Wednesday, October 27th - Au revoir Paris...

Early this morning we boarded our Delta flight headed out from the the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris back home to Salt Lake City, Utah. We landed in Utah at 2:00PM. This landing brings a conclusion to my European Adventure I have been on for the last month.

I have only been home a few hours and already miss the ambiance and magic of Europe. I can imagine the smell of a delicious crepe with Nutella and Banana on it, or the sweet taste of an authentic Italian gelato.

I miss the feeling of friends sitting together to enjoy a wonderful meal accompanied by the  music of some passing musician serenading us with his accordion, while the slightly crisp, but not too cold, air would lightly surround us as as we casually sat outside some quaint, little cafe.

I marvel at the wealth of knowledge I have gained these last few weeks from visits to various corporations and political organizations that have helped me to understand International Business and International Relations on a level most graduate students don't even get to experience.

I miss: Magnum bars. Multi-grain cracker chips from Switzerland. Better tasting European Coca-Cola. Kebabs. Chateaus in every city. Buildings built centuries ago. Landmarks that make me want to be in love. European style. and most of all I miss my other scholars as I half expect to hear a dozen of them coming down my hallway being the "typical" loud Americans. What a fun adventure it's been!

My special thanks to Shannon, Stacey, and Lynne for this life changing experience!

Tuesday, October 26th - "Connecting" with each other

I feel this post needs to be prefaced with my current love for all and any Apple Products. That being said...I will recount one of my favorite corporate visits on this trip...Microsoft!


Today we headed to European Headquarters for Microsoft. Microsoft's France Headquarters as well as their European Headquarters are in Paris. We visited with some people from their European Headquarters. It was very interesting! We were hosted by Jacques and Wendy two of the employees in the International Division. We discussed Microsoft and their role in the computer Industry. It was interesting to see that Microsoft is becoming more of a platform business. They are developing new technologies and then wanting other companies to come along and market and sell the technology. Part of the reason for this is the sheer size of the Microsoft.

We also had a guy named Ray Pinto come and speak to us and he talked about the future of Microsoft and how they are moving into a Cloud Computing System. The idea is that your health records, birth certificate, credit card information, etc. will all be stored in “cloud databases” that individuals will have access to. He discussed the challenges with this in terms of privacy and security and how both of these must be addressed for cloud computing to really work.

As we walked around the various departments it was interesting to see their mainframe computers behind glass walls and to hear about some of the technology expanses they are making. On one particular poster of Microsoft’s partners there was an Apple logo. I asked our host with the competitive nature if Microsoft and Apple team up on technology projects together. He said that they are a partner with the Microsoft Office Suite and thus are considered a corporate partner.

I really appreciated the honesty of the Microsoft employees. Jacques at one point said something to the extent that Microsoft didn’t expect the iPad to become as popular as it has and Ray also mentioned competition from Apple and other companies like Google as a good thing because it keeps Microsoft on their toes moving forward.

They took us up to the top floor of the building where they had an apartment set up that is from the not-too-distant-future. The computer and TVs were wired together and there were several things that were all automated and controlled by your computer. We all got to try out the new CONNECT gaming system and it was WAY fun! It’s cool because it hasn’t even hit the market yet and we got to try it out and have fun. It was amazing because you didn’t need a remote or anything it just scanned you and mimicked your movements.

Overall, I was very impressed with Microsoft and learned a lot in realizing that they are not just a company that makes Windows and related products, but that their technology and expansion will continue to affect every market in the future.  

Monday, October 25th - DISNEYLAND PARIS!!!

Today we went to Disneyland Paris and it was MAGICAL as Disneyland always is. It was interesting seeing a lot of the same rides as the Disneyland in California with a few cultural adaptations that were made. Several of their roller coasters were inside as well as a good portion of the line to wait in. This was because unlike California Disneyland the weather is freezing cold! It was funny being the culturally loud Americans in the quieter French Society.

We first got a fast pass to Thunder Mountain and then headed to Indian Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean. Indiana Jones was an actual roller-coaster

Sunday, October 24th - "Let them eat cake..."

Church

Versille

Marie Antonettes Chateau

Hamlet

Fastfood

Return home.

Saturday, October 23rd -

paris flea market

catacombs

Notre Dame Tower

Saint Chapel

Boat Ride down the Seine.

Friday, October 22nd - A Message from the Dean

Thursday, October 21st - Spilling water all over NATO...

This morning we had one of our original visits cancel on us so we were able to set up a factory visit with Caterpillar. We toured one of their processing plants and it was amazing to see how things were shipped in, stored, and then shipped back out. It was really good in being able to view operations management first hand. I found it particularly interesting that all of their products are categorized into short, medium, and long storage life, and how all of the products are even positioned on the shelf based on this category. It was fascinating to see how quickly they could receive and fill orders based on their set up and really helped me to better understand shipping and receiving operations.

After our tour at Catepillar we went to lunch at an Italian Restaurant with several political advisors from NATO, North Atlantic Trade Organization. I sat at a table with their magazine editor Paul and had a great conversation about US/EU Politics and his line of work. It was interesting getting his opinion on NATO as he is more involved with an objective news side of the organization. He said he has gone to individuals who are against NATO and has sat down with them to understand their side and how he tries to portray and address that in their monthly publication. I appreciated his honesty and understanding of how and why people would be opposed to NATO.

I also enjoyed hearing more about the politics and policies of NATO from the other political analysts and the open door policy of NATO as long as countries interested in joining meet the requirements to join. I am once again amazed at how although NATO does not have enforcement power they are able to successfully implement policy and trade negotiations among their member countries and that the US is able to balance negotiations here with all of the other international organizations. I really enjoyed this lunch because of the one on one chance I had to learn more about the organization.

At one point I knocked over my glass of water and thankfully Paul was quick at moving or else he would have been covered in water. I was so embarrassed and he just laughed and laughed about me not liking his opinion on US politics and that he must have said something that offended me. Thankfully he was able to move and it wasn't the red wine that he was drinking.

