Autumn and Life back home

This Sunday we went for a walk at a nearby lake (Lake Hald) just 10 min drive from Viborg where we live. This time of year can be very beautiful, especially on sunny crispy days like today. We all know that winter is coming and that’s the only drawback, but you tend to forget on days like this.

Every winter we often ride our Mountain Bikes in this area as it’s quite hilly and there are a lot of single tracks. It’s also a bit warmer and more fun to ride your MTB in the forest than 4 hours on the road, especially on a wet gray day.

We walked for almost 2 hours so it was good to get back home for a cup of hot chocolate and homemade rolls, which is another Danish tradition.

Look at all the pictures at http://picasaweb.google.dk/FamKaimer/AutumIsHere#

Soccer:

Chris seems to be happy at the academy and is slowly getting used to his new life on his own. Getting up in the morning, homework, shopping, washing etc. is part of that and he seems to be doing well. Most weekends he travel from the Academy to our house and I then take him to the game if he is playing, but he also stayed a few weekends at the academy.

He had his debut on the U19 team a few weeks ago as one of the older keepers was injured. After the game both the manager and the coach was very pleased with his performance and that’s a good for him. I didn’t see the game as I was at a team buikding weekend with my company so I really don’t know how good he was playing.

I will try to explain to you the U19 soccer level by telling you that one of the centre backs just had his debut on the senior pro team that plays in the Danish Premier League. If you don’t know the level of the Danish PL then just have a look at the ladder for the CL group with Barcelona and see who is on top?

I think Chris is getting more and more confident in this environment but still need a few months of training before he is able to push for the first keeper choice on both U17 and 19 teams. Within the next month or so we will have a meeting with the Academy manager and the youth development manager (also the Academy coach) to discuss Chris’s progress and what they expect from Chris the next 6-12 month.

I have uploaded a few pictures from one of his games: http://picasaweb.google.dk/FamKaimer/ChrisPlayingSNderjyskEU17#

Life in Denmark:

We are slowly getting used to our new life here, a life that are a lot different to the one we had when we left 3 years ago. It’s much harder to settle than we thought and I think the reason for that is that we remember the life we had before we left and everyone else does that too. But 3 years in another country actually changes you view on how you want to live and I believe that we will never go back to the life we had before we left Denmark, too many things have changed. It’s not that we don’t like our new life, we just have to get used to it and then enjoy. Some part of me is still missing Australia and we probably all feel the same way about it.

We moved into our new house late August and that was great. We have waited for that to happen for three month so we could unpack all our boxes and stuff. We bougt some furniture’s that we needed and Camilla got her own room in the basement with a small kitchen, bathroom and her own entrance.

The house is great and we really love it, we only need to build a garage and then we are finish with all the big things. I will take some shots when we are all done.

Anyway Ane is about to quit her studies and start at her new job soon. She didn’t really like the study anyway so it’s probably good for her. I have been very busy working at a project at a major international bank and also helping out at our Oslo office for a few weeks. That means I have been traveling a lot maybe a bit more that I’d really like especially after we moved into our new house.

I hope we settled more into our new life within the next few moths and get a bit more structure into our life. I want to start riding my bike regular again and try to get fit for the spring but that means I will be riding all winter and I think I forgot how cold it is here during winter. I bought a Mountain Bike which I am getting in early November and I also bought a winter bike (Cheap race bike with mudguards) so no excuse for not riding.

We are planning a trip to Australia next European summer and we are definitely coming to Melbourne for a least week. We will get in touch when we know when we are coming.

I will be in Melbourne a bit earlier, probably within the next two to three month. When I know the dates I will get in touch with everyone so we can catch up while I am there.

/Claus

Setteling in back home

Sorry for not update you earlier but I have been really busy with work and a lot of other things.

I will update you with pictures from our new home when we move in, in a couple of weeks.

We haven’t really settled yet as we are counting the days until we move into our new house. We are getting the keys 28th this month and are looking forward to that.

In Denmark we have had one of the best summers ever measured since 1890 and that’s good as we haven’t had any holidays. Most people have their annual leave in July but we had our around Christmas

Ane stated school this week, studding to become a school teacher and the kids started schools last week.

Camilla is playing Tennis and she got me into is as well. I need some training to be able to play and practice with her. So I will start in the same club and practice one day a week, but to become the new Federer is probably 35 years too late.

Soccer

Chris is getting used to his new life at the Academy. The Academy started last week but training commenced Already 19th July.

