Day Fifteen - Exploring, Brewing,

Yesterday was our only full day in Copenhagen. Bryan and I woke up as early as we could, put down the always interesting European continental breakfast, and got out to the city streets. We saw some very interesting buildings, city squares, statues, and sculptures. Copenhagen, the largest and capital city of Denmark, has a lot to offer when it comes to historic architecture. Mixed in with the classic buildings were some new modernistic designs that I have never seen before.

Republicans!

The group had lunch at a Southwestern US themed restaurant that Bryan and I saw while exploring yesterday morning. We had a very traditional Danish lunch of plaice, sirloin, caviar, and a brick, which turned out to be rye bread. We headed straight from there to Carlsberg Brewery, located a little bit outside of the Copenhagen City Center. We met with a representative from the brewery and he gave us a presentation giving us an inside look at the company and also the entire beer industry. The marketing side of the beer industry is very industry as Carlsberg uses sponsorships to promote their brand. They use a structured approach to marketing and concluded on their current sponsorships of Liverpool Football Club and the European Football Tournament (soccer).

Last night was the true last hurrah for the group. We went out for an amazing dinner at Flora's Steakhouse. An appetizer of shrimp followed by a great steak and baked potatoes with crepes for dessert made for an awesome dinner. We again went out to the downtown district of Copenhagen to find out where the locals hang out on the weekend and found a couple great spots.

The Ice Bar that we went to last night was a highlight of the entire trip. The bar provides you with arctic capes and gives you an ice glass for entry to the bar, made almost entirely out of ice. It was awesome. Most of the group went and we danced, played with the ice, and had a great time.

As I write this all but the 10ish hour flight of the trip is left and I am definitely not looking forward to that. I don't know the next time that I will return to Europe so it is a bittersweet departure. I can't wait to get home to see my friends and family and tell all the stories from the trip. Let me know if you want to talk about anything Scandinavia; I have stories and can't wait get back to the US!

Day Fourteen - Copenhagen, A New City, and Cycling

Loading into the taxis

Yesterday we woke up early, frivolously cleaned until 9 am, and slammed everything I brought and purchased in my bags. Somehow I got everything and we jumped onto some nice Mercedes taxi vans. It is strange to see every taxi a Volvo, Mercedes, or other luxury car.

We got to the Gothenburg airport early so we had time to reflect on the trip. In reflection, Sweden was the best.

The flight was only about 20 minutes and we once again landed in a brand new country, really without any idea where to go. The concierge at the Cabinn Hotel gave us directions to the Cabinn Metro instead of the Cabinn City which gave us an opportunity to see the entire city while carrying our 50 lb. bags. It was a unique experience. That's the most positive light I can put on it. It was awful and took about an hour and a half but I'll concentrate on the positives. The mistake netted us an upgrade at our hotel and now our rooms are tiny instead of minuscule; I'll take it.

Copenhagen Airport, just off the plane

Copenhagen is definitely not as friendly as Sweden but after going out and seeing some more of the city, we had a great time. Danes like to have a good time and concentrate more on the club and bar scene where Swedes are perfectly fine eating at the local cafe's.

The Bike lane, Bikes with lights

Everyone in Denmark bikes. There are bicycle garages in Copenhagen. It's crazy. It was about 20 degrees yesterday and the bikers were just thick. On the way to dinner, Sally and Britt stepped into the bike path at the wrong moment and actually got hit by a bike. I can't believe how they bike so fast and bike even throughout the night with lights on their bikes.

We are heading to Carlsburg Brewery today to meet with Executives to learn about how they market their beer. As our last full day on the trip, we are going to have meals together and try to take in as much of Copenhagen as we can in a short time.

Day Thirteen – Boats in January, Conquering the Mountain, Last night in Gothenburg

If you would have told me that I would've taken two boat trips in January in Sweden two months ago, I would have thought that you were crazy. It happened.

