and that adrenalinrush was just one of the coolest feelings ever.
The next weekend I went with five other mates to Otavalo, two or three hours - depending on the trafic - away from Quito. There we visited the big traditional saturdaymarket, and then went for some walks. On saturday we hiked along lago Cuicocha, a big lagoon with two little islands and massively beautiful. The next day four of us climbed Mount Fuya Fuya (4286 meters above sealevel), before we enjoed the lago Mojanda on its foot. It was a decent first training for the Cotopaxi volcano, the big hikinggoal of us.
Pollution and mangos
There are also a couple of not so great things in Ecuador. Or particulary one, the pollution. There is no visible smog in Quito, however, what especially the buses and trucks omit is just horrible. Another - rather crazy than bad - thing is the weather. Since Quito is near perfectly on the equator, it doesn't change much all over, but therefore during the day. In the morning it's mostly sunny and warm, but at midday there are always some huge clouds coming up - which not seldom result in massive downpours and wash away my tennishopes.
But I want to finish this post with something good, and one of the best things of Ecuador is certainly the food - fresh and healthy, not fast and canned as in Europe. I especially love the whole lot of fruits you can get fresh or as juices - some of which I've never heard of before - and all incredibly tasty. The mangos are my favorites, I can't get enough of them.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
What happend so far - Part 2, Munich
After my trip Down Under, I had been looking forward a great deal to come back home and enjoyed the next four weeks skiing and traveling around Switzerland. However, I felt very empty, missed Down Under, and couldn't wait to get away again.
Portugal
On April 10 I catched my next flight, to Lisbon. I made some sightseeing for two days, including a visit to a training for the motogp-race in Estoril and a soccermatch between Sporting Lisboa and the Galsgow Rangers.
Then I worked for nine days as a line umpire at the Estoril Open. I got on court for the first time with Roger Federer, my famous countryman, and Maria Kirilenko, my favourite player on the tour - and both won the tournament. It was also great to meet so many people, some of which I already knew from earlier tournaments. However, I didn't pick up much of the language and was sometimes a bit lonely with lots of Spanish and Portugese surrounding me.
Working in Munich
After the tournament I had three more days to enjoy the wonderful citylife of Lisbon, before I was heading home once again. This was only for one more week though. On May 2 I started a practical course of six monthe in Munich. I worked as a sportwriter for the homepage of Eurosport, covering mainly tennis and cycling.
The working part was just awesome. On the second day I visited the finals of a tennis tournament in Munich, and afterwards published my first article about it. It went on with a lot of responsibilities in the big events of the summer: French Open, Euro 2008, Wimbledon, Tour de France, Beijing olympics and the Us Open. I was writing lots of articles and live-tickers, as well as getting to know with the whole working process of a homepage and a videotext.
The highlight was certainly the Wimbledonfinal between Federer and Nadal. I followed the whole match and was so excited about it, that I barely could sleep afterwards. Another great thing was having the morning shift on three days during the olympics, starting to work at 4am while the whole city was sleeping. I worked in a team of 9 journalists and 4 practicants and enjoyed it a great deal to work with these young, experienced, motivated and friendly people.
Living in Munich
Another awesome thing was my apartment. I found a room of 25 squaremeters with bath and kitchen in the middle of Schwabing. There were lots of bars and restaurants around it. The centre and my workingplace were nearby and the English Garden was just 10 walkingminutes away. I would often go for runs around this green oasis in what apparentely is the most beautiful city of Germany.
A problem for me was that it was very difficult to meet friends. Through the fact that I was working nine-hour-shifts between 9am and midnight as well as often being in charge at the weekend, I barely met any people in Munich. Apart from the workmates, I met only a few guys from Eching regularly to play tennis or poker with. Although enjoying my first own apartment and reading lots of interesting things, I sometimes felt a bit lonely.
During this six months I went to Switzerland every four weeks for a few days, seeing my family and my newborn sister and doing sports in the engadin valley. I also did some more umpiring in Klosters, at the Davis Cup in Lausanne and at the Zurich Open.
