Welcome Back to Cville

It's been an absolute insane couple of days. I had my final presentation for Psychology of Financial Markets on Monday. Afterwards, I took my last jaunt around Stockholm. Saluhall - still the best blueberries I've ever had! Chokladfabriken - AMAZING dark chocolate hot chocolate! I contemplated bringing some back to the states though I thought better of it. Packing and cleaning didn't take too much effort. I had a couple goodbyes, though some friends were still traveling through Europe. I was surprised about some of the cute notes I received. It's amazing how you can bond with people after only 2 months! Plus, I now have more people to visit around the world, and I definitely will!

Tuesday afternoon, I arrived in Washington DC to the smiling face of my boyfriend. We took a trip to Costco and he poked fun at how wide-eyed I looked. I guess I didn't realize it, but I was definitely looking around more than normal. That night, we attended Darden's quarterly mustache competition. I don't think I've been to one since first year. Very entertaining and definitely some dedicated mustache contestants.

Wednesday kicked off Q4 for me! No break. No rest. No moment to unpack! It's been full steam ahead. I've finally decided which class I'm going to drop with the reason that the class I'm keeping has no final exam. Instead, a quarter long group project will be presented the last two days of class. There's something to be said for being done as early as possible given that I'm starting work so early. Trying to maximize what little time I get off!

Best aspect of being back: SPRING WEATHER! It's been 65-70+ since I landed and I couldn't be happier about it. I've seen many familiar faces and gotten numerous comments welcoming me back. When people ask me about the experience, I'm not sure what else to say other than, it was great. I'm still adjusting and maybe in a week I'll have a appropriate reflection. Back to the books!

Local

It always takes a few months to settle into a new place and a new city. By the time I finished my stay in Atlanta this summer, I think I had started to get the hang of it. And here, I'm feeling the same way. I'm a creature of habit, especially in my eating habits. Once I've found something I like, no, love, it's hard for me to switch. As I get older, I've gotten better about being adventurous. Regardless, there's an amazing sandwich shop two doors down from my apartment building. I've been there multiple times by now, so I figured I should order one last sandwich before I leave. Most the staff is the same day-in and out, but there's one guy in particular who knows exactly what I like. Over the last week he's started my sandwich (as I like it "toasted") before I really order it. Today, he was my server and asked if I wanted "the usual." I confirmed and felt a little funny as I was going to walk out that door, not to be back tomorrow or even the day after. By the time I do return, and I plan on it, he likely won't be there and no one will know that once I felt I like a local.

Off to my presentation meeting. Four hours of school left.. then I continue to pack and clean.

31 hours and counting

It's just after midnight in Stockholm and my flight to the US leaves at 7a on Tuesday morning. I can't believe this adventure is basically over! Tomorrow I have a presentation to do and besides that, it's packing and cleaning. Last night, I started putting all my dirty clothes in a suitcase - reality set in, I'm going home for my last quarter of business school. Wow!

Unlike my classmates who have been gallivanting in exotic places like China, Egypt, Costa Rica and Bahrain for spring break, this past week I have been working to complete all SSE schoolwork before I leave. Besides all the group projects, for Leadership, I had to write a case with analysis that is not technically due until March 19th. However, my goal has been not to take any SSE homework with me to Darden. So I spent Friday night writing my leadership case and went to bed at 7:30a on Saturday morning. Needless to say, the last 3 paragraphs made little sense and had to be rewritten prior to submission. That said, it's done and I'm almost done.

I arrive in Charlottesville at the end of Day 1 of Q4 classes, meaning I miss Day 1. I'm still struggling to narrow down my schedule too. I need four classes to graduate and there are six I would like to take. Currently, I am registered for five, knowing that I need to drop one by the end of this week. I'm hoping that I'll walk out of one of the classes with the insight - this isn't for me.

In the meantime, I'm wrapping up a PPT presentation, thinking about putting a couple more items in my suitcase and enjoying the crisp air that is coming in through my cracked window. 31 hours and counting...