Wednesday, October 20th - Visiting Huntsman Chemical with my friend "Stella"

HUNTSMAN CHEMICAL

Today we visited the Huntsman Chemical Corporation. When we arrived they rolled out the red carpet and it didn’t disappear until we left. We were greeted by Nick Webster the European Vice President and the Brussels, Belgium Plant Manager. We had a great discussion on some of the cultural differences of operating in Europe and it was great understanding Nick’s British perspective. We also discussed the Huntsman Chemical Corporation and their European presence.

We then went on a company tour and it was the coolest thing ever! Huntsman Chemical combines several different chemicals to produce a polyurethane material that they turn into sweet stuff used everywhere. Did you know that BMW seat cushions are a polyurethane material created by Huntsman? What about the soles of the Nike shoes that help you jump higher? Temperpedic mattresses? Or the wrapper of my favorite European ice cream bar…Magnum? Yep, all of those are made by Huntsman…along with a lot of other materials. The tour was great too because we stopped at each station and the engineers and managers explained to us the process and even did some demos. It was really neat seeing the production process and getting to ask questions that pertained to their different product lines. 

After the tour we were treated to a fantastic lunch…Magnum bars included…my FAVORITE ice cream bar ever! It was a great tour. The Huntsman Chemical Corporation was really great to us!

After our Huntsman Chemical tour we went to AB InBev and took a tour of their production facility. We toured the production process for their Stella Artois beer and talked about how AB InBev is the largest beer producer in the world. The guy who took us around didn't have the best English, but he was still nice. It was fascinating to see the production process and how technical it was. There was one room where we passed a wall of computer screens with all kinds of information that these engineers were monitoring. There is two main steps in the beer production. One is taking the barley and heating it and the other involves cooling and letting the beer sit. It was crazy to see their bottling process, but unfortuantely it was a scheduled maintainence day when we were there. We did however get to see their bottle recycling and cleaning process. They collect and reuse the Stella Artois bottles and that was interesting. Afterward the tour we had a gentleman show us how to pour a glass of Stella Artois because it had a very technical way to wash the glass and cut the foam off the top to prep it for drinking. It was interesting to see an operation and production line, but would have been even better to see the bottling process in action.

 

EXPLORING BELGIUM, BRUSSELS

                GRAND PLAISE

                MANIKE DE PEIS

                EATING MUSSELS IN BRUSSELS

                BELGIUM WAFFLES

Tueseday, October 19th - Elevator Pitch....

Today we all participated in an innovation tournament. There is a cool website where we submitted innovative new ideas. Each person had to submit 10 ideas and then all of us had to rate 200 or so of those ideas. From our 300 ideas the top 30 were selected this morning to be presented in an elevator pitch style presentation.

I was pretty excited because 4 of my ideas were picked in the top 30 and it took me by surprise because I’ve never thought of myself as an “idea guy” or someone who has these “innovative” ideas.

My 4 ideas were:

1.       Transition Lighting. This is best described as an automatic dimmer switch that is connected to wireless sensors in the room that detect the amount of light that is already in the room. (Windows, lamps, etc.) After it detects the amount of light it adjusts the top light to a previously decided setting. This way when it is very sunny outside and you only need minimal lighting it can easily detect that and adjust the light to save you energy and thus money from not having full lights on when they are not needed.

2.       Washer/Dryer Transitioner. This idea is a washer and dryer combo that are two separate machines, but are connected so that when your clothes finish washing they are automatically moved into the dryer and dried at the settings you previously set before putting them in the washer. You can still have the option of using just the washer or the dryer, but this way when a load finishes washing you don’t have to worry about moving it to the dryer.

3.       Steam Armoire. This is an armoire with a built in steamer. The idea is you put all of your wrinkled clothes in and turn it on. Your wrinkles are steamed out, the closet is then ventilated, and then that steam is released to humidify the air. It would have the appearance of a normal/nice armoire for aesthetic purposes.

4.       TV Picture Frame. The idea is simple. It would be to sell a frame/software set for TVs. Many TVs have replaced family pictures above the fireplace and this idea would be to add a nice frame to your TV and with a small software kit you would be able to upload your family portrait and it would display when the TV was off.

So, I decided to present on the Transition Lighting idea for the elevator pitch portion of the day. After all of the elevator pitches we were each given $10,000 to “invest” in our favorite ideas, or 10 increments of $1,000. Our professors were given $20,000 and we all put our investment sticky notes on the ideas we liked best. We took a break from lunch and when we came back the top 10 winners were announced. These top ideas were going to be presented on that night with a brief feasibility report. I was surprised when I found out my Transition Lighting idea took first place in the elevator competition and had to pick a team to help present on this idea.

Becky D. and Steve joined the Transition Lighting team and we began work on putting together all of the stats and information needed for our presentation later that night. We had about 4 hours to put this presentation together and we somehow were able to pull it off and even put together a video on our new product called Lumos Lightworks.

We presented and our idea made it to the final round! This project is our main final project and we will now put together a whole business plan for this idea, complete with financials, marketing strategy, and everything in between. Andrew A. joined our team and I’m excited to see how the final project comes together!

After we did our presentation we went out and got some GREAT Chinese food just around the corner from our hotel. I just thought it was funny how we were in Paris…eating Chinese food. It was really good and was super cheap…so you can’t complain about that! J  

Monday, October 18th - Eiffel Tower...the landmark of love...

This morning we visited OECD, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development. It is an international organization comprised of 33 member countries. Our main host was a vivacious man named Andrew Gentry. He is American, but permanently lives in France. He had been working with the OECD for many years and had some great additional insights and understanding.

One of the other presenters was a guy named William Wade who is currently working for the US as a representative with OECD. He was also from Utah so it was interesting to hear his perspective of working at OECD and his background in international affairs.

