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In
this edition of the newsletter, I will "bore" you with all
the text right from the beginning and the ‘interesting’ pictures will
follow below. This way you can decide if you wanna
go through the news or just see the pics
;) *lol* - I will start with some professional
successes and then finish with some private news.
Until July
last year it wasn't clear to me how the year would end professionally
as we just finished the first half of the year and our utilization
numbers were looking good but not overly exciting. This soon changed
as a lot of new and exciting projects came in one after another. Today,
in retrospect, I can say that it was at least ten times better than
I would have ever expected it to be for the first year as a Associate
Business Consultant: a fantastic year, with 160% target achievement,
5 completed major, solidly-founded IT-investment business cases and
strategic IT-roadmaps (out of 12 projects involved
) with the top-tier clientele both in Australia
and New Zealand.
From a learning curve perspective, I felt I made great advances in
both the standard consulting skill-set (analysis, targeted interviews,
diplomacy, power-play identification, relationship building, workshopping,
whiteboarding, etc...) as well as a specialization (quantitative
and qualitative business case development for major IT investments).
The good work was recognized by my manager and by my more experienced
senior peers, and I made a good step forward with my first professional
promotion from "Associate Business Consultant" to "Business
Consultant" effective 01.01.2007. I guess the fun time is over
and mistakes are gonna be treated more seriously from now on! hehe.... let's hope there's gonna be only few and only ones from which I can learn.
(SAP Australia Ltd Pty)
On the private
side of things, believe it or not, I've been actually dating an awesome
girl, Kasia, for the last almost 5 months! not
bad - huh! She's a fantastic girl, with a great sense of humour, loads
of sex appeal and a great soul. We actually met after the horse races
in a popular bar in Melbourne, the
"Long Room" (Clinton!!! you know it!)
and hit it off right away. Wish me luck girls, and ahhmm
sorry guys, she's off the market! We are planning to move in together
soon and might visit some of you on our trip to Poland around April/ May this year
(still to be arranged).
Further,
I have finally succeeded in buying a car - it took me ages. After
driving well over 300,000km in Europe, I managed to do 45km in the
last 2,5 years in Australia.
This changed when I bought my first car - a 2006 Volkswagen Golf R32.
My friend, Matt, is calling it the rocket on 4 wheels with a steering
wheel *lol*. And he's right - for a Golf
it is impressively fast. I remember taking the test drive with the
dealer who I bought it from and "accidentally going" 200km/h
on a Australian highway with a 100km/h restriction... *oops*.
the Dealer totally freaked out and I knew
that this was it - I'm buying it. It takes only 6.2 seconds to accelerate
to 100km/h and is coming with a 3.2L V6 engine - believe me – unfortunately
this little beast is shockingly fuel thirsty, but it's no fun driving
it slowly anyways. Fingers crossed, so far I have not received a speeding
fine - and that is an accomplishment in Australia
(even 5km/h in a 100km/h restricted area gives you a fine above 100AUD).
(VW Golf
R32 Official Page, Promo Video,
BMW
130i vs VW R32 Fifth Gear Shoot-Out)
Early December
last year, I flew to Europe once more to visit my family and some
of my closest friends from high school and university in Germany
and Poland.
I spent 2 weeks in Germany
(over X-mas) and 2 weeks in Poland . Most of the time I dedicated to my grandma who was with
me for the entire trip. My brother, Sascha,
came down from Rotterdam
to join my grandma, ma and I over Christmas in Nuernberg.
It was a great time and I loved spending some quality time with each
of them and my Germany-based friends. Unfortunately I "misplaced"
my camera and have only few shots from my stay there to share with
you L. It was a great time, without any snow and
almost as warm as the coldest days in Melbourne during winter.
Last week
we had our Field Services Kick-Off party in Twin Waters, Queensland. Three Days of amazing workshops,
parties, team building events and lots of "after-hours"
activities in form of parties, get-togethers, sport events, etc...