Amazing Day in Stockholm

I just finished the $12 blueberries I purchased at Saluhall this afternoon. Likely pricey, though I'd argue they're some of the best blueberries I've ever had. There again, I don't recall the last day I had blueberries.

After yesterday's productive 15 hour day and my crazy busy week of schoolwork, I decided to take the afternoon off. I definitely got up later than I anticipated, but managed to have the usual Panini sandwich for lunch. There, I ran into two people from Darden who are here on the Sweden GBE for spring break. Small world!

Since I've been in Sweden, I hadn't done any shopping or really much wandering around since the first couple of weekends. There's at least four H&M stores within a block of each other. I've seen at least three Zara stores scattered around. And there are many boutiques and department stores in Central Stockholm. So I figured, today was the day! I was actually going to purchase a souvenir, so that I'm not only declaring schoolbooks (and some clothes I purchased in London).

I grabbed my camera "just in case." It's been an absolutely beautiful week in Stockholm, which contrasts to this Barcelona GBE. As I walk around, Stockholm looks different. Previously frozen canals are now mostly running water with random chunks of ice. There are more people here too. I notice handfuls of tourists. And generally, people are walking around, enjoying the sun.

H&M was a bust. I scored two tops at Zara. I purchased a "very Swedish" necklace by Sno of Sweden. And capped off my multi-hour and multi-mile adventure with delicious hot chocolate and treats for later by Chokladfabriken. Amazing is the only way I know how to explain the day. Check out the photos below! Also, I finally updated this post with photos.

Winding Down

It's shortly after 1a and I'm just returning from a 15 hour group meeting. During those 15 hours, my group changed locations three times. We stopped for lunch, which means everyone simply brought take-out to home base. Between our first and second move, we grabbed snacks (fika). Subsequently, I skipped dinner and have since realized that I have VERY little food left. Two handfuls of Cheerios killed the box. Now I've moved on to carrots and spinach. While I'm sure your interest doesn't lie in my late night dietary habits, I'm a bit spent!

This quarter abroad is truly winding down. My flight to the US is within grasp - 4 more days! I turned in my Psychology of Financial Markets study today. My Leadership (today's group) is complete by my standards. Now I have one more leadership project to prep, which actually isn't due until March 19th, though I'd prefer to leave all SSE schoolwork in Stockholm rather than trying to manage SSE work and Darden work concurrently. Besides that, my final presentation for Psych. is on Monday and by the end of that day, my bags will be packed for greener pastures (literally).

While 15 hours straight and multiple project days is never fun, I've learned a lot about my Swedish/German classmates in the last week. To a certain extent, I could almost say I've had fun. Further, now having completed two theoretical papers/studies, I do have an appreciation for all the theory I claimed to despise (I think that was two days ago!). Don't anticipate this as me saying I like it, but more that I have an understanding of it. Additionally, today's editing task was a test of my ability to write clear, concise sentences. The things we do for word count! I had flashbacks of business school essays and remembering that it's much easier to cut than add.

I think at this point my tea has cooled, my bed is calling and tomorrow will bring more activities to wind down my days in Sweden. Just a couple more days left in this chapter.

Theory

SSE has been an interesting contrast to Darden. Most of what we read at SSE is theoretical papers. Even our texts are based, at least partially, around theory. The most I can remember about theory at Darden over the last 1.5 years is finance. Should we use a risk-free rate of 10 years or 30 years? Most of the time, our professor would point to theory (though logically any valid argument would allow you to use either on a test), while many people going into finance would ask for practicality. Beyond that, I don't recall a lot of theory (however it is possible that it's embedded in our tech notes and I never noticed).

I don't want to say theory is bad, as it is obviously important for parts of practicality. Though I will say, it's extremely boring and I'd rather have the two page recap instead of the 20 page dissertation. One of my Booth friends mentioned that they do theory all the time. All I thought was, thank heaven I didn't apply there! I'm not sure if I could have handled it. Plus, I find that I actually enjoyed classes at Darden (yes, they get boring at times), but overall, I learned a lot. Here, I'm convinced I've learned something (at least that's what my latest exam says), however, the practical application of all this theory just seems silly to me.

