Author: Matthew Carlin

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Today flew by! The primary focus of today’s excursion was to explore archipelago of Gothenburg, Brännö. This island was a hop skip and a jump away from our hostel and let me tell you, we were all ready for it. We took a bus, tram, and ferry to the island and that was its own adventure. Even if you feel lost the Swede’s are there to save the day. The police and citizens are probably the nicest people I’ve ever met, and they gave us exact directions on how to get to and from the pier. Must’ve been that American charm we have.

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The ferry ride was probably the coolest part of the adventure between the three means of transportation. The lower deck had simple rowed seating and a deck out back. The upstairs was my personal favorite because of the coffee shop. With coffee around $2-3 EVERYWHERE I go, I am very happy. With everyone heavily caffeinated, we were all ready to go. Believe it or not, ferry rides are really fast and nobody got nauseous along the way so that’s a plus. After a sort of short ferry ride, we arrived on the archipelago and wanted to see it all. If you follow the rest of the post, you can see a few of the pictures I took along the way.

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After a not too bad walk down the main street from the pier, we were on our way to the cove. We came across a map of the island that nobody could read and the map never indicated where exactly we were located. Now, we just kept walking straight and came across a really peculiar sign. The sign was labeled “bad” and of course out of curiosity we had to do some investigating. We were not disappointed and came across exactly what we looking for. We had picturesque scenery for lunch along the shoreline. Once we made it to shoreline and ate lunch, we were cut loose and on our way to hike.

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The goal of the day was to find the highest point on the island and of course nobody was equipped for an adventure of this caliber. We improvised with what we found, and it was a tall-ish hill. The part we had a hard part grasping was the fact that most of the areas we were exploring were peoples backyards. No one gave us a hard time because they knew we were Americans. Sometimes it pays off to be a foreigner, especially when you’re visiting the Swede’s.

The capstone of the day had to be the conclusion to the island adventure, the sunset. The colors were absolutely beautiful and the waves were so calm. The picture above was taken from the back end of the ferry as we were pulling away, so I swear the water was calm. Tomorrow we will getting down to business and seeing a few companies that are listed on the itinerary. Everyone is excited because we will be getting a snapshot of international business. We will also be visiting the local university, and are allowed to sit in on a few lectures their professors are hosting. It will be exciting to chat with a few overseas students. I’ll keep you all posted, until tomorrow!

Today’s Takeaway’s:

1. Do not take the word “bad” literally in Sweden
2. Coffee is a power move after hiking and really any meal
3. You feel like you’re in a sardine can in Swedish trams but they are lightning fast
4. Islands in Sweden follow the etiquette of walking strictly
5. Sunsets from a ferry make you feel like you’re Jack and Rose from Titanic

What you’re seeing above is a man that got ready is for a city tour in fifteen minutes upon waking up. We received an amazing city tour from an amazing tour guide. We had Swedish and American trivia thrown at us throughout the tour with jokes all around. I was expecting a super tourist-esque tour of the city but my expectations were blown out the water.

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The sad part of my morning was the fact that I did not get any breakfast that everyone was raving about. To start my morning I pounded a Swedish sports drink and was on my merry way. The first stop on the tour is depicted above, and that was “the fish church”. My professor was a super nice guy and he basically bought everyone smoked salmon for breakfast. The fish church was really cool and all the fish is caught and served in the same day there. If you look at the third picture on the right, you can see a small restaurant all the way in the back with very reasonable prices for all dishes.

After adventuring around the port by the fish church, our tour guide gave a us brief showing of the Gotaplatsen! This is a cultural icon of the city with a statue of Poseidon as the center piece. The statue itself is surrounded by fine arts buildings like the Gothenburg theater, art museum, and concert hall. It was a cloudy day with rain storms scattered throughout, but little rain never killed anyone! This particular attraction serves as the entrance of the “avenyn” a notorious street for boujee shops and restaurants.

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Pictures are an absolute for this tour and I think everyone definitely got their fill. The running joke we all had was to take pictures of people taking pictures. Now the person taking the first initial picture definitely got some great shots, but every one around them definitely made the most of the joke. We had a fantastic time at the Gotaplatsen and were hungry for more adventuring and that’s exactly what we did.

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Upon leaving the avenyn entrance area we made our way towards the Haga district, a nice brick road area that saw a lot of foot traffic. Along the way for this particular part of the tour we made a few brief stops. We saw a few historical buildings that were revered highly in Swedish culture. One particular building that stuck out to me the most the German church and few of the buildings around it. This was a Protestant church that was established in Sweden. The interior was breath taking and I wish I took more pictures. Around the corner of this icon was a chocolate shop that apparently sells some of the best chocolate in the entire country. There is a high demand for dentists in Sweden because the Swedes eat more candy per person in the entire world!

I had no idea what to expect from today and kept my mind open to anything. I woke up too salmon and will be slumped tonight after some crepes. Tomorrow we are headed to the islands and anything after could be a mystery. We have had a few surprises along the way so far and I am open to a few more. Until tomorrow!

