Spring semester, G-lab in Greece, Internship in California, and a LFM wedding

It has been way to long since I blogged. Here is a quick update of what happened during the spring. My class load was even heavier than in the fall which is primarily why I didn't take time to blog. My time to do anything but school was minimal and I chose to spend that time with Julia and Mark. I took some interesting classes in the spring. I especially enjoyed Macro Economics and Case Studies in Supply Chain Management. Other good classes were Finance 1 and Strategy. Another highlight was the International Plant Trek in China (Shanghai) and Japan (Tokyo). I especially enjoyed the plant tours to Apple and Toyota, as well as the nightlife, and sightseeing. I almost had to stay in Shanghai when NWA managed to loose my greencard during check-in. It was lost for about one hour before they finally found it. Pheew! To make up for loosing my greencard I was upgraded to 1-st class for the flight from Shanghai to Tokyo as well as the flight from Tokyo to the US which was nice, but I was a nervous wreck for the one hour my greencard was lost.

After my spring finals I went to Athens greece for my 3 week G-lab (Global Entrepreneurship Lab) internship with a company called Korres. This was definitely the highlight of my LFM experience so far. The only thing that was difficult was to be away from Mark and Julia for three weeks! We tried to talk through Skype but the internet connection at the Hotel was slow, so the time we got to talk was minimal. Everything else about the trip was great. Greece was awesome and I got to see some amazing places. The internship project was interesting and very fulfilling. I feel confident that my team delivered great value to the company. Korres makes cosmetics and I fell in love with the products they make. All three of my G-lab teammates were also in my LFM summer team so we already knew how to work together and we had a great time on the evenings and weekends. I also got to spend time with my mom and aunt as they flew down to Athens for a weekend to visit me. Here are some pitures from the trip:


This is my G-lab team in front of the factory we worked at. Yes, this is what the actual factory looked like, so cute! This has to be the model factory for the flow chart factory icon.


In front of the acropolis.


My team on Poros during our one day, 3-island cruise.

During the 3-island cruise we went to this island called Hydra and we liked it so much we decided to go back the next weekend for a full day. There are no cars on hydra and people get aroung either by foot, on donkey, or by boat. The water is crystal clear and there are tons of nice spots to swim and jump from.

We hiked around parts of the island and found a few great spots to stop for a swim. This one was a small rock beach.....

....and this one was a great spot to cliff-jump from. I got out of my comfort zone and climbed up this cliff and jumped, but I'm not athletic enough to pull of the dive like my teammate in this picture (I'm just proud I managed to time the picture of his dive just right).


After G-lab it was time to move to California for my LFM internship. I have a joint internship with Flextronics and Cisco and so far I have enjoyed the internship. I like the opportunity of getting to experience two different companies, I'll write more about the internship project some other time. What I really enjoy about the internship is to be on a normal schedule again. I'm practicing my work-life balance skills by getting all my internhsip work done in the 40 hrs per week I spend in the office(s). I'm taking advantage of the extra "life" time by spending it with family and friends, and by taking care of myself. I go to the pool with Julia almost every day, I take her to swim lessons once a week and it's definitely paying off; she is like a little fish now! I have also been taking care of myself by going running... alot! I'm following a marathon training program and I'm up to over 30 miles per week now. If I don't get hurt here in the next few weeks I'll sign up for the local silicon valley marathon at the end of October.

Last weekend one of my LFM friends got married! The wedding was wonderful and I had a very good time at the reception hanging out with LFM friends and the friends and family of the bride and groom. I especially enjoyed meeting Mr and Mrs O! Mrs O, don't forget to send me the picture of us from the reception and I will post it next time I blog (I promise it wont take 6 months until the next post)!

That's it for this time!

Travel, interviews, and Olivia

It has been a while since I wrote anything and so much has happened since my last posting. I wrapped up the fall semester with finals and presentations for my classes. A few hours after my last final we flew to Sweden to celebrate christmas with my family and hang out with friends. It was great to be home and see everyone again. We had a pretty hectic social schedule during our 10 days there. Our busy schedule combined with jetlag and cramming 5 adults, a 3 year old, and a dog into my mothers small 2 bedroom apartment ment that we didn't get much sleep.

Our trip back to Boston was horrible, due to 70 mile/hr winds in Iceland our plane was delayed 10 hrs, so instead of landing in Boston on Dec 30th at 6pm, we landed Dec 31 at 4am. So much for the newyears eve party we had planned on hosting. Instead of celebrating the new year we tried to get some sleep, do some laundry, and repack our bags for our next trip. On Jan 1st we flew to Florida to visit Marks family. There we actually got to relax for a bit. We played a round of golf (I actually played really well and beat Mark easily) and I was able to take some time to read a really good book I had borrowed from my friend Ebba (Man som hatar kvinnor by Stieg Larsson). On Jan 5th I left Mark and Julia in Florida and flew back to Boston to once more repack my bags for the LFM plant trek.

The plant trek is a 2 week long cross country trip where our class and faculty visits LFM partner company plants. We visited Dell and Cisco/Flextronics in Austin, Amazon.com in Reno, Boeing in Seattle, Honeywell in Chicago, Harley Davidson in Milwaukee, General Motors (including a day at the Car show) and American Axle in Detroit. This trek was definitely one of the best LFM experiences I have had so far, but also one of the most difficult LFM experiences. Best becasue seeing so many different plants is amazing and I learned a ton. Most difficult because I was away from Julia for two weeks. Here are a few pics from some of the plant visits.


LFM Class of 2009 at Boeing 747 plant



Myraida and I at the Harley Davidson Dealership



At the Detroit Car Show

Plant trek was also fun because I could go out with my LFM classmates at night without having to worry about finding a baby sitter. I also enjoyed flying without having to entertain a 3 year old and took the opportunity to either sleep or read on the plane. I finished the second Stieg Larson book that I borrowed from Ebba, this one titled Flickan som lekte med elden. I look forward to reading the next two books in the series, such good books!

After plant trek I had one week to relax before LFM activites begun again. I spent it with Mark and Julia, it was awesome! This past week we have been interviewing with the LFM partner companies for the upcoming internships. One day I had 9 interviews, luckily each interview was just 20 minutes long. After the interviews the students and the companies will submit rank ordered lists of their top choices. Then the internship committee runs an algorithm to match up the students to the internships. We will find out the results in about 2 weeks. I am eager to find out where Mark, Julia, and I will end up spending the 2nd part of this year.

Yesterday about 50 of the candidates for the LFM class of 2010 was here for their interviews. I helped with some of the events that the admissions committee had put together. It was exciting to meet the prospective students for next year and I had the opportunity to chat with some really nice people. Tomorrow I will meet a few more at the LFM superbowl party, and on Monday the second group of 50 prospective students will be here for their interviews.

The best part of this past week was the phonecall I got from my brother telling me about the birth of his and Evas daughter Olivia. She is absolutely adorable! Welcome to the family Olivia, we love you and can't wait to meet you!
PS till Lena: Grattis och massor med kramar pa 60-ars dagen!