What's even more annoying is in two out of my three group projects, our final paper is a form of theoretical dissertation. Thus, we need to find old theories to cite that will complement our new theory or findings. While I think it's important to cite what others think, I think it's even more important to learn to say what you think. It's true, not all thoughts are based on evidence, though it seems SSE would like them to be.

One thing I've accomplished - a talent at searching Google Scholar for articles.

Seven more days until I'm return to the US and Darden's case method. It's absolutely flown.

Swedish Lappland

The adventure started on Thursday night. Between the bus and two trains, it took roughly 18 hours to get to Kiruna, Sweden. We arrived, three hours later than anticipated. We were picked up by an LKAB bus that took us to the iron ore mine that is effectively the reason for Kiruna’s existence. We went over 500 meters down into the ground to a showroom that describes much of who LKAB is and why this mine in particular exists. Very cool and a great way to start off our trip. Even crazier is the fact that the town of Kiruna will be moved soon as there's a little cracking several hundred meters below the surface that no one knows what will happen if LKAB continues to drill further down.

After 18 hours of traveling which of course included a couple adult beverages on the train, everyone was beyond starving. We stopped in an area that I’d equate to a small American strip mall that had more restaurants than shops. A handful of the 40 exchange students decided on pizza for lunch. Turns out, ordering pizza to go infers that you receive a discounted price and thus are not allowed to eat it inside the restaurant. So we took the pizza to the bus and ate it there. It definitely hit the spot!

Thirty minutes later, the group arrived at the original Ice Hotel. It was different than I expected as I assumed the hotel would be in the middle of nowhere. Our guided tour highlighted why the hotel started, the fact that their church (which only really exists for 5 months out of the year) is the fourth most popular in Sweden, and the hotel is different every single year. Traditional rooms are rather boring, but the art suites is where indivudal artists apply to create something new. Unfortunately, the hotel had a power outage, so none of the suites were lit up. Instead, the best way to decipher the “art” was to take a picture. I’ll admit, I’m happy I saw it, but I definitely didn’t need to stay the night. Brrr…

We arrived at our hotel just in time for dinner – another 2 hours on the bus from the Ice Hotel. The food was absolutely amazing – every day – all meals! That night, we were given one piece ski suits, warm gloves and warm shoes. After dinner, a number of us went outside to the snow covered (approx 2 feet) lake and played in the snow. Saturday was busy – including making the base for Sunday’s snow sculptures, dog sledding, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. I did not partake in the last event, however, everyone who did said it was a blast!! Sunday morning started with half of us going to a reindeer farm to feed, lasso and drive a reindeer sled. Overall, an incredible trip! Though I didn’t complete nearly as much homework as I anticipated. Will hopefully post pictures later.

The Grocery Store Challenge

Living in the heart of Stockholm has its perks. One is that everything seems to be within walking distance including grocery stores, which these days, I seem to visit more and more often. My fridge is the size of a fridge in a traditional US college dorm. And now that I think about, it may be even smaller than my fridge at Colorado. Regardless, it's small and I share it with another person, complicating the fact that very little fits in it. Thankfully, some items are smaller here. Milk is purchased in liters instead of gallons. Eggs can be bought in packs of six (I know this is similar to the US). And I seem to live on small Dole packs of spinach and carrots.

Luckily, I live very close to four grocery stores. Lidl is literally next door to my building. Coop Konsum is a block and half away. ICA is 3-4 blocks in the opposite direction and Hemkop is roughly a mile away. Lidl is known to be CHEAP - and what comes with cheap is slightly defunct produce and a need for a high level of patience. Coop Konsum, while much nicer in appearance and products is not as nice in price. I still haven't been to ICA though it seems like the middle ground between the other two. Further, the store supposedly has NONFAT milk (all others carry 0.5% fat). Hemkop is a store that supposedly has anything you would want, though I've been in, I've never purchased anything - likely do its distance from my house.

