Looking back to 2012 …

Slunicko am Valentinstag 2012 20121231-roter Saon  

deutsch / russisch

HAPPY NEW YEAR !
GLÜCKLICHES NEUES JAHR!
С НОВЫМ ГОДОМ !

Monika & Michael
Dezember 2012

The year 2012 has meant it well with us. The victory in my fight against the malicious disease in 2011 is sustained. This lucky circumstance gave us free space to plan our private and our professional life without any serious limitations and to implement our ideas and concepts.

The brilliant start was again, by now already a tradition for us, the New Year’s Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the famous Musikvereinssaal in Vienna. This year conducted by Mariss Jansons – very expressive and full of temperament, with many new accents in the program.

An evening dinner with Tafelspitz (typical Viennese cooked beef dish) at the legendary restaurant Plachutta with Michael’s children was another very pleasant and cozy event.

A very different evening then in Basel in March on the occasion of the jewelry fair “Diamonds” in Les Trois Rois, invited by our dear friend Regina. A little bit amused and very relaxed we “risked a glance” into another world, in which vanities are creating strange flowers based on a sound financial cushion.

A few congresses in Tallinn, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Cernobbio, Yerevan and Lviv kept us in breath over the next couple of months. Preparation of new presentations, first contacts with interesting institutions (e.g. the Institute of early intervention in St. Petersburg, schools in Yerevan and Lviv) and maintaining contacts with old colleagues and friends were really exciting. We got acquainted with outstanding people from St. Petersburg, Petropavlovsk, Lviv and Yerevan and we hope to maintain these relationships over many years (Marija, Anna, Olga, Lilith, Ulyana, Farhad, Natalya, Zaruhi).

Another highlight was the meeting with the newly married couple Georgina and Stephen in Cernobbio and a few days later at our place in the South of Germany.

20121006-wir Felsen Aphrodite

Recovery we enjoyed in the South of our home country Austria – in Carinthia – and full two weeks on Cyprus with a lot of sunshine in a beautiful landscape and an exquisite atmosphere.

Maybe well-known, but for us still amazing: my knowledge of Russian proves to be helpful also here, not only in communicating with the staff in hotels and restaurants but also with guests and residents on this island.

And there were two little girls whom I could help with the Lehnhardt-Foundation. Shakira from Bangladesh and Leotrina from Kosovo received a Nucleus Cochlear Implant – one in Mumbai and the other in Munich. In both cases I found a surgeon who performed the operation free of charge. A big “thank you” to the Professors Dr. M.K. and Dr. M.S.!

In July I could handover 13 upgrade speech processors to children in Yerevan – my appeal to families in Germany and Switzerland was heard – they donated used speech processors which they do not need any longer. This charity action will continue in 2013.

Our PORA Educational programme Live Online sees a constantly growing number of participants, partly thanks to excellent speakers, highly interesting topics but also efficient propagation mainly in Armenia and Kazachstan.

In December it was the first time that a seminar did not only serve the purpose of presenting knowledge from experts but to have parents meet in Yerevan, exchange their experience and knowledge and learn from each other. This we consider to be a nucleus of new opportunities in the Internet and it should lead to sustained forum discussions in our weblogs.

20130102-mit Rafael

At the beginning of November we had yet another reason to be very happy. On the 3rd Rafael – son of Catharina (elder daughter of Michael) and Stefan – has decided to see the light of this world!

A year full of interesting experiences, new challenges and delightful moments has come to an end and we are grateful.  With confidence we look forward to the New Year and in this spirit we wish you all a positive start into the year, which may fulfill all your expectations.

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