It is almost March! Where is the time going?!?!?!?!? Right now I am actually sitting in the downtown København Royal Library just distracting myself from doing work… so I figured what a great time to write a new entry.
Well last week/weekend I went on my first study tour! Because IBE (international business and economics) program is larger than most other programs we were split into two groups. I am in section B… B meaning Best group, haha, no I am just kidding… but I must admit going on these trips is definitely a great way to get to know your fellow class mates a little better.
The first trip was to A.P. Møller-Mærsk. It is the world’s largest shipping company and is also involved with the oil industry and retail, particularly Bilka and Netto (2 grocery stores in Denmark). The visit was very professional in a sense. We went to the headquarters in downtown København and watched a touching presentation on the history of the company, its business structure and its broad goals for the future. They also introduced a great program for post graduate students that train you in different fields such as international logistics and finance that directly correlate with Mærsk. We took a very small tour of the headquarters and saw some pretty amazing models of their ships.
Our second company visit was on February 14th, actually at DIS. We had a visitor by the name of Lars from SAS (Scandinavian Airlines). Not to jump ahead but this was my favorite ‘visit’… Going into the presentation I was thinking to myself ok just listen and weed out the B.S. because when you speak to most companies or companies come and give a presentation to students, etc. they are usually only going to present the optimistic facts and figures. Well… this was a VERY different presentation. Lars definitely supported his company and gave us useful information on its structure but he also mentioned the various struggles that the company is going through. Being an airline company I guess you can never assume anything right? I won’t get into detail but all in all I was blown away by the HONESTY the man portrayed about his company. Is that because I have been brainwashed to think you can never trust the corporate world… I am not really sure. But another interesting thing is that I actually pulled off an article offline before entering the presentation just so I had some up to date information on recent events involving the company. It was actually a Forbes article claiming all these come back strategies and amazing quarterly figures from SAS… lets just say I found out WHY that was the case during the presentation. I am sure I could have found it out if I had researched more but it was interesting to hear the perspective of an insider.
Anyways I guess you had to be there to really appreciate it… but once that was over, our group was on a bus to Odense. This the 3rd largest city in Denmark and it rests on the island of Funen (actually sounds more like foon’). We toured the Hans Christen Andersen’s house and museum. That was fairly interesting…. If you are unaware of who Hans Christen Andersen is (like me… kind of sad I know), he authored several fairy tale stories some of which include the Little Mermaid, Princess and the Pea… and in think Emperor’s New Clothes (don’t quote me on that one). After the visit to his house we explored the city. It really was beautiful to say the least… in a way sort of a like a mini-København (notice I like to use the øøøø’s whenever possible because it makes me feel cool, haha).
Then we were off to Haderslav which is on the mainland peninsula of Jutland or Jylland in Danish. We stayed in a hostel near the small town and naturally took advantage of its night life. Started with a round or two of KINGS at the hostel then off to the centre of town. Everyone went out that night and had a great time! Of course when I got back with a few people we realized that we were locked out of our hostel…. So I volunteered to climb our manmade ladder consisting of tables and chairs we found outside and opened the second story window to get in…. that was a thrill. I think it was actually more of a thrill when I woke up in the morning and realized what I did…. Haha.
I must admit, that morning was quite a drag for everyone… BUT you have to remember that we are all ‘adults’ so we had to deal with it. After a long breakfast at the hostel (which was actually great!) we headed to ecco our last company visit. The presentation was made by this beautiful girl from Canada. Needless to say, most of the guys were alert during this presentation… even after a long night- ecco clearly planned well. Then we finished our visit was an amazing lunch they provided for us (my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it). I guess you could describe the lunch as the type of food that most corporations in America probably gave their employees before they started slashing costs due to competition abroad and realized that salmon steaks were just not a suitable option…. Ok maybe Google and Wegman’s employees still get this food at lunch.
Then we were off to Århus. This is the second largest city in Denmark and is located on the nose or the central northeast section of Jylland. We visited a very interesting museum called ARoS. I won’t get to into that, but there were some ‘interesting’ pieces of ‘art’ there. There were a couple of exhibits that just blew me away, mainly the content of the ‘art’ and what it was attempting to portray. If you ever get a chance to go… just go in with an open mind… there was one exhibit that I really enjoyed. It was video special effects… and the artist who made this video was inspired by a near death experience where he almost drown as a young child. You just have to go and see it…
After the art museum a few of us went to ‘Den Gamle By’ which is an open air museum. It is basically an old Danish town, constructed using authentic old Danish homes and building that were transported to Århus to recreate what a typical town would have been like ‘back in the day’. Check it out online… it was interesting.
