The Dry Martini

Off to India...

2007-03-09T17:39:00.000-08:00

Well, tomorrow I am off on another international trek around the globe. This time it's to India for two weeks. I am going with a group of my fellow MBA classmates on something our program calls "study tours." These tours are done during the two weeks between our winter and spring quarters and we usually have four of them occurring at the same time. The trips are developed and organized by fellow students and are available to those who apply. Almost half of our MBA class consists of international students, so it is great when they step up to plan a tour to their country.

Last year I went on a study tour to China and it was one of the best experiences I have had in the MBA program. During our two weeks abroad, we visited 15 companies in four major cities and got a front row seat of the worlds fastest growing economy.

In India, we will also be going to four major cities: Bangalore, Delhi, Goa, and Mumbai. The companies we will be meeting with cover industries such as outsourcing, micro finance, oil, and securities exchange.

India is one furthest places to fly to from the continental United States. Tomorrow we have to make the four and a half hour trip from Seattle to New York first before we take the 18 hour flight to India. It should prove to be a long day, but we are all excited for the trip.

I will try to do some blogging while I am over there and of course post all of the pictures when I get back. Welp, back to packing.

Copenhagen Riots are back...

2007-03-03T16:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been keeping in touch with my classmates from Copenhagen who are finishing up the second half of their year long study abroad and it looks like the riots I experienced in front of my apartment last September continued again last week.

The roommates that are still at my apartment said they burned several cars and a couple of buildings. Here's the link to the story.

Golf at Bandon Dunes

2007-01-28T19:21:00.001-08:00

This past weekend I took a break from classes to make the trek down to the Oregon coast and play what is becoming one of the most popular set of golf courses in the world, Bandon Dunes. It is about an 8 hour drive from Seattle and worth every mile.

In 2005, Pacific Dunes, the second of three courses, was rated the number 1 golf resort course in the country by Golfweek magazine; just inching out the famous Pebble Beach for the title.

These spectacular courses are notorious for rainy Pacific Northwest weather and gusty ocean winds. However, we enjoyed 3 fantastic days with plenty of sun, no wind, and no need for long sleeves. It was a great weekend and fantastic golf experience. I am looking forward to many more of these in the future!

Take a look at all of the pictures from the weekend here

Snow in Seattle...

2007-01-16T08:23:00.000-08:00

Well, I am fully into this quarter of classes and today, as well as most of last week, I will be battling the winter weather that we are experiencing here in the Pacific Northwest. Last week we received a light dusting of snow that stuck around all week due to some bone chilling temperatures.

This morning I woke up and found that we received another inch or so of snow last night. I'm now sitting here looking out the window and thinking it's going to be an interesting trip to and from school today.

This weekend I'm set to play golf at the famous Bandon Dunes courses on the Oregon coast, so I'm just hoping that the weather gets better before then. Only time will tell.

Finally off to Seattle...

2006-12-29T09:39:00.000-08:00

After a great Christmas with my friends and family, I made my way to Las Vegas for my annual 2 days of Vegas with my good buddy Ryan. We stayed at our favorite casino the MGM and played plenty of Poker. I actually made it out of town with some winnings in my pocket, so all in all it was a successful trip.

Yesterday we then made the long drive back to Phoenix where we had one last barbeque before my trip home today. By tonight I should finally be in my own bed after seven full months of traveling and I am looking forward to seeing all of my friends back home.

I made it back to the US...

2006-12-26T07:29:00.000-08:00

After a full 24 hours of travel, I finally made it the nearly 10,000 miles or 16,000 km from Copenhagen to Arizona. It was a long day but I was pleased that there were no disastrous delays during the trip.

After a night of catching up with my friends, I headed out the following day for my home town of Kingman. The drive from Phoenix to Kingman takes about 3 hours, but the desert scenery makes for a beautiful drive.

Yesterday, I enjoyed a fantastic Christmas with my family and today I am hitting the road again. My friend Ryan and I are off for our traditional Christmas week trip to Las Vegas. We will make the 1 1/2 hour trip from Kingman to Las Vegas today and then head all the way back to Phoenix on Wednesday... hopefully with some money still in our pockets.

Wish us luck!

Goodbye Copenhagen...

2006-12-21T09:52:00.000-08:00

After 4 1/2 months, 15 countries, and many many good times, my stay in Europe is over..... at least for now anyway.

This has been an amazing experience and I am so glad that I chose to spend time living in Europe. I have met so many great people and truly expanded my network of friends globally. In the future, I should be able to travel much of Europe and always have a place to stay.

The last few days have been spent celebrating and saying goodbye to everyone. It has been a blast, but has also been a bit sad. It's amazing how close everyone has become in such a short time. A lot of us have been living together, taking classes together, and traveling together, so the relationships that have been formed are strong.

Everyone is heading in different directions; some back home, some to new countries, and some are staying for another semester. Luckily with so many ways to stay connected on the web, I think we will all be able to keep in touch. And if we are lucky, work out some reunions.

Yesterday was the last day in Copenhagen for a lot of us, so the night started with a big party that then continued at the bar until the early morning hours. Like many of the nights that we have spent together, we had a blast. Tonight there will be one last night out for the remaining students.

We will start by cooking one last dinner together here in our flat which will consist of everything we have left in our cabinets. Then we will head out to the infamous all you can drink Dakota Bar to meet up with the remaining students for the last of the goodbyes.

For all my new friends, thanks for so many good times! I will miss you all and look forward to finding a way for some reunions!

Skol!

Here are the pictures from our last days in Copenhagen.

Last stop... Madrid and Amsterdam

2006-12-20T02:51:00.000-08:00

After celebrating with Paul and his friends in Madrid we headed out to our last stop, Amsterdam. It was a little rainy while we were there but it was a good time all the same.

Amsterdam is an interesting place filled with legalized marijuana "coffee shops" and leagalized prostitution. It is not only legal it is open and heavily advertised. In the Red Light District, the women stand in their booths right on the street and wait for customers. It is something that has to be seen to be believed.

Dispite these unique qualities, Amsterdam is beautiful. The entire city has been built on the water and is filled with canals and small tightly squeezed buildings. While we were there we took a 3 hour city walking tour as well as visited a few of the popular museums. One of the most interesting was the Stedelijk Museum, which was filled with non traditional and quite far out "art". It is perfect for Amsterdam. We also visited the Van Gogh Museum and saw the Anne Frank House.

Here are the pictures from the Madrid and Amsterdam

From Florence to Madrid...

2006-12-15T09:09:00.000-08:00

After leaving Florence, Paul and I spent the next 4 days trekking across the Italian and French Riviera.

The first day we drove from Florence through Tuscany and over to the Italian coast where we past through Pisa and then made our way up to the Italian and French boarder where we stayed the night in San Remo. On the way we saw some amazing sites including the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa and the amazing five coastal villages that make up the Cinque Terre.

Day two: After spending the night in the small coastal town of San Remo, we caught a train to Nice. The train ride was a little under two hours and it was a very scenic ride. We past through many small cities right on the coast as well as some more well known destinations such as Monaco.

We then spent the day in Nice. We were very fortunate because the day was unusually warm. It was about 70 to 75 F all day so Paul and I were running around in T-shirts. There were even a number of locals sun bathing. Sun bathing in the middle of December... amazing.

Day three we woke up and picked up a rental car in Nice. We then made our way down the windy coastal road that makes up some of the most scenic parts of the South of France. After a long days drive we spent the night in a small town off the highway just past France's third largest city of Marseilles. We had a little trouble finding a hotel as we were off the beaten track and neither of us spoke French... it's just all part of the adventure though.

Day four was another day of driving. We left early and made our way down along the coast to the French and Spain boarder. It was another scenic day of driving although it was full of marshy and flat lands rather than the cliffs we saw around Nice. We saw a lot of native birds though including wild Flamingos. We eventually made our way to Perpignan on the French side where we dropped off the car and caught the train to Barcelona.

We then spent the next four days in Barcelona which was amazing. Barcelona is now my favorite city in Spain and was a highlight of our trip.

Barcelona is a very international city that is always active with visitors. There is a popular center called Las Rambles where people are walking the streets all day and even into the wee hours of the morning. In Spain, people don't go to dinner until 9 or 10 pm and the restaurants stay packed until midnight or 1:00 in the morning. We went to dinner at 11:00 pm on the first night and still had to wait to be seated. People then stay out until 6 or 7 in the morning... it is really quite a sight. Of course they also close shop from 2 to 5 pm every day for siesta.

In Barcelona we saw a number of things. Some of the highlights were the Barcelona Coast, the Picasso Museum, Park Güell, Casa Milà, and the La Sagrada Familia Church.

We left Barcelona last Wednesday and took the 5 hour fast train to Madrid. This was another very scenic ride. We took it easy on Wednesday night and then yesterday we took the 30 minute train to Toledo. Again, we were fortunate with the weather and we enjoyed a nice sunny day walking around the city.

Last night was the graduation of the students getting their MBAs here in Madrid so there was a lot of celebrating. Tomorrow we all head out for different destinations; some home for the holidays and some coming back home from other exchanges. Paul and I will leave tomorrow for Amsterdam for our last few days abroad. We will be there until Tuesday and then Paul comes back to Madrid and I head back to Copenhagen. There will then be some celebrating there and some goodbyes and then it's back to the good old US of A.

Here are the pictures from this leg of the trip.

Driving the French Riviera...

2006-12-09T07:09:00.000-08:00

Paul and I spent the last few days driving the northwest coast of Italy and the entire southern coast of France. Above is a picture of Nice where we spent a night. We got lucky and the weather the day we were there was unseasonably warm.... about 70 F or 18 C.

We are now sitting in a boarder town in France waiting for our train to Barcelona. We will make our way to Pauls place in Madrid by Wednesday and Ill upload the next round of pictures.

This is a short post because these funny keyboards in France really make it a chore to type. It is amazing what switching a few letters around on the keyboard will do to you. We have adopted a saying though....If it was easy, it wouldnt be Europe.

PS. Ive gotten the comments and emails from you all back in Copenhagen (Chris, Steph, Mikaylee, Laura, etc). Its great to hear from you all and Ill see you in a few weeks! Damn this French keyboard!

Skol!

Prague and on to Italy!

2006-12-05T12:34:00.000-08:00

After a great time in Poland, we made it to Prague without a scratch. Prague was a great city with a lot to keep us busy. We spent two days visiting all of the sites and soaking up the great weather. It has been unseasonably warm here in Europe. We have been enjoying temps in the 60s for the last few weeks. We also met up with one of my classmates from Copenhagen while in Prague. He was stopping through on his way to Austria and it was nice to add a thrid to the trip.