A Ferry and Ice

Yesterday morning we walked out of the hostel into the -8° C weather and found our ferry to get to WirelessCar, a startup tech company in 2000 which provides a service very similar to OnStar. The boat pulled up to the shore through the icebergs and without much assistance we seemingly leaped onto the boat just before it took off for the other side of the river. Martin Lundh gave us a company profile at their corporate office which was an immaculate modern office built on the old shipping industry right on the harbor. Since 2000, the company has been bought by Volvo and offers service on a variety of different automobile and truck manufacturers.

 Conquering the Mountain

After our meeting with WirelessCar, Bryan and I decided to explore the Archipelago Islands. Unfortunately, yesterday was the coldest day of the trip but nevertheless another ferry plowed through the surprisingly thick ice out to the first Island. For all my former poké enthusiasts, the Islands reminded me almost exactly of the Seafoam Islands. Bryan and I checked out the mostly deserted summerhouses and climbed through the ice and snow to conquer the tallest peak which we dubbed K2. Two frozen hands and feet later, we waited for the ferry to take us back to Gothenburg.

Last night we had a great dinner at an Italian restaurant compliments of JJ and Susie. Only problem is that I ate way, way too much at the three course feeding frenzy. Once I recovered from the temporary food coma, the whole group went out to the college union bar to meet up with some students that we met in class. After pairing up with Swedes to get through the door, we saw how the college students at the University of Gothenburg have fun on Wednesday nights. It was a great time.

Bryan and I got back to the room in time to do some late night packing for our trip to Copenhagen today and jumped on my suitcase just enough to get it all zipped.

I'm writing this from the Gothenbrug airport as we wait for our short commuter flight to Denmark. We have a day full of exploring to do in a brand new city. Can't believe it's almost over.

Day Twelve - Lectures, Shopping, and another home cooked meal

This morning we all got to sleep in a little but got to the University in time to hear Claus's lecture on International Business concentrating on the history of the European Union. It was an interesting perspective considering that the entire EU is about the size of the United States. The European perspective on things is just slightly different than the domestic perspective that I am used to so it gives me a different frame of reference to view things in.

Lunch was again great as we went to the Dubliner, a local pub and eatery that had a great fish special with some Earl Grey tea. I feel so cultured after going to an Art Museum, a jazz club, and now drinking tea in an Irish restaurant.

A store in the shopping district

We went back to the university in the afternoon for the second half of the lecture. We had a class discussion with the Swedes and got to air our grievances about Swedish life to them. They thought we were just not used to it and Swedish people are more normal than we think.

Bryan and I then headed to the shopping district to pick up some gifts for home. I found some great stuff, can't wait to come home to tell stories and show everyone what I got.

After spending all of our Kronas in the gift shop, we decided to save money and cook our own dinner again. I made a chorizo pita pizza and it was excellent.

We are rushing off tonight to go to the Gothenburg towers because we didn't get to stay long enough last time. Hope they will let me in. Tomorrow is our last day of company visits in Sweden as we visit Wirelesscar AB. I'm very excited about it.

Day Eleven - Robots, CEO's, and Jazz

Tabor and the group waiting
for the train in gloomy Molndal

I saw my first actual live robot today at ABB. Robots might eventually take over the world; just something to think about. Bert gave us another very informative presentation, this time on product management. It was interesting to see all the different things that each product manager needs to consider as they plan, brand, market, sell, and sustain each product.

Our adventures have led us both far and close to Gothenburg. ABB is of the far variety. Located in Molndal, it is a train ride and a bus to ABB. On the way back, our city transit passes didn't work so JJ tells us, "Get to the back and don't show your passes." So far the strategy has worked and we haven't had to deal with the Swedish Polis.

The office at Skapa on the sixth floor.
Very modern interior design.

Our afternoon company tour was to a company called Skapa, a digital media advertising agency. Erik Ekholm, the founder and CEO, gave us an awesome presentation on digital and social media that was on the cutting of everything advertising. Skapa boasts an advertising portfolio of almost every large Swedish company including Volvo, ABB, ASCOM, and WirelessCar, which we will visit on Wednesday. He gave us great advice on advertising, entrepreneurship, and life. A presentation from an ultra successful person such as Erik is what gives me the motivation to go out, work hard, and be successful myself. Check out their website skapa.se on Google Chrome to translate to English.