Given that markets here have a very limited selection of items compared to supermarkets in the US, I find myself more and more wanting to go to TWO grocery stores. Sometimes the reason is price, while other times I simply like different products at different stores. This is such a new phenomenon for me as I typically go to ONE store for a week's worth of food versus multiple stores every 2-3 days because I don't have room for much. RetailRelay, a grocery delivery service in Charlottesville, has one of its value propositions as the fact that they'll go to multiple specialty shops so that you don't have to. I never quite understood that... until now.

One other item I'd like to draw attention to is cereal. I LOVE cereal. Some days, out of choice, I'll have cereal for multiple meals. In the states, I've gotten good at pinpointing cereals with high fiber and relatively low sugar. This is in contrast to Sweden, where I've pretty much decided almost all cereals have lots of sugar. I can't quite figure out if part of that is because the measuring system is different (servings tend to be noted per 100g instead of cups) or they simply like more sugar. Even my relatively "healthy" cheerios are sweeter here. It's a bit odd.

First item of business when I return to the US - COSTCO! Simply because I can. ;)

Rapidly Moving

The world seems to move so quickly these days. The once snow laden streets are actually clear for once! It could be the fact that yesterday hovered above 0 degrees Celsius for the first time since I've been in Stockholm. Needless to say, white snow is now dirty slush and I can actually see some of the streets! Very strange.

I completed my Professional Service Firms module take-home case last night. It was odd to have an exam case that had no time limit and simply a 2,000 word limit. I likely spent much longer than the typical 5 hours (Darden exam length) on it, which put me in bed close to 6a. Not that my schedule has ever been "normal" here, but it could be better. Though tonight's Alice in Wonderland Party in the school's rotunda (aka school's bar) will likely have me up late again.

This coming weekend is Lappland - think cold, ice hotel, dog sledding and reindeer lassoing! Should be a blast, however I have three concurrent group projects to complete by March 10th. Basically this means that this week is going to be SUPER busy.

There's a bunch of Darden GBEers coming to town on March 7th who want to explore the city. This means they'll want us to go out with them. What's even scarier is March 7th means that I have just over 11 days until I'm home. It'll be bittersweet. I'm ready to venture back to the world of full-size fridges, my boyfriend and 24 hour stores, however, I also wonder how great this place is during the summer. So much to do, so little time. I best make sure that I enjoy these moments as May will be here before I know it - including graduation and back to the working world.

Left Brain/ Right Brain

Naturally, I'm left handed. Though my boyfriend likes to call me a broken left handed person as I throw and hit right handed. I eat, write and play pool left handed. I've never swung a golf club (to be changed in April 2010), but can only assume I'll be more comfortable doing that right handed. Urban legend says left handed people are more creative, though honestly I'm not sure if that is correct and if it is, what that means for strange people like me.

The real story here isn’t what hand I write with, but is what side of the brain we use most often as MBAs. We had a fascinating talk about creative leadership on Tuesday with anecdotes about creative right brain thinkers versus analytical left brain thinkers. The world we live in is very structured and linear - made for the left brain. Though there's something to be said for being creative and drawing boundaries differently - right brain thinking. Isn't that what innovation is anyhow?

Our professor posed a question to us. Often it is assumed that business school students leave business school left brain heavy, so do we think business schools do enough to make us balanced? I can't say a lot for SSE though I can note that classmates had mixed opinions. What I can say is about Darden. Darden allows each individual to design their own structure during second year. Are there opportunities to do right brain activities? Definitely. Are we forced to take advantage? No. I think about my "design" or you could call it "accidental design" and I couldn't be happier. I've written, directed and acted in play. Essentially, I participated in a 6 week book club, reading a book a week and then meeting classmates to discuss it. Tactical Leadership was one of those classes that forced an individual to be creative during role playing. And System Design and Business Dynamics was about visually modeling systems and then initiating changes to make a new system. My point is that we often laugh about the "fluffy" courses at business schools. But some of these courses are where we learn the most or at least, where we balance ourselves out the most. A classmate of mine recently write this post discussing a lot of what I'm talking about here, though in a different context.

