Upper Austria's Economy from an entrepreneurial standpoint

Having lived in Linz these past six months, taking classes and sitting in on lectures at the technical university, I was recently enlightened with how this area's economy, infrastructure, and even political system collaborate so well.

Earlier this month I sat in on a seminar at the Johannes Kepler University.  The seminar was part of a larger round of lectures, referred to as the "Gründercafe" or entrepreneur café, focused on entrepreneurship in Upper Austria and how university students can get involved.  Speakers among others included Professor Norbert Kailer, Director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship at the university, Mr. Josef Hader, spokesperson for the Chamber of Commerce for Upper Austria (WKOÖ), and Mr. Dietmar Kirchweger, from tech2b, a high-tech business incubator centered in Linz.

Throughout the morning, the lecturers highlighted several aspects of entrepreneurship, starting with the initial stages of how to establish your own business, where one should go for funding and outside investment; local entrepreneurs even spoke about their own experiences in starting their companies.  Unique to the Upper Austrian chamber of commerce is it's role in helping start ups gain ground.  In addition to providing information to local businesses about trends in the regional economy, this chamber also provides funding to newly-formed companies as well as technical training to their employees.  You can find out more about the chamber here.

Enjoy!

-SB

Trip to Klagenfurt with TEA

On Friday, Nov. 19th, I and three other teaching assistants ventured to the southern-most province of Austria, known as Carinthia, for a two-day conference in Klagenfurt.

The conference was part of an outreach program for T.E.A. - Teachers of English in Austria.  Our goal was to make contact with English teaching assistants in Klagenfurt and the surrounding area, in order to build up a social network among assistants there.

While in Klagenfurt we met with several other assistants, who were also teaching in the province as part of their Fulbright programs.  It was a great weekend, and we were even treated to a Thanksgiving meal with the Austro-American Society of Carinthia - it was fantastic!

Take a look at our trip photos!

I wish everyone a very Happy Turkey Day this week!
Take Care / Alles Gute,
-Stephen

New digs for 2010/2011

Hi everyone!  Servus!

I'm well-settled and enjoying my second, and final : ( year in Austria.

My school is called the Europagymnasium Linz-Auhof, and is the only international school in town.  Four days a week I teach about 15 different classes and work with at least 20 English teachers.

Aside from teaching, I'm also taking classes in a Masters program at the Johannes-Kepler University - tuition free!  If you would like to see some pictures from my neighborhood, click the link below.

Let me know if you'd like to see more photos of Linz - I've got plenty!

-Stephen

Photos from my neighborhood

Fasching!

From Fasching

Was? Was ist Fasching?

After a long pause in my posting, I thought it best to continue with a little Bang! Fasching, or as some Americans call it, Fat Tuesday, was celebrated this past week in my town of Rohrbach.

You may have heard of similar celebrations throughout the world, too. There's Karneval in Cologne and Venice, Fasnacht in Freiburg and Munich, and, of course, Mardis Gras in Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans. Fasching is the term used in Southern Germany and Austria, and the celebrations in these areas are similar.

Whereas the big cities drawl crowds of spectators into the streets, the real party, in my view, is auf dem Land - on the countryside. Check out how I celebrated my first ever Fasching in Rohrbach! Included here are the Faschingsumzug, or carnival parade in the town of Haslach an der Mühl, then some more shots I took on the big day in Rohrbach, "Fat Tuesday".