Last Night In Europe!

I can't believe this is our last night in Europe! Today we had a pretty eventful time exploring the beautiful city of Copenhagen. Jon and I visited a bunch of different stores throughout the city which was random and great! We have already decided we would be the world's greatest millionaires because of all the cool stuff we would buy/do throughout Europe. Also, as we were walking around we just so happened to see the Danish Royal Army marching through town playing drums, flutes, and carry rifles so we had a great morning to say the least. Afterwards, we grabbed lunch at a Western style diner and after eating a pound-burger we headed out to Carlsburg to check out a presentation on the company. The most surprising part of the presentation was how big the beer company really is internationally; they sell approximately 135 million beers everyday worldwide! Plus we got two free beers afterwards so that was always nice.  


As our trip comes to a close, we have decided to head to the IceBar in Copenhagen as a group to enjoy one last 'hoorah' in Scandinavia. Pictures will be up later!  

Hello København

Our day began with a quick plane ride from Gothenburg to Copenhagen. Once we landed, at about 1, we had some minor difficulties finding our hotel. So we get some directions from someone at the hotel and they tell us which train stop to get off at and where to go from there. Once we get our tickets and figure out where the train is, we hop on and get off at the stop we are 'suppose' to get off. We ending up walking a couple blocks to, at the time, we thought to be the place we are staying at called 'The Cabbinn". Nope. Wrong one. Ha! So we figure out where we have to go and end up taking the train one more stop down to actual downtown Copenhagen and to where our actual hotel is. But they did give us a free upgrade to the room for the inconvenience, so thats a plus. 

Afterwards, we grabbed dinner at this really nice Japanese place. I could literally eat there all the time, it was that good. Once we had a nice dinner in, we took a little night-walk around Copenhagen which was great; however, we for sure need to take a look at things during the day tomorrow morning. Goodnight København!

Last Night In Sweden

Today we visited Wireless Car company. They are basically the On-Star of Europe, and they work in both the private sector of automobiles, as well as the commercial section.  So we had a presentation on some of the features they offer with their product like being able to locate you car if it gets stolen and notifying 911 if you get in an accident. They also have some more exciting features like Google search and are working on a Facebook interface too. So that was nice, plus we had to take a ferry to get there so we got a look at their very modern looking industrial park. 


Wow. It hasn't even hit me that it is our last night in Sweden. As of now, the plans are to enjoy dinner with the group and than hit up a local college bar. It has seriously been an amazing trip in Sweden, and hopefully I will be able to visit here again very soon. Or able to study a semester abroad. Either one I'll be happy with. I am still looking forward for a good couple days in Denmark though, but for tonight, I give a toast to SWEDEN!!

I Went To Church Today

Today we went to Gothenburg University to sit in on some lectures during an actual class period. So that was pretty cool because we kind of got a feel of how classes are conducted there. The lectures were very good, but my favorite part was when our class shared some stuff that we learned about the Swedish culture with the Swedes and vice-versa. 

After the lectures Jon and I decided to check out the Fish Church which is basically one giant fish marketplace. It makes me hungry just thinking about it. There were all types of fish, lobster, crabs, etc., etc. and they all looked amazing. Definitely the best place in Gothenburg to grab some fresh seafood and I wish I was able to buy some to cook up back at the hostel. Unfortunately, I'm way too broke to afford fresh seafood so instead Jon and I headed to the grocery to buy our own dinner. And with about 5 American dollars we were able to buy our own spaghetti and meatball feast. Needless to say, we had a pretty bromantic evening plus we even had some ice cream for dessert that was a leftover from our big group dinner. So all in all, good day. 

P.S I can't believe its our second to last night in Sweden. Definition of bittersweet.  

Robots, Viral Videos, and Laundry.

This morning we headed out to ABB Robotics again, but this time we got to see a live presentation on how the robots work which was really cool. Our presenter basically just used a laptop to maneuver the two robots very accurately. The first robot picked up something like a screw and than handed it to the second robot who placed it into position. No biggie, just the future doing work in front of my eyes. After that wild presentation, we had a second one about the the marketing strategies of ABB Robotics. In short, we found out that ABB is head of the curve with their programs by having the available to download on the web with a subscription much like something with Netflix. Also, the are developing an AppStore for their company so thats exciting. 

After our morning at ABB, we headed out to visit a local marketing agency called Sakpa in Gothenburg. The presentation was very interesting and we mainly discussed advertising through social media like Facebook and YouTube. Which was exciting because we got to see a couple funny commercials that companies have posted on YouTube that have gone viral. So we discussed what makes some of the videos big and other traits that make them less favorable. Overall, the experience was great. 

