Business trip to the Electrolux HQ

Today was a special day: it was my first business trip with Electrolux, and I just want to share some words about it.
I had a meeting/training in the Electrolux Headquarter today, in Stockholm.

So here comes a summary of my day:
Waking up around 5 am in order to be on time for my flight Oslo - Stockholm at 7.40 am. After a short time in the sky, I arrived in Stockholm, went out of the airport and took a taxi. I was already impressed to see that I even don't need to give the adress to the taxi driver, he knew perfectly where the Electrolux Office was! I guess that Swedish are proud of Electrolux :D
After 40 minutes in the taxi I arrived in front of the Electrolux building: a huge building!!!
From my first minute inside the building I was already impressed. The hall is huge, colourful, with Electrolux white good and vacum cleaners everywhere!! One person for Stockholm came to pick me up at the entrance and show me quickly some floors and offices, and few minutes later our meeting was already starting.
Finally, I got to meet some people I have been in touch with for months but never meet before.
The meeting lasted from 10am to 4.30pm. With 45 minutes break for lunch. The most funny part was when we got to the cantin to take our lunch, a paper was standing at the entrance saying that because of some problem with the dishwasher today we should use plastic plates and glasses. hahaha is that not funny when you are in the Headquarter of Electrolux and you can find white good at each floor??? But I still believe Electrolux products are the best ones! :D
By the way, the cantin in Stockholm is completly different of the one in Norway: in Stockholm they have real food with warm dish, meat, etc etc! uhuu! that was great!!
Then back to the meeting... really interesting by the way :)
4.30pm, the meeting is over. Time for me to go back to the airport... on my way out, I met again one AIESEC alumni (he was MCP some years ago and Electrolux-AIESEC Global Coordinator last year) (I say again because I met him several times during the days :) ) It was interesting to talk to him and share my impression about Electrolux in Stockholm.
I could see today how dynamic, young and international is the working environment in Electrolux in Stockholm. It is about 800 people working there. I can say I fail in love with the Headquarter of Electrolux!! hahaha I am really proud to work for ELECTROLUX!!!
So after this short talk... taxi again... airport again... and flying from Stockhom to Oslo (stopping by the duty free, of course, do not forget I am living in Oslo, the most expensive country in this world). Few minutes later I was back to Norway... and now already back home!

This day was great and really interesting!! I will actually be back to Stockholm in 10 days, and going to spend 3 days there... visiting friends, sightseeing, having fun etc etc and spending one day again in the Electrolux HQ (instead of working from Norway I will work from Stockholm for one day) :D

Capoeira

Capoeira... I started end of August and I am enjoying it so much!!
So I just want to share a bit here about this Brazilian Sport because I realize that a lot of people never hear about this sport before.

I discovered it before going to Brazil and I have always been so impressed when I see people playing Capoeira! For me it is such a beautiful sport to watch. When I was in Brazil, in the city called Salvador (on the east cost of Brazil) I had the chance to see Brazilians playing Capoeira in the street and that was impressing!
Of course I was dreaming to know how to play but it looks so hard!! I promised myself that if one day I will be back to Brazil I will learn Capoeira. I am unfortunatelly not back to Brazil but I decided to try :D
I can confirm that it is really really hard!! But I just love it!!

And playing Capoeira, it is not only "playing", but it is also singing and playing instruments!! So imagine how happy I am: I can feel a bit being in Brazil when being in Norway :D

So here comes a bit more information about it:
CAPOEIRA is an Afro-Brazilian art form that ritualizes movement from martial arts, games, and dance. It was brought to Brazil from Angola some time after the 16th century in the regions known as Bahia, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, and São Paulo. Participants form a roda or circle and take turns either playing musical instruments (such as the Berimbau), singing, or ritually sparring in pairs in the center of the circle. The game is marked by fluid acrobatic play, feints, and extensive use of sweeps, kicks, and headbutts.

You can of course read more on the net but I just would like to share a video with you, and maybe now you will understand better what Capoeira is about :D
I like this video because it is a video from my Capoeira Club here in Oslo, made last year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGmUBdWisZ0

Norwegian winter...

It is only beginning of November and it has already been snowing here in Oslo. It will be my second winter but it is actually more scary than the first one :D It is getting dark and cold again.
That's really crazy to see how the spring or the summer can be SO DIFERENT from the winter time. During summer there is around 20 hours of sun a day in Oslo, but unfortunatelly it is only 3 or 4 during winter. I realise that it is not easy to live in a country when the weather can change so much!! You just get confused!
But now, we are all getting ready for the winter again and not spending so much time outside.
But this year I have my cross country skies and my ice skating shoes, so I am completly ready to enjoy the snow!!