It seems that he are enjoying it and are slowly adapting the pace of the game. They know that it takes time to adapt because of all the new things around him. Lots of things such as going to a new school, getting new friends, getting used to manage himself, shopping, washing, home work and training 6-8 times a week, etc.

The first team squad have 25 players inclusive 3 goalkeepers, but the need a squad that big because there will always be injuries throughout the season.

Those players that do not play for the first team in the weekend will play for the 2nd team so they get game time.

The U17 season started last week and they played against Brøndby IF away. Normally Brøndby IF are a top 3 team so everyone was a bit excited. Chris wasn’t selected to start, one of the other goalkeepers was, and I think he was disappointed, but that’s how it is, the coach pick the one he thinks is the best keeper.

He just has to work hard at training and give himself time to adapt to the pace of the game and then he will get the chance.

My opinion, if that counts at all, is that Chris is not far behind, actually I would say that his Goalkeeper technique is better than the other keepers, but he lacks experience and doesn’t have as good goalkick compared to the other keeper.

But I am confident that he will develop as he is new to this environment and I know that he listen and give in at every session. They lost the game at Brøndby 1-0 but did well. Brøndby had possesion most of the time without creating any real big chances but SønderjyskE was dangerous on the counter attack and probably had the best chances in the game.

The goalkeeper couldn’t do anything to stop the goal. It was an free-kick that hit the wall and had a deflection.

Last weekend they went to a youth tournament in Heemskerk, Holland just 30 min outside Amsterdam.

The tournament had teams from Holland, Germany, Denmark, Mexico, Polen, Belgium and I think Norway. Ane and I went there stayed in Haarlem, just 15 min away from the pitches.

On Saturday they played two group stage games. Chris played the first game which they won 3-0 and he played well. The other Goalkeeper played the next game which they drew 1-1 but he got a small injury.

Saturday night the whole group went to Alkmaar stadium to watch the game Alkmaar FC against FC Groningen in the Dutch first league(Æredivisie). Simon Poulsen, a Danish International (The player that scored an Danish own goal against Holland in the world cup, sorry to mention Simon), is playing for Alkmaar FC and original came from SønderjyskE (Chris’s new club) as a youth player.

They played their third group stage game Sunday morning, which they lost 1-0. Chris was in goal and did ok, but couldn’t do anything about the goal. The result qualified them for the semi-finals against the winner in the other group, FC Groningen and that would become their toughest game so far in the tournament.

Chris was playing as the other keeper was injured and could not play so Chris would play the final or the losers final as well.

They drew in the semi and played well, Chris had a good game and a really god save 2 min from full time to hold them for the penalty shoot out. They won the penalty shootout 3-1.

FC Groningen missed the first shot and Chris saved the next one and as SønderjyskE scored on their first two, FC Groningen only scored once in their last 3 shot and missed two. They were in the final.

The final was against a German team and it was an even game that could go both ways. Neither of the teams created any big chances and for Chris there was not much to do. He saved shot on a close free-kick late in the game and it was 0-0 after normal time.

It went into extra time and all the players looked tired after the three games in a day but finally SønderjyskE broke the dead lock and scored. The rest of the game the other team pushed forward with everything they could but SønderjyskE hold them from scoring and they won the game 1-0 and the tournament.

Now it's back to training and try to get in the starting XI this coming Saturday. They play against FC Nordsjælland at home and lets hope they get their first points on the ladder.

/Kaimer

Back in Denmark

We arrived at Copenhagen airport May 22nd and travelled with train across the country to Aarhus, our destination the first weeks in Denmark. We rented a small double bedroom apartment in my mum and dad's rental corporative.

We went to Haderslev the day after to watch Chris's new team play a game in the National U17 division. I was a bit odd as I watched Richmond SC U18 play Sunday the week before and now we were here.
The following weeks have been very busy and we are settling in very fast.
It is funny but it's like we haven't been away at all, everything are almost the same as when we left.
Chris went out with his old mates on their last day of school and had no problem joining the party.

Camilla is back to school only 3 days after we arrived and seems to be happy with that. She started playing Tennis in a local club and is enjoying it.

So I think it was the right thing to move back. We had 3 fantastic years in Melbourne but it feels good to be back and at the moment there is no sign that we will regret it.

Soccer
Chris moved into his new apartment at the academy 1st June. It is a one bedroom apartment with a small kitchen and one toilet with a shower. The building have a larger shared kitchen, a washing room in the basement and a TV room to share between all 22 academy students. He have been training with the academy 5 times a week and have played his first practice game where he did well.

He will play another practice game this Sunday and after that have 3 weeks of holiday from Soccer. All players will keep training while on holiday and that include running and core strength.