October 29 was my last day working for Eurosport. It was hard so say goodbye and leave Munich. Although I had a great time, I am very uncertain about working as a journalist later on in my life. First of all I want to discover more of this wonderful world. Therefore I booked a trip of six weeks to Ecuador to learn some Spanish. After eight days in Switzerland, I will fly to Auckland on December 31. And in February 2009 I will start studying biology in Christchurch.
Portugal
On April 10 I catched my next flight, to Lisbon. I made some sightseeing for two days, including a visit to a training for the motogp-race in Estoril and a soccermatch between Sporting Lisboa and the Galsgow Rangers.
Then I worked for nine days as a line umpire at the Estoril Open. I got on court for the first time with Roger Federer, my famous countryman, and Maria Kirilenko, my favourite player on the tour - and both won the tournament. It was also great to meet so many people, some of which I already knew from earlier tournaments. However, I didn't pick up much of the language and was sometimes a bit lonely with lots of Spanish and Portugese surrounding me.
Working in Munich
After the tournament I had three more days to enjoy the wonderful citylife of Lisbon, before I was heading home once again. This was only for one more week though. On May 2 I started a practical course of six monthe in Munich. I worked as a sportwriter for the homepage of Eurosport, covering mainly tennis and cycling.
The working part was just awesome. On the second day I visited the finals of a tennis tournament in Munich, and afterwards published my first article about it. It went on with a lot of responsibilities in the big events of the summer: French Open, Euro 2008, Wimbledon, Tour de France, Beijing olympics and the Us Open. I was writing lots of articles and live-tickers, as well as getting to know with the whole working process of a homepage and a videotext.
The highlight was certainly the Wimbledonfinal between Federer and Nadal. I followed the whole match and was so excited about it, that I barely could sleep afterwards. Another great thing was having the morning shift on three days during the olympics, starting to work at 4am while the whole city was sleeping. I worked in a team of 9 journalists and 4 practicants and enjoyed it a great deal to work with these young, experienced, motivated and friendly people.
Living in Munich
Another awesome thing was my apartment. I found a room of 25 squaremeters with bath and kitchen in the middle of Schwabing. There were lots of bars and restaurants around it. The centre and my workingplace were nearby and the English Garden was just 10 walkingminutes away. I would often go for runs around this green oasis in what apparentely is the most beautiful city of Germany.
A problem for me was that it was very difficult to meet friends. Through the fact that I was working nine-hour-shifts between 9am and midnight as well as often being in charge at the weekend, I barely met any people in Munich. Apart from the workmates, I met only a few guys from Eching regularly to play tennis or poker with. Although enjoying my first own apartment and reading lots of interesting things, I sometimes felt a bit lonely.
During this six months I went to Switzerland every four weeks for a few days, seeing my family and my newborn sister and doing sports in the engadin valley. I also did some more umpiring in Klosters, at the Davis Cup in Lausanne and at the Zurich Open.
October 29 was my last day working for Eurosport. It was hard so say goodbye and leave Munich. Although I had a great time, I am very uncertain about working as a journalist later on in my life. First of all I want to discover more of this wonderful world. Therefore I booked a trip of six weeks to Ecuador to learn some Spanish. After eight days in Switzerland, I will fly to Auckland on December 31. And in February 2009 I will start studying biology in Christchurch.
What happend so far - Part 1, Down Under
June 30 2007 was the day I graduated - with very average grades - at the Buendner Kantonsschule Chur. It was the day that nine years of governmental oppression finally came to an end and I could start living my life the way I wanted. Freedom, at last.
First of all I did lots of those things I had too little time before, or a too bad concience about because I actually was supposed to learn for school: Reading interesting books and newspapers; doing heaps of sports; watching documentations, movies, political discussions, news and sports on TV.
Later on I did fundraising for two weeks for Terre des Hommes, organised by the Corris AG. It was a tough job talking to strangers all day and begging them for money, however, it was an invaluable experience. To live with dealers, depressed smokers and sex-obsessed girls in an appartment in Olten, talking about all sorts of things, certainly opened my horizon.
Surprising bloodtest
After another week of working as an umpire at a tennis tournament in Klosters, I went for two days to Mels for the military-service-recruitment. I was motviated to do the most out of a cumpulsory I considered and still consider most unnecessary for a country like Switzerland. As a huge surprise, however, a voluntary test indicated a too low number of thrombozhytes in my blood. Shortly after being told to have excellent leadership qualities, the doctor considered me incapable of doing military service.