Today’s Takeaway’s:

1. Sweden consumes 37 pounds of candy per person every year
2. A Swedish general (name not given) is buried above ground at the “German Church”, and the sarcophagus was untouched by every fire the city has ever had
3. Smoked salmon is really good for breakfast and crepes make for great desserts
4. The Swedish camera company, Hasselblad created the cameras used to take pictures of the footprints on the moon landing
5. The Swedish LOVE cinnamon rolls without icing

I have been waiting for this day for the past 5 months, and today was in fact travel day. Of course, I had to wake up at 5:30AM, the crack of dawn. Why 5:30 you ask? Well, there’s this little thing called jet lag and, I was taking all precautionary measures to avoid this plague at all costs. So we were off to a riveting start to the day, and not to mention I had a team breakfast at 7:00AM in the caf with class from 9:00AM-12:00PM shortly thereafter. But after all the preparing and last minute packing, we made it to O’Hare!

After going through all of the security checks, we were finally on our way. The SAS airline flight from O’Hare to Copenhagen was actually was not too bad. The airline was very accommodating with endless entertainment and meals that were fairly solid. I would definitely recommend Scandinavian Airlines for those looking to travel. I would say the best part of my journey was the fact that I had two empty seats next to me. This was fantastic because as I got further and further along, a much needed nap was nearing and I was able to lay across rather my neighborless seats rather than sleep sitting up right.

Upon arrival to Copenhagen the sun was blazing and our eyes were not having it. The most interesting part of our whole Denmark experience was the fact that the group was split up but involuntarily. Lauren and Robbie were placed on the wrong plane and there was nothing they could do about it! We were very fortunate to have both planes routed from Copenhagen to Gothenburg. In the end, the crew was united and we pushed on with our journey.

Of course after an eight hour flight, everyone was obliterated from tiredness. Now, the Copenhagen to Gothenburg trip was unexpectedly fast. The plane was listed to be just under an hour long and once we were in the air, it felt like maybe twenty minutes at most. I will say for a side note that I felt very official walking across the plane runway to board my plane. This trip is already packed with a lot of firsts in my life time, and I am ready for more!

The Sweden 2020 study tour is off to a fantastic start and I cannot to see what the rest of the trip has in store. Tomorrow is filled with scenic tours of the city to start and partner explorations to finish it off. Stay tuned for tomorrows adventure, because even I don’t know what could happen!

Today’s Takeaway’s:

1. American’s stick out like a sore thumb at an international airport
2. Timezone changes are deadly
3. Patience is virtue
4. A connecting flight from Copenhagen to Gothenburg in actuality is 50 minutes but feels like 20
5. Sleep is your best friend

As a prequel to my trip to Sweden, the class made a trip out to Oconomowac, Wisconsin. This was a guided tour of Bruno Independent Living Aids, Inc. by Bill Belson. Bill is the Director of Engineering at Bruno, and was able to navigate us through our quest through the various plants. This was a very rewarding experience because we were able to see all of the various products offered being created before our very eyes. This company strives for perfection in their product development process, and is able to bring the human error percentage rate down to a fraction of a percentage. The organization and communication between employees was impeccable, and it almost felt like everyone was on the same page for every given task at the same time. Being the majority market share holders for this given market segment is very impressive, and of course the company has limitless potential to expand even further.

The assembly and production of the products within Bruno’s plants was very impressive overall. The group was able to see first hand how the metal was welded to any given customers needs. Not to mention we were able to watch the smaller more complex pieces be laser cut for the desired molds. All tasks for each employee were already mapped to the exact specification of the customer and it was really impressive watching the rate at which each employee was working at. It was almost like everyone was in sync like a well oiled machine.

Bill was very forth coming with the process and creation of each individual product. The vertical rise lift caught my eye, simply because there are almost four thousand variations of the product. I found that to be the most unique aspect of Bruno’s production process. There is no one way on how to do something. Bill harped on the fact that every customer is unique in their demands. Bruno became the powerhouse of this market segment not only by finding an untapped market niche, but by understanding and listening to the needs of their customers. Listening and adapting are huge when it comes to being the best of the best.

I really wanted to know who has the hardest job from the tour we received. Bill of course said that would depend on who you were asking, but after much consideration felt that the welders had the most taxing job within the plants. The reasoning behind this is not for the possibility of a mistake, but the mere positioning of person to achieve that perfect weld. These welders go through a lengthy and selective hiring process. Throughout any given day, a welder will be standing up, on their knees, moving side to side, up and down, and even upside down! Not only are these guys master craftsmen of the weld, but they’re basically gymnast’s as well!

Over the course of my three hour factory production tour given by Bill, I was able to see it all. The proof is in the pudding for Bruno when they say perfection and accuracy is what makes them the best of the best. It was a very insightful experience and allowed me to open my eyes to an industry that I did not know a whole lot about. Bill was a very down to Earth guy, and I loved the way he went about showing each individual process for development. I highly recommend to my peers and blog viewers to open your eyes to this particular industry because like I said, this was a very rewarding experience!

Today’s Takeaway’s:

1. Always stay curious in your job field
2. A stair lift feels like a rollercoaster preparing to drop you off at the top
3. Perfection is what a company needs to strive for in order to achieve a the most success
4. If you truly love what you do, then you’ll never work a day in your life
5. I’m ready to see Sweden