"Love your momma"

This post is a looong time coming and now, sitting in my international management class - there is nothing else I'd rather do.

The title of this post comes from my Strategic Management professor and it means, "a statement that is so general that it is true for everyone (ie. we all love our mommas!)."

I've finally gotten into a routine here in CPH. It has been tough because my class schedule changes every week. One week I'll have class T,W,Th and the next will be M,W,F. Also, the classroom for each class changes EVERY TIME. It's insane! Definitely a sign of the mediocre organizational systems over here.

Thursday will be my last day of Strategic Management class! It has been a three week sprint where we had class 5hrs a day for either 2 or 3 days a week - pretty intense. The professor, Ron Sanchez, is great though, he has a ton of experience and some great stories. I will have the exam for this class when I get back from Berlin in two weeks!

We leave for Berlin this Sunday. We will be there for 5 days visiting various firms and organizations. Should be a pretty interesting experience; however I only have one suit to wear! Haha. Here is our schedule for the week:

http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=globe0809%40hotmail.com&ctz=Europe/Copenhagen&pvttk=8ec1e5797765d135b3e01061f06804c5

Two weekends ago, a few students from HK invited me to come celebrate their Mid-Autumn Festival with them. The context of this celebration is the fullest moon of the year. If you want to know more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival. So 5 or 6 HK guys and then 4 of us Americans, and 1 Dane all congregated at one of the dorms. We all helped out in cooking a HUGE meal of 5-6 chinese dishes. The focus of the party seemed to be on the dessert: mooncake (not to be confused with moonpie). It is a little cake that has a cooked egg yolk in the middle. It good, but I think I could only eat it in small pieces.

The Chefs and I

Outside of the dorm

Inside courtyard of the dorm

My dad came to visit me two weekends ago too! It was a great visit for us, 1 because I got a suitcase full of American goodies, and 2 because we had such a great time! We spent most of Saturday together eating, talking, touring the school. Saturday night we went to a great Blues Bar - Mojo. It was fantastic!

One of the school buildings: "The Wedge"

The band at Mojo

Before I sign off I want to give a shout out to all you ECU fans that ya'll played a great game this past Saturday and to beat some butt for the rest of the season!

And of course, get well soon TJ Yates, GO TARHEELS!

Summer winding down

This weeks marks the beginning of my classes... I know, don't feel bad for me though, it's only two days of class =P I just wanted to drop a line to all thanking for recipes and what not. If you would like to continue sending me some, email them to sgdstarcraft@gmail.com. The grocery store situation is WEAK! Canned soups and beans are relatively nonexistent outside of green beans and corn... I wanted to buy some pinto beans at the "luxury grocery," but they're $4 a can... HAH. Today I made a interesting concoctions... green beans strained and cooked w/ butter, salt, pepper. I added an egg and a little cheese. Was pretty good - not going to lie. Thank god I will eat practically anything.

I've been getting in the groove here. Going to the gym most days, which is located really near by to the school and my apartment - fitnessdk. I've been reading quite a bit too; I've gotten through two and a half books since I've been here. I haven't been to any more museums though - the best day to go is on Sunday because they're free then!

For our last "intro week" activity, the Danes through us a Casino themed party. Needless to say, it was quite a debauchery. They broke out the craps table, texas hold'em, and black jack. However, not too much poker was played because the Danes decided to spend the last of their budget on bottles of gin, vodka and greenolives (that's how they do martinis here evidently...) It was a really good time though and I feel really comfortable with each of them as we move towards the academic part of our stay.

It's been slightly different with the UCHK kids. They went to Norway last Thursday so they haven't been coming to the events with us. Also, the majority of them, except for two, don't drink. This has cut down on our bonding time with them quite a bit. Also, they aren't very athletic so they skipped out on our two sports days =/. I'm not saying our relationship with them is bad - we just want them to come hang out!

Weck and I - Reppin' UNC

Our "Elite" GLOBE Program

Much love to you all!

Can't we all just get along?

55 hours ago, i was assigned a 45 pg case pertaining to Vestas, a windmill producing company originating from Denmark. Our assignment was to work as a group, 2am, 2dan, 2chi, to analyze this document and to answer four different "challenges" in a 9pg report and a 13 min presentation. Well, needless to say, I was a little apprehensive to get started on this project because I was not sure how well the three nationalities would work together. Interestingly, at least in our group, it was awesome! It was really impressive how we each were able to utilize our strengths to divide up the assignment and then, when editing, everyone maintained their composure and offered their own opinions while giving others equal weight.

We turned the 12pg document in yesterday at 6pm (9pg of info, 3pg of appendix) and then prepared our 20 slide powerpoint for our presentation today. We just finished presenting about 2 hours ago and tonight we will go to a banquet where they will announce the winner of the prize - which should be relatively substantial. Honestly, I doubt we will win... but that is fine with me because of the way we all worked together! It was truly amazing given are very different backgrounds. The greatest difference became evident during the presentation as we each had our own style and experience with the scenarios. Not to toot our own horn... but we from the states came out in full force during this portion. I don't know if anyone is interested but feel free to ask me for a copy and I can e-mail it to you.

My Group!

This assignment was the only assignment that I have until September, so next week presents numerous fun activities for us! We will do a bit of sightseeing so I'll be able to give you the tourist's side of Denmark.

I have one request of you all too - Please post me some easy recipes this blog! =) The selection at grocery stores around here is limited so try to keep things basic also, remember who we're talking about here... I don't have that much experience.

Velkommen til København

I'm sitting here at my desk looking out the window a comfortably cool Sunday and thinking about how to begin my first post... I want something interesting or thought provoking, but nothing will come to mind. Finally, after staring out the window for the past 10 minutes, I noticed that I am living directly across from a flesh colored Greek Embassy! (See Pic 1) Pretty crazy eh?!

So, now that that's taken care of, I can proceed with describing this amazing place! I have to say that the only thing to complain about here is how fast money runs out of your pocket... For example:
Pint of Fosters - 47kr = $9.50
Jack and Coke - 50kr = $10
12oz Diet Coke - 10kr = $2

--- Don't worry, I eat too ;)

But you can't even complain about that because of the experience you're getting to have in this amazing place! I can see why this is ranked the happiest nation in the world! The people are nice, the food is good, the nightlife is hoppin', and of course the women are beautiful (I'm just sayin'). My apartment is located downtown, about a 10 minute walk from Nyhavn, the walking streets, and the water. My room is HUGE. It has a 10ft ceiling and is by far the largest room I have every lived in by myself. My hall mates are a hodge podge of Copenhagen Business School (CBS) people from varying nations of the world and there are also a few native Danes who do not attend CBS. We all share a kitchen which is well equipped but leaves you wanting more on cleanliness. My room is right next to both bathrooms, the washing machine/dryer, and the kitchen. I'm currently stealing internet from someone else's router because for whatever reason the internet is out. I honestly don't have enough stuff to inhabit this room because I'm leaving a bookshelf and a table completely unused. The walls are bare, but I'm sure I can find something to fill the space.

Greek Embassy

My KitchenMy BedMy ViewTo the Right
To the Left

My Desk and Dresser

Another Window Shot