We went out that night and then drove back home the next day and actually had the change to ride a fast ferry from Århus to Odden. For those of you who are from Rochester, NY reading this… yes it was a said reminder of our fast ferry… except this one was operational… ouch that hurts!
ANYWAYS on the way back I bought a hot dog and asked for mustard… yeah it was the most expensive hotdog I have ever had…. About $8. the sad thing is I could not finish it because they but horseradish like mustard on it and I almost puked when I tried finishing it. But then I got to try a popular Danish drink called Gammel Dansk, meaning ‘old danish’. It was not good, but some people might have pretended they liked it just to look cool. Believe me… the aftertaste is not worth it.
Then I arrived home Saturday night and naturally went out. Because I can be kind of random sometimes and meet random people, I ended up going out with a group of Danes I met the previous weekend. We went to this bar called the Rock… it definitely was not my cup of tea, but it was a lot of fun I have to admit. my self esteem was slightly boosted that night because while I was waiting in line, I talking to the bouncer and this girl from Norway behind me goes ‘oh my god are you from America!?’. Yes I said. Then she asks where? I say NY… then she flips out saying I can’t believe you are from there blah blah blah. I couldn’t even get a word in and tell here that I live 6.5 hours away…. and that I have been there like 3 times… haha but even when I told her she didn’t care…. Why I am telling you this? Because when we went in she paid roughly $12 to get me in then paid another $ 8 for my coat and we didn’t even hang out… ok ill take that.
That was that. This past week of school went very fast for some reason… I feel like it was vacation or something. I guess that is what happens when you start realizing how much you like the place.
Ok that’s all for now. Your thoughts???????????????????????????
Vi ses!
Well last week/weekend I went on my first study tour! Because IBE (international business and economics) program is larger than most other programs we were split into two groups. I am in section B… B meaning Best group, haha, no I am just kidding… but I must admit going on these trips is definitely a great way to get to know your fellow class mates a little better.
The first trip was to A.P. Møller-Mærsk. It is the world’s largest shipping company and is also involved with the oil industry and retail, particularly Bilka and Netto (2 grocery stores in Denmark). The visit was very professional in a sense. We went to the headquarters in downtown København and watched a touching presentation on the history of the company, its business structure and its broad goals for the future. They also introduced a great program for post graduate students that train you in different fields such as international logistics and finance that directly correlate with Mærsk. We took a very small tour of the headquarters and saw some pretty amazing models of their ships.
Our second company visit was on February 14th, actually at DIS. We had a visitor by the name of Lars from SAS (Scandinavian Airlines). Not to jump ahead but this was my favorite ‘visit’… Going into the presentation I was thinking to myself ok just listen and weed out the B.S. because when you speak to most companies or companies come and give a presentation to students, etc. they are usually only going to present the optimistic facts and figures. Well… this was a VERY different presentation. Lars definitely supported his company and gave us useful information on its structure but he also mentioned the various struggles that the company is going through. Being an airline company I guess you can never assume anything right? I won’t get into detail but all in all I was blown away by the HONESTY the man portrayed about his company. Is that because I have been brainwashed to think you can never trust the corporate world… I am not really sure. But another interesting thing is that I actually pulled off an article offline before entering the presentation just so I had some up to date information on recent events involving the company. It was actually a Forbes article claiming all these come back strategies and amazing quarterly figures from SAS… lets just say I found out WHY that was the case during the presentation. I am sure I could have found it out if I had researched more but it was interesting to hear the perspective of an insider.
Anyways I guess you had to be there to really appreciate it… but once that was over, our group was on a bus to Odense. This the 3rd largest city in Denmark and it rests on the island of Funen (actually sounds more like foon’). We toured the Hans Christen Andersen’s house and museum. That was fairly interesting…. If you are unaware of who Hans Christen Andersen is (like me… kind of sad I know), he authored several fairy tale stories some of which include the Little Mermaid, Princess and the Pea… and in think Emperor’s New Clothes (don’t quote me on that one). After the visit to his house we explored the city. It really was beautiful to say the least… in a way sort of a like a mini-København (notice I like to use the øøøø’s whenever possible because it makes me feel cool, haha).