The main function of the OECD is to coordinate and advise the economic efforts of the 33 member countries. It has been referred to as the "International Country Club" because all most of the member countries are high GDP countries. It was interesting to understand that although there is no policy enforcing group for the OECD (military or otherwise) most of the policies are implemented due to the peer pressure of countries to follow the set standard.

The OECD also works to gather data and publish statistics on various economic topics. They have a very well known reputation for collecting correct data and important information. My first impressions of the OECD before visiting was that it was a somewhat pointless organization that only benefited affluent countries, but I was able to see the benefit on a wider scale of helping not only member countries, but other countries to understand and implement effective economic practices. Their focus was less on making all countries uniform, but rather informing other countries of additional practices.

After the presentations we were taken on a tour of the Chateau that is part of the OECD. I really enjoyed this visit as I had my opinion of the OECD changed, and more fully understood their role in the international community. It amazes me how all of these various international organizations exist, yet the US State Department is able to coordinate efforts with all of these different organizations at the same time.

After our OECD visit we had the rest of the day free. A major part of our experience is the opportunity to explore the cultural aspects of the places we visit and as important as discussing cultural differences it is best to realize those differences through first hand experiences. 

Milo, Becky, Ben, and I took off to together. Our first stop by my request was the Eiffel Tower. We boarded the metro and arrived there fairly speedy. This was my first real stop to the Eiffel Tower and I was very excited as it has been something I have always wanted to see. We came up the steps from the Paris Metro and there it was…overshadowing the surrounding buildings. 

We went up to the base and took some great photos. I loved it and of course wished I was in love. It seems to lose a little magic visiting the most romantic landmark in the world alone…or at least with people who are just friends. Someday I suppose I'll go with someone, right? 

After walking all around the base we decided to find the sister to the Statue of Liberty in the Seine River. We walked and found her much further down the river than National Treasure 2 paints the picture of it being. Thanks Nicholas Cage! (sarcastic) 

After going to the statue Milo and I realized how bad we needed to go to the bathroom and the thing about Europe is there are no bathrooms ANYWHERE! And little shops and cafes make you buy something most of the time to use their “toilets”. Lame. So we were dying, but didn’t want to buy anything because every shop lining the river is expensive so we finally found this hotel and walked in and pretended to be guests staying there. No one at a hotel is going to question you if you pretend you know where you are going. We found the lobby bathroom, used it, and resumed our day. I do have to mention how inconvenient this cultural difference is…especially when you have to go BAD! (Which is why I try to drink very little)

We decided to get a later lunch next and walked several blocks away from the river before finding this charming little sandwich shop. The lady inside spoke no English, but was very nice and helpful and we both laughed at how neither of us could speak the other person’s language. You do a lot of pointing and nodding.  This isn’t unusual, but she was just so cute and nice and cooked us the BEST Panini sandwiches. I love the food here! 

Our next adventure led us down the Metro to Notre Dame. Now I know I have confessed my Cathedral dilemma, but Notre Dame is unbelievable because of the sheer size and the amount of stain glassed windows. The Catholic Church obviously does things a little different, but I did find the glass roomed “Bishop’s Office” where people were confessing their sins to the priest a little strange. You could see them and trust me there were lots of people walking around looking in. 

It is interesting to see the patronage the Catholic Church pays to the various Saints. I openly admit a lack of understanding in this area with their feelings on these different Saints, and am just pointing out a cultural religious difference. 

While walking around Notre Dame I was right under the Organ looking at something and then all of the sudden it started playing and it was a “D” chord and for a second I thought they were about to start playing “Phantom of the Opera” and then realized Mass was starting. It was neat to stay and watch part of the evening Mass. It was different from what I am used to, but it was still good. 

We left Notre Dame and came back to the hotel to work on some of our group projects and take it easy as we walked all over Paris. We currently have an innovation tournament going on where each of us had to think of ten new product/business ideas and tonight we had to rate at least 200 of these ideas submitted by each other and the top 30 ideas will be selected and presented on, and in the end only a few final ideas will be chosen. We’ll have to do business plans and presentations on those final ideas as part of one of our final projects when we get back.

It was quite the fun day and I still can’t believe I’m in Paris!

Sunday, October 17th - Paris...the city of love...

We woke up REALLY early today to get to the airport to catch our flight out of Rome to Paris. We had arranged for a taxi to pick us up from our hotel at 5AM and with all of the transportation strikes taking place in France I was just hoping the taxi and flight worked out because we would have to spend a significant amount of money and time to get to Paris otherwise.

Our taxi arrived and we got to the airport and check in with no problems…other than the Taxi man totally ripping us off, but it was early and we got there. Everything with the flight went smooth and we arrived to Paris by 9AM. We landed at a small airport that the discount airline flies to. It is a city close to Paris, and our plan was to take the commuter train to Paris, but when we arrived we discovered the train was not running. Luckily a bus was able to take us into Paris for a small fee and an hour later we were at a main metro hub in Paris and from there we were able to reach our hotel via the Paris underground Metro.

We were the first group to arrive and met Krystn Clark, Huntsman Internship Coordinator, who had been checked into the hotel already. We dropped our stuff a d decided to get lunch. We went to this place called Indianas which is France’s take on a Chilis or Applebees. It is meant to mimmick these restaurants. I know…I go all the way to Paris to eat at Chilis, but it was really cold and it was across the street from our hotel and figured I would be enjoying French cuisine for the rest of our stay.

After lunch we went back to the hotel and in the lobby ran into Dan Holland, one of the entrepreneurship professors, and Rashid, a friend of the college of business who is a very successful entrepreneur. Both of them had barely arrived to the hotel and the lot of us decided to go see some of the great sites of Paris.