So not only was today a Monday, it was also laundry day. Just a double kick in the dick. So get this, the washing machine can fit about half a normal load, no lie and I guess they don't believe in drying clothes like the rest of the civilized world here? Apparently the dryer they have here just doesn't work so instead they recommend the system of hanging sopping wet clothes into a big room with a heater in it. What a fun night in the hostel waiting for clothes to dry!

Sunday, Funday

So today we kinda woke up late so Jon and I just took a walk around Sweden snagging pics left and right. Our original plan was to go with Bryan and Max to an art museum, but they went ahead of us to the museum while we grabbed sushi. Unfortunately, Jon and I couldn't find the museum so we ended up just walking around for a bit, which wasn't too bad because it was a pretty nice day out. Plus we got some nice pictures of Gothenburg. 

After our day out, we got the group together to make our own homemade dinner. We all decided that omelet's sounded good so we went to the grocery store and grabbed all the ingredients needed. We even cooked up some Swedish meatballs to throw in, just to make them interesting. After we had dinner, we went the Northern American bar to watch the Packer-Bear game.

Stayin' Cultured And Watchin' Hockey

Today we had our morning off so after a good rest from the previous night, we decided to check out the Museum of World Culture with our free time. The exhibits were great and we checked out all three of them: Kimono Fusion, Destination X, and Jordinglar Earthlings. Kimono Fusion was a Japanese themed exhibit and it covered different art/culture from traditional Japan to 'hypermodern'. We saw things like traditional Japanese warriors and dress styles to modern Japanese graffiti and clothing. I'm pretty sure I snagged like 100 pictures at that one alone and it was for sure my favorite exhibit. The next exhibit we visited was Destination X which was a theme on why people travel across the world, so they had something from just about everywhere on the globe.  The final exhibit we visited was called Jordinglar Earthlings which was kinda intended for children, but hey, gotta let that inner-child out sometimes. But they had this really cool blue light thing that was suppose to make you look like an alien, plus one of those crazy mirrors that make you look goofy and alien-like. I mean we were practically knocking toddlers over like it was our job to get there first and play around with everything...it got pretty wild at times.

After our morning out and about, we had a hockey game at 3 to catch. We watched the Frolunda Indians game, and they are a hockey club that is based in Gothenburg. First off, they started the game with a pretty crazy intro that was unbelievable. Like flames, lights, and even a little bit fireworks at times-basically the Indians know how to make an entrance. Our seats were kinda high up, but we actually had a great view of the game so that was nice. Plus the Indians won the game pretty handily 4-1 so it was really fun to watch with the rowdy crowd going nuts with their drum the whole game. 

Hello Friday

This morning we headed out to Gothenburg University early to watch some presentations on Volvo by the students. The presentations covered the topic on the expansion of Volvo in Asia, and more specifically, Chinese markets. So of course those were all great and very informative. Plus the Vice-Chairman of Volvo sat in on the presentations and I'm pretty sure he arrived in a G6 airplane. His persona just screamed wealth and power and if you could use a time machine to see where I'll be in 50 years, that looks about right. 




Afterwards we went to a local cafe with the student union which was a lot of fun, plus they bought us coffees and some delicious Swedish pastries. The whole time at the cafe we talked with them about American and Swedish cultures. When that was wrapped up, Jon and I took a walk around the city visiting stores and such to end the day.

Business Pro During The Day, Chef At Night

Our day started off with some lectures at this yearly executive meeting which is hosted at Gothenburg University. The topics that were covered was: global hotspots, emerging markets, and the arctic. To me, the ones that were the most interesting was for sure topics discussing the emerging markets. The arctic? About as exciting as talking about ice can get. If I ever hate myself enough to go to the arctic just know that I've given up on life. I'm pretty sure only nutzo's head through there and it's a miracle they even come back alive much less in one piece. No thank you, I like my fingers and warm life.  Well anyways after those lectures, we had a meeting at Ascom which was great. They are a wireless company that provides high quality communication devices to commercial industries like hospitals. They gave us a pretty general presentation on what the company does, and than went on to cover some of their new marketing strategies. After hearing those great presentations, they also gave some great advice on how to succeed in international business. Not only that, they gave us an Ascom phone flash drive! I mean whats cake without the icing right?

So I'm pretty sure we got to experience the greatest dinner ever tonight. It's a restaurant where you cook the food yourself. Yup. And professional chefs do assist during the process, but we set up our own legitimate dinner basically on our own. Our class was divided into groups, and each group had their own specific task to cook a portion of the dinner. My group had the task of making some toast skagen with salmon and egg which was amazingly good. Like blow- your-mind delicious. And every other group did great too which just resulted in a fantastic dinner. Plus I got to say Grace at the table so maybe I should look into being a reverend someday? 

PS even the Swedish Prime Minister and Swedish royalty has eaten there. No biggie. 

Robots.