Surprisingly, the highlight of the day came after all of this. Homes, Lauren, Gigler, and I had been wanting to go to a jazz club called Nefertiti ever since we got here. We finally had the opportunity to go tonight and it was awesome. Two jazz groups rocked the stage with some classic New Orleans Jazz for the mostly octogenarian crowd. The musicians were ridiculously talented and made a great night.

The tuba player got crazy with his solo
That's all for tonight. Another exciting day tomorrow.

Day Ten - More Cafe's, Gothenburg Art Museum, and Packers win

Apple Pie with white sauce

Double digit days now. I don't believe in countdowns but we have to make every day count from here on out.

The problem with Cafe's is that when I get to the counter, I can never convince myself to get anything nutritionally worthwhile when all of those delicacies are staring me in the face. Bryan and I once again found a nice cafe' today and to top of my lunch I got a piece of Appelpaj, apple pie. The cashier prepared my pie with some interesting white sauce that I assumed was melted ice cream but never really found out what it was. It was an interesting and tasty take on pie nonetheless.

This afternoon was beautiful in Sweden.
We had plans to go to the Archipelago Islands but because of a need to catch up on sleep, we only had enough daylight to get to the Art Museum. It was a great museum with some very interesting modern art as well as a video on poverty in Africa. The question posed, "Who owns African poverty?" still has me thinking. Bryan and I checked out the great artwork and sculptures until we had to head back to show off our cooking skills for the group.

Our group met at the grocery store to pick up some ingredients to make a dinner in the hostel kitchen. After looking at a variety of different things, we decided on breakfast for dinner. Alex Gigler made the omelets, Susie and I cooked the bacon and a lot of the guys pitched in to make a great dinner.

Tonight we went to the North American, a bar near Gothenburg University to watch the most important game of my memorable lifetime. I wish I could've been with all of my packer fan friends, but it was still a great time. I still can't believe that the Packers are headed to the Super Bowl. The last time the Packers were there I wasn't even five years old. It's a dream.

Tomorrow is back to the grind. It has been a great weekend and a great trip so far.

Day Nine - World Culture Museum, Swedish Hockey, and a great night

With Bryan at a black light exhibit

Yesterday was great. After recovering from another good night on Friday night, Braatz, Jon, Bryan, I finally got going and went to the museum of world culture. The free museum featured an exhibit on 'Kimono Fusion.' We all really enjoyed it and took hundreds of pictures. The best part was actually a children's exhibit, but we checked it out nonetheless and had a great time.

The Scandinavium Arena at night, after the game

We had to be back to the hostel lobby by 3 to meet for the Frolund Indian's hockey game. On the way back, I stopped and got lunch at Cafe Cava. None of the cafe's in Sweden have let me down. When we got to the hockey game, it was nothing like a US game. The fans here were crazy and the stadium was a show, especially when the teams came onto the ice. The Indians scored early and often en route to a 5-1 victory. The atmosphere was just like a NFL game but in an arena, so it was louder. The fan section's bass drummer kept the arena as loud as possible all game. Even without fighting in Swedish hockey, the game was still entertaining with some great action and an even better viewing environment.

After the hockey game we had dinner as a group at a nice restaurant. Dinners ranged from grilled reindeer to whole crayfish, and it seemed like every plate they brought out was something that I had never tried. After dinner JJ took us to the Gothenburg tower hotel to go up the 23 stories to the tower bar, the tallest building in Gothenburg. The view from the tower was amazing over the lit up city at night. Another cool feature of the tower bar was the all glass elevator. It felt like the giant drop at six flags as we descended quickly to the bottom with a great view of the city the whole way. 

It was our last Saturday night in Sweden and we weren't about to waste it. A couple of our friends went to a club called Park Lane the night before and loved it so that's where wanted to go. We left around midnight and found a long line out in the cold. After making friends with everyone in line, Jessica and I somehow got in and Park Lane did not disappoint. The club was packed, had great music, and was a really great time. While on the dance floor dancing to the Euro club music, the curtain pulled back and a live band came out of nowhere and played a few songs; they were awesome. We danced until very early in the morning before leaving, stopping by a extremely busy McDonald's at 4am and took the tram back. Another successful night in Gothenburg.

