Field Studies and Danish Family

Since returning to Copenhagen from Germany I have been swamped with midterms, field studies, projects, and case studies. At DIS they incorporate classroom learning with out-of-class 'field studies.' I'm taking a course called Creative Industries- which looks into Business, Innovation, Politics & Culture (hands down my most interesting and favorite class). The professor is very connected in the creative industries as he has been with Roskilde Festival (large European Music festival) since 1994, the Senior Consultant in Ramboll Management's Centre for Experience Economy and with VEGA House of Music since 2001. Which leads me to the field study we had this past Thursday October 2nd at VEGA House of Music. Since Rasmus (our professor) is on the board of directors, he got us all into the Concert Hall/Night Club because we are studying the experience economy. That night at VEGA, a band from Belgium,Deus, was performing in VEGA's large concert hall. We arrived early and got a behind the scenes tour of the concert hall/night club and had a presentation by their marketing manager about their current strategy (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). I definitely learned a lot about how the night club/concert business works. After the presentation we were escorted into the concert and got to 'experience' a Belgium rock band. It wasn't my type of music, but I still had a great time, as did the whole class. To make the evening even better, DIS bought us drinks in order for us to truly 'experience' VEGA house of music.

 

Vega: Belgium Band Deus

Vega: Balcony - notice the nice Mahogany

This past Sunday, I spent the whole day with my Danish Family. Their names are Jette, Steen, Christoffer and Rebecca. They live about 20 minutes north of the city in a small suburb of Copenhagen. This was my fourth meeting with the family. This past Sunday we had traditional Danish open-faced sandwiches for lunch at their house. We then went to Steen's handball match (see pictures) after lunch and cheered him on (his team won!). We were going to do some sight-seeing but unfortunately it was raining cats and dogs! So, we headed back to their house and watched a few episodes of Friends (this family loves Friends! - I think that the children have watched all 10 seasons about 5 or 6 times!). After watching Friends, the sun came out and Christoffer and Rebecca taught me how to do a front-flip on their trampoline. After jumping around we headed in for a fantastic roast dinner! Having this family to hangout with and learn Danish culture from has truly been essential to my time spent here in Copenhagen.

Steen's Handball Match

Steen's Handball Match

I had another field study yesterday (Wednesday) for my International Finance class. We visited the Danish National Bank for a presentation on Danish Monetary Policy and how they are dealing with their very own 'Mortgage Crisis'. It was great getting first hand information from a central banker and we were even allowed to pick up a real gold bar!

Outside of the bank (beautiful granite)

Inside (so sexy)

Well, I just finished my last midterm today (Thursday 10/9) and I leave for London/Brussels on Sunday. London/Brussels is a week-long study tour with my European Business Strategy class where we will be visiting numerous institutions including: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Actics.com, Clownfish Marketing, Transportation for London, Belgacom, EU Parliament and Brewers of Europe. As well as visits to London's East End, Spamalot at the Palace Theater, The Tate Modern, and other sight seeing. We return to Copenhagen on the 18th of October and then I leave on the 19th of October for a week long trip to Russia. We will be visiting the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. In Moscow we will be paired up with Russian students to cook dinner and discuss current Russian issues with. I will be arriving back in Copenhagen on the 25th of October where Matt (my brother) will be waiting in the airport and our Eastern European Adventure will commence! We will be traveling to Berlin, Prague & Vienna. So, as you can see the next month of my life will be very BUSY! It is weird that I won't be back in class until November 3rd! I will do my best to keep blog updates throughout the next 3 weeks, but no promises! If you need to get in contact with me, email is your best bet, as I will check it periodically.

Recap:

Oct 12-18: London/Brussels

Oct 19-25: Russia

Oct 25- Nov 2: Berlin/Prague/Vienna with Matt

Oh and one more thing -- I did my civic duty today and VOTED! you should do it too!

*The 2 pictures from the Danish National Bank are taken from their website: http://www.nationalbanken.dk

Oktoberfest

* September 20 - October 5, 2008

* ~6.2 million visitors

* 103.79 acres of festival grounds

* 521,872 chickens served

* 142,253 pork sausages

* ~ 950 million EURO spent during 16 day period

* 450 million EURO on food, drinks & entertainment

* 205 million EURO for shopping in and around Munich

* 300 million EURO spent for hotel accommodations

* 12,000 people employed 

* ~100,000 seats in the festival halls

* > 7 MILLION LITERS OF BEER SERVED

Welcome to Oktoberfest, held in Munich, Germany and this is where I was this past weekend.

Copenhagen (Blue) . Zurich, Switzerland (Yellow) 

Munich, Germany (Red)

The weekend started Thursday (9/25) when Alex and I met at the airport for our 20:00 flight to Zurich, Switzerland. Upon arrival we grabbed some dinner and then scouted out a place to crash for the night. After surveying the airport, we decided that the "couches" outside of the Starbucks looked the most comfortable. We played some cards and then called it a night, however we were unaware that the night-time custodial crew would be deep-cleaning our little section of the airport! So needless to say, we didn't get much sleep and to make matters worse, we were woken up at 5 am by the Starbucks employees! We ordered some coffee and then went to our 7 am flight to Munich.