While in Prague we saw many of the popular sites including the Charles Bridge, St. Vitus Cathedral, the Prague Astronomical Clock, Old Town, and the Prague Castle. It was a fantastic two days... Prague has an amazing history.

From Prague, we made our way to Rome. We were in Rome for 2 full days and 3 nights. We did some major walking in Rome because there was an amazing amount of things to see. My favorite sites were Vatican City, Colosseum, and Palatine Hill. We had a blast in Rome and were very glad to be there during the off season because the tourists would have been thick. We were able to get in and out of the major sites without much effort, which was nice. While we were in Rome we met up with one of Paul"s roomates and his 2nd rommate"s brother, Jeff and Philipe.

From Rome we hitched a ride with Jeff and Philipe who were driving to Florence. It took us about 2 1/2 hours and was a great scenic ride. Jeff and Philipe left this morning for Milan and then on to the North of Italy to go skiing. Paul and I were able to spend the day site seeing here and tomorrow we leave early to San Remo on the boarder of Italy and France. We pick up a car early tomorrow morning and drive through Tuscany and up the coast of Italy.

That is the latest update and Ill try to post again when We get to Paul"s place in Madrid.

Here are the pictures of Poland, Prague, Rome, and Florence.

We made it to Poland...

2006-11-26T23:57:00.000-08:00

After a few short plane rides, I made it to Wroclaw Poland where I met Paul. We did some exploring around the city area and then hit the road to Opole. Opole is a small town in Southern Poland about 100 km or 60 mi from Wroclaw. This is where Paul lived and worked as an English teacher for a year after his undergraduate degree. Tom (upper right above) was Paul's roommate and fellow teacher during that time. Tom is from the UK and has been out here teaching for 5 years now. We were able to crash at his flat for the weekend.

The weekend has been a blast. Paul still has a lot of friends out here, so it has been a fun weekend with old friends. This morning we leave with one of those friends who lives in Krakow. It will take us a few hours to get there by car, so we are looking forward to hitting the open road.

The plan is to stay in Krakow tonight and then take the over night train tomorrow night to Prague. We'll still be in Prague for 2 days and then fly to Rome on Friday. The Italy portion of our trip has changed slightly. We are going to rent a car and drive to Barcelona and then on to Madrid. I'll try to post an update if I can get Internet access.

Cheers!

The big trip (4 weeks, 4 countries)

2006-11-22T09:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Thursday will be my last day in Copenhagen for nearly four weeks. I will turn in my end of term research paper tomorrow, which will mark the end of my studies here in Denmark. I'll then spend the rest of the day packing and preparing for my long trip around Europe.

Before I get to the details of the trip, let's talk Thanksgiving. There is a girl from the US on the fourth floor of my building and her mom has made the trip all the way out for Thanksgiving. They have been busy too. Somehow they found a turkey to have cooked for tomorrow, and she has flown out 40lbs of food from the US. After packing and finishing up my last preparations to leave town, I will head up for, what sounds to be, a great American Thanksgiving!

Now, as for the trip, here is a tentative itinerary.

Poland:
I leave this Friday from Copenhagen and meet Paul in Wrocław Poland. Yep Wrocław. I had to look it up on the map. In the past, Paul has spend more than a year in Poland teaching English, so this section of the trip is his domain. Wrocław is a small city in the south west corner of Poland and was right in the middle of the events of WWII. Paul also has some friends there, so it should make for a good time.

Next we will make our way (most likely by train) to Kraków, which is in the south of Poland. Kraków is a popular tourist destination and there should be a lot to see there.

Czech Republic:
From Poland we take a train down to Prague and spend a few days there. Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic and also its largest city.

Italy:
After our week in Poland and the Czech Republic, we take a flight down to Rome and will spend a week exploring the home of wine and pasta. We have given ourselves a week in Italy, so after a few days in Rome we will make our way up to Florence and possibly Venice.

Spain:
From Italy we will fly into Madrid and take a day at Paul's place to wash our clothes and take a breather. We will then make our way out to Barcelona. Neither Paul or myself have been to Barcelona, so it should be a good time.

Netherlands:
Our last stop will be Amsterdam in the Netherlands. We'll spend the weekend in Amsterdam and then make our way back to our respective countries.

I'll be back in Copenhagen on the 19th of December, spend a few days celebrating the end of our time in Denmark, and then fly into Phoenix on the 22nd.

I'll try to do some blogging from the road. Well, back to packing!

How time flies...

2006-11-17T14:18:00.000-08:00

Well, this is my last weekend in Copenhagen.

I finish up my finals this week and then I'm off for four weeks of backpacking around Europe with my classmate Paul.

We have a big exchange student celebration this weekend to celebrate the home stretch. The time has just flown by. Stay tuned and I'll post an itinerary of my trip with Paul.

The Russia Trip

2006-11-16T05:12:00.000-08:00

Vladimir Lenin, Myself, and Joseph Stalin

Seven days, four countries... what an amazing adventure.

My trip to Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Tallinn was one that I will never forget. It was a fantastic, eye-opening trip and something that I will most likely never get the chance to do again. I am so glad that I decided to take the time and money to do this trip. I learned so many new things and met some great people in the process.

So, here is the re-cap.

Day 1: Overnight cruise from Stockholm to Helsinki
We all met on Monday the 6th in Stockholm Sweden. Most of the 160 students that were going on this trip were already in Stockholm for the weekend, but I flew up solo. After a little trouble finding my way from the airport to our meeting spot, I finally ran into some familiar faces and we were off. Most of the 160 students were from Copenhagen Business School, and most of us found each other before making our way to the overnight cruise. There were three who did not however (1st lost group). This one was a minor hickup though, because these three were able to catch a bus up to the first stop of our ship and get on there. So, by midnight we were a whole group again and enjoyed a fun evening of celebrating to start the trip.

Oh, and it was also my birthday. Even though I had spent the whole weekend celebrating, someone on the ship spilled the beans and everyone wanted to continue to celebrate. Who was I to argue?

Day 2: A day in Helsinki
We arrived in Helsinki on Tuesday morning and made our way to the main train station to lock up our backpacks. We then had the rest of the day to explore the city. It was a beautiful sunny day and warmer than we expected. It had snowed the week before and was hovering around 3 or 4 C. Helsinki was a beautiful and clean city right on the water with some beautiful sights.

Day 2.5: Arrival in St. Petersburg, Russia
After leaving Helsinki on Tuesday night we arrived just 6 hours later in St. Petersburg. The boarder crossing was relatively easy. They stopped the train at the boarder and the Russian boarder patrol came on board and looked us over (no drug sniffing dogs or bag checks, as we had heard was the case on previous trips). Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, we had chartered busses waiting for us at the station and they took us to our hotel. Thinking back, things were going so smoothly in St. Petersburg. Busses picking us up, and hotels that were accommodating. Boy, did we take those things for granted.

The hotel in St. Petersburg was very nice and we had a market just across the street. Everything was extremely cheep. They had a huge beer selection for about 50 - 90 cents you could get a 16 oz bottle. A Snickers bar was about 30 cents and a bag of chips was about 50 cents. We loaded up on snacks and took headed back to the rooms to enjoy our 50 cent Russian beers.

Day 3: A day in St Petersburg
We woke up fairly early on our first day in Russia even though we were two hours ahead of Copenhagen. The hotel provided a free breakfast buffet and then we were off on a day of sightseeing by bus that was included with the trip. We saw the Winter Palace (winter home to historical Russian Tsars), the Hermitage Museum (according to wikipedia - one of the largest, oldest, most important and famous art galleries and museums of human history and culture in the world), the Church on Spilt Blood, the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Bronze Horseman, Palace Square, Saint Isaac's Square, Monument to Nicholas I, the famous Nevsky Prospect Avenue, and the Narva Triumphal Gate (built to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon).

In the afternoon, we were set free to explore the city on our own and a group of us visited a number of the spectacular cathedrals around the city. We then found our way back to the hotel via subway during rush hour, which was an experience.

That evening a group of about 50 of us decided to go out and explore the night life. In St. Petersburg, this is a bigger commitment than you may think because the city is entirely surrounded by the Neva River. Now, it's not the river that is the problem, it's the bridges. Every bridge in the city is lifted at midnight and doesn't come back down until around 5:00 am. Therefore, if you decide to go out into the city and are staying on the other side of the river (like us), you have to ride it out until 5:00 am before you can get home. So, it was a late night.

Day 4: Last Day in St. Petersburg
Even though the previous night was a long one, a small group of about 13 of us were very motivated to visit the famous Hermitage Museum. So, on Thursday we woke up early, checked out, and started the trek to Moscow station to store our backpacks. One of the guys found a tour guide for hire on the web and we were able to meet her in front of the museum. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. She was a wonderful guide and the museum was one of the most amazing that I have ever seen. It is huge. If you walked through all the rooms, you would have to walk nearly 14 miles. They also have the largest collection of items in the world at just over 3M. If you spent 8 hours a day and only took one minute to look at each piece it would still take you almost 6 years to see the entire collection. (I have a lot of great photos of the Hermitage in my pictures).

Day 4.5: Overnight train to Moscow (we run into a few troubles)
Ok, this is where things start to derail a bit (no pun intended). Upon arrival at central station in St. Petersburg we found out that they weren't going to be able to accommodate our entire group on the 10:30 pm train to Moscow. This meant that a large portion of our group would have to take the midnight train. In addition, when we got on the train we found that we were scattered among Russian travelers and not all in cars by ourselves. This made for an awkward overnight trip to Moscow. I slept on the top bunk in a cabin with two old Russian men and even though it was sub-zero temperatures outside, it was about 100 degrees inside. I just couldn't sleep, and had to keep getting up and walking between cars where I could get some fresh air.

Day 5: Arrival in Moscow (a day of troubles)
We arrived in Moscow at about 6:30 am. It was freezing and snowing heavily. We were all very tired and still upset with the train situation. We had to put that behind us though, because we had another challenge ahead of us. The rest of our group including the leader of our group were on the later train and weren't set to arrive until 10:00 am. So, as you'll see in the pictures, there was about 70 or 80 of us just camped out with all of our luggage right in the middle of Moscow train station. The floor was solid stone, which was like lying on a block of ice. We got plenty of funny looks from locals throughout the entire ordeal - 80 students huddled together in the middle of Moscow station for 4 hours.

When the rest of the group did finally arrive, we made our way out into the wet snow to catch our chartered buses for a half day of sight seeing. This was pretty disappointing though. It was snowing pretty heavily, so it was hard to see, and everyone was so tired that most of us kept falling asleep between stops.