Getting a later start than we wanted today but hopefully we will have another awesome time.

Go Packers!

Day Eight - Vice Chairmans, More Cafe's, and Europeanism

Yesterday we went to the University of Gothenburg for the business class's masters in marketing presentation to the faculty of the business department. Since the topic was an analysis of Volvo car's move to Asia, the vice chairman of Volvo worldwide was invited to hear their ideas. Mr. Hans Olav Olsson serves as the vice chairman of Volvo and was a former CEO of the entire company. When you are in a room with a man that successful, it is almost as if it is contagious and you can feel the presence.

After the presentations, we met with the international club and two girls from Sweden took us out to a very nice cafe and bought everyone a Semla. They are very similar to cream puffs but with a Swedish twist and some almond paste in the middle. They were very good.

With the rest of the day, the girls from the international club showed us around the trendy designer stores in Sweden and we went out for some exploring on the night as well.

With all this said, there are some things about Sweden that just need to change.
1. Outlets, please conform to the US voltage. These adapters are ridiculous
2. Paying to go to the restroom.
3. Having to put your room card in the switch to turn on the lights.
There are some more that I can't think of right now, but those things are where Sweden lacks in culture.

That's all for now, going back to bed to get another hour so I can be rested for today's adventure.

Day Seven - A nice cafe, Googling, and seafood

This morning we once again were up early and got the University of Gothenburg by 9 for the continuation of the  SAI Sjofartens Analys Institut (The Institute of Shipping Analysis) Executive meeting. This meeting in the morning was for the most part an exhibition of avoiding catching up on the lacking sleep at the beginning but after a conversation with a keynote speaker with Matt Holmes, I was very interested to hear what Hans Correll, a member of the legal counsel of the UN, had to say about transport in the arctic region. The ownership and transport rights of the waters in the arctic is more interesting and meaningful than one would think at first impression.

After the session, Bryan, Jon, Alex, and I headed to Haga Nygata which is the college street in Gothenburg to find a cafe for lunch. We found a great spot called Grappoline where I had a great lasagna and a bottle of Nygarda, a Swedish soda.

Our afternoon company tour was to ASCOM which is a wireless 'mission critical' communication provider. This means that if a company needs to have extremely reliable versatile wireless communication quickly, they are the provider to use. Their systems are used widely in hospitals throughout Europe and some in the US as well.

Anna, a marketing director taught us the ins and outs of how to market through Google. The sponsored links on Google are a matrix of bids and wordplay that each industry fights aggressively for. ASCOM markets directly against their main competitor, CISCO, by buying the rights to keywords that would be able to generally find a CISCO product. The system was really remarkable.

Rolling the herring balls.

We rushed back to get to our night appointment as soon as possible. After stripping out of our dress clothes and jumping back on the bus and trams, we got to the harbor to a cook your own fish restaurant. Since it was right in the harbor the fish came in early and the morning and was fresh on the counter when we got there. Kim, Lisa, and I had the task of making herring balls. You read that right: Herring balls. They contained herring, cream cheese, onions, chives, and dill. A perfect combination for me. With a small amount of help from Annika, the chef's assistant, we finished the balls and served them to the group. The head chef, who had cooked for the Queen and Prime Minister of Sweden, said it was very good and said she would put me on the homepage of her website.

Here's what the group ended up making.

Salmon and shrimp mixed with cream and served on carefully sauteed bread was the first appetizer followed by our herring balls.

The main course was a breaded 'Witch Fish,' which from what I understand is the American flounder, served with shrimp and mushroom risotto and green beans. Surprisingly, throughout this all, I remained a member of the Clean Plate Club. That's for you mom :).

Dessert was a delectable white chocolate mousse with raspberry topping. JM specially shaped the raspberries in a heart just for me. It was an awesome dinner experience.

I am now looking forward to what will be another great day tomorrow and an awesome weekend.

Day 6 - Unique Furniture, Pirates, and Fish

ABB - sales and marketing building: Molndal, Sweden

Our morning adventure led us to ABB, a company similar to the US company General Electric. Our professor, JJ Shields, worked at ABB for nearly ten years in the robotics division. His boss, project manager Burt Thorvaldsson, gave us a presentation about the company with special emphasis on robotics and how automation affects the world market.