Talking about the winter and the fact that the sun is not present so much... a lot of people have been telling me about the D vitamin. I don't know a lot about it but it is actually a vitamin that you body create with the sun (and I think this vitamin acts directly on your skin and bones). So the problem is : what should you do when you spend a winter in a country like Norway where you don't see the sun for several month?? The answer is: you go to the pharmacie and buy some D Vitamin :D
I didn't do it last year but because so many people recommanded to me, I told myself that I will do it for this winter. So it's what I did 2 days ago, and I went to buy some D Vitamin.
But actually this kind of thing is a mix between D Vitamin, Omega 3 and Fish oils!! And it is acually horrible with a really bad taste (even if I bought the one with Lemon taste)!!!! Bahhhhhhhhhhhh It's a kind of liquid which smells FISH and I have to take every day for the whole winter!!!! Bouhhhhhh I didn't know it was so hard to survive to a winter up north of Europe! HAHAHAHA

So my advise today :D will be: Guys, enjoy the SUN if you are somewhere where the sun is shinning!! :D
But I am actually really looking forward to go back to France for Christmas and get a bit of sun in my French Alps :)

By the way, with some of the interns here in Norway we are planning a trip to the North of Norway to see the Northern Lights!! So if you are around and would like to join, just let me know! That will be also exciting to spend some days ina place where the sun will never show up during the whole day.

1 year in Norway

Yes, already one year that I arrived in Norway. Time goes fast...

But in one year, I have done so many things, enjoying life, travelling in countries where I have never been before and for sure I have gained a lot in the professional side.

Now I can really feel that it is the autumn here in Oslo. It is really nice, sunny and not too cold yet. But in a way it is a bit sad and depressing to think than in one month, it will start to get colder and colder, and darker and darker!! But as I already said, it is part of the experience in Norway. 

Nothing really new here, except that I have been starting Capoeira. It is a Brazilian sport: a mix between fight, dance and game!! It is really really really hard but I love it!!

I am also reflecting a lot regarding my future and what I will do after my internship. Staying in Norway? going back to France? working in another country? I am trying to answer all these questions but I still didn't get any answer... It is the first time for a long time that I really have to make an important choice in my life... Trust me, it is not easy!! 

Holidays Part 2 Portugal

After one week in Germany, I took my flight from Düsseldorf to Faro, in the south of Portugal, in the region called Algarve. Sad to leave Germany but happy to go to Portugal, country where I have never been to...

There I met my friend Emilie, a really sweet French girl ;)!! We decided to spend this week together in Portugal!! I am really enjoying these kind of moments when I can meet my friends from France again. In the last years I have been spending more time abroad than in France and I really miss my French Friends!!

We spent 3 days in Faro and enjoyed the sun a lot!! but the sea was really really cold!! even in Norway it was warmer this summer... I still don't understand how that can be possible but anyway... south of Portugal is beautiful!! These 3 days in Faro were really relaxing: beaches, sun, good food, Portuguese beers... exactly what we can expect from holidays in a warm country :)

On Monday 18th we took a bus to Lisbon (3 hours from Faro) where we planned to stayed until the end of our holidays. So far, everything was great, and unfortunately it couldn't continue in the same way... as soon as we arrived in Lisbon, we took the subway to go to the hostel, where we booked 2 beds for 4 nights. It was almost 11pm when we got there and guess what the reception guy told us?? (Portuguese joke) Answer: that I called them 3 days ago to cancel the reservation of the first night!! Of course I never did it but the guy didn't want to believe and told me there were no free bed anymore for the night!! So after some minutes, he gave us an other address for the night (5 minutes from the hostel) where I went with my friend! This place was so bad and expensive!! but not only that: it was really scary!! strange people... the didn't close, furnitures were moving and so on... The positive point is I had a friend from Serbia, Ivan, we were also in Lisbon the same night, so we decided to meet in the city center and going out to the Bario Alto!!

Bario Alto is probably one of the best place to go out in Lisbon!! It is a small area in the city center, with some small streets and bars eveywhere!! The night was really good!! We drunk some cheap Mojitos (after Norway everything is so cheap for me :) ) and had a really good time!!
We came back walking to this "amazing" hostel and went to bed at 5.30 am!! At least with Emilie, we didn't spend so much time in this wonderful room!!

The day after we came back to "our" initial hostel and got our beds for 3 nights! :) ouf!
We spent one day at the beach not so far from Lisbon, but unfortunately the weather was not so good and it was cold! The rest of the time we enjoyed in Lisbon! The city is wonderful!!