At about 2:00 or 3:00 we finally made it to our hotel, and the trouble continued. The hotel only had about 60 of the 160 names on their coffee stained paper reservation list.

See, Russia is not exactly tourist friendly. To get a visa you have to have written, stamped, and signed invitations from each hotel you are staying at. Then when you get to Russia, each hotel needs your passport, visa, immigration card with boarder stamp, and a record of your reservation. If any of these things are missing, you're out. This is what happened at the hotel in Moscow. We had people who were on the list, people who weren't on the list, and people who had misplaced their immigration cards. So if you can imagine we had 160 cold, tired, and hungry students with no more patients fighting to check into this hotel. It took two hours but everyone eventually got their rooms.

Day 6: Last Day in Moscow and Russia
A group of us again, got up early on day six to spend the day exploring Moscow. We made the 45 minute subway trip to the central station and stored our backpacks. Then we were off to Moscow's famous Red Square, home of the Kremlin (where the current Russian President Vladimir Putin works), Lenin's Tomb, St. Basil's Cathedral, and the Iberian Gate and Chapel.

After some exploring of the grounds, we were able to track down a tour guide for hire and get a tour of the Kremlin. This was another highlight of the trip. Inside the Kremlin walls we saw the Cathedral of Dormination (where Tsars were crowned), the Cathedral of Annunication, and, my favorite, the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael. We also took a tour of the famous Armoury, which holds the largest collection of diamonds, gold, platinum, and crown jewels in the world. Including the world's fourth largest diamond and the Imperial Crown of Russia. We also saw the heavily guarded modern buildings where President Vladimir Putin lives and works today.

Day 6.5: Our overnight train out of Russia (more trouble for some)
We meet again at the main station to catch our train out of Russia and this time the train was better planned so we were able to secure cabins together. Most of the group made it on the train. I say most because seven of the group were late to the station and missed the most crucial part of our trip - the ride out of Russia.

The problem was that our visas expired at midnight of the 11th and we weren't actually going to make it to the boarder until 3:00 am of the 12th. This was a problem, and legally they could pull us off the train and hold us until we secure proper visas. There has also been stories of requests for money etc. However, because we were such a large group and it was 3:00 in the morning they fortunately let us through. As for the seven that missed the train, they caught the next train out of the country which was a train to Helsinki. The last thing we heard was that they were pulled off the train at the boarder because their Visa's were about 7 hours expired. I'm still waiting to hear if they have made it back.

Day 7: A day in Tallinn Estonia
We were all relieved to make it to Tallinn early on the morning of our seventh day. We had made it out of Russia, and were in a country that thrives on tourism. Tallinn was great. It's a beautiful city with a fantastic medieval history. We found most of the locals spoke English and were very nice. They also had some amazing hand made things for sale all over the historical old city. We all spent a lot of money in Tallinn and wished we could have stayed longer.

Day 7.5: Overnight ferry back to Stockholm
On the last night we had a great time on our overnight ferry. We did plenty of drinking and traded contact information with all of the new people we had met through the trip. You would be surprised how close you get to some people when you have to share a cold slab with them in somewhere like Moscow station.

In the end, there were some troubles but for the most part everything worked out. We all had a wonderful and enlightening experience and I will never forget the amazing experiences and sights we were able to see during the trip. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience.

Take a look at all of the pictures from the trip here

Back from Russia!

2006-11-15T04:38:00.000-08:00

I made it!

After two over night ferries, two over night trains, a day train and countless bus, taxi, and subway rides, I successfully made it in and out of Russia safely. However, it was quite the experience. Russia is by far the least friendly travel destination I have ever experienced, even trumping my trip to China in the spring. On the positive side there were so many amazing things to see and it was one of the best adventures I have ever had. And I stress adventure, because it was just that.

It was not the smoothest trip. We ran into several problems along the way including the expiration our absolutely necessary Visas about 4 hours before we actually made it across the boarder. We also spent about four hours sleeping in the middle of Moscow station one morning, and seven of our party missed the train out of the country. We still don't know what has happened with that group. The last word was that they were pulled off a later train out of the country because of their seven hour expired Visas.

All in all, those of us on the trip agreed that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and we felt so fortunate that we were able to make the trip.

I have hundreds of pictures and many more stories to share, but unfortunately I have a final tomorrow and have to concentrate my efforts there. Stay tuned and I will put up another post to expand on many of the stories I have mentioned above as well as a few I haven't mentioned. And of course all of the pictures!

Off to Russia....

2006-11-05T23:50:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, I am off on a week long trip of Russia with a group from the Stockholm School of Economics. They do a couple Russia trips every year and this year they were kind enough to send down an invite to the students at Copenhagen Business School. As soon as I saw the itinerary, I emailed back and said I was in.

Russia is not a easy place to visit, and getting the opportunity to go with a large experienced group is a great opportunity.

The trip: As you can see on the map above we do a big loop. On Monday I fly up to Stockholm Sweden to meet with the group. We spend the day in Stockholm and ship out on Monday night for an overnight ferry ride to Helsinki Finland. We spend the day in Helsinki and then catch a train to St. Petersburg Russia. We'll spend two days there sightseeing and trying not to freeze to death. On Thursday we check out and catch a train to Moscow. We have a large part of the train rented out for the group and we share four person cabins for the long trek to Moscow. We'll arrive in Moscow on Friday morning and have two days to explore the city before heading out. On Saturday night we take the night train to Tallinn Estonia. We'll have one day here and then jump back on an overnight ferry back to Stockholm. I will then arrive in Copenhagen next Monday and run straight to class.

It should be a great trip and I'll be sure to take lots of pictures. Stay tuned.

The end to a fun weekend...

2006-11-05T11:10:00.000-08:00

After a fun weekend of sight seeing, exploring Danish culture, and celebrating my birthday, Nick and Jess are heading back to Paris tomorrow while I leave for my trip to Russia.

All in all we had a fun weekend. We ended today with a walk through the famous area of Copenhagen called Christiania. This is an area of town that until recently was a completely self-governing neighborhood of about 850 people. (See their flag below)

From Wikipedia:
Christiania's Mission Statement: "The objective of Christiania is to create a self-governing society whereby each and every individual holds themselves responsible over the well being of the entire community. Our society is to be economically self-sustaining and, as such, our aspiration is to be steadfast in our conviction that psychological and physical destitution can be averted."

It turned into the Hash and drug haven of Copenhagen and eventually was taken over by the local government. It was still operating independently until just a few years ago and was a very bizarre and interesting sight to see.

Take a look at the pictures of the entire weekend here.

Nick and Jess come to town...

2006-11-04T02:20:00.000-08:00

This weekend my good buddy and classmate Nick is up to visit with his wife Jess. Copenhagen has a lot going on this weekend so it is sure to be a good time.

MTV is in town for the Euopean music awards and last night marked the start of the Christmas season for Denmark. We celebrated at a pub that was participating in the traditional Tuborg Christmas brew release. Every year on the first weekend of November, Tuborg, a local large brewery, releases their winter brew with a big celebration. A number of participating pubs around town are packed and at exactly 8:59 pm, a truck drives up and out comes the Tuborg team cheering, giving out shirts, and delivering the beer. It was a good time.

Today we are exploring the city and will visit the Carlsberg Brewery - Denmark's largest brewer.

I'll post all the pictures at the end of the weekend.

Winter has arrived...

2006-11-01T01:50:00.000-08:00

Well, winter has officially arrived here in Copenhagen. We all woke up this morning to some colder temperatures which has resulted in a day of snow. It is not terribly cold, but the wind is brutal.

It made for a tough walk to class this morning. I am enjoying being back in my room and just watching from the window.

My First Final Exam...

2006-10-30T02:21:00.000-08:00

This morning I had my first final exam at Copenhagen Business School and it was an interesting experience. It was a four hour written, closed book exam for my International Mergers & Acquisitions class. The exam was pretty much what I had anticipated and I feel like I did very well, however, what I found interesting was the process.

It seems that in Denmark they are a little bit less trusting of the students than in the US. Take into consideration that this is a masters level graduate course and one would assume that the students were less likely to cheat at this level. CBS doesn't seem to think so, however, and during the process this morning, I laughed to myself several times because it was just so odd to me that they needed to go to such extremes.

Let me explain. First, we were directed to an off campus location, which I found annoying because I had to break out a map to find this place. I soon learned that it was in an alternative off campus location because the test was conducted in a gymnasium. The entire gym was filled with desks which were separated by about 15 feet on all sides. Before they would let us into the gym, we had to hand over our cell phones and any other electronic devices. Now, I have no cell phone or electronic devices, so they were a little skeptical of that right away and wanted to do a quick search of my bag. "????, no cell phone?" Nope, no cell phone. Laugh number 1.

Next, as I took a seat, I found an abundance of different materials on my desk and right away I was confused. I called over one of the proctors and asked, what is all of this? She explained that first, the slip of paper was for me to write my name, student number, Danish social residence ID number, exam date, and signature so they can record the desk that I sat in. I thought to myself, what, no blood or pluck of hair? Laugh number 2. Then she explained that the stack of white papers were what I was to use to write my answers to the exam. I took a look at them and each page was three pages deep. The top was for me to write on and the other two were carbon copies. She explained the top copy was to be sealed in the white folder and the pink was to be sealed in the pink folder and the third copy was for me. I thought, ok, complicated like everything else in Europe, but ok. Laugh number 3.

We then began the exam and I realized just how many people there were watching us. There were three or four people at the front of the room, one guarding the door, and about four or five others walking around the room. And they weren't just walking around leisurely. They would actually come by and stick their head right over your shoulder to see what you were writing. Laugh number 4, 5, and 6.

The last thing, and icing on the cake in my opinion, was the bathroom process. If someone had to use the restroom, they had to be accompanied by one of the proctors... yeah, not kidding. Big laugh number 7. Needless to say, I chose not to use the restroom during the test, but I watched several students go through the process as if it was normal.

In all of our exams during our first year of the MBA program at UW, there was not one time that we had to go through a process like this. I don't think I went through anything like this in undergraduate either. In fact most of the professors in the MBA program would hand out the exam and then leave the room for the following four hours as we completed the exam pretty much shoulder to shoulder. Heck, half of our exams were take home. Even the closed book exams were sometimes take home. I explained this to my other European roommates and they almost fell on the floor in disbelief. I told them that we just sign an honor code promising not to cheat and that was it. They couldn't believe it.

