I will remember you!!!!

Things happen so fast! Way too fast. Not even two weeks ago, Jan, the guy next to me on the picture was having fun, he was riding his motorcycle around.

Doesnt he look happy in this picture as well, that was on June 11th this year. Now he is dead, victim of a motorcycle crash. I still cant believe he is gone.

Rest in peace Jan. May god be with you and take care of you!

Even though we didnt know each other so well, you always had a positive aspect about you. I will miss it!

People I ve met so far

So these are the people I hang out with most of the time.
John (red shirt) is living just across the street. He is a undergraduate business student @ SMU, who is really funny. I think he is very competitive in sports and maybe he ll join me if I go for intramurals.

Then there is Gilberto (white shirt). He is from Brazil and I think he is a medicine student @ Dalhousie. Dalhousie is supposed to be the better university in Halifax. Some even compare that to Ivy League status, while SMU is not supposed to be that good. Sometimes its even referred to as Robie Street High School. Well I guess I ll see about that.

Then there is Sarah. She is living pretty close too and she had to abandon her dancing studies, because of a major knee injury, so know she is an undergraduate @ SMU majoring in religious studies, they are all in the "Campus for Christ" circle, with Sarah being the leader (at least that´s what I think).

Missing is Liz, who is going to Nurse school @ Dalhousie and of course my roommate April. She s been really nice and all the worries about not getting along with her are pretty much over. She is constantly running arond everywhere. Having two jobs and being involved with AIESEC and Campus for Christ, Sunday school and all the other things. She is a family person and she has a very nice family. She is insane though, because she is probably sleeping less than I do and you guys know that I hardly sleep at all, well at least in Germany I dont ;)



Here is another picture of John being drunk, ok honestly it is fake. We had the bottles sitting at the table and we were taking turns taking pictures acting as if we had been drunk. John did the best job there. We all dont drink liquor at all. Funny, ej ;)

Alright I guess now you guys are up to date.


Oh just one last thing. Watched Inside Man, Annapolis, Phat Girlz, Accepted,Mr. 3000 and Poseidon. They are all pretty good. Ok more updates to follow as orientation week will go along...

Downtown Halifax

Just to let you know, here are the courses I will be taking at SMU :

Globalization and Common Development
Popular approaches to Development
Environment and Development
Project Managment Basics
DVP Seminar.

The seminars are 2,5 hours each and will stretch out from monday to thursday, so I do have fridays off.

I still have to settle a couple of things at SMU during the upcoming week, but I think a lot of that is part of our international orientation, which will start tomorrow.
Getting internet access at university, getting the books, getting an university email address, but oterhwise I m good.

So for now, here are a couple more pictures of downtown Halifax, which is a lot smaller than I expected, but I ve found a couple of good places to shop, which are not too far away and a movie theatre and DVD rental place are really close. So I guess everything I need is within reach.

The Arrival in words and pictures

So finally I ll upload a couple of pictures. This was my first impression at the Halifax Airport. You can see the immigration in the background.

Fortunately noone was there, so I was able to get through it really quick.

It took a while for my luggage to come out though. After that I had to take the bus for a 45 minute ride to Downtown Halifax and from there walked about a km to my new appartment, which was quite a drag with all the luggage.


So then I finally arrived at the apt, where April had reserved the keys with the landlord. I was able to pick them up and went up to the apt wondering what it would be like, because I hadnt really seen pictures yet, not knowing what it would all look like and how big it was.

Here you can see my "room", while I was still unpacking, it has changed a little bit now, but the bed and the desk are still there.
As I already told you April´s dad built a closet too, so now I can hang stuff. But I like my room and as you will later see, you have nice view too.




Below you can see the "living room" , kitchen and bathroom. As you can see, Apirl had everything ready before I got there. Well actually the stove still needs to be installed, but thats not her fault. Just hope the landlord will do that soon.



Now here is a view from my window and as the sun sets there, my entry will set for today with some questions lingering. Will I be able to get on the baseball team or will I end up playing on intramural softball or volleyball. I might end up just going to the gym. I really need to do that

Will I take a job at SMU, although I only get 7,15 Canadian (5 Euro), probably wont.

Back in the world

Finally I do have internet and I can get back to all of you out there.
Sorry I havent replied to all of you yet. I will try to do so as soon as possible.
I also have a cell phone. 001-902-402-4169, so you can sms me there, but dont call me there, just on my regular phone please (Ask me for that per email please), because it s gonna cost me.

If you want to write letters or post cards or anything

Richard Hilgart
Apt #PH 16
1030 Soutpark Street
B3H 2W3 Halifax
Canada

You can also leave comments on this page under my posts. I will definately read them.
So what is new here. As we finally have internet, a phone and cable TV (YIHA) I m good.
I was thinkin about getting a car too, but I only saw one for like 4800 Canadian Dollars, and I was not gonna spent that much money.

Anyways I also got to meet some people, who seem to be really nice and fun to hang out with. We re going clubbing tonight. Wonder how that is gonna be. I m sure it ll be fun.
And then with orientation coming up next wednesday everything is really gonna get going.

I also got to meet April´s parents and her lil brother. They are really really nice and helping us a lot. They are really open too, not like German parents. Her dad tried to help me find a car and then he built a closet for me and he even thanked me for helping him, although he built it for me. They are really really nice and you can see that I am taken good care of.

So this is it for now. Have to do some things, before wasting all day in front of the computer ;)

Sorry I havent posted any pictures yet. I promise to do so really soon.

Please keep checkin this page, as now that I have internet I will keep this updated more frequently.

So take care, for now..

And here we go....

Yesterday I finally arrived in Halifax, after a last weekend with ups and downs. I will post a couple of pictures as soon as the internet connection is installed in our appartment. Right now I have to go to an internetcafe to get access and it would take to long to upload all those pics.
Thanks to all of you who attended my farewell party. I really had a good time. Even though it got really called and Arnt got stuck in the mud. Funny thing.

Everything here is fine. My roommate seems to be really nice and really clean, unlike my sister :P I think she is a little scared I might be a freak. Actually before I got here. I think now she s not afraid anymore.

Besides that I have everything settled. A membership for the gym, a bank account, a canadian cell phone, student ID. My room is almost ready to go. Still thinking about buying a tv and a car. Ok ok, I know I am a spoiled kid, but hey that is me ;)

Cant wait for you guys to visit. I guess the first couple of weeks are gonna be hard, because right now, I dont know anyone besides my roommate and she is all over the place. Well I guess thats gonna change with the orientation coming up next week.

So this is it for today....more to come when my internet is up and running.

Feeling it....

It´s inching closer and closer and I m finally realizing its pretty soon. My last baseball practice is behind me. I met a couple of people for the last time, then tomorrow I ll have a party from work, friday farewell party, sunday gametime and monday I ´m off. So hoping to see lots of you guys during the next couple of days.

Still loads of things to do, but finally getting there.

Everything in Hali seems to be set up by April, which I m really grateful for. Cant wait to meet her in person, once I get there. We seem to be getting along while chatting, but thats a totally different story.

Keep checkin this page during the upcoming weeks as I will post pictures from my farewell party and from my new room and uni and everything. So this is it for now...

Take care everyone,
Richy