Then we were off to Haderslav which is on the mainland peninsula of Jutland or Jylland in Danish. We stayed in a hostel near the small town and naturally took advantage of its night life. Started with a round or two of KINGS at the hostel then off to the centre of town. Everyone went out that night and had a great time! Of course when I got back with a few people we realized that we were locked out of our hostel…. So I volunteered to climb our manmade ladder consisting of tables and chairs we found outside and opened the second story window to get in…. that was a thrill. I think it was actually more of a thrill when I woke up in the morning and realized what I did…. Haha.
I must admit, that morning was quite a drag for everyone… BUT you have to remember that we are all ‘adults’ so we had to deal with it. After a long breakfast at the hostel (which was actually great!) we headed to ecco our last company visit. The presentation was made by this beautiful girl from Canada. Needless to say, most of the guys were alert during this presentation… even after a long night- ecco clearly planned well. Then we finished our visit was an amazing lunch they provided for us (my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it). I guess you could describe the lunch as the type of food that most corporations in America probably gave their employees before they started slashing costs due to competition abroad and realized that salmon steaks were just not a suitable option…. Ok maybe Google and Wegman’s employees still get this food at lunch.
Then we were off to Århus. This is the second largest city in Denmark and is located on the nose or the central northeast section of Jylland. We visited a very interesting museum called ARoS. I won’t get to into that, but there were some ‘interesting’ pieces of ‘art’ there. There were a couple of exhibits that just blew me away, mainly the content of the ‘art’ and what it was attempting to portray. If you ever get a chance to go… just go in with an open mind… there was one exhibit that I really enjoyed. It was video special effects… and the artist who made this video was inspired by a near death experience where he almost drown as a young child. You just have to go and see it…
After the art museum a few of us went to ‘Den Gamle By’ which is an open air museum. It is basically an old Danish town, constructed using authentic old Danish homes and building that were transported to Århus to recreate what a typical town would have been like ‘back in the day’. Check it out online… it was interesting.
We went out that night and then drove back home the next day and actually had the change to ride a fast ferry from Århus to Odden. For those of you who are from Rochester, NY reading this… yes it was a said reminder of our fast ferry… except this one was operational… ouch that hurts!
ANYWAYS on the way back I bought a hot dog and asked for mustard… yeah it was the most expensive hotdog I have ever had…. About $8. the sad thing is I could not finish it because they but horseradish like mustard on it and I almost puked when I tried finishing it. But then I got to try a popular Danish drink called Gammel Dansk, meaning ‘old danish’. It was not good, but some people might have pretended they liked it just to look cool. Believe me… the aftertaste is not worth it.
Then I arrived home Saturday night and naturally went out. Because I can be kind of random sometimes and meet random people, I ended up going out with a group of Danes I met the previous weekend. We went to this bar called the Rock… it definitely was not my cup of tea, but it was a lot of fun I have to admit. my self esteem was slightly boosted that night because while I was waiting in line, I talking to the bouncer and this girl from Norway behind me goes ‘oh my god are you from America!?’. Yes I said. Then she asks where? I say NY… then she flips out saying I can’t believe you are from there blah blah blah. I couldn’t even get a word in and tell here that I live 6.5 hours away…. and that I have been there like 3 times… haha but even when I told her she didn’t care…. Why I am telling you this? Because when we went in she paid roughly $12 to get me in then paid another $ 8 for my coat and we didn’t even hang out… ok ill take that.
That was that. This past week of school went very fast for some reason… I feel like it was vacation or something. I guess that is what happens when you start realizing how much you like the place.
Ok that’s all for now. Your thoughts???????????????????????????
Vi ses!
1 comment:
i actually laughed out loud reading this entry! Odense...sooo cool. I am living vicariously through you right now, and also printing off photos of Kobenhavn (sad I don't have the proper "o" key on our american keyboards). Glad to hear you're having fun and meeting random Danes! Those are the BEST memories.
p.s. u should have something from elon pretty soon in your DIS box..check for it! hej hej!
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