 |
There's nothing like travelling light! For one trip to the train station, Donna LaCourt, state forester, and Doug Parks, of the MEDC, crammed all the luggage into the car while the rest of us walked the five blocks to the station because there was no more room in the car. |
This is it. My last day in Sweden. We leave first thing tomorrow morning and arrive home about 12 hours later. It's been a wonderful trip—the Michigan contingent accomplished some tangible results and built new partnerships that will be strengthened and expanded. Yay team!
Some last minute, random thoughts:
Finally, I'd like to thank everyone on this trip for graciously tolerating my questions and requests for interviews and photos. Without their insight and knowledge, I wouldn't have had anything to say.
From Michigan State University:
Steve Pueppke
Office of Biobased Technologies Director
Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station Director
Assistant Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies
Kris Arvid Berglund
University Distinguished Professor of Forestry and Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Ray Miller
Research Forester
Upper Peninsula Forest Properties Manager
From Michigan Tech University:
Glenn Mroz
President
Dave Reed
Vice President for Research
Dave Shonnard
Professor of Chemical Engineering
From the Michigan Department of Natural Resources:
Donna LaCourt
State Forester
From the Michigan Economic Development Corporation:
Doug Parks
Vice President of Strategic Initiatives
Martin Dober
Director of Cellulosic Biofuels Strategic Initiatives
And a big thank you to the MSU University Relations staff members who edited, formatted and posted what I sent to them: Sue Nichols, Rain Hodack and Russ White. The whole operation was a team effort in the best sense of the word.
There's palpable excitement in the air. The announcement of the Chemrec-NewPage memorandum of agreement is large reason for why we're all here and it's a tangible result of the research, education, outreach and relationship building that so many people have done.
If we were a football team, I'd be the eighth string punter riding the pine who never saw a second of playing time; in other words, I had nothing to do with it. But I'm still excited for the team. It's been really cool to be a part of this project, even watching from the sidelines. Bringing together Michigan and Swedish companies to reach common goals for the greater good—helping the economy AND the environment—is really what working at a land-grant (or global-grant in today's world) is all about.
We're all attending a reception at the residence of the U.S. ambassador to Sweden tonight. On the 3-hour train ride from Växjö to Stockholm, I take advantage of the available wireless connection and check out diplomatic protocol Web sites. Coming from very blue collar stock, I'm not quite sure how one behaves around an ambassador. Curtseying seems a little over the top, but I want to be sure it's not expected. Steve Pueppke tells us that everything should be fine because Sweden isn't a "kissing" country. There will be no confusion over which cheek and how many times. Imagine my relief.
The ambassador's house is beautiful, security is tight and I wear a suit and smile a lot. It's sappy, but the reception makes me realize how proud I am to be from Michigan and to be representing MSU on this trip.
It's the first day of the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneurial Days in Växjö and I'm feeling a little strange. For the first time since we arrived in Sweden seven days ago, the Michigan group is not spending the entire day together. Usually we all meet for breakfast at 7 a.m. and then jam ourselves into a car and head out, visiting facilities, talking to scientists and government officials, eating lunch and dinner together, and then wearily slogging off to bed at 11 p.m.
Today, everyone heads off on their own track. All of a sudden I've bereft of my posse. It feels unnatural. On Aug. 12, these eight people were complete strangers to me. Today, it's a little depressing not talk to them for an hour. Unbelievably, we've all gotten along famously. I have to admit I was a little intimidated about spending two weeks with university presidents, vice presidents and senior MEDC and DNR officials. But everyone is funny and smart, easy to talk to and very committed to boosting Michigan's bioeconomy. I'm relieved when we all regroup for dinner.
 |
I can't be certain that this is the exact bird that pooped on me, but it seems to have a malicious glint in its eye. |
Växjö is a town full of large gray birds that look like magpies, but aren't. Unfortunately, the one fowl who has eaten a gross of blueberries decides to poop on me, significantly upping my personal grossness factor. It lands on my bag and I don't notice until I've smeared purple bird poop all over my bag, shirt and jeans. Since I only brought one pair of jeans (despite the heaviness of my suitcase), this is distressing. The town of Växjö goes down a notch or two in my rankings.