When I think about it, I am proud that we live in a culture where we can trust that students at such a level of education will not participate in cheating and don't need to be watched under heavy security during a testing process.

What an interesting cultural experience.

10 days, 3 counties...

2006-10-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a trip. 10 days, 3 countries, all the sights, and a lot of fun.

I am now back from my trip to visit the fellow classmates and it is safe to say that we all had a blast. We all gave Nick a big hug for picking our meeting place in Dublin. It turned out to be one of the best places we had all visited in Europe so far. The majority of the population is under 25 and the economy has boomed over the last 10 years, so the whole city seems in high spirits.

One of the biggest impressions that Dublin had on us was that everyone was so nice.... I mean really nice. It was a little like the twilight zone.

There were at least three different occasions in which one of us was hugged and bought a pint for being American. The Irish love America. They would yell, "God bless the US Marines for WWII!" from across the bar or across the streets when they found out we were from the States. They would come over and shake our hands and buy us pints, it was unreal. They have not forgotten about the events of WWII and were quick to thank us at every turn.

It didn't stop there either. Walking down the street in downtown Dublin, Paul stopped and asked a local couple on the street for a light and the lady replied, "you mean you don't have a lighter???" At which point Paul said no, and she replied with, "oh, well then here, have mine." Ok???

Then at dinner one night I asked for soup to start and then the bowl of stew. The waitress then told me that the stew was pretty big and I probably didn't need the soup. I said ok, and took just the stew, which did turn out to be pretty big. However, for some reason, I burned through the stew and needed just a little more. When I called her over to order a little more she said, oh, I'm sorry don't worry about it and then proceeded to give me soup as well as a tray of bread at no charge. She insisted that she not charge us.

Needless to say, it was a great change from the American sediment that most of us have been experiencing in the rest of Europe.

Speaking of food, we were also all very very happy to get a change in food. No cheese, no cream, no tapas, just meat, potatos, and vegetables. I think we had stew two or three times. Of course the Guinness was great as well... it just seemed to taste better there.

Here are the pictures of Paris

And here are the pictures of Madrid and Dublin

Rainy Spain...

2006-10-19T22:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I have now spent four days in Madrid and the weather has been less than cooperative. It has rained all week, but we have still been able to do some exploring. This is my second time in Madrid and it has been a great time.

Today we are heading out to Dublin for the weekend. We will be meeting up with the rest of our classmates from their respective areas. Joe in Turkey, Nick in France, Param in the UK, Paul in Spain, and myself from Denmark. It should be a nice reunion.

Exploring Paris...

2006-10-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

On my last day in France, Nick, Jess, and my French roommate showed me around Paris. The weather was unseasonably warm, which was great, but Paris is so big that it was tough to try to tackle all the sights in one day. I think we did a good job though.

We started out at the Arc De Triomphe, which was built in 1806 by Napoleon to commemorate his imperial victories. The Arc sits in the middle of a busy Paris intersection and was one of the most impressive structures we saw during the day.

We next walked down the avenue des Champs-Élysées. This street is one of the most famous in Paris and is lined with all the most expensive shops from around the globe.

From there we battled the many Parisians to make it down toward the Louvre. On the way we stopped and ate crêpes from a street vendor and enjoyed the sun in the park. The Louve was probably my favorite sight of the day. It is an amazingly impressive structure.

After that we walked to Notre Dame and had a walk around the surrounding neighborhood. It was amazing to imagine the work that went into building such a impressive structure.

Then it was on the metro to take us to Montmartre. This is a hill in the north of Paris and from the top you get a nice view of the entire city. It also has the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit. This was a great area and we stopped for an hour or so to have a coffee, rest the stumps, and people watch.

From there I raced out to Versailles, which is located about 17 km outside of Paris. This an upscale neighborhood just outside of Paris and also marked the last capital of royalty in Paris. It has the world famous Château de Versailles, which was built by Louis XIV in the 1660s. It is an enourmous plot of land and palace that was very impressive to see, yet tiring on the feet.

From there I was invited over for dinner by my French roommate's parents. They live in Versailles and made a fantastic traditional French meal for us. It was great to get a chance to see French living and talk with her parents about French history.

Stephanie's mother is a doctor and her father is a controller for a large electric utility company in Paris. Her mother loves the US and tries to make a trip every year. Her last trip was through the Pacific Northwest and she loves Seattle.

Her Father is fonder of old US classic cars than travel to the US. He has a number of cars that he is currently working on and his garage is lined with old US license plates. He is also a huge fan of Route 66, so when I told him I grew up on Route 66 he was very excited.

Well, that marked the end of Paris. It was a great trip and I had a blast. Paris is a wonderful city and I know I will be back some day to visit again. Now it's on to Spain and then Dublin!

Back on Track...

2006-10-16T01:37:00.000-07:00

After a long 24 hours, I was finally able to get my bag from British Airlines, which was a huge relief, and yesterday we rented a car and headed to the coast. First, we visited the D-Day Beaches at Normandy which was an amazing sight. It's about a 3 hour drive from Paris and the 80 km of beach line that marks the beginning of the allied invasion to regain France from the Nazis was very impressive. There is a lot of remains of the war still along the beaches and small towns that line the coast. The main sight is the American cemetery and war memorial which is shown above. It is right above Omaha beach which is one of the two American beaches taken in the early days of the war. It was a powerful sight to see.

Next we made our way south to Mont St. Michel which is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. It is a medieval castle in the middle of nowhere. It has been built over centuries and has acted as many things over the years including a prison. Now it is a destination for travelers from all over the world. We were able to go inside and explore, and it's like a little city complete with residential houses below the main castle structure. It was like something out of a sci-fi novel. Just incredible!

Today we are going to explore the city of Paris and then tomorrow I am off to Madrid. When I get to Copenhagen I will update these posts with Pictures.

"Fuller'd in Paris..."

2006-10-13T02:45:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday's trip to Paris was less than smooth. Starting with my flight from Copenhangen to London, I was in a nice middle seat on the hottest plane in the world. I look over to my right and there is a nice woman with her new born in her lap. Ahhh, how cute.... nope! The new born cried... no wait, screamed for the entire 2 hours to London. Well, that is except for the 2 or 3 times that the women decided to get the crying to stop by breast feeding her young one right next to me.

So, I finally get off the hot plane in London... breast milk stains and all, and make my way to the next gate. The next flight leaves a little late but gets me to Paris. After arriving, I wait for my bag to come out and yep, you guessed it, Fuller'd. They lost my bag.

After talking my best Frenglish to the airport people, I realized I was not going to make any progress. They just took my temporary address and said they would let me know if anything turns up.

At this point it has been a number of hours since I arrived and I had to find my way to Nick's place (not close). Luckily I had my French roommate meet me at the airport so she could help me navigate the train system. After an hour and a half and 3 trains later, I finally made it to Nick's apartment... sans baggage.

Last night we went out and met up with another classmate of ours, Jasmine, and we worked hard to forget about my long day and focus on being in Paris. This worked wonders for me and I was able to convince myself that by today they would find my bag and everything would be back on track. Well, in reality, it's noon and they are still looking for my bag and Nick is in a rough state from last night's festivities.

So.... that was my first day in Paris, ugly but I made it. I will be here until Tuesday, and I have confidence that things will be on track by the end of today.

Paris, Madrid, and Dublin...

2006-10-11T06:27:00.000-07:00

Well, half of the semester is now over and next week we have our mid-semester break. Everyone has the week off, so most of us are planning trips out of the country before we have to come back and prepare for finals. My plan is to take advantage of the time off to visit my other classmates who are scattered around Europe.

My first destination is Paris. I have never been to France, so I am excited to get a chance to do some exploring in their most famous city. Tomorrow morning is my last class of the week, so I hit the road tomorrow afternoon. While in Paris I will be staying with my good buddy Nick and his wife Jess who have been living in Paris for a couple of weeks now. I will spend about 4 days exploring Paris before making my way to the next destination, Madrid.

In Madrid, I'll be staying with Paul. I have been to Madrid once before but it has been over 10 years and I'm looking forward to getting back. Paul has been there for about 7 or 8 weeks now and has been having a blast. I'll be there for 4 days, so it should be a good time.

From there it is up to Dublin. We have decided to gather the majority of the UW MBA abroad gang and spend a weekend together in Dublin. Both Paul and I will be flying out of Madrid, Nick and Jess will come from Paris, Joe will fly in from Turkey, and Param will come over from the UK. We have rented an apartment that should hold us all, and we are all looking forward to sharing stories of our study experiences since arriving in Europe.

I will be out from Thursday until Sunday October 22nd, but will try to do some blogging from the road. Stay tuned and I should have a ton of pictures to post when I get home. Cheers!

Joe in Copenhagen...

2006-10-10T08:48:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, my classmate Joe came up for a Copenhagen visit. He is doing his abroad studies in Turkey and it was great to catch up on his experiences thus far. During his time here we were fairly fortunate with the weather and were able to do a lot of exploring around the city.

It was also the weekend of the big Denmark vs. Northern Ireland soccer match. The city was completely invaded by Northern Ireland fans. These guys get all done up in Kilts, flags, green hair wigs, face paint.. .you name it, and run around town drinking and chanting throughout the entire weekend. Of course one of the days Joe and I joined in, grabbed a few beers and watched these guys do what they do best. Both of us learned a number of great Irish chants that we will surely pull out when we all meet in Dublin in two weeks.

Back from Berlin...

2006-10-04T02:19:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a fantastic trip. This last weekend we made our way down to Berlin Germany and it was a fantastic experience. It took us about 6 hours to get from Copenhagen to Berlin. This included two legs by bus and a 90 minute ferry ride. We went 100% all weekend and were able to see and learn so much. We happened to be in town during the anniversary celebration of the reunification of Germany (October 3rd), so the town was full of people and festivities to mark the events.

Upon arriving, we did a little exploring on Friday, but the highlight of our trip was Saturday where we joined a tour that walked us around the entire city of Berlin. The tour was just over four hours and our tour guide was the best I have ever had. He was enthusiastic and very animated throughout the entire four hours. He was incredibly knowledgeable on the history of Berlin and had so many interesting stories to act out for us.

Berlin is an amazing place in Europe. Over the centuries it has been a focal point to so many events and changes in the European landscape. Even though over 90% of the city was destroyed during the bombings of WWII, there was so much to see.

We started in the Parises Platz or Paris Square, where so many events happened over the years. The Parises Platz contains the impressive Brandenburger Tor or Brandenburg Gate. This Romanesc gate was built in 1791 and was once the boundary between east and west Germany. One of the most famous to walk through that gate was Neapolitan during his conquest of Germany and one of the reasons why the square is named Paris square.