We boarded the metro to the Champs Elysees, the street leading up to the Arc de Triumph. It was so fun walking up the Champs Elysees and be in Paris. I have always dreamed of coming to Paris and loved walking around and observing everyone. I thought people were fashionable in Switzerland and Italy, but they don’t hold a candle to the French. Everyone was wearing great scarves and although it was a bit colder out anyway I have the feeling even in good weather scarves are an essential fall wardrobe accessory!

We ended at the Arche de Triumph and took some great pictures of this historic monument. I can hardly believe how well this city has been preserved. I was blown away at how almost every building is so beautiful. There are many buildings that if they were in any other city they would be the main attraction, but are only side notes to the overall grandeur of Paris.

From the Arch de triumph we walked to the famous Sacre Coeur Cathedral that sits on the main bluff overlooking Paris. It is quite the walk from the Arch de Triumph and Rashid was insistent on walking and explained to us the only way to truly see Paris is in walking everywhere. He was absolutely true and although my legs could hardly move from walking everywhere in Rome it was so fun walking down the avenues and through the parks of Paris. Becky and I found these great prints of the Paris landmarks and bought them for a great price.

The Sacre Coeur was packed as today was Sunday. It was a beautiful Cathedral and the white spires standout among the rest of the Paris skyline. I hate that I have become a Cathedral snob and will openly admit my flaw, but after you walk into so many they begin to mesh together. It is especially hard to visit any cathedral after going to St. Peter’s Basilica and not comparing it to the magnificence of The Vatican. So I apologize for my European arrogance at this time and hope you don’t judge me for these comments.

After Sacre Ceour we arrived back to the hotel and met Shannon and Stacey (our professors). Stacey had flown in only a few days earlier and brought me some great medicine that Logan got to her before she left. I also received a great photo of Logan and all of my roommates wearing my argyle sweaters…it was pretty hilarious! I know of course Logan orchestrated the whole thing and the picture was taken in my room at my apartment in Logan

 

Most of the other groups arrived to the hotel minutes later and we all split for dinner. Becky and I decided to go to dinner with Rashid and the professors (everyone was invited, but a lot of people only wanted a light snack). Andrew one of the other students came too and it was by far one of my favorite dinners from the trip. There were 8 of us and we went to this little restaurant only a block from our hotel. I ordered this AMAZING cooked duck and had the best Crème Brulee of my life! It was SOOOOOO good! Several of the professors ordered escargot and I tried it! It was actually really good! I felt so cultured! I actually ate a few and quite enjoyed them so much! The dinner was so fun and we just enjoyed one another’s company for over two hours. It helped me to understand why French culture is so tied to the food because it is at this time you build great relationships with each other.

It has been really fun on this trip to get to know Dr. Peterson (Shannon) and Dr. Hills (Stacey) in a completely new way outside of the classroom. They both have so great stories and experiences. What has surprised me the most has been the things I have learned about the other students. I have had class with these people for weeks, we’ve had study groups and lunches together, but traveling together is a completely new experience. I have learned so many new things about this great group people and this experience has deepened our friendships. I owe this back to this European philosophy of “living to eat” and stopping to take the time to sit down and enjoy a great meal together. Our culture needs more of that! Paris is magical!!

Saturday, October 16th - Dinner at the Pantheon...perfection

Today we decided to sleep in because we figured if we didn't we wouldn't enjoy the rest of the trip. We checked out of our hotels and took our luggage to the train station to have them hold it while we went to the Colosseum.

There was another group that went to Rome and we emailed them and all decided to meet up at the Colosseum. The other group was Jordan, Steve, Jolynn, Andi, and Jay. It was nice to meet up with them and add some variety to the our travel group.

When we got the Colosseum we found the others and got in the line. We started reading "Stuff White People Like", the blog that is now a book, and we were having a lot of fun. It was funny because you could tell there were people around us who were not from America, but spoke English and were intrigued by us reading the book out loud. It was actually pretty funny because they are WHITE PEOPLE, but not American so most of it didn't apply.

Andi, Jolynn, Jordan, and I decided to get the audio tour that explained the significance and importance of different things in the Colosseum as you walked around. I was very glad I did because it was great to understand a lot more of the history of the Colosseum. It was also interesting to compare it to the recent "Hunger Games" I've been reading and the similarities.

Some interesting facts about the Colosseum. They estimate that it held somewhere between 30,000 to 70,000 people and that each person had an assigned seat based on their social class. The "Games" as they were called were held on every government holiday and originally began with wealthy Roman families sponsoring them. As popularity grew the government took it over and the Colosseum was built. The battles in the Colosseum were animal vs. animal, human vs. animal, and of course human vs. human. There were "Career" Gladiators which were very prestigious in their culture. Slaves could compete in the games, and if they survived they could earn their freedom. They also threw prisoners of war and those sentences to death into the arena without any kind of protection or weapon and many times they were the first to get killed.

Architecturally the Colosseum was way ahead of its time. There were a lot of trap doors on the ground of the main arena and many times they would do pretty amazing things through these doors. They would change the scenery and landscape through these trap doors. There were huge hills that were created in the middle of the arena and one time they even built a gigantic whale that emerged from the trap doors in the ground with 50 bears coming out of the mouth. The Colosseum had an air of magic to the spectators because of the things they encompassed into the scenery.

It was very interesting and yet horrific at the same time to imagine 70,000 people cheering two people who were battling to the death...all for entertainment. Unusual.

It was all very fascinating and to realize it had been around for hundreds of years was pretty amazing too! One other interesting fact was that the south wall of the Colosseum is basically gone because they would raid the Colosseum for building supplies and a lot of the rock from the south side wall was used in the construction of St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, and other buildings around Rome.

After visiting the Colosseum we decided to part ways and headed back to the train station to get our luggage and check into our other hotel. We decided to stay our last night in Ciampino which is about 20 minutes from downtown Rome. We stayed here because our flight was at 7 AM the next morning from the Ciampino airport and figured it would be much easier to get to the airport by 5:30 AM if we were closer. We took the train out there, checked in, and grabbed some lunch in Ciampino and headed back to Rome for the rest of the day.