Here's a list of which side controls what:

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS

uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS

uses feeling
"big picture" oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can "get it" (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking

Entrepreneurship

As an MBA, I tend to be impressed by friends with an entrepreneurial spirit. I wrote this post in December 2008 regarding a friend who wrote and self-published a book. Recently, she has been picked up by Amazon Publishing and her book has been relaunched under a new cover. Further, she's taken it upon herself to open Waverly's Honey Shop. I'm very excited for her and more importantly, impressed how someone can put their mind to something and succeed.

On a different note, a high school classmate who has always been interested in musicals and theater has written and directed The Gilded, a new musical which opens in San Francisco tonight, Feb 18th. This blog has a video preview of the musical. Again, I'm impressed by the dedication and candor of this person who used to be a teammate for various projects.

This brings me to one of the classes I'm taking here at SSE, Ideation. We have a group assignment due next week where we have to interview a local entrepreneur and find out about their idea generation and business plan process. I find that some people find a love and work on it for years, like my friend who wrote the musical. Some people happen upon an idea, like my friend the author. The business owners we interviewed here in Sweden are what I would describe as a serial entrepreneurs. They already own an interior design firm and are in the process of making a TV show about design. In November 2008, they were on vacation in Nice, France and fell in love with an olive oil shop. Thinking the concept would transfer well to Sweden, they asked to speak to the shop owner who agreed to franchise the shop. Most of our conversation was with the manager of the shop, and it was interesting to get her opinion on what their target market should be, compared to what the entrepreneurs thought it was when they began. Additionally, the entrepreneurs targeted a location due to the affluence and education of the potential customers. Turns out, Swedes don't know as much about olive oil as those in greater Europe and approximately 60% of the products purchased from the store are gifts. Regardless of challenges, the concept is still quite interesting and the story had my attention.

Every week in Ideation, we have to come up with a new business idea. It doesn't have to be a new invention, but a new innovation. Little tweaks to the value proposition of current products/ services suffices. Listening to the stories of these entrepreneurs helps put into perspective that anyone can be an entrepreneur and everyone has ideas. I'll admit though, after 4 weeks of solid ideas, they're new ideas have become much harder.

Maximum Email

Those who follow my blog know that I recently posted a ploy to entice readers to help me with my Psychology of Financial Markets survey. Needless to say, we hadn't received enough responses from within Sweden, so I went ahead and sent an email from my SSE account to 200 SSE email addresses. Turns out a number of them failed, but regardless, it reached a decent sized audience. Consequently, I am also not allowed to send another recipient large (or maybe even small) email for next 24 hours as I've hit the quota! I find it funny as 200 people is only a portion of Darden's Class of 2010! I can't imagine if Darden limited us to that many recipients in a 24 hour period. It was bad enough that Darden's mailboxes had a 100MB quota last year. The first years don't know what they're missing without receiving the "Warning: You've Exceeded Your Quota" email once a week!

Also, I didn't congratulate the Class of 2012 admits!! It's a very exciting time for you all and please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. I recently wrote a novel to an admit about Darden, why I chose the school, what the case method is like etc. My fellow classmates and I are here to help!

Paris

Last weekend, I spent the last of my planned weekend adventures in Paris with my parents, grandmother and a family friend. I've been to Paris a couple of a times though I haven't quite seen the sites that most tourists have. You could likely say that I've become a better tourist over the years and that traveling with other "good tourists" has made me better.

To this day, I'm still surprised how all the Parisians stay thin. The decadence of the food is stunning. I think I definitely had dessert nightly as well as another course or two with it. I've decided, I'm a fan of small portions as I'd prefer to taste a little of everything than get a large portion of one item. The most decadent of all was Valentine's dinner with the family, which was a six course meal, prix fixe. The appetizers included gnocchi and lobster salad. The main courses were line-fished seabass and veal medallions wrapped in ham. Dessert was a chocolate cake-type dessert, a lemon tasting dessert and a coffee/chocolate cracker dessert. Finally, the restaurant gave us chocolate truffles, which I asked to take home. I was STUFFED! The food was fantastic and my goal now is to learn how to make crepes from the French exchange student on my floor!