From there we saw the Reichstag, home to the German Empire and was the building that political parties fought over during the unstable period leading up to WWII. It is also the building where the reunification of Germany was announced in 1990 and now again hosts the German parliament.

Next we saw where the Berlin wall used to stand just outside of the Brandenburg Gate. There was almost an eerie feeling to know that 30 years ago, you would have been shot standing in that very spot.

From there we saw the "Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe." This is right in the middle of Berlin and is a very powerful sight.

We moved from there to see the field that is atop what is left of Hitler's secret bunker or Führerbunker. The bunker where he shot himself as the Russians were only a few blocks away.

Next was the building that used to be the headquarters of the German Air Force and one of the only buildings that survived the bombings of WWII.

From there we saw Checkpoint Charlie, the famous crossing point from east and west Berlin. In the buildings surrounding the checkpoint were secret headquarters of the CIA and KGB as well as the German secret police. It was a center spot during the cold war and many a spy found his way through that checkpoint.

Down the road from Checkpoint Charlie we saw the square where the Nazi book burning took place on May 10th, 1933. There were over 20,000 books burned that day and it marked the start of chaos in Berlin. There is a plaque in the square that marks the spot of the book burning and on the left side of the plaque there is a quote from a popular play that took place in 1820, over 100 years before the events of May 10th occurred. In an eerie foreshadowing, the quote said, "when you start by burning books, you end by burning people." This was very interesting to see.

We ended on Berlin's Museum Island, which has some of the most famous museums in Germany. It also marks the spot where the royal palace used to stand. In front of one of the museums there was an artistic bowl carved out of stone where you could still see the evidence of bomb and bullet shrapnel from WWII.

All in all it was an amazing and informative trip that I will never forget.

Click here to take a look at all of the wonderful pictures we took over the weekend.

Off to Berlin this weekend...

2006-09-29T00:44:00.000-07:00

We are off to Berlin Germany this weekend. Some of the sights on the list to visit are:

• The Brandenburg Gate
• The Reichstag
• Hitler’s bunker
• The new Holocaust Memorial
• Potsdamer Platz
• The Berlin Wall
• Checkpoint Charlie
• Museum Island
• The former SS Headquarters

It should be a fun weekend, and I'll post the pictures on Sunday when we return.

Summer at IBM...

2006-09-28T04:55:00.001-07:00

Now that school is starting back up at home, I have been asked by a number of my classmates how my summer internship at IBM went. So... I thought I would put up a quick post on my three months at IBM's Raleigh research lab this summer.

The IBM Extreme Blue Program (www.ibm.com/extremeblue/) was a great experience. Our lab was made up of 6 teams, each team consisting of one MBA and three technical interens. It was an impressive group with students from a number of the top schools (MIT, Carnegie Mellon, UCLA, Duke, UNC, UT Austin, Purdue, UW, etc). The whole summer was very well organized and funded. It was a nice balance of leaning, work, and fun. I met a lot of IBM executives that provided some great insight into what I might want to do with my career after MBA school. I also made a number of new friends from all over the US that I know I will keep in touch with.

The culmination of the program was the national expo at IBM headquarters in Armonk, NY. We were all able to show off the work we had done over the summer to the IBM executives and were even able to meet IBM CEO Sam Palmisano. It was a fun summer and I currently have several opportunities in the works to go back to IBM in a full time capacity after school.

Take a look at some of the pictures of the summer here

Our Neighborhood Riot !

2006-09-25T10:15:00.001-07:00

Well, on Sunday we had some unexpected excitement outside of our apartment.

My apartment is located in Nørrebro, which is the historical working class and immigrant section of Copenhagen. It is also, as we were told, a hot spot for political unrest and riots on occasion. Before Sunday, however, we thought we would never have to experience any of the action that was said to frequent this neighborhood. We were wrong.

At about 4:00 pm on Sunday afternoon some loud noises started to fill the streets outside of our apartment building. From what we have been able to gather, there was a building down the street from us that had a number of unauthorized people living in it. The police decided that Sunday was the day they would physically remove them, but these people and a many others were waiting.

When the police arrived, in full riot gear, the group of 200-300 people began hurling large bricks and bottles. The action lasted about 45 minutes and ended in over 200 arrests. Most of my building watched from outside their bedroom windows, and a few of us ventured out the front door after the police got control over the situation.

It was an interesting event to have occur right outside our bedroom windows and will be something that I don't think we will forget. From the pictures you can see it got pretty rough at one point, but in the end no one was severely injured.

Take a look at all of the pictures here

Trip to Malmö Sweden...

2006-09-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

Today was another unusually nice day in Scandinavia, so we decided to once again hit the road and do some exploring. This time, as mentioned in my previous post, our destination was Sweden's third largest city, Malmö (pop. 275,000).

A group of six of us met at Copenhagen's main train station this morning at 10:00 am and off we went. The train ride was only 30 minutes or so and took us across Europe's longest bridge (8 km or 5 mi), which connects Denmark and Sweden. The group today included 4 Austrians, including my roommate Chris, and 2 Americans.

Upon arrival in Malmö, we took a 1 hour scenic boat tour around the city. One of the most interesting things on the tour was the very large, modern, and architecturally interesting sky scraper which serves as a posh residence for the well to do. We also saw some of the old buildings which line the water and are, as the guide said, "where the rich and famous live."

After our boat tour we made our way through the cobble stoned city center and on to the park where we had a picnic in the sun. In the park, we enjoyed the scenery and sun as well as made some new web footed friends.

All in all the trip was great and marks the third country I have visited since I left last month. Three down and many more to come! Take a look at the pictures from our trip here.

Out sick...

2006-09-23T03:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been out sick for the last couple of days, so I've slacked on the blog posts.

However, today I am feeling better so we are headed to Sweden on another weekend excursion. Today it's Malmö, which is Sweden's third largest city. It's only a short train ride across Europe's longest bridge and it's shaping up to be a beautiful day here in Scandinavia, so it should be a fun trip.

Pictures to follow...

Little Nicky goes to Pairs...

2006-09-19T03:16:00.000-07:00

My classmate Nick finally made it to Paris this week. I received a fuzzy Skype call from him yesterday to hear how the trip went and all the interesting pitfalls he had to encounter on the way.
(Take a look at the blow-by-blow on Nick's blog)

Now, in my opinion, Nick is a brave sole, because with little or no French in his repertoire (not to mention little or no patients), I can only imagine the frustration that will take place during his time there. At least here in Denmark they all speak English and are open to speaking English. In France I have heard it's a little different. Even those who speak English, are reluctant to do so.

However, I'm confident he will find his way, as I have here in Denmark, but there will surly be a few weeks of intense frustration to come before everything starts coming together. It should make for an interesting blog, so I wanted to share it.

Good luck Nick and À la votre!

Sunday Football...

2006-09-18T02:13:00.000-07:00

Well, I am going through a bit of a withdrawl with no American football games on Saturday and Sunday. However, on Sunday my roommates and I went to a local football (soccer) match. Both teams were highly ranked and the fans were intensely rooting for their respective teams, which made it exciting to watch.

As for NCAA football and the NFL, I am following all of the action via my computer. It's not the same as watching it on TV while sipping a Bud Lite, but it works!

Thursday's at Nexxus...

2006-09-16T03:20:00.000-07:00

We have been having great weather here in Copenhagen and this means that Nexxus, the student bar on campus, gets started extra early. Thursday is the hot night, the students start to gather at about 3 pm and enjoy 25 DKK beers (~$4.00). Happy hour then runs from 5-6 & 8-9 and that is when the party really gets started b/c the beers drop to 2 for 25 DKK. They close the doors at about 7 PM and then the entire bottom floor of our business school building becomes a club. Fully equipped with DJ and dance floor.

Ah... campus life.

To North Zealand and Beyond!

2006-09-11T07:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had great weather here in Scandinavia so a few of us decided to take a trip up to North Zealand. The north coast of Zealand is peppered with small fishing towns whose origin date back to the 1500s. Our goal on this adventure was to reach one of these towns by the name of Gilleleje, which boasts of a popular beach in the hot summer months. It took us about an hour by train to reach our first destination of Helsingor. It was a very scenic ride and was nice to get out of the city and see some of the Danish countryside.

In Helsingor, we took a short tour of a 17th century castle that was built to protect northern Denmark and later to collect tolls from ships using the narrow port. Today the town of Helsingor is a busy port town with ferries continuously shuttling across the Oresund Strait to and from Sweden to disgorge thirsty Swedes who stock up on booze. The booze is actually cheaper in Denmark than in Sweden.
Once in Gilleleje, we were completely lost but after some wondering we found our beach. Along the way we made our way through some of the back streets and found that most of the houses were half-timbered and thatch-roofed. It was an interesting sight to see.

All in all it was a great weekend trip and it marks our first of many exploratory trips around Denmark.

Take a look at the pictures from the weekend by clicking here.
Oh, and if you want to see the Geotagged photo's on the map click here

My first week of classes are over...

2006-09-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

As my first week of classes came to a close, the CBS campus was a buzz with talks of weekend festivities marking the start of a new school year. My roommates and I tried to attended the welcome back festivities at the on campus student pub but quickly found that there was a 3-4 hour line to get in.

This brings me to some of the interesting things that I noticed in my first week as a CBS student and wanted to share.

I'll start with one of my favorites - the fact that there is a full student bar right in the main lobby of the business building. The legal drinking age in Denmark, and most of Europe, is only 18, so almost all of the students on campus are of drinking age. So... why not have a bar where all the students are, right? However this was a bit shocking at first, when exiting my classroom and seeing a full bar serving drinks right outside the lecture hall and right next to the student cafeteria.

Another interesting observation is that people are allowed to drink in public in Denmark, both on and off campus. So almost every afternoon you can see students hanging out in the campus common areas with a six or twelve pack of beer taking the edge off of a long day of lectures. Or a student riding his bike back to his residence hall with a case of beer strapped to the back.

Although a little shocking, I have a feeling I will quickly be able to adjust to most of these changes in school atmosphere. A little more interesting, however, is that most of the bathrooms on campus are co-ed. This has been an interesting sight to see, and I can imagine more of an adjustment for the female exchange students than for us males. The Danes, however, seem to be right at home with the idea.

So as the first week comes to a close, I find that there is some uniqueness to campus life hear in Denmark, but for the most part I am attending a University and school is school. Cheers!

My Roomates...