When we got back we figured we'd head back to the Colosseum area and check out Ceasar's Forum, but we got there right as they were closing it to the public. So we decided to still walk around that area and look at the Roman ruins. We then went to their current capital building and went to this sweet terrace at the top. We took some great pictures of the city right as the sun was setting and it was very pretty.

We decided to head back up to the area around the Pantheon to get some dinner...especially some bruchetta.  On the way we stopped by some sweet souviner shops, I bought a great Italian jacket and we continued on our way. When we got to the square of the Pantheon there was this amazing man singing opera with this boom-box like contraption. He was very good and we stopped to listen to him for a bit. I just loved all of the street performers who just create such an amazing atmosphere in Rome!

We decided to go up a block and found this great restaurant. As I sat outside eating delicious brechetta with a man nearby playing some romantic tune on the accordion, I thought: "This is perfect. It really can't get ANY better than this." I loved Rome for this reason, for the atmosphere and ambiance that engulfs you wherever you go. I will be coming back here again...hopefully soon.

Friday, October 15th - Today I met the Pope...

Today we got an early start as our plan was to go to Vatican City. We arrived to the Vatican Museum at 7:30 and were among the first in line without reservations when they opened at 9AM. This was great advice we followed from several people I talked to before coming who have seen lines of people waiting up to 3 hours to just get in. It was also neat being among the first in as the museum because it was not as crowded as it would be, later that day. We saw about half of the museum, but wanted to make sure and be among some of the first to see the Sistine Chapel so we took a short cut and skipped a bit of the museum. 

As many of you know the Sistine Chapel was painted by Michelangelo and took a long time to actually finish. I was taken aback when I first walked into the chapel! It is unbelievable and the ceiling comes alive. It is by far one of the best pieces of artwork I have ever seen! First of all, I can’t believe someone could paint all of that, and second I’m blown away that he was able to paint that on the ceiling. It was not too crowded and I was able to start at one end of the chapel and walk backwards while looking up and admiring it all. I also loved sitting on each side and just observing the small details found everywhere. 

It was amazing and I’m glad I got to see it. Because of its current condition and color fading you’re not allowed to take any pictures and I almost enjoyed that because it made you just take it all in and enjoy it while you were there.  

After exiting the Sistine chapel there is only a small portion of the museum and then you are at the end. My initial thought was:” GREAT! We can go do something else.” I admit openly I do not have any formal art history background other than playing the game Masterpiece with my family. I’m sure if I knew more I would care more, but because I don’t…I don’t. So…when Jessica said, “We can’t go yet! I haven’t seen the Rafael room!” I was less than enthusiastic. I would have had no problem going back to that particular room, but that required us to go back through the now REALLY crowded museum. 

We probably saw about half of the museum before seeing the Sistine Chapel and in the process of trying to get to the particular room we not only saw the other half, but the first half of the museum we had already seen. Again I had no direct problem with this other than the fact that Jessica is a much bigger art connoisseur than me and still enjoyed taking her time through the rooms we had already been in. Thankfully Becky got out her video camera to keep me entertained as I gave a fake tour of different paintings and where I could be found in them and why I had these particular paintings “commissioned”. When we left Jessica and we openly agreed we would NOT be venturing to the Louvre together. It was still fun and cool to see, but just REALLY long.

After, we went around Vatican City to St. Peter’s Basilica. Again…unbelievable! I couldn’t believe how big and ornate it was. And how old it was! We went in and I loved the statue of “la pieta” by Michelangelo. It is of the Savior in the arms of His mother Mary after his crucifixion on the cross. It is very moving and put a very real touch on the thoughts and feelings of Mary and helped me to realize some of the thoughts and feelings she might have gone through during this time. It was my favorite thing in St. Peter’s Basilica because it was very moving. 

Afterwards we went out to St. Peter’s Square that was set up for a huge Service being held this Sunday where they were the Catholic Church was going to be “Sainting” several individuals. It looked like an outside version of General Conference. We just sat for awhile on the steps of the square by the columns and rested while throwing pretzel crumbs to the pigeons. Milo scared Jessica pretty bad as she was throwing some pretzels to these pigeons and one got really close. It was hilarious! We visited with these two guys from Texas who were in town because the one’s cousin was being “Sainted”. They explained to us that 8,000 or Australians were in town because of his cousin because she is the first Catholic to be “Sainted” from Australia…so that was pretty cool!

We then headed to Saint Angelo Castle. It was less impressive than some of the other castles we’ve been to, but was still cool to go to the top where we had a great view of the whole city and had a really cool statue at the top. I can still remember how sore my legs were at this point and knew we still had a lot of walking ahead of us! 

We next went to Piazza Navona. At the Plaza there were amazing street performers and I got the most amazing tasting Gelato I have EVER had in my life! IT WAS SOOO good! We watched several of the performances and the sun began to set and there was the most amazing sunset behind this old church that cast this ambient glow on everything! 

The Pantheon was only a few blocks away and when we arrived the amazing sunset still lit up the sky. The Pantheon is neat because it has this great open-aired-oculus in the center of the dome. (Big open circle that never closes) There was this visiting gospel choir that was very serene to listen to and really set a nice mood in the Pantheon. The oculus is an architectural masterpiece because they were able to leave the center open while not having the dome cave in without a center cap. Although nothing can really compare in size to St. Peter’s Basilica, but I loved the Pantheon more because of the atmosphere. 

We then finished off our sightseeing adventure by visiting the famous Trevi Fountain. I of course cast my coin in wishing for something special I can NOT share or else it will not come true! Legend goes that if you toss a coin into the fountain over your shoulder with your back to the fountain it will come true. So cross your fingers for me that my wish will come true!