We're spending four days in Växjö, the city named "greenest city in Europe" by the European Union. The streets are free of trash. The cars all seem to run on ethanol. Most of the commuters ride bikes rather than drive, so there's a lovely quiet surrounding the city during the morning rush hour. Just the whir of bike wheels as someone pedals past on their way to the office. The power plants burns wood, so there's no noxious smoke or smell.
Växjö is situated on the shores of a lake, which has a nice path all the way around it, perfect for morning running, which is how I check out the a.m. commuters.
The only drawback I've seen so far is the shuttering of the town on Sunday. After about 2 p.m., almost everything is closed. When Gov. Granholm arrived in the early evening, the entire Michigan group trekked around town with her for a half hour searching for an open ice cream store. Thankfully, we find one that agrees to serve our group. When a few of us (sans governor) go to dinner later, we find exactly one pub that is open. It's packed and there is only one person working. He's completely overwhelmed. The poor guy is simultaneously behind the bar, bussing tables, running up a flight of stairs to take incoming orders to the kitchen and retrieve filled orders, and running the meals outside to the diners. The bar regulars (or at least I assume they're regulars because they know the bartender's name) are heckling him because they're not getting served right away.
I feel so bad for him, I leave him a 20 percent tip, even though the norm in Sweden is 5 percent. I hope he's not offended.
I'm beginning to think that I'm the only person in Sweden that doesn't feel the need to eat chocolate every two hours. At breakfast, lunch, coffee breaks, during meetings, before dinner, during dinner, after dinner and before bed, the Swedes ply us with chocolate. Chocolate mint graham crackers in the hotel, chocolate wafers on the train, chocolate ingots at company visits. Was Willy Wonka Swedish?
 |
| Doug Parks, of the MEDC, and Donna LaCourt, DNR state forester, after tasting sour herring, a Swedish delicacy. Notice how far away the can is from Doug's nose. |
So far the Swedish food reminds me of English food; rather beige and slightly bland. No salt or pepper in sight at the dinner table. Fish with boiled potatoes seems to be a staple. I have stayed far, far away from the sour herring. It's made by putting fresh-caught herring and a little bit of salt in a can in March and then letting the mixture ferment until August. When a can of it was opened at lunch, it smelled like vinegar mixed with turpentine mixed with rotting fish. Doug Parks, of the MEDC, braves a huge mouthful. Donna LaCourt, state forester, samples it next and pronounces it very tasty. When I ask to take a picture of them with the fish, Doug holds the can as far away from his nose as he can. I don't think he'll be taking a souvenir can home with him.
The hotel in Umea is like Greg's attic room on the Brady Bunch. It's all mod and groovy—the hallways are lit with red and orange lights and the room doors look like Hugh Hefner could be behind every one. Happily, he is not. The Swedes we have visited tell me the hotel is much more Finnish in décor than Swedish. It's an aberration they say. But it feels vaguely homey for someone who had a bedroom with fluorescent orange walls over pink shag carpeting at age 14.
 |
| Moose crossing signs are posted along the roads in Sweden. We finally saw one! |
Driving from the Lulea airport to the city center, I'm struck by how much Sweden looks like the Upper Peninsula. The two-lane road cuts through a forest of pine trees. The breeze is cool. There's a funky collection of resort cabins available for rent. I can see a large body of water peeking through the trees. Almost everyone speaks English. I could be driving on U.S. 2 across the UP. The people are friendly, courteous and smile even when I hold out a palmful of coins and admit I have no idea how much money I should be giving them. I don't feel so far from home after all. I see moose along the highway. This definitely feels like the UP.
© 2007 Michigan State University Board of Trustees. East Lansing, MI 48824.
MSU is an affirmative-action, equal opportunity employer.