Denmark Days 4 and 5

I had a bad internet connection on Day 4 so I could not compose any kind of email. However, to catch you up here is the latest.

We finished the first task we had come here to do. I don't know how much we actually accomplished since there was a lot of discussion and no decisions made. The group is to decide what will be all included in our new factory control scheme and global database. My part is to help in development of the factory control scheme and align the many factories production parameters into a unified process. Translation: Hansen as a company, does the same thing in every country. That can be hard when every factory seems to do things differently. We all produce product, but we have our own little tweaks we add to get there. The work is far from over. Now, we get to go home and dive into the heart of the project before the group re-convenes in Milwaukee.

Last night the Team leaders took us to a fancy Italian restaurant called Bacino on the canal front in Copenhagen. I was only able to get one picture on the way to the restaurant since they were in a hurry. Bacino was very nice and obscenely expensive (I'm glad I did not have to pay). The food was tiny, but full of flavour, and there were 5 courses. We were treated to wonderful French wine (wait I thought we were in an Italian restaurant) that my French counterpart knew all about. After 3.5 hours of sitting (waiting) and eating we finally were led back through the city to our hotel. Yes, we walked back. The Danish futbol (soccer) team played the Albanians in a world cup playoff game that night and won so the streets were teeming with happy, drunk fans.

Now that the work is done the rest of my time here is for fun. I'm growing tired of going out every night, but we were invited by an American ex-patriot (one of our company sponsored transplants) to join him for beers at Kennedy's Irish pub down the street from his house. How could we refuse, he was buying! Mads, one of my good Danish friends joined us for beers also. We had a good time in the traditional Irish pub. We talked shop, old times, and made fun of the televised English dart league on TV. I have a picture of Mads in his natural setting (with beer and attitude). His middle finger is short since he got half of it cut off in a farming accident. That means it doesn't have quite as much potency for swearing at people.

I also encountered this famous (only in Denmark) soda. It is called Squash. At first, I thought it was squash flavoured which would be disgusting. However, it is really orange soda and pretty tasty. You might notice that it is labelled "appelsin" and think that it is apple juice flavoured, but that would be wrong. Appelsin is orange juice in Danish. Something to do with the oranges coming from china. I don't get it but whatever.

I also found out that almost all candy in Denmark is Licorice flavored. I don't mean red rope licorice. I mean black licorice, or anise, flavored. Aaron, one of my travel companions, found this out the hard way when we stopped at "Rema" (a grocery store). He thought he would get a variety pack of bulk candy that would be chocolate and gummy types. He found that every piece of gummy type was licorice flavour. I like black licorice so this would not bother me, but he can't stand that flavor. He could only eat the chocolate candies (I got the rest for free, yeah!).

Hot dogs are BIG here. They are the national food ( I think they were invented here) and you can find a street vendor every block selling them. There are several types that can be bought so don't just stop anywhere, and they range in price from 20 - 35 DKK (Denmark krown, which is 6 krowns to $1). That's right they are not cheap, but then again nothing is cheap here especially gas ($6/gallon). Anyway, back to hot dogs. You can get the hot dog without the bun, with bun, and in a bun that is like a shell for easier carrying. I prefer the shell for when you need to move and eat. Definitely get the mustard on that. It is a horseradish mustard or wasabi mustard that packs a kick which is worth it.

Enough for tonight. It is nearly 1am here. I need to get up so we can travel by train or rental car to Roskilde to see one of our other plants here in DK. Then I have plans to go kick-boxing with Mads. Hopefully, he won't ruin my good looks. :)