Today we visited ABB Robotics. Highlights including seeing how robots are eventually going to take over the world. Actually just how robots will soon work in the Chinese factories that make everything good in the world. So considering China will take over the world in T-minus 5 years, by default, robots will take over the world. In all honestly though, ABB was great, and the presentation was exciting. Plus we got to learn a lot on robotics and the future in it. Oh and we learned that science has explained why my parents still don't understand Facebook fully. I always just assumed they were kinda dumb, and all my innate knowledge was really received by some miracle of God. Turns out I am known as a Digital Native, and they are known as the Digital Immigrants. Which basically means I was born into this computer age and as a result my brain has been formatted for this age unlike our older generation. So while I'm fluent in multi-tasking on the web with 14 different tabs and texting at the same time, the Digital Immigrants are forced to live the boring life of using one tab and remaining focused on one-topic. It is good to be young my friends.

Company Visits

So today started off nice and early at 8 in the morning as we had to visit two companies today: Auto Adapt and AB Volvo. Auto Adapt is a company that creates products, for people with handicaps, in their car so they have means to travel on their own, thus giving them greater independence. After a tour of the plant, we had a presentation from the President about the company; which was fantastic. No lie, I learned more real-world, practical business work skills in that one presentation in a whole semester of business management. Afterwards, they provided us with a lunch that was delicious. Also during lunch a couple other students and I had the privilege to talk to Peter more in-depth, who is the Vice President of Marketing and Sales, about business and marketing in the real world.  After our visit of Auto Adapt, we continued on to our day at AB Volvo. While we were there, we were given a presentation on the company, and were able to get a good look at some of their products up close; such as their trucks and construction equipment.  Once we got back to our hostel, we had dinner at a local restaurant which was fantastic. Afterwards, we had a few drinks there and than called it a night...

I've Got A Case Of The Mondays

Welp my Monday started off with all four of our alarms not going off. Or Jon and I managed to turn all of them off in our sleep which is a feat in it's own. The funny part is that for once I didn't drink the night before, and for some reason when I do drink the previous night I'm able to wake up early on my own. Oh well...such is the curse of the Monday's..  

Ho hum, ho hum another day in Sweden, another smokeshow blonde walking the aisles of Gothenburg University. Well after our rough start to the day, we continued with our plans of a tour of the School of Business, Economics, and Law at the University of Gothenburg. The building was very modern on the inside and looked great, except for one major design flaw: they don't have water-fountains anywhere. Literally. For some reason these Swedes only drink their water if it's sparkling. I don't get why, and I'm just as confused as the rest of the normal world. Anyways, following our tour and lunch, we were given a few lectures on the University and on marketing. All of our speakers were great and very informative. Once all the lectures were wrapped up, we went to a local pub called 'The Bishops Arms' to grab a couple beers. Good way to end the day in my book folks.

Free Day in Sweden

Today we had the day-off so we had the opportunity to explore Sweden on our own.  However due to our very late, nocturnal habits we spent the majority of the morning recovering from our previous adventures.  After a good rest and some coffee, Jon and I went on to go explore the Avenue which was nice to actually see during the day.  After we walked around the Avenue for awhile we decided to hitch a tram back to our hostel for some much needed dinner; however, our adventure did not end there! It turns out we like taking tram tours of Gothenburg. Just kidding. We went the wrong way on the tram and ended up at the very last station. Eventually we navigated our way back for a pretty quite night at our hostel. Hopefully tomorrow brings even more great stories!

Good Day To You Too Sweden!

Today we went on a bus tour of Gothenburg and the only thing prettier than the girls is the picturesque skyline. Just kidding, the sky's looked depressing as hell which accounts for the drinking habits here. Anyways the tour was great and informative on the city plus I think I fell in love with another local for like 13th time on this trip. Here we are walking around this shopping area of the city and out of nowhere comes another blonde angel. Just one more reason to move here someday. Also thanks to our crazy adventure last night we actually knew a good portion of the tour; courtesy of our tram getting stuck and having a personal Swedish guide walk us home. Well it's getting to be that time to start another memorable evening so as the australians we met would say: cheers mate!

Touchdown in Sweden

Hej! We have finally arrived at our destination in Gothenburg, Sweden!  Our journey first began with an 8-hour flight across the Atlantic Ocean, and while we had to deal with crying babies and vomiting passengers, the worst part of the flight was for sure the coffee. Here I am trying to cope with some classic jet-lag and SAS feeds us the bitterest possible coffee in all of Scandinavian.  Literally I think they scavenged the lands in search of the all-so-popular dirt flavored beans. Ah well, I've arrived in the land of blondes so it's a fair trade. Well anyways we will be bringing in the weekend tonight with exploring the Swedish night life and pushing aside our jet-lag. Godnatt!