2006-09-05T07:52:00.000-07:00

School has now started and I'm still getting settled in here in Copenhagen. I am living in a shared apartment with four roommates. The apartment building is entirely occupied by exchange students with four floors and a group on each. We occupy the entire first floor and the way the apartment is laid out there is a front door which opens to a small common area. We then share the kitchen and two bathrooms, one for the guys and one for the girls. We all have our own rooms which are fairly big, but the common area is pretty small, so most of us hang out in our rooms with the doors open. We also don't have a TV or a couch, so it makes it hard for us to gather for anything other than battling for things in the kitchen during dinner time.

The above picture was taken last weekend before we went to our official exchange student welcome dinner. My roommates from left to right are: Tuomo (Finland), Chris (Austria), Stephanie (France), and Sarah (Germany). All the roommates are undergrads, however Chris is 28 and taking some masters classes. Both Tuomo and Stephanie are going to be here a year, while Chris, Sarah, and I will return to our respective Universities at the end of the year.

We are all getting along quite well, and have met most of the other exchange students on the other floors. I had a traditional American barbeque last weekend, and tomorrow night we have been invited to the thrid floor where we are going to have a pot luck. Although our group has still not decided on what we are going to make.

I made it back to Copenhagen

2006-09-03T11:53:00.000-07:00

Well, after a long five day's in the land of the Vikings, I made it back to Copenhagen. My trip up to Norway was a great start to my time in this part of the world and an experience that I will never forget.

I have posted the pictures from the trip on Flikr and invite you all to take a look. The pics.

Tomorrow I start school.

Back in Oslo...

2006-09-01T05:08:00.000-07:00

On the way back from Bergen we took a two day scenic route through a number of Norway's deep fjords and stayed in a small town in central Norway last night. We are now back in Oslo and will board our ship again this afternoon to take the overnight cruise back to Copenhagen.

This weekend I will upload all of the great pictures we took over the week and post a link.

We made it to Bergen!

2006-08-30T04:50:00.000-07:00

After a long and beautiful seven hour drive from one side of Norway to the other, Paul and I made it to Norway's second largest city, Bergen. Bergen is said to be Seattle's sister city, and from our experience so far it's true. The city is right on the water and surrounded by evergreen covered mountains. It rains here about 275 days a year, but is beautiful this time of year. The people also seem to be much more laid back here and have a very relaxed way about them, just like in Seattle. There is also a busy fish market right in the center, similar to Pike Place Market.

We went to a Pub last night and it might have been in Seattle. Everyone was dressed in Seattle type relaxed atire, and the bar played music from Seattle based bands all night. The beers were a little cheaper (7.00 instead of 8.00 dollars) and we had fun talking to a lot of the locals.

We are here one more night and then we will take two days to make our way back. We might camp out in a cabin along the water front tomorrow night.

Oslo, most expensive city in the world...

2006-08-28T23:46:00.000-07:00

Oslo is said to be the most expensive city in the world and yesterday we found out just how expensive. Here is a short run down of some of the prices we encountered:

- Meadium meal at McDonalds 12.00 USD
- Pen 4.00 USD
- Small Burrito 35.00 USD
- Beers (any beer) 12.00 USD
- Cocktail 15.00 USD
- Cigarettes 16.50 USD

So, with empty wallets we are off to a long drive through Norway's famous Fjords to it's second largest city, Bergen.

We made it to Oslo!

2006-08-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

Well, after an all night ferry cruise, Paul and I made it to Norway's largest city, Oslo. The city is quite small but very beautiful. Everything is very clean and the weather is very similar to Seattle. We rented a car and tomorrow we will drive up to Bergen. I will try to post updates if I can find an Internet cafe.

Oslo here we come!

2006-08-26T05:13:00.000-07:00

Last night, after a few hundred beers, Paul and I were able to book ourselves on an over night ferry to Oslo Norway. It's supposed to be beautiful up there this time of year and it's probably the only chance we'll get to make a trip before school officially starts.

We leave Sunday on an overnight ferry and arrive on Monday morning. We'll spend a few days in Oslo and then ride the train to Burgen before coming home next weekend. Oslo is said to be the most expensive city in the world, so again our expenses will probably be pretty stiff, but hey... we have to do it while we have the chance.

Today I'm going to work on getting a phone and month long Metro pass. Hopefully I can be more productive than yesterday.

Paul's up from Madrid...

2006-08-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

Well, after a five hour delay Paul was able to make it up from Madrid and we have been spending the day running around Copenhagen. I still have a lot of things I need to do to get settled in, but last night we put those aside and went out for a long night of drinking. They aren't kidding about expensive either. The beers at a hole in the wall pub are 45 DKK or about $8 US. Today we sat down to have a beer in a near by court yard and again the beers were about $8.50 a pint.

The next four months are definitely going to prove to be an expensive proposition. I'm glad I imported a bottle of Jim Beam... it's worth it's weight in gold!

Bike your way to where you want to go...

2006-08-25T04:46:00.000-07:00

Bicycle is the popular way to get around in Copenhagen. There are literally thousands of bikes parked on every building wall and in front of every establishment. You have to be careful not to get hit by cyclists with no fear as you are walking down the streets. At night, everyone parks their bikes in front of their buildings with nothing more than a lock that keeps the back tire from moving and somehow no one steals them.

During the summer, Danish women love to where skirts and this still doesn't stop them from getting around on their bikes. They just hop on and gracefully ride around town in their mini skirts on top of their bikes. Amazing.

I think I'm going to stick to walking though. I just don't trust that my bike won't get stolen and when the weather changes, I don't want to be caught riding in the cold.

I made it...

2006-08-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

After a long flight I am finally here in Copenhagen. My apartment is adequate, a little dirty, but will do after some cleaning. I will be living in a shared apartment with four other exchange students - 2 girls and 2 guys. The entire apartment building is filled with exchange students, so I have the feeling the next four months could turn out to be a little bit like the "Real World"

The weather is much like Seattle. Today it was in the mid 60s and overcast. I have quickly found that I didn't pack enough of my rain gear and am going to have to get a waterproof jacket and umbrella. It's been raining all day, and from what I understand this is not uncommon. Internet accessibility has been easy, but getting around town has been a little more challenging. We have no vehicle and the public transportation is still a bit of a mystery. I was able to do some grocery shopping and this evening I am planning on having dinner with my new roommates and of course partaking in the Danish tradition of drinking beer.

My classmate, Paul, who will be attending the fall quarter in Madrid will be arriving tomorrow and we are going to try to venture up to Norway this weekend.

Mechanical Problems...

2006-08-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like it's going to be another day in Seattle for me. My flight to Atlanta was delayed this morning because of mechanical problems and therefore I was not going to be in a postion to make my connection to Copenhagen. After three or four hours of work with Delta, it looks like I will just have to try this whole thing again tomorrow.

So, I'll reiterate my last post in saying again... tomorrow I'll be off (fingers crossed).

Tomrrow I'm off...

2006-08-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I'm off to Denmark.

Copenhagen will become my home base for the next four months as I attend the University of Copenhagen Business School.

If all goes as planned myself and my classmate Paul will be hopping around Norway by next weekend. Other trips already on the tentative itinerary: Paris, Italy, Madrid, and Munich for Octoberfest.

Stay tuned... it should be an interesting close to 2006.

Kingman in the News again...

2006-08-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

Firefighters shot at for not helping cat

Associated Press Aug. 19, 2006 02:38 PM

KINGMAN, Ariz. - A man angry at firefighters who refused to rescue a cat from a tree was arrested after he started shooting at the fire crew, officials said. Jeffrey Cullen, 58, was charged with four felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Mohave County Sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter said. A three-person fire crew went to Cullen's home Thursday when he reported a tree fire, but found no blaze, Hualapai Valley Fire Department spokeswoman Sandy Edwards said. Instead, Cullen told firefighters he wanted a cat rescued from his tree and knew they would only respond to a fire call, Edwards said. A battalion chief told Cullen to call animal control or wait for the cat to get hungry and come down. Cullen apparently didn't like the response, Edwards said. "He went back into the house, got a small black revolver and came outside shooting," she said. The firefighters and a 12-year-old boy who had come to see the fire truck ran for their lives, Edwards said. No one was injured. Deputies arrested Cullen after a brief standoff and struggle.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0819shotsfired-ON.html

Kingman Goes National

2006-08-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

I caught this Tuesday morning on CNBC's Squak Box and I was laughing so hard I had to get it on video. So with a little help from my Tivo and my fellow IBM pals, I was able to post this snipit on YouTube.

What a character to represent good old K-Town. Enjoy.

Back to the blogosphere

2006-08-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

I'm back. The first year of business school is now behind me and I am just finishing up my summer internship at IBM.

From here I'm off to the University of Copenhagen Business School in Denmark for my fall quarter. I will be there for the next four months, so I plan on having the dirty martini fired up to log the trip.

Stay tuned!

The Dry Martini Starts Delivery Service

2005-09-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

Well, I have finally "syndicated" my blog via RSS and now invite you all to add The Dry Martini to your favorite feedreaders.

If you are new to the World of RSS and would like to learn what the heck I am talking about, read my June 30th post (The World of RSS) for a quick introduction.

RSS is a fantastic way to organize and keep track of your favorite blogs, news feeds, and other web flying content you would like to capture.

Next stop... the World of Podcasting

A New Form of Bully

2005-08-19T10:52:00.000-07:00

The real world is beginning to meld with the virtual world... hold on to your virtual wallets!

Posted by a B2.0 Blogger, this story comes from The New Scientist and brings to light a form of bullying that our parents could never have fathomed.

A man has been arrested in Japan on suspicion [of] carrying out a virtual mugging spree by using software "bots" to beat up and rob characters in the online computer game Lineage II. The stolen virtual possessions were then exchanged for real cash. . . . Several players had their characters beaten and robbed of valuable virtual objects, which could have included the Earring of Wisdom or the Shield of Nightmare. The items were then fenced through a Japanese auction website . . .. The assailant was a character controlled by a software bot, rather than a human player, making it unbeatable.

Maybe this will turn the tide on who is bullying who. It might be the small scrawny smart kid who rules the virtual playgrounds of the future.

"The Creation of a Complete Planetary Memory for All of Mankind"

2005-08-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

In light of Google's quest to index the world's knowledge by not only continuing to improve on their search capabilities, but also scan in the world's texts, this is an interesting observation made by a B2.0 blogger.

There is no practical obstacle whatever now to the creation of an efficient index to all human knowledge, ideas and achievements, to the creation, that is, of a complete planetary memory for all mankind....

This... foreshadows a real intellectual unification of our race. The whole human memory can be, and probably in a short time will be, made accessible to every individual.