At the first training session he realised that the pace of the game is a lot faster and the players technical skills are much better than he was used to in Melbourne. He has been working very hard so far and is getting more confident for every week. The coaches are satisfied with his attitude training effort and development.

He told me that one of the rules at training at Richmond was that he could not pass the ball to a defensive player under pressure, If he did the coach would have killed him. It was the same when he was training with the seniors at Richmond. But here they want him to pass it and the player control and pass on the ball using only one touch. That's the difference!

I am looking forward to watch him play this Sunday and see how much he have developed over the last 4 weeks.

I will take a few shots and update the blog and picture site.

House
We bought a house last week which we will move into 1st September and we are looking forward to it as the rented house we live in right now is crap. I will update with some pictures soon. The house is located only 10 min walk from the train station and at the same time only 10 min ride before I will be on a Danish country road.

Work
I started my new work at Affecto 1st June and is already working for a client in Copenhagen. They have a Business Intelligence project running in their Nordic headquarters and they need a local consultant to help with ETL and reporting using Business Objects tools.

As the client is located in Copenhagen I will have to travel a lot but Denmark is small so I will be able to fly from Karup Airport, 20 drive from Viborg our home town, to Copenhagen and back every day and be home before 6 pm. A lot better than using Metro from Ormond to Melbourne CBD :-)

This week I have to fly to Oslo for a few days where I will be introduced to the project group and the current BI development before I start the project in Denmark.

Cycling
I haven't really started training again, though I was riding 3 times last week. It was great to ride without any traffic. I counted all the cars I saw Sunday last week when I rode 60 km and I only saw 5 cars driving on the same road as me. This is one of the things I have missed while we have lived in Melbourne. I will try to ride more consistently over the next 3 month before the winter arrives.

Stay tuned and look out for a link to picture update over the next week or so.

/Kaimer

Sidste indlæg Fra Melbourne

Så er det så småt ved at være der hvor vi skal sige farvel til Australien for denne gang. Skal skynde mig at sige at vi ingen planer har om at flytte tilbage:-)

Vi har de sidste uger haft gang i plalægningen af vores hjemrejse og der er en hel del ting at tage sig til, både her men også i Danmark.

Vi flytter ud af huset på lørdag, hvor vi lige holder Garage salg for at få lidt håndøre til hjemrejsen. Vi flytter ind i en møbleret ferielejlighed i Skt. Kilda på søndag og skal bo der indtil vi flyver ud af Melbourne fredag morgen i næste uge.

Camilla spiller sin sidste Netball kamp på lørdag og Christoffer spiller for Richmond på søndag. Camilla har ikke gået i skole de sidste 4 uger men har tilgængæld læst 7. klasses dansk, matematik, fysik og tysk for at være klar til dansk skole. Hun har faktisk gjort det ganske godt men mangler stadig en del for at nå 7. klasses niveau dansk. Christoffer stopper på skolen på fredag og starter på at læse 9. klasse stof i næste uge.

Vi glæder os til at komme hjem men det er også lige så svært, at skulle sige farvel, som jeg havde regnet med, at det ville blive. Men vi prøver at sige ordentlig farvel og så er det jo ikke umuligt at vi kommer her igen og får hilst på alle dem vi kender engang i fremtiden

Næste indlæg vil være på englsk og jeg vil opdatere for ale dem vi kender i Melbourne men mest af alt for Christoffers Målmands Akademi. De vil gerne følge med i hvordan det går ham.

Vi ses i Danmark.

/Claus

Et eventyr slutter og et nyt begynder

Sidste nyt

Så har vi besluttet at forlade Australien og flytte til Danmark igen. Vi kommer hjem den 22. maj og flytter ind i et rækkehus i Viborg den 28. Vi har haft nogle helt fantastiske oplevelser mens vi har været her og lært en masse om os selv og en anden kultur. Selvom man skulle tro det, så er måden man lever på i Melbourne helt anderledes end i Danmark. Når man flytter ud som vi har gjort, så lære man også en masse om hvad der er godt og hvad der er skidt i "lille"Danmark.

Vi har aldrig fortrudt at vi tog springet og fik afprøvet det som vi igennem mange år snakkede om at gøre. Nu har vi prøvet det og det har vaeret meget lærerigt, vi har som familie fået et meget tæt forhold som jeg ikke tror vi ville have fået hvis vi vi ikke var rejst ud.

Jeg ved endnu ikke om vi kan "leve" i Danmark igen, men vi gør forsøget og mon ikke de positive sider opvejer de negative, det tror vi i hvert fald de gør. Faktum er at vi ikke kan flytte herud igen når vi først er rejst.