After Trevi fountain we walked back to the part of town where our hotel was and ate dinner at this great little authentic Italian restaurant. I ordered some great Tortellini with a delicious tomato salad…and by that it was just two tomatoes cut up and put on a plate. It was good with a bit of oil though. We ate, walked back the girls, and called it a night.  

Thursday, October 14th - Living on the train...

Today I have been living on a train! We left Leysin today at noon forever! It was quite sad because it really has felt like home the last week and a half. Dominique is a wonderful man with a large heart and I will miss Au Bel Air and Leysin very much! Switzerland was amazing! I never realized how easily I could fall in love with this beautiful country! It must be because of my family roots here in Switzerland! 

We have been traveling on train all day and are headed to Rome!!! I am so excited to go to Rome as many people I have talked to, who have been in this program, say that Rome was their favorite place in Europe! We are about 20 minutes away and I thought I would type a few thoughts before getting there.

We arrived to Rome and it was about 9:00PM. We checked into our hotels…they were more like private hostels, but they were still nice and safe. We then went and got some food from this little Italian bistro. We sat outside on the patio and I had my first experience with REAL spaghetti and it was great! The sauce was really good. It was laced in butter I’m pretty sure, but that is what made it so good! The people here do not eat to live, they live to eat and it is a delicious way to live!

We walked the girls back to their hotel and are going to bed because we wake up bright and early. 

Milo on the train "protecting" all of our luggage!

Switzerland

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Wednesday, October 13th - All Business...

Today was an all business kind of day and to ensure I include specific parts for my travel journal assignment I will be going in depth in some political and ethical issues we discussed with two international political organizations today. Translation for family and friends: basically this isn’t going to be the most fun blog post to read so you may want to skip on!

We woke up, checked out of our hotel and went to our first visit for the day. We went to the ICRC, International Committee for the Red Cross. The ICRC is different from the national organizations of the Red Cross in many ways. Their main focus is working with the rights of individuals involved in armed conflict, especially prisoners of war. It was very interesting to learn that they are realistic in the sense that although the UN “prohibits” war, the ICRC understands that war will still take place and focus their attention on helping both side to maintain basic human rights. They are strict in their neutrality and are against aggressive methods of getting information like torture and try to meet with different countries and organizations to discuss these human rights.

The ICRC can be viewed from a very controversial standpoint in the sense that they give aid to all who need it. From our American standpoint I think most of us would fight to the death on this matter in agreeing with the ICRC, but take one step back. This means that if someone from Al-Kida, or another terrorist organization, is in need of assistance they would openly provide it. Their position is maintaining strict neutrality and by so doing allows them opportunities to help in trying to discuss human rights with both sides.

The major disconnect with this organization is the inability to enforce anything. For example the treatment of prisoners has been less than humane by the US government in many instances in both wars we are currently in, and the treatment of the prisoners of war in Guantanamo Bay. Although the ICRC has addressed these issues with the US government they really can’t do anything more than that. My feeling on this matter is that at least they are doing something. They are not fully successful in the ability to fix the various world conflicts or even ensuring human rights, but at least they trying to do SOMETHING! I found this visit very informative and really helped me to understand that there are not simple answers to the problems facing our world.

We had had a break for lunch and walked to this great little kabab place and of course I ordered my kabab sandwich and with a great tasting bottle of Coca Cola. It was delicious as usual, and we then walked around a bit. We had to meet back up with our group after lunch for our afternoon visit.

This afternoon we visited the WTO, the World Trade Organization. The WTO is an international organization made up of 153 countries who determine trade policies and procedures among the various nations. Our host was quite entertaining and very honest about the benefits and challenges of the WTO.

He works in a marketing type role sending out press releases and accompanying the WTO Chairman to international visits and other events. He had some really interesting stories about how in one negotiation round several countries finally came to an agreement and when our host was asking different countries later about conclusion they reached, none of them were particularly happy with the results of the negotiation. Our host talked about how a general consensus is met between the countries of the WTO. He said there is hardly a time where countries are 100 percent happy with how things work out, but that realistically compromises have to be met to move anything forward. We discussed that although multi-national corporations like Wal-mart do not have any specific say, but that the US or other host countries will protect the rights of these companies and help to expand trade. He attributed much of this to the fact that lobbying at home takes place and that this can really stalemate things when negotiations are trying to be met on a global scale.

It was a very fascinating visit. Switzerland has been known throughout history as always maintaining international neutrality and although they are located in the middle of the European Union they are not an EU member and still maintain this neutrality. This fact alone is one major benefit for international organizations like the WTO to be headquartered here, and many other international organizations utilize this neutral stance as well. (Olympic Committee Headquarters are in Lausanne)

Overall it was a very informative day. I really learned a lot and realized there are so many factors that go into play when you really start thinking on a global scale. There are so many different factors, cultures, motives, etc. that I am amazed we can communicate and work as well as we do with our international neighbors. It truly is amazing. 

This day was less play and more business, but having these experiences has really open my mind in realizing that international business is everywhere and that most likely no matter what I do there will be some aspect of an international experience. I have also learned so much today about how politics and business are intertwined and the effects these two spheres have on one another. 

After our visit we will headed back for our last night in Leysin at the Au Bel Air Hotel.

Tuesday, October 12th - Boat ride on Lake Geneva

Our whole group left early this morning for Morges a town past Lausanne, but not quite as far as Geneva.  In Morges we met with Thomas Caine one of the product managers for Medtronic, a medical device manufacturer. Medtronic founders created the first pace maker and since then have moved into many other areas of production.

Mr. Caine is originally from Salt Lake City and has been with Medtronic for two years. He works with a product they are in the process of launching that will allow medications to have easier access to an individual’s spinal column. There is more complexity behind it, but for the sake of space and understanding I’ll leave it at that. Prior to our arrival at Medtronic we read a case about some of the issues their company faced in the past.