And... this new all-human cerebrum need not be concentrated in any one single place. It need not be vulnerable as a human head or a human heart is vulnerable. It can be reproduced exactly and fully, in Peru, China, Iceland, Central Africa, or wherever else seems to afford an insurance against danger and interruption.

—H.G. Wells, 1938

The World of RSS

2005-06-30T15:59:00.000-07:00

Today I began a quest to delve into the world of RSS (Real Simple Syndication).

RSS is a way for us web-content-oholics to easily be continually updated of the latest content from our favorite sites. For instance, I have several blogs as well as business news sites that I keep my eye on throughout the day. By downloading a "newsfeed-reader" and subscribing to the RSS feeds that I am interested in, I am now able to be notified throughout the day - via headlines - of news stories that are posted on the various sites I visit.

What is a "newsfeed-reader?"
A newsfeed-reader is a lightweight software program that collects the RSS feeds that you specify and then organizes them in a headline format (I downloaded Feedreader and have been happy with its performance and ease of use thus far). This makes it easy for users to quickly scan the headlines for content that is of interest.

Below are links to sites that I found the most usefully as I navigated the world of RSS. Happy RSSing.

History
How To 'RSS'
CNET RSS Directory

Google Earth

2005-06-30T11:06:00.000-07:00

As an update to my post on June 14th, Google has now made available a beta version of what they have come to call Google Earth. This is an addition to Google maps that will allow web users to zoom in to a location from space using the Google Keyhole 3D satellite technology. You can download your own free copy of the lightweight software here. Happy flying!

Hello, My Name Is Mike Fuller and I Am A No-Software-oholic

2005-06-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

Ahh... Salesforce.com does it again.

As you will be able to tell from this post, I am a long time user and advocate of Salesforce.com. I have watched them grow and am marveled at their consistent delivery of innovative solutions - solutions that don't just make customers happy, mind you, they make them down right giddy!

A large part of this success comes straight from the top with their rock-solid team at the helm - including the flamboyant and always crowd pleasing Marc Benioff - who kind of reminds me of a mix between Howard Stern, Mark Cuban, and Bill Gates. Maybe he will soon be known as the, "King of All AnitSoftware"

With every great announcement and all the news that they are down right kicking the heck out of the competition, I get more and more bullish on their future. I'm not only bullish on what they are currently providing in the way of CRM software (just the tip of the iceberg), but also the approach they have taken to delivering this software (ie. OnDemand).

I think OnDemand or hosted software solutions that are delivered via the web is where the industry is going. After selling Enterprise software and hardware for the past four years, it's clear to me that this paradigm shift is here to stay and will eventually transform the entire software industry (listen up Mr. Softy aka. Microsoft). It's what the customers want and Salesforce.com is leading the pack in delivering it to them (hint: giving the customers what they what is a great way to be successful).

This week Salesforce.com announced their new Summer '05 release and because it is a hosted OnDemand platform, they were able to roll out it out to all 15,500 customers and 267,000 users simultaneously across the globe with a flick of a switch. Do that with legacy software! Oh, and this was of course, at no additional charge to the customers. Giddy yet?

The delivery of this software is not only innovative but the software itself is some of the most intuitive, powerful, and innovative that I've ever seen. To add to there already impressive arsenal of solutions, they have continued to announce new products like this weeks announcement of Multiforce 1.0 - referred to as, "the first OnDemand operating system." Now, you are all not going to be reformatting your drives this weekend, tossing out Windows, and accessing Mulitforce on your home PCs, but this release shows the potential of the OnDemand-software-shift. I think there are many watching, and many that should be watching because this ship is sailing full steam ahead. The folks that don't pay attention are going to be fast at work rearranging the seats on the Titanic, while companies like Salesforce.com are sailing all the way to the bank.

So... my advise, .... close your eyes click your heals together three times and say, "there is no software like OnDemand Software." I'll see you all in the Emerald City!

PS. Google may be the biggest OnDemand player of them all here in the near future.. keep a keen eye on the dynamic duo in the GooglePlex.

A Jinx?

2005-06-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

Over the last four years, I have felt there could be a bit of a "business-jinx" following me throughout my career. That's right... a curse, if you will. Those of you who know me, have shared many a laugh talking about this phenomena, but in the end we have always put it off to coincidence saying, "well, it couldn't happen again." However, it just keeps happening and then happening again and with each occurrence it gets more and more bizarre.

Today it was the announcement of the FDA's warning to Medtronic on their external defibrillators... external what??? ... we'll get back to that.

Let me explain (the short short version):

IBM
(The build-up)
- After graduating with a degree in Computer Engineering, I was offered a job with IBMs Enterprise Storage Division
- They were so excited to find a Computer Engineer who had already spent 3 years at IBM and was willing to sell, that they offered to move me wherever I wanted to go
- Focused on jump-starting my career I asked them to place me in the "best possible opportunity"
- They came back with an opportunity in their hottest new enterprise storage venture (Network Attached Storage) - putting me in charge of Enterprise Storage Networking Sales for the entire Pacific Northwest
- I then got the opportunity to work on the largest IBM NAS proposal in the country (worth $1.6M upfront and a potential to produce $1M per year in revenues over the next few years)

1 year later (The knockout)
After a complete exercise in Murphy's Law...
- IBM ceases any further development on the IBM Network Attached Storage line
- My job, as well the nation wide sales team, management, and development team are out (including my Mentor - IBM Vet of 25 years)
- The entire Enterprise Storage Division is dissolved
- IBM now Sells the competition's product

Unnamed Startup
(The build-up)
- Get hired as the youngest sales rep in a newly venture backed and red-hot startup
- Land one of the first true installations of our flagship product

(The Knockout)
- Things start to get shaky we lower the price point of our product line by 50%
- People begin to leave and be forced to leave...
- Sales continues to falter
- We lower the price point again to .. uh free
- VP of Engineering leaves
- VP of Sales leaves
- CEO leaves
- Company cuts back to 50% of peak employees
- Wages get cut
- Product is discontinued and development is halted indefinitely.
- Fuller leaves...

Marsh Mclennan
(The build-up)
- Get hired with a division of Marsh that is called MAA

4 Months Later (The knockout)
- MAA gets dissolved
- Hiring manager and manager's manager leave (another 25 year vet), as well as most of my colleagues

(More build-up)
- I am able to get on board with the Marsh side of the business

3 Months Later (The knockout continues)
- My new division, Marsh, gets sued by Elliot Spitzer and the SEC
- Marsh Stock drops 50% in 3 days
- We get hit by nation wide layoffs and start the largest corporate restructuring in the company's history

Flip to present:
Marsh has actually been a great learning experience and now I'm moving to yet another company under the MMC umbrella called Mercer HR Consulting - nothing bad to report yet.

Other tid-bits that happened along the way...

IBM again
(The build-up)
- Interviewed and got offered a position selling IBM PC's - specifically the IBM Thinkpad line
- I turned the offer down, however, the curse was already rolling...

One Month Later (The knockout)
- Chinese Firm (Lenovo) buys IBM's PC business
- IBM PC sales rep positions are dissolved across the nation

... and the latest

Medtronic
- FDA warns Medtronic over their Lifepak External Defibrillators
"... FDA said an investigation found the medical device maker did not correct damaged pins and broken wiring in the medical defibrillators' cable connectors."

I was offered a job with Medtronic last year to ... you guessed it, sell their Lifepak External Defibrillators. I would have been in charge of Enterprise Sales for the Pacific Northwest and was told by the head hunter and hiring manager quote, "This is huge opportunity that you just can't turn down... " I turned the job down, but it looks like it was too late, the curse was already in motion.

.... always just waiting to see what's next.

Amazon.com Brings Bob Dylan Back to Seattle

2005-06-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

In celebration of its10th year anniversary, Amazon.com is hosting a concert featuring Bob Dylan, Norah Jones, and others. The concert will be held on July 16th at Seattle's Benaroya Hall (right across the street from my office in Downtown Seattle.) The concert will be hosted by Bill Maher, and will also feature some of amazon.com's most popular artists of music and books.

So how do you get tickets? You can't. This is a concert for friends and family of employees. Therefore, my advice would be to quickly become friends with or merry into the family of an amazon.com employee. If that is too much of a commitment for you Dylan fans out there, then the other alternative is watching it live over your PC. Ahhhhhh technology... yep, amazon.com will be streaming the concert live over the Internet and you can sign up to receive the feed and other great information here. Happy streaming!

Cell Holster

2005-06-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

Well ladies, it looks like someone (Tsaya to be exact) has come up with a nifty holster to allow today's cell-phone-toting-female-socialite to keep her phone, credit card, ID, and cash "strapped" while out and about on the town.

Now, I can't speak for the entire population of female cell users, but from the population that I know, having a place to put the phone, credit cards, and ID when going out on the town has always been a problem. Most of the time they have no pockets or if they do, they are too tight for a phone (which we wouldn't want to change), and taking out a small bag is a hassle. The result is usually a lost phone, or ID... or even worse the whole bag.

Another point to mention is Tsaya's marketing strategy for the holster. They are promoting a virtual menage-a-trois marketing approach, which is basically a way of promoting a word-of-mouth sales strategy. They are offering $10 for every referral purchase that is made - with no limit. So, you refer to a friend, they buy a Tsaya and 14 days after they get the product Tsaya sends you $10 via PayPal. Not bad... might even work. Either way I think it's an innovative solution to a problem I have personally laid witness.

To send out a referral you can get started here. Happy Holstering!

Google Continues to Build on It's Vision for Google Maps

2005-06-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

As Google continues to build on its outside-of-the-box-offerings, the SilliconVallyWatcher reported that Google is now working on 3D functionality for its Google Maps offering. Googlites have recently been working along side Stanford PHD students to map San Francisco in 3D using digital photography and laser technology with future plans in other major cities. This will eventually allow Google Maps users to take a virtual fly-by tour from one destination to the next as they explore directions using Google Maps. This will also open up the opportunity for Google to further expand its avenues for online advertising, which as a share holder will hopefully continue to fuel that exponential growth!

Book Reivew: "Winning"

2005-06-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

I love to read and over the past five years the domain of my reading interests has held steady with business books, technology text, and historical nonfiction. With that said, I just finished Jack Welch's new book, Winning, and thought I'd leave a little "Fuller" synopsis on my blog... so here it is.