Arbejde
Jeg har også fået arbejde i Danmark, hvor jeg skal starte den 1. juni og det glæder jeg mig meget til. Jeg har haft enkelte henvendelser bl.a. fra en gamle kunde, som kunne have været spændende at arbejde for, på grund af deres mange udfordrende projekter. Jeg fik også en henvendelse fra en gammel arbejdsplads som jeg var noget overrasket over, da det var min opfattelse at jeg ikke var ønsket I virksomheden, efter den måde som vi skiltes på.

Det var aligevel et dejligt skulderklap at få af kollegaer der godt kan se mine kvalifikationer og gerne vil arbejde sammen med mig igen. Jeg kunne også rigtig godt tænke mig at arbejde sammen med flere af disse kollegaer igen, men som sagt er jeg ikke ønsket I virksomheden af enkelte egoer, uden at jeg på nogen måde kan komme med en fornuftig forklaring på hvorfor. På den anden side har jeg heller ikke lyst til at arbejde for eller med disse personer igen, så uanset hvad var det aldrig gået.

Men jeg har fundet et rigtig godt og spændende arbejde og jeg glæder mig helt vildt til at komme igang med at arbejde på nogle spændende og udfordrende projekter i Norden. Virksomheden er måske nordens største BI konsulent forretning med masser af udviklingsmuligheder. Jeg er glad for at kunne bidrage med al min viden og ideer som passer rigtig godt ind i virksomhedes forretnings model.

Projekterne her i Melbourne er alt for uambitiøse og ikke særlig spændende, det er kvalifikationerne slet ikke til blandt gennemsnits konsulenten. Her er alt for mange der simpelthen ikke ved, hvad de har med at gøre og det er derfor at næsten alle projekter ender med at koste det dobbelte og aldrig bliver helt færdige. Jeg arbejder vel kun for halv kraft for at nå de forventede opgaver og det bliver i længden alt for kedeligt, så jeg trænger til nogle udfordrende projekter igen.

Skole
Camilla har fået lov til at gå på VPR i juni måned og skal starte i 8 klasse efter sommerferien. Hun har belsuttet at hun gerne vil fortsætte med at spille tennis, når hun kommer hjem og så ”kun” ride et par gange om ugen. Hun kommer til at savne Netball som hun har gået til mens vi har været her, så måske hun skal prøve at spille Basketball når vi kommer hjem?

Christoffer skal starte på Haderslev Idræts Akademi til juli og gå på en 10 klasses skole i Haderslev til efteråret. Han skal måske allerede flytte til Haderslev inden ferien men det finder vi først ud af når vi kommer hjem. Lige nu spiller han for Franskston Pines U21 og U18 og træner sammen med Senior og U21 gruppen. Han glæder sig til at spille på noget ordentlig græs i stedet for de baner vi har herude.

Ane skal starte sin skolelære uddannelse op igen og skal læse den som fjernundervisning på Nørre Nissum seminarium og vil så I det omfang hun kan, tage nogle vikar timer eller andet forefaldende arbejde.

Cykling
Jeg glæder mig også til de danske landeveje igen, jeg er efterhånden blevet rigtig godt træt af “Beach road” og trafikken herude. Jeg har heller aldrig vænnet mig til at træne kl 6 om morgen så det bliver rigtig dejligt at komme hjem til de lange sommeraftner hvor man kan cykle helt til kl. 22.

Maaske jeg skriver igen en eller to gange før min Australien blog blive helt passiv og til alle jer der har fulgt med, håber jeg I har fået noget ud af at læse om vores oplevelser og fået lidt indsigt i hvad det er, man er igennem når man flytter “hjemmefra” lille Danmark og ud I den store verden

/Kaimer

Sommer ...

Cykling

Så er jeg endelig kommet igang med at cykle igen. Jeg har været i gang siden starten af November men det er først her efter 2. Juledag at det rigtig har taget fart. Jeg kører 3 gange om uge på morgen (6.00) holdet fra North Road og 2 gange i weekenden.

Det er almen kendt at der er en gruppe der starter fra hjørnet af North road og Nepean Hw. Der er faktisk 2 grupper tirsdag - torsdag, hvor gruppe 1 starter kl. 5.45. Der er ingen træner eller nogen som tager beslutninger om rute og måde der skal køres på for det ligger helt fast. Tirsdag og torsdag køres langsomt ud til Mordialloc af en stor 8 sporet hovedvej og så flat out hele vejen tilbage til St. Kilda at strandvejen. Kl 6.00 er det flat out helevejen.

