Time flies: First month in Minneapolis

As you might have noticed, I’ve been a bit busier during the last week and when I look in my diary (I don’t think I had one in St. Gallen) with all the assignments, readings and quizzes, this might last for a while.. I sometimes feel like in High school in Glarus, classes are usually quite small, you’re expected to participate and will be graded for that. On the other hand, our finals here shouldn't be as big as in St. Gallen, there's always a tradeoff ;-) Just for your interest, I finally signed up for the following subjects:
- America in International Perspective
- Game Theory and Applications
- Portfolio Management and Performance Evaluation
- International Environment of Firms
- Presentation and Conference Writing for Non-Native Speakers in English
Tomorrow, I’ll catch the megabus to Chicago, explore the city with my TVO-mate Lukas and spend the whole weekend with him. This time, I’ll bring my camera with me and take some pictures of our special “Turnerfahrt”. Just in case you don’t know what to do during your weekend, I’ll posted some random pictures… And feel free to check out Anna’s blog, who will spend the next four months in Japan.

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Impressions of Football and Baseball

The weekend before last, I've seen a Football Game of the Gophers, the University's Team of Minnesota, against Miami (Ohio, not Miami Beach..). Despite their terrible kicker (who got a scholarship for that), they luckily won after a dramatic sudden-death overtime. However, most of my friends went home earlier because it was a morning game and some were still a bit tired ;-) All in all, it was great fun: Schneider, who played football at highschool and the only die-hard fan that morning in our group, stayed with me for the thrilling finish and explained the major rules and the tactics . The whole game lasted for 4.5 hours, the players were more standing around than playing, but the music and the cheerleaders made a great effort to entertain us. The baseball game last saturday was a bit less boring than expected but I wouldn't recommend to see it every weekend ;-)

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Drive-in Bank: Business Model for Switzerland?

The last day before her flight to Manchester, Christina had to go to the Bank. Convenient and time-saving as the Americans are, she took advantage of the Drive-in counter..
On the other hand, they have plenty of time for watching sports: I'm heading off for a baseball game to the Metrodome, it's supposed to last for 3 hours at least ;-)The football game last weekend took more than 4.5 hours, some pictures and impressions will follow.. That's the american way of life with all its discrepancies.

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Finally moved to our new house

I've been living for more than one week in our new house, which is actually rather old.. It is just a stone's throw away from our old apartment and I finally have my own room :-) Last weekend, we've already organized/organised (I know, I'll end up with a terrible mix consisting of british, american english with swiss accent..) a farewell houseparty for Christina who is leaving to Manchester for one semester. As you can see from the pictures (or not, I forgot to take some from the beginning of the party), our house and basement was crowded, we didn't expect that many people showing up..

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Bomb threat at the UoM

By 11:30 a.m. today, Weaver-Densford Hall on the University's East Bank campus was fully evacuated due to a bomb threat. Fortunately, I've been on the West Bank campus today and didn't notice anything about it, just a couple of emails in my university inbox which kept us informed (or rather uninformed ;-) ).. Except of Weaver-Densford Hall, the whole University remained in session with all classes and activities taking place as usual. Weaver-Densford Hall is scheduled to be reopened for regular university activity on Saturday morning, it seems to have been a false alarm.
Anyway, there is no need to worry, I've been told that there are usually around 2 or 3 bomb threats a semester, often when they can't identify a package or something similar in kind.. what a culture of fear..
So, don't send me a parcel with ticking Swiss watches ;-) All in all, I feel pretty safe here at the University of Minnesota, they even have an own University police.
On Wednesday, September 5, AFSCME units representing approximately 3,100 of the University's clerical, health care, and technical workers began a strike. Of those employees, two-thirds chose to report to work again because of improved wage offers. Despite the start of a strike, classes are being held as scheduled and day-to-day operations continue, the strike doesn't have any impact on student's life so far.
And yes, I finally managed to get a haircut: I didn't want to cut it too short because I'd like to go back soon, what a pretty girl and it cost only $14 (excluding the tip ;-))..

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Pictures of collapsed 35W Mississippi River bridge

Yesterday, the bridge next to the collapsed 35W was reopened. As I live only one block away, I had to take some pictures. More material about the moving weekend and my first classes at the University of Minnesota will follow in a couple of days.. Today is holiday in the US (Labor Day), I'm relaxing and recovering from the moving action and from a long night yesterday, which started with a swedish crayfish party (organised by my roommate's family)..

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