Even though it was quite cold in Paris (similar temperature to Stockholm), we still did a lot of walking. My dad and I wandered around two floors of the Louvre for close to three hours. Afterwards, we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower and the Champs Elysee. While religious art is a staple of the Louvre, I much preferred the Musee d'Orsay, which is the impressionist museum. Great photos and an excellent Van Gogh exhibit. The last day, my mom, dad and I went to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur, which is very fun if you like to see artists working right in front of you.

It was a wonderful trip and I still love Paris! I'm happy not to be packing for this weekend though. I desperately need to do my laundry, which is on today's agenda. Also, I'm swearing off sweets for a while and will be in the gym daily.

Below is a collage of photos from Rome, London and Paris:

From Collages

Purchasing of all things... Razor Blades

It's abundantly clear that I should have brought more razor blades with me. It seems that the bathroom setup and two of us showering at least once a day is leading my razor blade to rust. I contemplated having my boyfriend or parents bring new blades to Paris as I will see them there later this week. Quickly, I realized that just seems silly and I should see what they have here.

The grocery store had a number of razors hanging on the wall, but no packages of blades. I asked the woman at the counter if they carried blades and she pointed me in the direction of a touch-screen kiosk where you select what you want and receive a "receipt" that is then scanned with your remaining purchases. From there, there is another machine after the checkout counters where you scan this "receipt" and it drops your blades in a vending like fashion. Given that my Swedish is worse than my French, I couldn't read the machine instructions and did my best to understand what I was supposed to do. I finally got the "receipt" to scan, but couldn't figure out why the vending door below was still empty. After asking for some help, the clerk opened the vending door NEXT to the one where I scanned my "receipt" and handed me my purchase. It just seemed silly that the blades ended up in the machine next to me that had no scanner. Oh well, I was successful, albeit not without feeling a bit foolish.

Locked Doors and Strange Floor Numbers

SSE is located in central Stockholm in a building most describe as old. The building is going through a renovation in order for the school to utilize the once outdoor courtyard year round. I'd definitely say the building isn't as technically wired as Darden. Most students take notes the old fashioned way - paper and pen. Finding an electric outlet near wireless internet is also a chore.

Some of the funniest things about the building don't include elaborate explanations. The building has multiple floors. You walk in on floor one and when you walk up the stairs, you arrive at floor three. Same exact thing happens if you proceed up the second flight, another floor with an odd number, five. There seems to be no good explanation for the system. If you go into the library, which starts at floor five, the levels ascend in traditional numerical order through ten, except that floor seven is missing. It is very odd.

Something else I've had to get used to is the fact that arriving early to class provides no benefit. What I mean is that all the classroom doors are locked until the professor shows up. If you arrive early, you simply wait in the hall, much like I'm doing right now.

In other news, the books I ordered off the Swedish website arrived today. I'm only 30 chapters behind in one of them. Odds are, that won't be completed in London this weekend. But I'll get there...maybe after Paris.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Case Packs vs ???

Darden is notorious for making us purchase a thick case pack. I can't even recall the price of a case pack right now, but it's in the range of $30-$70 (I think). In previous quarters, Darden has test piloted sustainable case packs, meaning that everything is on the web and it is preferred that you not print it. Let's just say, this worked for some people and most of us received printed case packs within 3 weeks of the quarter's start date.

I apologize, I'm a paper person. I like to be able to highlight it, note it, and have three pages in front of me at once as I frantically look for facts and figures. While I do my best to read items on the computer, I'm simply more comfortable having them in printed firm,. In fact, I still make lists with pen and paper. There's a feeling of accomplishment when strike a line through signaling completion that I simply don't get when I check a box in Outlook. Needless to say, the bounded case packs we buy, I'm happy to purchase them. Plus it's better than purchasing textbooks that are often priced at $200 a book.