Onsdag kl 5.45 er der er hold der køre jævent hele vejen og et hold kl 6.00 som køre flat out på vej retur. Mandag og fredag kl. 6.00 er rolige jævne ture, så der er lidt forskelligt at vælge imellem. Vi er altid over 70-80 rytter i gruppen og ofte er vi mere end 100. Jeg skal nok prøve at tage nogle billeder så man kan se at det ikke er noget jeg finder på

Jeg køre lidt som vejret nu er og også hvordan jeg nu lige kommer i seng:-)

I weekenden er det også om morgen at de fleste er ude på cyklen og i sidste weekend kørte jeg 7.30 søndag og havde selskab hele vejen til Mornington og retur(100 km). Så det bliver til godt 300km hver uge lige nu og det er meningen at jeg vil op på lige under 400 m lad os nu se om motivationen holder.

Det kan godt være at vejret er bedre her men jeg savner de danske landeveje rigtig meget hvor man kan køre forskellige ruter og ikke nødvendigvis sætte livet på spil hver gang. Jeg er efterhånden træt af kystvejen her...

Ligeledes glæder jeg mig også til at køre i skoven på MTB igen uden risiko for at møde giftige slanger og edderkopper.

Retunering til Danmark

Her lige efter nytår tog vi så beslutningen om at vende hjem til DK. Christoffer har søgt ind på idrætsakademiet i Haderslev(Sønderjyske) og skal formodentlig starte på deres fodbold linie i uge 29. Så vi kommer senest hjem i starten af juli, i hvertfald familien da min returnering afhænger af hvor og hvornår jeg kan finde noget arbejde.

Der kunne være nogle gode penge i at time det rigtig da jeg herude får en hel del udbetalt hver måned så måske jeg skal tage nogle måneder ekstra her. Men som sagt det hele afhænger af hvor og hvornår jeg finder noget at rive i.

Det er jo lidt af et større logistik arbejde, vi skal igennem men mon ikke det falder i hak.

Fodbold

Som skrevet ovenfor skal Christoffer hjem og fortsætte sin fobbold "karrierer" men han arbejder stadig på at få en prøvetræning i en Engelsk eller Hollansk klub på vej hjem. Det akademi som han træner med herude har gode kontakter til PL og Æresdivision klubber.

Lige nu er han i gang med at spille sig ind på U18 i Richmond JSC og i dag spillede han træningskamp for deres U21 hold så det går ganske godt.

Arbejde

Jeg arbejder stadig på samme projekt(AMI hos SP-Ausnet) og det fortsætter jeg med indtil vi skal hjem. Kontrakten gælder helt frem til medio november men jeg har vel fået arbejde i DK inden da. Skulle det ikke ske er her masser af arbejde men det er langt fra familien. Der er også mulighen for at finde en kontrakt i Europa, der skal man sikkert også rejse men så er jeg da hjemme i weekenderne. Nu må vi se og jeg sal nok opdatere når der sker noget mere.

/Kaimer

Nytår

I år havde vi valgt at holde nytår hjemme hos os og havde inviteret Kasper og Yasmin. Som sædvanligt var det extremt varmt(39 grader) det meste af dagen men det så dog ud til at der ville komme et vejrsifte i løbet af aften.

Ungerne vill gerne have fondue så Ane og jeg havde været rundt i en del forretninger i området for at finde et Fondue sæt. Det var nu ikke så let da det ikke rigtig er "in" at spise fondue på de her kanter.

Det lykkes dog så dagen var reddet.

Christoffer havde ønsket at vi skulle have Croquembrouche til dessert. Den er blevet propulær efter at deltagerne i MasterChef Australia skulle lave den som en del af konkurrencen. Master Chef Australia er en reality serie hvor almindelige mennesker konkurerer om at blive Kok(MesterKok) og serien har være noget af det mest propulære i TV sidste år.

Den består af en masse små vandbakkelser fyldt med creme og samlet ved hjælp af smeltet caremel. Svært at arbejde med når det var så varmt som det var. Men det lykkes helt fint og den smagte fantastisk og jeg er sikker på at Ane vil lave en igen når vi engng kommer hjem.

Nu har vi så sommerferie og Camilla og Christoffer starter i skole igen den 1. Feb og jeg sal først starte den 11. Jan så vi har noget tid til afslapning og er så småt begyndt at snakke om hvordan og hvornår vi skal retur til DK. Mere om det når der er nogle mere konkrete planer.

Godt nytår til alle der gider at læse min blog og jeg skal nok prøve at skrive noget mere de næste par måndere.

/Kimer