I used to be a well mannered boyscout in three countries (Austria/Germany/Australia) - don't hold that against me... I used to front DUSK FURROW and the STONE PUPPETS - yeah, I had my two-point-five minutes of infamy...and share of good deeds...done dirt cheap! Hell, I even once worked as a Santa Claus in a shopping centre...I have been to hell and back and can tell a tale about it...published my own fanzines called "Grunge It Severely" and "Days Without Shadows" around 1984/1985 in Sydney, Australia.
I was born in the same cyborg hospital as Cal. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in Graz, Austria. So much for my claim to infamy in nappies. When I was about 6 months old my parents had the brilliant idea to be exiles and moved to Wuppertal, Germany because in 1966 there were plenty more job opportunities and more affordable vacant post-war housing to dwell in.
In Germany we hung about until 1974 just after the soccer world cup - it was the first time I witnessed games in colour on the idiot box. That was a fab final between the Netherlands and Germany. Gerd "the bomber" Müller in my opinion was the best soccer ass-kicker of his time - even if he played for those Bayern München pansies. My parents were not really 'homesick' for the alpine regions of Austria but decided to move back to Graz because they thought the clean air was healthier...or something like that.
Graz is a nice city but some Austrians can be a bad trip. We were just not happy being there. At school I was called a 'Balkan Bastard' because my mother was from former Yugoslavia. Some people will never learn! I had to learn it the hard way - how to stay cool and not get my head kicked in.
Leaving Graz again (in late 1978) was also due to some internal family problems with my insane grandmother. A family issue just about everyone has I suppose - nothing too special. My parents did not put up with it and we moved back to Wuppertal --- since it is such a cosy grey and wet city. I liked the bad weather but my parents were always a bit restless (like roaming gypsies) and in 1981 we immigrated to Sydney, Australia.
I did not mutate into a typical Aussie bloke but I adjusted well into the travel brochure scenery for almost 23 years. We had some good times and some bad times. Life is what you make of it sometimes. It was an experience in itself.A part of me is very much an Australian - not only because that is what it states on my citizenship papers and passport. Australia = home away from home. I actually love being an "Australian" - but I am by no means patriotic! No borders no frontiers! This statement will become clearer as i now lift the 'secret' why I am after all these years in Germany again munching 'Currywurst'...no, I did not enlist as an expert Currywurst tester for the German government!
I met the love (my now wife Tina) of my life in the European winter of 2002 unexpectedly in Bonn...Beethoven town...and since she did not like long Australian summers with lots and lots of heat, I resigned my job in a school (hello, to anyone from St.Dominic's College!) working with students who had a learning disablilty/difficulty and sold my apartment unit which still had loan payments going until I was 75.
Alas I moved to Bonn,Germany and promptly landed a job in a school again...considering in August 2003 (when I arrived) this country had 5 million people unemployed. I just dig getting paid school holidays!
...excuse the spelling mistakes/type-o's/unprofessional approach --- it is all supposed to be a bit of fun, right? Do not forget the fun!