This brings me to SSE. Once upon a time, the school had a bookstore in its lower lobby that carried all SSE books. Because of the recent renovation, that bookstore is no more. It's been a nightmare as an exchange student to figure out what to purchase and where. There's a chain of bookstores that are supposed to carry SSE books. I went and returned fruitless. Two of the books hadn't been ordered and one was due to come in "soon" - whenever that is! This school is also more theoretical than Darden, which means there are plenty of papers to read that are supposed to be accessed on the web, whoopie. Given that I just explained my love for reading on my computer, you can infer my level of enthusiasm. I also decided that tonight was a good night to find and save all the articles as I've had problems downloading some and end up running to read them before class. And of course, it's taking forever, hence I decided to blog instead. Given that SSE charges per page we print, I'd be happy to pay the school for a "case pack" of this quarter's material.

Further, staying on the subjects of books, I ordered 2 off an academic website to which I was referred seeing the physical bookstore didn't have them. The website was entirely in Swedish, so here's hoping I got it right!

I never imagined this exchange was going to be easy. It's an adjustment no matter where you go, US or abroad. However, I've learned something important, at Darden I'm extremely spoiled... and I like it that way! Back to downloading articles. My laundry is in the dryer, which again is in Swedish (with some English instructions). We'll see if everything still fits - perhaps more motivation for the gym. :) Though capris would be very cold with today's snowfall.

Living with a Roommate

While I'm sure the title of this post will throw some people, I didn't do that on purpose, promise! Back in Charlottesville my gorgeous British roommate is holding down the fort. Here in Stockholm, I have a new roommate, who arrived last week. These are two very different types of roommates however. "British" and I share a two bedroom, two and half bath townhouse, with basement. My new roommate and I share a room, likely smaller than my room at home, as well as a bathroom and kitchenette. I'll admit, the setup could be worse. I imagined a dorm room with 13 girls sharing one bathroom and needing "shower shoes" again. This is not the case.

However, though I have a little nook that is approximately the size of a twin bed squared and a curtain that is two see-through white layers thick, I still hear everything in the "other room". That means, when my roomie decides that she can't sleep and 4a is a perfectly apt time to get up, I hear the pots, pans, microwave, and papers shuffling etc. On one hand, yes, I'm complaining, but that's because it was 4a. Think about it, what sane person arises at 4a? (I'm sure there are plenty, I'm just not one of them.) On the other hand, it forced me out of bed at 5:30a (as I could no longer sleep), which means by my 10a class I had been to the gym, purchased groceries from the store, talked with two special people in my life and had breakfast, twice. Seems, it was a rather productive morning!

All things considered, the new roomie is fun to be around. Plus she's originally from China, so my hope is that I will someday have a personal tour guide in Shanghai. I also won the housing lottery by lucking out with housing one-half block away from SSE and in the middle of central Stockholm. Most people commute for 20-30 minutes to get to this area.

In other news, the Darden exchange crew (there are four of us) is headed to Roma this weekend!!

Gym Membership

We're spoiled at Darden! While this is not new news, it is also abundantly clear being here in Stockholm. SSE is in the midst of a remodel that would essentially let the campus use more space year round (covering the outdoor courtyard in the middle of the building). Most the classrooms I've been in are your typical table and chairs, straight lines, no cascading. It is also very difficult to find a port for a laptop as the majority of students take notes with pen and paper. Printing is not free and there are few rooms that may be utilized for group projects. Not to mention, the school does not have a gym like University of Virginia, so instead, each person must idividually purchase a gym membership. It's not cheap! Approximately $80 for the first month and $65 for the second. However, if you're a semester long exchange student, there are discounts so that you pay less than $200 for 6 months. This is the story of our lives - everything is cheaper as a student, but only if you need access for 6 months!