Mr. Caine was very informative and honest on the company’s stance on these issues, and addressed them front on. The research and development side of their company was very fascinating to me. There are many new technologies and avenues, in terms of areas of expansion, and their company has to look at what specific areas they would like to expand to with the realization that they do not have the money to explore every avenue. We toured their production facility and saw the production process in action. It seemed like a very rewarding company to work for and I really enjoyed this corporate visit.

Mr. Caine openly addressed the challenges of living in Switzerland and I again appreciated his honesty and perspective on living in another country and what cultural differences he has seen. I learned that open honesty is the best policy in business practice as it builds bridges of trust and understanding even when the topic might be controversial and have other implications.

After our Medtronic visit we boarded a train headed for Geneva. We were given the rest of the day to explore Geneva. The group I went with hit Old Towne Geneva and did some shopping and sightseeing. There was almost this sweet cardigan sweater I bought at H&M, but decided to wait until Paris before purchasing any clothing. The sleeves were too long and the sweater was too red. Why those details are important I’m not sure.

Steve Larsen and me in H&M wearing the red sweater mentioned above...

Geneva, Switzerland

After perusing various shops we ended up just wandering down these amazing little streets that had the typical “European” feel. We hit up St. Peter’s Cathedral and unfortunately barely missed the tour of the tombs below the Cathedral. We then went down to the shore line of Lake Geneva and met up with another group. Several of us decided to take a fun little boat taxi ride across the bay. In the bay there is this large jet stream that shoots really high into the air, but unfortunately the wind was too high so when we actually boarded the boat taxi it had turned off.

In front of St. Peter's Cathedral

On the boat taxi!

Steve doing his "Park City" Impersonation...he had this specific voice, laugh, and face every time he did it.
In this picture "Park City Guy" is outside the Geneva Yacht Docks .

We wandered around and finally found a little pizza bistro for dinner. We thought the price wasn’t too bad, but when we realized the large pizza was no larger than 9 inches in diameter we realized the major cultural differences in what “large” actually means. That’s life I guess!  It was really good pizza though, and Lynne Petit, one of our professors, was so generous and paid for all of our pizzas! It was very nice of him and we really appreciated it. We made the agreement that we would buy him one stellar dessert somewhere else!

The crazy thing about life here is that grocery stores, shopping centers, and even clothing boutiques large and small are mostly closed by 6-7PM. After 7 PM you are very hard pressed to find anything open other than restaurants and pubs. Eating and leisure time are very important in the culture here and especially free time. So to thank Lynne for treating us to dinner we promised him this wonderful dessert, but as 6:30 neared we realized that we were not going to have anything open and didn’t want him to not get him something to thank him for a nice dinner. We found some ice cream cakes at the Co-op grocery store and bought some plates. They were out of plastic forks and spoons so we bought chop sticks and took it all back to the Hotel to eat. We quite enjoyed the cake and also bought some great Swiss chocolate ice cream.  We stayed in Geneva because of the visits we have tomorrow and I am glad because I am ready for bed!

Monday, October 11th

This morning we had Marie Pascal from Credit Agricole come and present to us in Leysin. She presented on hedge funds and investment banking. It was interesting to learn more about this field as I don't know very much regarding these topics.

We were on our own for lunch and a number of us headed to the little Co-op Grocery Store in town. I bought a jar of Nutella and a baguette. I know we have Nutella in the states, but combined with the great tasting baked good over here it is AMAZING!

Jill took this picture of Luci, Andrew, and Jessica eating lunch, but pay attention to the staples of life on the table: bananas, a jar of Nutella, a baguette, and Swiss chocolate...

When we got back from lunch we were supposed to have a workshop session, but we ended up getting free time to work on our projects. I mainly focused on setting up this blog and recording some thoughts and impressions of things I've noticed that are different here.

"Working" on our projects! AKA hanging out....

We all got back together for dinner and after dinner all of us went curling. Dominique takes the visitors from his hotel curling every week at the local ice sheet. It was funny because when we got there and he was sharing with us how to play he described curling as "challenging and fun"....wo adjectives I never would have associated it with.

We all broke off into four different teams and played each other. I was surprised to find as we began playing both of Dominique's adjectives were true. It was very challenging try to get your stone to go at the right speed, but not too fast and then coordinate with the sweepers to get it on the target. And yet very fun at the same time. We played for several hours and all of us really got into it. We ended up creating a bit of a tournament and one team took the victory. My team unfortunately was the losing, losing team. (We lost against both the first and second teams we played) It was funny too because my team was made up of several very athletic and competitive guys...and we lost! It was a nice, fun, relaxing day!

Sunday, October 10th - Church in Europe

Today we decided to go to Martigny, Switzerland for church. It's only about 20 minutes by train from Aigle, which is the town at the base of the mountain Leysin is at. It was quite the experience getting to church. After we arrived at the train station in Martigny we had a hand drawn map of the directions to get there. We were supposed to go to this particular store and then cross the tracks. What we didn't realize is that there were several train tracks and after about ten minutes and realizing we were in a very industrial part of town we decided to turn around. There were some people in camp trailers nearby and we decided to ask them if they knew where the church was. Of course none of them spoke English so we relied on Becky Drebin to use her french to ask where it was at. They didn't know where the church was, but we found out we were going the wrong way because we were told there is a small Portugese Cultural Center across the street from the church and the people we were talking to knew where that was. We crossed back over the tracks found the building again and realized there was another set of train tracks headed in the opposite direction of the way we had been originally going. We correctly oriented ourselves with the map and easily found the church. We arrived right on time for sacrament meeting.

The church in Martigny was a small branch with the building in a strip mall type building. Sacrament Meeting was all in French and because their microphone system wasn't working the translation ear pieces didn't really work. Although I couldn't understand most of what was being said it was amazing to be able to recognize and feel the spirit as these members bore their testimony. I had the opportunity to share my testimony and one of the missionaries translated it into French as I was speaking. It was a unique experience and again left me thinking the gospel fills in the gaps where our languages and cultures do not meet.