Chapter1: Mission and Values
- Always Have a clear message
- Keep it simple
- Make it something that employees can rally behind

Chapter 2: Candor
- Create an open and sharing environment
- Allow for honest feedback
- Reward openness and idea sharing
- Always be open for constructive criticism
- Everyone should be heard

Chapter 3: Differentiation
- Invest where the rewards are highest (focus)
- Be quick to cut your losses - don't get blinded and hold on too long
- People (20 / 70 / 10)
-- spoil the "20
-- kill the "10
-- Cultivate the "70

Chapter 4: Leadership
- Motivate, Motivate, Motivate - make sure people live and breath the mission
- Get into their skin (exude energy)
- Establish trust
- Must have the courage to make unpopular decisions
- Probe and push with curiosity
- Inspire risk
- Celebrate
- Build self confidence
- Never score off of your people's ideas
- You are not a leader to win a popularity contest

-- Sidebar (what Jack would look for in a good leader)
- Be comfortable in your own skin
- Ability to excite others (exude energy)
- Maturity
- Edge (ability to make tough decisions, etc)
- Positive energy, positive outlook
- Integrity (ability to admit mistakes)
- Passion (always looking to learn and grow)

Chapter 5: Strategy
- Ponder less and do more (don't make things more complex than they have to be)
- You need:
1. A big Aha - finding the "aha" should be a bottom up event
2. People to execute - need the skills
3. Best practices (constantly improve them)
- Talk to sales people and anyone close to the customer
- Know what your competition eats for breakfast

Awww.... Excess

2005-06-10T10:11:00.000-07:00

The Maybach Exelero - 700 Hp V12 ... all I can say is "yes please"

The World's Biggest Megayacht - 482.6 Ft, Helipad, Full-Sized Swimming Pool, Disco, and Cinima. Accommodations - 25 owner suites, 6 guest suites, and 5 VIP suites all coming to a cool $550M

The Burj Al Arab - (Dubai) Soaring at 321 Meters this all suite hotel reflects the some of the finest the world has to offer. Let me paint a picture: Roll up in your chauffeur driven Rolls Royce to a private check in at you floors reception desk - yes each floor has its own reception desk - and then turn things over to what they describe as the "brigade of highly trained butlers" who provide personal 24 hour service. And I've been spending all this time in the Holiday Inn Express down the street... woops.

For more interesting info on these check out www.gizmag.com

IBM's New 9-Core Cell Chip Hit's 5.6 GHz

2005-06-07T11:33:00.000-07:00

"Cell - coming soon to a broadband device near you!"

After four years and over $400 Million, IBM has secretly co-developed a multiprocessor that has redefined the way multiprocessors are designed. This chip, known as Cell, is of a new breed of processor known as "multicore", meaning chips with more than one processing core burned into the same piece of silicon.

So.... where are Intel and AMD? Well, they have been busy announcing dualcore processors, however, the Cell chip skipped 2, 3, and even 4 to come in at a staggering 9 cores. Did I hear a 9'er in there??? Yes, 9 cores. I'd say... "thanks for playing." And just for some salt on the rim, I also heard rumor that the Intel design may not hold up when push comes to shove... but that remains to be seen.

In a recent test they topped the Cell chip out at over 5.6 gigahertz before popping it's voltage regulator (Business 2.0). The chip was designed for the newest Sony Playstation consol, but I have a feeling we will be seeing it in a number of the new consumer devices slated for the future. Good work to the IBM team in Austin and we look forward to the functionality we will get out of this new design!

Choose Your Weapon

2005-06-02T16:01:00.001-07:00

Last week while pouring through the laundry list of things that need to be accomplished before I start Graduate School, I found that a laptop is now a required utensil for grad students. With today's growing reliability on information technology, it seems we need to have a computer at our disposal at all times, which as an aspiring Techno-Entrepreneur is at least reassuring to my career aspersions. Therefore, the last couple of weeks I have started the process of researching my grad school "weapon of choice."

Now with my career start at IBM and blood continuing to flow blue, I feel the IBM Thinkpad line - dissipate the recent take over by Lenovo - is still the cadillac of notebook computing. Over the years I have owned several Thinkpads and have not found any other brand that compares. Therefore, a Thinkpad it will be... now, I just need to decide on the right model.

With careful consideration and plenty of laptop review reading, I have finally decided on the IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad T43. When pouring through reviews I found www.notebookreview.com to be the most informative website for information on all the latest laptop offerings as well as instrumental to my decision on the T43.

I also considered the Thinkpad X41 but decided a little more weight was worth the extra horse power and onboard optical drive. The X41 is Thinkpad's new ultraportable offering and while coming in at less that 3 lbs with heavy horsepower it lacks some of the swiss army features that the T43 offers.

As for purchasing, I am going to hold off for a few months to pull the trigger (in hopes prices may lower), but will purchase through the ibm.com website. I still have ties at IBM and through the employee purchase program should be able to get a 25% discount.

MBA Time

2005-06-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

Well, after two years of researching, studying, essay writing, and campus visiting, I have decided to stay here in Seattle and persue my MBA at the University of Washington. After careful consideration, I felt it would be the most bang for the buck. They have recently moved up in the rankings to #18, according to the latest US News and World Report rankings, and over my last four years here in the Seattle area I have made quite a network of local business elitists that I feel will be extremely beneficial post MBA.

Stay tuned to read about my trials and tribulations as I navigate through the world of "Student Redux."

About Me

2005-06-02T15:59:00.000-07:00

Real Name: Michael D. Fuller
Current Occupation: Business Development Executive
Degrees: Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering (University of Arizona)
Hometown: Kingman, AZ
Currently Living: Seattle, WA
Goals: Continually educate and improve my knowledge of business, history, and the world in which we live.

Education

University of Washington – Seattle, WA

Candidate for Masters of Business Administration (class of 2007) – Technology Entrepreneurship

Candidate for the Center for Technology Entrepreneurship Certification

Candidate for the UWBS E-Business Certification

University of Arizona - Tucson, AZ

Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering May 2001

Golden Key National Honors Society

Beta Theta Pi Fraternity – IFC chairman & Class President

IBM Global Sales School – Atlanta, GA

IBM SSM Sales University – Graduated in the top 5%

IBM Storage Sales “Top Gun” & IBM Software Sales “Top Gun”

Certified in the IBM Signature Selling Methodology (SSM)

Work Experience

Marsh & McLennan/Mercer HR Consulting – Seattle WA 2003-present

Business Development Executive

o Member of the Seattle Business Development Team focused on expansion of the Northwest middle-market business

o Managed all aspects of prospect development pre-sale through to closing as well as continual management of client relationships throughout the sales process

o American Electronic Association (AeA) team lead – maintained the AeA & Marsh relationship as well as managed all new AeA clients

o Initiated a research project to map all innovative new-to-market HR-technology solutions

o Built and lead Marsh teams to provide complete solutions that resulted in new business

o Successfully completed the Marsh Business Development Sales Program with top recognition

o Was recognized as a team player and was the team lead for several Marsh sponsored charity events

Teracloud Corporation – Bellevue WA 2002-2003

Sales Executive

o Was part of a team tasked with building Teracloud’s Enterprise Storage Software business – took ownership of the Pacific Northwest Territory consisting of WA, OR, ID, MT, UT, and AK

o Maintained a $1.1 M new business revenue target – lead Business Development team in goal achievement

o Top performer in prospect development – led the company in new product installations

o Helped create the sales strategy for the ‘04 software rollout, including the development of the “sales kit” consisting of presentations, whitepapers, and customer deliverables to be used by the entire company

o As the “sales kit” team lead, was chosen to present the’04 sales focus to the entire company

o Successfully built relationships with solution related executive groups and industry partners

o Became fluent with Salesforce.com for management of customer relationships and helped train the entire sales team

o Showed the ability to excel in a small start-up environment

IBM Corporation – Seattle WA/Tucson AZ 1998-2002

Storage Networking Sales Specialist

o Managed the sales of IBM Enterprise Storage (SAN & NAS) solutions including all reseller relationships for the Pacific Northwest (WA, OR, ID, UT, MT, and AK)

o Successfully maintained a $12M team quota and a $3.2M personal quota

o Was the team lead on the largest IBM NAS proposal ($1.6M) during the 2001-2002 time frame managing a 30 person team during an 8 month process

o Became proficient in the justification, configuration, and consultation of all IBM storage solutions and used this knowledge to write three IBM whitepapers that were eventually published on the IBM website

o Expertise included all IBM storage hardware and software solutions along with IBM partner components such as McData, Brocade, Inrange, Precise WQuinn, and DataCore Enterprise solutions

o Obtained ‘Top Gun’ recognition from the IBM Sales University

Qualcomm Inc - Tucson, AZ 1997-1998

Network Development Sales Consultant

o In charge of photo simulation sales and design of projected network sites

o Worked with city planning and zoning, MTG Telecommunications, and RF engineers

o Contracted to sell projected telecommunications sites to community representatives and property developers

o Working with Adobe Photoshop and Kodak DC40 digital camera technologies

o Received recognition for successfully assisting Qualcomm and MTG certify 36 sites in less than four months

Fuller Graphics - Tucson, AZ 1996-1999

Owner/CEO

o Recognized a need for Photo Simulation services and started a business to deliver these services to large telecommunication companies

o Clients included: Sprint PCS, Qualcomm-MTG, and US West/Qwest

o Built a reputation of providing top quality photo simulations that were delivered faster and at a lower cost than any other competitor

o Required extensive teaming with city planning and zoning, Lucent Technologies, and area attorneys

Hobbies/Activities

Clubs/Organizations:

The Northwest Entrepreneurial Network (NWEN) – active team member of the membership board

American Electronics Association (AeA) – active member of the membership and HR committees

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

Seattle Networkers, University of Arizona Alumni Assoc, and Beta Theta Pi Alumni Assoc

Charities: Member of Big Brothers Big Sisters fundraising Magic Council, a “Big Brother” for Big Brothers Big Sisters of King County, active coach for the First Tee of Greater Seattle, team captain for Northwest Junior Achievement, and active participant with March of Dimes Walk America

Sports: Currently active in Golf, softball, volleyball, flag football, and soccer

Enter the Blogosphere

2005-05-30T15:59:00.000-07:00

Well, it's nearly half way through 2005 and I guess it's time to venture into the new and exciting world of blogs. They are quickly becoming common place and well, as the kids would say, "everyone's doing it!" I can't be left behind.

I am a huge fan of our friends at Google and try to keep my figures on the pulse of every new Internet powered paradigm shift they make available. Blogging is one of those new ways of communicating that the Internet and an increasing instances of broadband services has made possible. Through Blogger, Google has allowed me a free and easy door into this world... so I'm putting on my swim cap and diving in head first. If you've found your way here, congratulations.... and I hope you'll find something interesting.

Cheers