Anyhow, back to the gym. Between my trip to India, my return to the states and first week in Stockholm, I've probably been to the gym twice. So this seemed easy enough, sign up for the gym, start working out! Problem: Treadmills are in kilometers and I typically run in miles. What speed do I need to warm up on? I started with 10 KMPH as a rough conversion. As I was running, I started thinking about high school track (I knew there was a reason I ran track!). Throughout the years I competed in a variety of events, one being the 1600 M, which is also known as the mile. Thus 1.6 KM * 6 MPH (typical warm up speed) = 9.6 KM per hour! Woo hoo! I decreased my speed. After I warmed up, I stretched and then walked over to the free weights. Problem 2: Free weights are in kg. Further the weights are not placed with their correct labels, and unlike many US weights, the free weights are made up of multiple rings that you can't read. For instance, 12.5kg will have two sides, both with a 5kg ring and a 1.25kg ring. The only visible number is 1.25kg on the two outside rings. The you have the conversion, which I looked up - 1kg is approximately 2.2 pounds. I must admit, every time I needed new weights, I stood there blankly doing calculations. The things we take for granted living in our home countries!

On a completely random note...here's a great video featuring "the professor" aka one of my learning teammates. It shows the future! And yes, it's safe. Click Here!

Don't Get Too Excited!!

I suppose I should start by announcing that I have accepted a full time position!! While this is very exciting news, it also means that I start work May 24th, which is the day after I graduate. I had dreams about attending the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and traveling the world for the two months prior to joining some unknown firm. Unfortunately, none of these trips will be taken, and I'll settle for a week on the west coast, some time moving and then of course, the silver lining to second year, BEACH WEEK! The good news is, I'm excited about the position and the thought of making $$$ again!!

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a planner. Though I'm a planner only in how it relates to plane flights, hotel rooms and transportation to and from the airport. Most trips, I show up and will figure out what I'm doing doing/ seeing when I get there. So here I am planning again. The official communication about beach week reached our inbox today. I'm already trying to figure out how to get to California, move, attend beach week, then graduation and hopefully arrive in my new home in time for Day 1. Plus, maybe a trip to Vegas for Memorial Day Weekend! When I think about the fact that graduation is almost exactly 4 months from today, it seems silly that I'm trying to be so prepared. It's as if I'm ready to return to the states for Q4 and graduate, stepping forward to the next chapter. I can't help but remind myself to not get too excited. I mean this is it, right? No more school. No more living across the street from these friends. No more instant parties with 50 of your closest business school buddies. No more TNDC, first coffee, HBS cases, HBR articles, insanely smart peers, tormenting first years with new Darden cases, and no more stressing about finals and feeling the joy when they're over. It's crazy to think.

So in the meantime, I try to take a breath and keep my feet on the ground, while I contemplate venturing to Rome next weekend with my classmates who are on exchange. Maybe that will remind me that I have quite a few adventures left in this chapter.

Variety

I'm not even a week into my exchange in Sweden and I've been rather surprised about a number of things. First, the exchange students here at SSE are both masters and bachelors students. Not only are there both kinds of students, but also during orientation and all the activities we've had thus far, we're all mixed in. There's nothing that screams masters versus bachelors and at times I find myself wondering who is in which program.

Another interesting aspect of the bachelors-masters differential is that I find the US masters students to be much older than any of the other masters students. I'm not sure if that's because it's customary to have work experience of several years for enrollment into US business schools or if the master's students are in fact not MBA students but masters in finance, marketing or some other concentration.

It constantly amazes me how many different countries are represented in the exchange group. There are 87 of us in total. I have three classmates here as well, however, none of them are US born. Instead, two of them yield from India and the other from Ghana. During our first Swedish lesson, we learned how to say "I am from..." Here are some of the countries people noted: USA, Portugal, Poland, Germany, Spain, France, Holland, Pakistan, India, Italy, Romania, Denmark, Switzerland, Brazil, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Canada, Hungary, Finland, the Philippines, Ireland, Belgium, and Austria. I suppose I should get to know one person from each country so I have more friends to go visit!

Everyone in the program speaks English, however, you'll definitely hear groups speaking to each other in their native tongue. It always amazes me how many languages these individuals speak. I'd say, I speak one, with a little ability to speak broken French. The girl from Switzerland speaks Swiss-German, a bit of German, some French, a little Korean, broken Spanish...and the list goes on. I still can't say more than a couple Swedish words without my helpful piece of paper. At least I've learned thank you, Tack!