ABB provided lunch and it was great, any opportunity for free food in Sweden is well appreciated as the standard fish'n chips tonight cost me $25 US. The highlight was the bakery afterwards. We all got a chocolate dipped pastry filled with mousse. None of us could understand the Swedish word for the pastries, so we'll just call them heaven.

Sofa at Volvo Truck, poor for napping

Almost everywhere we have gone so far, the lounges have been interesting, to say the least. Strange furniture must be the style in Gothenburg.

ABB lobby

After finishing lunch, we headed back to the University to a conference on the maritime shipping industry. Some presentations focused on the Chinese influence in shipping distribution and the global recession but the most interesting was one on shipping piracy. After nearly an hour presentation, I now know what to do in case my cargo ship is boarded by Somalian pirates.

Chariot racing was on TV when we went to bed last night.  Number 5 won.

Today, when I was talking with a global market genius about the sustainability of Chinese high-tech industry growth at the shipping conference, I though of how lucky I am to be in Sweden and not studying the fundamentals of philosophy in women's history back in Kenosha.
Hope to tell of more adventures tomorrow.

Day Five - Autoadapt, Volvo Truck, and public transportation

Another early morning: at the lobby to catch the bus that Autoadapt chartered for us at 8:15 sharp.

Autoadapt is the sister company to Bruno Inc. which we toured in the US before we left, located in Oconomowoc Wisconsin. Autoadapt designs, manufactures, and installs car adaptations for handicapped people so they don't lose mobility. The company tour was awesome. We toured the facilities and got a lecture on how to grow a company from the CEO, Häkan Sandberg. Autoadapt had a truly unique way of doing business in which the company administration rotates every two years so each person will always have a fresh perspective on their task. The manufacturing workers rotated even more frequently. The CEO and Vice President, Peter Wahlsten, gave us strong perspective about how to make and keep goals and advice on how to create a great business plan. It all finished off with a great, free lunch. The facility was immaculate and gave a new perspective of business.

Doesn't look like your standard office building

Our next stop was Volvo Truck's world headquarters. This is not to be confused with the Volvo cars that we are familiar with. That portion of the company was sold to Ford and later to Geely, a Chinese group. The company focused on Buses, Trucks, and Construction Equipment. The perspective that Volvo trucks had on the global economy was tremendous.

The nice ride of a Volvo

After the presentation, the only question was, "How do we get back?" A small group of us took off down a remarkably grassy path to the bottom of the hill that Volvo was located on. We had no idea where the bus had dropped us when we got there and were shocked to find ourself miles from Gothenburg, without any idea where we were and any idea how to get back.

We boarded the first bus to come and I somehow hand-gestured an Arab, non-English speaking bus driver to get to the next stop and got some help from an English Swede at the next stop.

We just finished a dinner at Rumpanbar of an interesting pizza and look forward to a day at ABB in the morning and the University in the afternoon for a conference on international maritime shipping.
Sweden is the best.

Day Four - Early wakeup calls, Lectures, and saving money

The sun almost shined today. It would have been unreal.

Day four woke us up the earliest we had been up all trip: 8:20. That's in the AM. After days of denying any sort of jet-lag, I might have been jet-lagged this morning because this was one of the most tired mornings that I have ever endured. We listened to a very interesting presentation from Claus, a former vice dean of Gothenburg University, on the current Business conditions in Sweden. After a quick lunch break with the Swedish students, we listened to another presentation on sports marketing centering on the Beijing games and the European football championships of 2008. Harald, a professor from Germany gave us great insight on the European sports marketing scene. The lectures finished up with JJ giving us insight on the paint schemes of race cars. More interesting than you would think.

Tonight for dinner we looked at some menus and after seeing 3 digits instead of 2, we got more creative.

It turned out great.

Bryan's tortellini, not so much but it was all in good fun.