Therefore I had a whole lot of time in front of me, not having a clue what to do with it. I didn't yet know what to study at university, so I just continued enjoying my time. I went on competing with sports, reached a good 12th place at the Nationalpark Bike Marathon, completed my third half-marathon and won the tennis-club-championships in singles and doubles in Scuol, as well as crafting at my journalists career with writing for different newspapers about local sports.
In October 2007 I went for one day to Stuttgart to visit a tennis tournament - my first lone trip abroad - and added then a week of cycling holidays in the Gargano Region in Italy with my father and my brother. After that, I worked as a line umpire at the Zurich Open, my first major event.
Australia
The summer was definitely gone by now, it was getting chilly and foggy in Switzerland - in short, time to get away. Within one week I organised my first overseas trip. On November 2, in the early morning, I boarded a flight at Zurich Airport which would bring me over Frankfurt, Hongkong and Melbourne to Hobart, Tasmania.
Altogether, I spent ten weeks in Tassie, a truly wonderful island in the south of Australia. The first four weeks I went to a language school in the morning, the afternoons were free to enjoy the city and do lots of sports. I lived in a homestay on a hill with an outstanding view over the Dervent River and the city. Only five minutes away were Bellerive- and Howrahbeach. I would visit them often to read, go jogging or sometimes I would get up at 5am to enjoy the sunrise. During that time I played lots of tennis - and better than ever before - as well as participating at the Point to Pinnacle Race, a halfmarathon from sealevel up to Mount Wellington (1290 meters), which I finished in 1:51 hours in the 29th place.
Then I lived and worked for one week on a small farm in Woodbridge, a little lost village in the south of Hobart. I had a wonderful three day boat trip with a group of hobby sailors on Bruny Island, before I returned to the capital of Tasmania. From there, I explored the island on various trips with a rented bike for the next ten days. One of the reasons why Tasmania is one of the most bountiful places in the world is its wildlife. I saw birds, eagles, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, echidnas, possums and more during my walks and rides through the dry Eucalypthusforests.
The highlight were eight days over christmas/new year that I spent on a small paradise called Maria Island on the east coast of Tassie. The island offers no cars, shops, electricity or drinkable water, but therfore the most wonderful piece of nature in this world. I would walk the two mountains, visit the beaches, enjoy the moonrise and stars lying on a clip and sleep in an old convict settlement near the lone port where pinguins and dolphins say goodnight to eachother.
Coming back to Hobart it was time for tennis: First I was working at the Moorilla Hobart International as a line umpire, then I flew to Melbourne to visit my favorite tournament, the Australian Open. I stayed for eight days, enjoying the spectacular skyline along Yarra River and watching more than 60 hours of live-tennis at the Oz open.
New Zealand
On January 20, I left Australia and flew to Christchurch, New Zealand, to continue my English studies. I attended a course of seven weeks, studying a lot and hard to eventually get an A grade in a Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English.
My time in NZ was somewhat less of a holiday, I only really had the weekends to explore the country and did this mostly by bike, climbing the Dyerspass and enjoying the wonderful views everybody knows from The Lord of the Rings movies. The highlight was a bustrip to Akaroa, where I climbed a mountain and received one of the best views over the Banks Peninsula. I also seized the opportunity to get to know and get excited about the typical sports in NZ, like rugby and cricket.
On March 10 2008 I started my return flight with a one day stop in Melbourne, where I visited the most beautiful zoo ever, and two dazs in Hongkong, the craziest city I've ever been in. In the past four months I had seen so many unforgetable things, met great people and made lifelastinf experiences - this trip Down Under was the time of life.
First of all I did lots of those things I had too little time before, or a too bad concience about because I actually was supposed to learn for school: Reading interesting books and newspapers; doing heaps of sports; watching documentations, movies, political discussions, news and sports on TV.
Later on I did fundraising for two weeks for Terre des Hommes, organised by the Corris AG. It was a tough job talking to strangers all day and begging them for money, however, it was an invaluable experience. To live with dealers, depressed smokers and sex-obsessed girls in an appartment in Olten, talking about all sorts of things, certainly opened my horizon.