My spiritual thought came from our experience of being lost and realizing that although we had a map, without proper orientation we were still lost. The same is true with the scriptures. We have this "map" to make it back to our Father in Heaven, but unless we align ourselves with the scriptures through daily study, we will not be moving in the direction we need to get going.

After church Becky, Milo, Ben, Jolynn, and I stuck around Martigny to explore a bit.

Saturday, October 9th - One more thing off the bucket list....

Today was amazing! We woke up early en route to Interlaken. (pronounced: interlockin) Interlaken is located about three hours from Leysin between two big lakes. Interlaken is known as an extreme sports capital and we were headed here to go paragliding! Can you believe that? me...paragliding...I know right.

Here's the background story. In eleventh grade when Karen and the Hartvigsens went to Europe, I remember Karen and her younger brother Peter going paragliding in the Swiss Alps and I thought that it was the coolest thing ever! I vividly remember thinking: "When I go to Europe someday I am going to go paragliding in the Swiss Alps!" It was the epitome of Europe in my mind.

When we arrived to Switzerland a few people vocalized their interest in paragliding and it suddenly it occurred to me that paragliding is in the air. Go figure, up until this point it was mystical and far off, but now...it was a real possibility. This realization plus the high cost to go was my deterrent for several days...actually until later last night.

My friend Milo helped me to realize: when am I going to be in Switzerland again and have this chance to go paragliding??? With this in mind and the retelling of Karen's story I realized I needed to go. I decided to make to go and Andrew A. booked my ticket online. Once I made the choice I felt really good about going and knew I would be safe and fine.

On route to Interlaken we experienced our first hiccup with the European train system. Our train to Visp somehow got delayed and our connecting train left without us. We panicked and talked to a taxi driver who told us it would take several hours and $400 to make it to Interlaken. At the time we didn't realize that we were several mountain ranges away.

We found another train leaving in an hour later from Visp to Spitz (Spitz to Interlaken). We were able to contact the Paraglifding Company to move our appointment from 11 AM to later that afternoon. We boarded the next train, met up with our group who had planned to meet us after paraglyding and all rode the rest of the way via the train.

It all ended up working out great because we got to spend the day with the rest of our group who came. We decided to explore Interlaken and ended up running into a car show that was going on. There were some pretty nice cars and it was fun to take pictures.

We decided to get lunch and as we were passing a particular restaurant and looking at the menu this man called out to us to come and here. It was a Best Western Hotel with a restaurant named Bebbies hooked on to it. We decided the price was reasonable and he seated us. We later figured out he was the owner or manager. He had lived in California for several years and his English was really good. He told us he would go back to the kitchen to see if there were any secret specials. He came back and told us a particular braughtworth meal was discounted an additional dollar fifty and that he would throw in free salad and ice cream. He was very lively and entertaining and all the waiters and waitresses had these fun cow pants on. Most of us ordered the special and had a lovely meal.

Jill, Becky D., me, Becky K., Joey, Milo, Jolynn, Ben, Andrew (Landon is taking the photo)

After lunch we explored some more and walked past the park where the Paragliders land. We watched it and I got more nervous about doing it. We went into a few Cathedrals and did some shopping and then it was time for us to go.

Me and Becky having some fun outside this house!

We met a guy from the paragliding company at the Train Station, boarded a little van and then we were on our way. We picked up a few more people and several professionals and headed on our way up the mountain.

Landon interviewing me via his tape recorder

Pre-Paragliding Interviews. It was funny because we were filming this at the park where the paragliders landed and our group was standing around watching as Becky interviewed me and we had several people that stopped and watched and you could tell they were interested to know who we were. I guess Landon's little tape recorder looks like a real microphone so maybe they thought we were doing a news segment or something. It was funny!

Luci, Andrew, me, and Milo with our paperwork to go!
This picture was taken right before we boarded the bus and you can see from my face how bad I'm freaking out!

When drove most of the way up this mountain, parked the van, and everyone got out. On the ride up each person was able to pick the professional they wanted strapped to their back and I picked a guy named Fabrice. I picked him because at lunch one of our waitresses told me to tell him hello when she found out we were going paragliding. Fabrice had been paragliding for about 20 years doing anywhere between 3-4 glides a day. I felt reassured I had picked the right person, but was still really nervous! They laid out all the parachutes, got everything lined up, and then we were all ready to go. The plan was to get strapped in, run down this gradual sloping hill, and then the wind would carry you into the air. Thankfully I didn't have to jump off of a cliff or anything.

This was at the top of the mountain and I am totally faking a smile here. I am freaked out of my mind at this point!

The time came, I got strapped in, and started running. The wind caught our parachute and took us up into the air. The trees began to get farther and farther away underneath my feet and I realized I was literally in the air! It was so cool! It wasn't scary at all! It was peaceful and serene to look out over these two amazing lakes and to see them boxed in by the towering Swiss Alps! It was crazy to see birds flying beneath me and to realize I was flying! I, of course, outstretched my arms like a bird and Fabrice just laughed. As we glided through the sky, Fabrice shared with me some facts about the town and the lakes and it with hardly a cloud in the sky it was PERFECT! Near the end Fabrice asked if I wanted to do some loops and I told him, "Had you asked me that when we got out of the van I would have told you no, but all that has changed....let's go for it!" He did some crazy loops that gave me the feeling in my stomach of being on a rollercoaster and then we prepared for landing. He told me all I had to do was stand up when he told me to and sure enough we glided in perfectly.

Me and Fabrice in the air!

When we landed I threw my arms up in the air!!!

Afterward, all of us went and got some gelato to celebrate our paragliding adventure!!!

Me, Milo, and Andrew celebrating our successful flights!

It was about a 3 hour train ride out to Interlaken so after ice cream we all grabbed a quick bit to eat and headed back for the train station for Leysin. What a perfect day!