Bryan burnt his hand even while wearing two different oven mitts

Tonight, I showed Bryan who is boss in some cards (again) but now need to get sleep for the much anticipated tour of Autoadapt, a car handicap adaption company my team did a presentation on, and also a tour of Volvo Truck. Couldn't be more excited.

Day Three - Packers games in Europe, Trains going the wrong way, and Prams

After seriously catching up on sleep, Bryan and I took an adventure to Brunnsparken and Nordstan, the shopping district of Gothenburg to check out the local shopping scene. Most of the stores outside were closed so we went in the indoor mall and saw this:

Yes, that's right. A pole vaulting meet in the middle of the mall. The pole vault shown was good for second place. We took a long tour on the train after getting on the right train line going the wrong direction and saw some great scenery along the way.

Our group at dinner on the Linneplatsen

On a side note, most people in Sweden push prams instead of strollers to transport their children. I've never seen a pram in America and really have only heard about them in 60s and 70s music. I think they are awesome.

The real story of today was last night. 

We met some very fun people from Australia, Lei and Charlie who both had their Norwegian girlfriends with them at our hostel, in which they were enjoying a night away. We went to the local pub and then again headed to the Avenyn to a club this time with only a 22 age minimum.  

Gothenburg's Ferris Wheel overlooking the river

The club was called Bersa' (accent on the a) and it was a cultural melting pot of Australians, Norwegians, Americans, Swedes, and any other nationality that you could have thought of. It was a great time. 

We finally got back to the room just before the game. The packers had the nerve to not start their game until 2:45 am Swedish time which left me awake til 5:15. By the way, Great win: see you all in the Super Bowl. 

Our first real day of work begins tomorrow as we will go the University of Gothenburg to hear a presentation on sports marketing by the world famous JJ Shields as well as a day planned full of other amazing academic activities.

The pictures that I'm taking are great and I can't wait to show everyone once I get home.

That's all for now. Can't wait to wake up tomorrow to have another Swedish experience!

Are there snow plows in Sweden?

Day 2

Before you start reading, cue this, it'll put you in the Swedish thought.
Our first night abroad was a great time. 'Carthage Cocktail Hour' in the basement of the hostel started off the night where we toured the local bar scene but after some great tips from Swedish blondes, took the train aimlessly to Avenyn, the heart of Gothenburg.
About 11:30 local time, with snow just starting to fall from the sky, we boarded #1, a tram headed straight for Avenyn. Jon, Alex, Bryan, I found ourselves on a train, in a city that we didn't know, surrounded by a language we didn't know, headed for a destination that we didn't know. Sounds like the best combination for a great night. After looking into every pub and club in the whole city, we decided to stay at a club on the very north end of Avenyn, or the Avenue.
With our US drivers licenses in hand we convinced the non-English speaking bouncer that we were 22 and got into a club which used to be some sort of a famous art studio. After a great time hanging out with the group and some Europeans, we headed back to the hostel.
Alex Braatz gave us great directions back to the hostel by way of the overly confusing, Swedish tram system. Due to the seemingly minimal amount of snow and the Swedes' unpreparedness for such conditions, the tram couldn't make it up the hill and we found ourselves walking back from the Avenyn at 3:30 on streets we have never been on.
First night success. Check.
Today so far has been relaxing. A bus tour this morning laid out the scene of our Swedish invasion
A great dinner was had a local eatery of salmon and steak and potatoes.
Off to have a night as promising as last night in the college district.
Pictures from the tour: Massthuggskyrkan on the right overlooking the city.

Jon Welser with his bro Gustav

Day One - Planes, Taxis, and Slippery Sidewalks

Finally here!
This is what I've been waiting for since the end of October and it hasn't let me down.
10pm flight out of O'Hare, 1:20 Arrival in Copenhagen, and arrival in Gothenburg in time for dinner.
So far the cultural experience has been awesome.
A Danish man sat next to me on the plane on his way back from a business trip in Keystone, CO. On the 8 hour flight, he gave me countless tips on Scandinavian life but the most interesting was his advice on life.
"Greatness is not a set measure. Greatness is what you make it to be."

Other than that, we had an interesting taxi ride back with an Iranian Swede and ate a nice dinner.
Off to explore Sweden and see what the locals have to say.