We arrived in Munich, Germany at 8 am on Friday morning (9/26) and took the German S-bahn train to the central station. On the train we me these two guys from LA who flew into Munich that morning for Oktoberfest (that's dedication!). We transfered onto a local train and showed up to the hotel at 9:30 am. After taking showers and changing, we got back on the subway and headed for Oktoberfest!

Rising out of the subway via escalator I was shocked at the sheer massiveness of the festival! There were thousands of people everywhere I looked. Alex and I went to the Hippodrom Tent (one of the more traditional tents at Oktoberfest) and we were seated at a table with two Italians and four Germans. Our waiter brought us each a liter of beer and the festivities began at 10:30 am! 

Around 14:00 Brandon and Nate (friends from Cal Poly who are studying in Barcelona) arrived and took a seat at a nearby table... The hours went by and by 19:00 we had drank a sufficient amount of beer and decided that we should head back to the hotel. We went to the pool and then took a much deserved nap. We woke up around 22:00 and had dinner / investigated the hotel lounge.

Day 2 (Saturday 9/27):

We somehow woke up at 07:30 and were out the door by 08:30! We arrived at the festival around 09:00 and repeated from the previous day. The tents that we visited on Saturday included: Hafbrau, Schottenhamel, Schutzen, and Lawenbrau. We spent the majority of our time at Schottenhamel and Hafbrau. Then after another FULL day of drinking we headed back to the hotel for another power-nap. Around 20:00 we woke up, got dressed and took the train to downtown Munich for dinner and clubbing. We had the most amazing meal at this traditional Bavarian restaurant. After dinner we met up with Allison (a good friend from Cal Poly) and some of her German friends to check out the club-scene in Munich. It was really good seeing Allison (see is studying in Pau, France for the semester). Then in the wee-hours of the morning we dragged ourselves back to the hotel.

Day 3 (Sunday 9/27):

Brandon and Nate woke up around 08:00 and headed back to the festival, as their flight back to Barcelona did not depart until 21:00! Alex and I on the other-hand, slept in, checked-out of the hotel, cruised by the festival to buy some souvenirs, and then took the train to the airport for our 14:10 flight back to Copenhagen.

Waiting to depart Copenhagen

Sleeping Arrangements in Zurich

So comfy!

Yea, we got umm maybe 30 min of sleep

Arrival in Munich, Germany

Hotel Room -- should be able to fit 4 guys on 2 twin beds

Oktoberfest!

Every German was dressed in traditional German clothes

I was so jealous

Hippodrom Tent

Inside the Tent

Beer #1 of ???

Cheers

Live Band

Our Table

Alex . Brandon . David . Nate

Reunited in Germany

Schottenhamel Tent

A lot of people (some 6,000+ seats in this tent)

Ridiculousness 

Outside of the tents - still daylight

Train ride back to hotel

** DAY 2 **

Haf Brau Tent

Server

We sat outside for a change of scenery

10:30 am

Lunch Break

Waitress that got us into Haf Brau Tent

She loves me

Such good music in the tent

Huge

Not 1 empty seat

Nate & Brandon

Saturday Night Dinner

Amazing German food

We met up with Allison!

At a German Club

Happening place

Our flight back to Copenhagen

Overall, we had an amazing time, drank a lot of beer, didn't sleep, spent a lot of money, and experienced the largest beer festival in the world! If you ever have the opportunity to make it to Oktoberfest, GO! it will be an unforgettable experience.

Biking on Bornholm

This past weekend I went to the island of Bornholm with DIS. The island is located in the Baltic Ocean between Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Germany.

We departed Copenhagen on Friday the 19th at 23:30 from the ferry terminal. We then set sail for the island of Bornholm. We arrived at 06:00 very sleep deprived. We were then bussed to the youth hostel and fed breakfast. After breakfast they gave us mountain bikes and we were set loose to explore the island and all that it has to offer. On Saturday we biked north to the tip of the island, and on Sunday we biked south to where they have a very nice white sandy beach. Our weather was ideal and I had a great time exploring this island. Highlights include: the baltic, the microbreweries scattered throughout the island, the round churches, the pancakes, the glass (they use their own sand to make the most beautiful glass i've seen), and so much more.

Arrival in Bornholm 06:00

Amanda . Anthony . David . CJ . Tim

The Northern Tip of Bornholm

Lunch on Saturday

1 of 4 famous Round Churches

The Southern Sand

We're sooo excited!

We departed Bornholm Sunday night at 23:30 and arrived back in Copenhagen at 06:00 on Monday morning, then I had class at 08:30! I took a nap after class on Monday, but it turned into sleep because I didn't wake up until the next morning! Overall, Bornholm was amazing!

As I type this entry I am packing my bags again because in 4 hours I will be departing Copenhagen for Munich, Germany with Alex (roommate from Cal Poly who studies at CBS). We are going to Oktoberfest and meeting friends from Cal Poly, Brandon, Nate and Allison. I'm so excited! Well, I have to eat dinner and finish packing - have a great weekend and I'll be sure to drink a beer for each and everyone of you!