With The Good Comes The Sad

Another week in the books. It seems like every day that goes by I figure out something new and things get a bit easier. This week had the usual frustrations associated with living in a foreign place, but it also had some moments of brilliance. One such moment happened this evening. One of the my program classmates Max scheduled an impromptu meeting of the minds informally billed as 'idea lounge'. The idea of this meeting was to open up a forum where the others in our program could share some things about themselves and explain in a bit of detail what their hopes and aspirations were for their year in Lund. The secondary goal was to outline a brief idea or two that they have for a possible business project. It didn't take long for the creative juices to start flowing. There were some really good ideas floated out and it seemed as though everyone was comfortable sharing information with the broad group. It was great to see how quickly people's personal barriers came down. As we went around the room it became apparent that all of us have something very positive to contribute to whatever projects we decide to work on. Optimism abound!!

Second really positive thing that happened this week was in conversation with Sergio who's from Chile. Sergio has lived in Lund for 7 years now and has studied at the university, has started several small businesses within the university and is well connected throughout the community. I expressed to him how I was having trouble gaining traction within Lund. While I'm meeting lots of new people and having lots of stimulating experiences I'm not necessarily connecting with the right people that can open doors and create opportunities within Sweden and the EU as a whole. I felt like after spending 6 weeks in Finland I could competently have a detailed conversation about how that society operates, how business attitudes are different, their general economy, and briefly how their government works. I left there with a network of contacts that I could have easily assembled into a 'team' should the need arise. That experience is something that I now want to replicate without the help of an organization like Rotary (which opened the doors for me in Finland). It's very important to me to know that I can develop a similar network on my own. It may be the most important thing I accomplish in the next year and will give me a great deal of confidence that I can replicate this in a 'new' environment should I find myself somewhere like this again. Anyways, I feel like I've spent two weeks in Lund and can barely wipe my ass (so to speak).

Enter Sergio; he pointed me to a couple of organizations that he thinks are well connected and people not only I, but our entire program should get to know. The main group he suggested was an organization known as FENA. They are essentially a non-profit organization for entrepreneurs and new business enterprises. They host forums and lectures that cover topics of interest to me. Additionally, he mentioned some regional development corporations that I will seek some meetings with. In Finland these groups understood what the government mandates and goals were for economic development within a given region. They often times hand held small businesses during various stages of development and would streamline funding if the company fit within certain parameters. Understanding this process will be of vital importance if (and when) something is to come from this program. Add these folks to my running 'to do' list.

In sad news, it seems as though the bike that I was just starting to kind of come around to has been stolen. Yep, I guess she found a better offer. I went out this morning to go to IKA (not to be confused with IKEA) and buy a few groceries. When I walked down to where it was stationed since Thursday after class the bike was gone. No lock, no sign of a struggle, no blood droplets or DNA. Now, bike theft is a really common thing here in Lund. It's kind of a 'war scar' that many students are proud to show. The police officer that greeted us and gave us a few street tips on day two of orientation mentioned the numerous things not to do with your bike. Don't leave it unlocked, don't leave it tied up just by the front tire, don't leave it just lying around people might think it's abandoned, etc. I did none of this, but apparently the temptation was too much for someone to bear. So for now, I've decided I'm going to live life on foot. It takes me about 40ish minutes to walk to class and a bit less to get home as it's downhill coming and uphill going. I've had a lot of bikes come and go in my life and with the exception of a few that I bought I always found them (I didn't steal them, there's a difference) and took them under my wing to give them a home in their lonliest hour. It's not so much the monetary loss (which is an issue, but negligible) it's more the sadness that I'm sure the bike is going to feel now as I'm sure it won't be as loved as it would have been with me as the owner. But, I guess, se la vie. Sad turn of events really. I guess it wasn't meant to be.