Freaking GREAT! As the Business Consulting team we stayed rather conservative
learning how to play Beach Cricket and doing a Kayaking Tour. Others
played Golf (okay that's not that much more conservative, I guess),
diving, jet-skiing and other fun sports. In the end a group of us
stayed the weekend and explored the rain forests, mountain ranges
and the small little fun areas around the Sunshine Coast. After staying up till almost 5am
every single night (morning) and getting up early all of us needed
the following week to rest, each having early nights! *lol*.
(Glasshouse Mountains National Park, Twin Waters Resort)
On the party
side of things, the Australian Open was great,
as were the times I've spent catching up with friends in Sydney and
Melbourne during the last 8 months. The Spring Horse Racing Carnival
was amazing again this year, even topping the visitor numbers from
last year. I believe Melbourne Cup was visited by over 160,000 people
(I hope I'm not exaggerating here?!). It was a fantastic autumn and
summer so far. Oh yeah, of course, not to forget the St. Kilda Festival
outside of my house which was visited by well over 400,000 people.
What a week! It was full-on party, rock music, hip-hop, weird looking
people *g*.
(St.
Kilda Festival, Melbourne Cup Carnival 2007)
Okay, here
we go, last but not least the some pics
from the events, people, and things described above:
Illustration
1: Kasia - my baby ;)
Illustration 2: Kasia
- once more
Illustration 3: Christmas
in Nuernberg (Sascha, Mum, Vic, and
Grandma)
Illustration 4: my Mum and
I
Illustration 5: my brother,
Sascha, brought me some Dutch Gear to wear
in Australia - not so sure about the
wooden boots...
Illustration 6: Melbourne: Catch-up with Michal and Sally
:)
Illustration 7: Melbourne: After-Party on Oak's Day - Ania, Kamila and Kasia
Illustration 8: Melbourne: Oak's Day at Flemington Race Course
Illustration 9: Champagne
Breakfast with Strawberries at Clinton's
House to warm up for the Oak's
Day
Illustration 10: The Entrance
to the Race Course
Illustration 11: The Entrance
once more :)
Illustration 12: Easy Chill
out in a quite Race Course Corner
Illustration 13: Clinton and
Tapshia
Illustration 14: The Masses
Illustration 15: The Horse
Race
Illustration 16: Tal "the
machine" with his cool Hat :)
Illustration 17: Simon and
Sarah after the Races (Simon won HEAPS!)
Illustration 18: Kamila
and I after the Races
Illustration 19: Salsa Party
with Sylwia, Anan, Matt, Peter and I
Illustration 20: Matt and
Sylwia
Illustration 21: Anan, Sylwia and elMATT'A'Dore
Illustration 22: who is this?
Illustration 23: After Races
winners debate: Aki, Nobby and Anan
Illustration 24: Anan, Sylwia and Vic
Illustration 25: Matt, Anan
and Sylvia after the Races
Illustration 26: Melbourne in the Twilight
Illustration 27: Melbourne from the Southbank
Promenade
Illustration 28: Sydney: Manly Beach
Illustration 29: Shelly Beach
in Sydney
Illustration 30: Sydney: Bart and Simon
Illustration 31: aren't we
cool? *lol*
Illustration 32: Sydney: walk toward Shelly Beach
Illustration 33: Melbourne:
Michal and Sally - they just moved
back to Europe today!
Illustration 34: Vic, Tim
and Nawid!
Illustration 35: Sydney: Gene, Simon, and Martina
Illustration 36: Sydney: Kuba, Bart,
Vic, Gene and Martina
Illustration 37: Kuba
and Bart in Sydney
Illustration 38: Sydney Airport:
Dave's relaxing *lol* after a tough day
at the customer site
Illustration 39: Tobias and
I trying to look serious...hmm..
Illustration 40: Quarterly
Team Meeting in Melbourne
Illustration 41: Potentially
the only photo shot of Mikael alias
"the Wiking"
with a smile on his face :)
Illustration 42: Quarterly
Business Consulting Meeting in Melbourne
Illustration 43: Quarterly
Meeting in Melbourne:
Mr.