Surprising bloodtest
After another week of working as an umpire at a tennis tournament in Klosters, I went for two days to Mels for the military-service-recruitment. I was motviated to do the most out of a cumpulsory I considered and still consider most unnecessary for a country like Switzerland. As a huge surprise, however, a voluntary test indicated a too low number of thrombozhytes in my blood. Shortly after being told to have excellent leadership qualities, the doctor considered me incapable of doing military service.
Therefore I had a whole lot of time in front of me, not having a clue what to do with it. I didn't yet know what to study at university, so I just continued enjoying my time. I went on competing with sports, reached a good 12th place at the Nationalpark Bike Marathon, completed my third half-marathon and won the tennis-club-championships in singles and doubles in Scuol, as well as crafting at my journalists career with writing for different newspapers about local sports.
In October 2007 I went for one day to Stuttgart to visit a tennis tournament - my first lone trip abroad - and added then a week of cycling holidays in the Gargano Region in Italy with my father and my brother. After that, I worked as a line umpire at the Zurich Open, my first major event.
Australia
The summer was definitely gone by now, it was getting chilly and foggy in Switzerland - in short, time to get away. Within one week I organised my first overseas trip. On November 2, in the early morning, I boarded a flight at Zurich Airport which would bring me over Frankfurt, Hongkong and Melbourne to Hobart, Tasmania.
Altogether, I spent ten weeks in Tassie, a truly wonderful island in the south of Australia. The first four weeks I went to a language school in the morning, the afternoons were free to enjoy the city and do lots of sports. I lived in a homestay on a hill with an outstanding view over the Dervent River and the city. Only five minutes away were Bellerive- and Howrahbeach. I would visit them often to read, go jogging or sometimes I would get up at 5am to enjoy the sunrise. During that time I played lots of tennis - and better than ever before - as well as participating at the Point to Pinnacle Race, a halfmarathon from sealevel up to Mount Wellington (1290 meters), which I finished in 1:51 hours in the 29th place.
Then I lived and worked for one week on a small farm in Woodbridge, a little lost village in the south of Hobart. I had a wonderful three day boat trip with a group of hobby sailors on Bruny Island, before I returned to the capital of Tasmania. From there, I explored the island on various trips with a rented bike for the next ten days. One of the reasons why Tasmania is one of the most bountiful places in the world is its wildlife. I saw birds, eagles, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, echidnas, possums and more during my walks and rides through the dry Eucalypthusforests.
The highlight were eight days over christmas/new year that I spent on a small paradise called Maria Island on the east coast of Tassie. The island offers no cars, shops, electricity or drinkable water, but therfore the most wonderful piece of nature in this world. I would walk the two mountains, visit the beaches, enjoy the moonrise and stars lying on a clip and sleep in an old convict settlement near the lone port where pinguins and dolphins say goodnight to eachother.
Coming back to Hobart it was time for tennis: First I was working at the Moorilla Hobart International as a line umpire, then I flew to Melbourne to visit my favorite tournament, the Australian Open. I stayed for eight days, enjoying the spectacular skyline along Yarra River and watching more than 60 hours of live-tennis at the Oz open.
New Zealand
On January 20, I left Australia and flew to Christchurch, New Zealand, to continue my English studies. I attended a course of seven weeks, studying a lot and hard to eventually get an A grade in a Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English.
My time in NZ was somewhat less of a holiday, I only really had the weekends to explore the country and did this mostly by bike, climbing the Dyerspass and enjoying the wonderful views everybody knows from The Lord of the Rings movies. The highlight was a bustrip to Akaroa, where I climbed a mountain and received one of the best views over the Banks Peninsula. I also seized the opportunity to get to know and get excited about the typical sports in NZ, like rugby and cricket.
On March 10 2008 I started my return flight with a one day stop in Melbourne, where I visited the most beautiful zoo ever, and two dazs in Hongkong, the craziest city I've ever been in. In the past four months I had seen so many unforgetable things, met great people and made lifelastinf experiences - this trip Down Under was the time of life.
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