Dr. Adrian
and Mr. Dr. Christoph
Illustration 44: Quarterly
Meeting in Melbourne:
Permenthri and Adrian
Illustration 45: Quarterly
Meeting in Melbourne:
Dr. Christoph,
Dr. Pierre-Francis and Dr.
Tom
Illustration 46: Quarterly
Meeting in Melbourne:
Simon and I
Illustration 47: Kuba's
Surprise Birthday Party in
Sydney - Tapaniaki Restaurant
Illustration 48: Kuba's
Surprise Birthday Party in
Sydney - Tapaniaki Restaurant
- Magda's awaiting some "flying rice"
Illustration 49: Kuba's
(first from left) Surprise Birthday Party in Sydney -
Kuba, Michal, Steve, Marcin
and I
Illustration 50: Kuba's
Surprise Birthday Party in
Sydney - Tapaniaki Restaurant
Illustration 51: Kuba's
Surprise Birthday Party in
Sydney - Tapaniaki Restaurant
- Simon & Ann
Illustration 53: Kuba's
Surprise Birthday Party in
Sydney - Tapaniaki Restaurant
Illustration 54: Barby (Barbeque
in English) with Friends at Tal's house
Illustration 55: Barby (Barbeque
in English) with Friends at
Tal's house (tal's
the guy on the left ;))
Illustration 56: Bart and
I in Melbourne
Illustration 57: Nawid's
Birthday Party - Nobby, Dasha, Nawid
and I
Illustration 58: Nawid's
Birthday Party - All of us
Illustration 59: Matt, Dasha, Nobby and Nawid
Illustration 60: Nawid's
Birthday Party - nope - we did not drink at all
Illustration 61: Nawid's
Birthday Party - before the drinks
Illustration 62: Nawid's
Birthday Party - After the Drinks
Illustration 63: Nawid
& Dasha and myself
Illustration 64: Fifth Avenue Quarterly Party - GEEZ -
ever seen so
long legs?
Illustration 65: Kamila
and Ania
Illustration 66: Tom and Kamila + long leg girl:)
Illustration 67: The Polish
Trio
Illustration 68: my first
baby ((C) by VW)
Illustration 69: brum brum ((C) by VW)
Illustration 70: brum brum brum ((C) by VW)
Illustration 71: Queensland Rainforest - the Six mighty explorers:
Adrian, Christian, Denis,
Christoph, Michael, and I
Illustration 72: Queensland Rainforest - Adrian and Christian
Illustration 73: the Waterfalls
and Rock Pools in the Rainforest
Illustration 74: Queensland Rainforest - once more the six
mighty explorers
Illustration 75: the Glasshouse
Mountain Range
Illustration 76: I'm so happy
not to climb this one :)
Illustration 77: Queensland Rainforest - The Leeches finally
got us
Illustration 78: the Glasshouse
Mountain Range
Illustration 79: the Glasshouse
Mountain Range
Illustration 80: In the Rainforest
Illustration 81:in the Rainforest
Illustration 82: in the Rainforest
Illustration 83: The Twin
Water Resort @ Sunshine
Coast
Illustration 84: The Twin
Water Resort @ Sunshine
Coast
Illustration 85: The Twin
Water Resort @ Sunshine Coast - Map
Illustration 86: The Twin
Water Resort @ Sunshine
Coast
Illustration 87: The Twin
Water Resort @ Sunshine
Coast
Illustration 88: The Twin
Water Resort @ Sunshine
Coast
Illustration 89: Live Rock
with the SAP Australia
Rock Band - Party!
Illustration 90: Beautiful
Sunset at Sunshine Coast
Illustration 91: Beautiful
Sunset at Sunshine Coast
Illustration 92: Yeahaaa!
Greetings from Sunshine
Coast...
Hope you
enjoyed reading the newsletter and looking at the pictures. Stay in
touch and enjoy yourself until we catch up next. All the best and
speak/ see you soon.
Live
your dreams,
Victor |