Resume of our agenda in Lisbon: restaurants, walking, sightseeing, relaxing, beers, eating Pasteis de Belem, listening Fado (typical Portuguese music - we spent our last evening in one of these typical restaurants listening Fado), drinking shot de casa in the Bario Alto (each bar in the Bario Alto has his own shot de casa. it is a shot with a mix of different alcohol)...


Emilie left Lisbon one Friday morning and me on the evening. So during the day I had a walk closed to the Vasco de Gama bridge. The second biggest bridge in Europe (after the one in Denmark) : 17km!!
I was so sad: holidays were over... and honestly after spending this amazing holidays in Germany and Portugal, I didn't want to come back to Norway where the winter is coming and where it is going to be cold and dark!!
But that's life!! Holidays can not last for ever...

On Friday evening and after 4 hours in the plane, I arrived at Oslo airport. It was 1 am!!
I took a bus at 2am to the city center of Oslo... and then walked home... I arrive at home at 3am and went to bed at 3.30 am...

It has been exactly 2 weeks holidays!! 2 weeks that I will never forget!! It is great to be able to travel in places where we have never been and meet new people!!
Now I am back to Oslo and the real life... back to work at Electrolux where I still have 6 months contract with... I still don't know what I will do next but for sure I have realized a lot of things during my holidays and I know that will help me to make my choice regarding what will be next for me!!

Holidays Part 1 Germany

So after a crazy week at work in August (3 weeks ago) I got 2 weeks holidays!

Crazy week because my manager was still in holidays and I was in charge of most of the financial processes of the company in Norway. It has been a really busy week with a lot of responsibilities but I enjoyed it a lot.

So when came Friday evening (on the 8th), I was really tired, but still found some energy to pack, chating on Skype with a friend and going to bed at midnight.

After only 3 and half hours of sleep my alarm clock rang: it is was time to get up and go to the airport... completly sleepy, I took my flight at 7am to Berlin. I woke up when the plane landed in Germany and at this time I realized that my holidays were starting!! Great feeling!!
Few hours later I was in the city center of Berlin searching for my friend Zuzka (great friend from Slovakia ;) ) The square was so huge that we couldn't find each other!

We spent 2 and half days in Berlin visiting the city! Sunday was a raining day but we enjoyed it reading all the history of the Berlin Wall under the rain with our umbrella!
Berlin is a really nice city with a lot of parks and green areas. Even the parliament is great: you can just go on the top and take a sunbath ;) (see picture bellow)
On Monday morning we went to the Berlin Zoo and because of the monkeys we almost missed our train!

We then spent the afternoon in the train going to Dortmund. We stayed the night there with some other AIESEC interns, and on Tuesday we got to know the city. Nothing really special to see in Dortmund except a really cool water game in a square where you can play with.
On the evening we arrived in Düsseldorf, the city in the west part of Germany where Zuzka is going her internship.

I stayed there until Friday 15th, but I traveled one day to Cologne and Bonn, saw the Cathedral, DHL tower, the river...
With Zuzka we also went to Duisburg, city closed to Düsseldorf!! and you know why this city is so special?? because there is a Lego land there!!! it was a lot of fun!! so many years I didn't play with Lego!! hehe!!

My time is Germany was great!!
Why??
First because of my friend Zuzka!! It was great to see her again and spend one week with her!!
I have never been to Germany before so everything was new for me!! I like the country even if sometimes German people was a bit cold with me because I was talking in English and asking them to reply to me in English too (because I don't speak German at all).
I tasted severals German beers and I like it too :)
I was really sad to leave Germany...

July...

Already beginning of August... time goes fast...

Spending July in Norway was great and I have been really surprise by the weather.
The last 2 weeks it was warm and sunny, apparently Oslo was one of the warmest place in Europe! Can you believe that??

Here comes the proof with a picture:

That a picture of the beach here in Oslo, and as you can see it was really crowded!!

July was also the month for the National Day in France: on the 14th of July!
Usually I never remember what I have done on the 14th of July. We don't celebrate it so much in France, except it is a day off and we can watch some fireworks on the evening.
But this year, I will remember it for many years!! :D The 14th of July in Norway was awesome.

Stéphane (an other French intern in Oslo) and myself, we went to the French embassy. They had a special reception for the national day. I got the afternoon off with my job and at 1pm we were at the "residence of France". After being welcomed by the ambassador of France, we entered in the garden. There, there was a buffet (with charcuterie, cheeses, French bread, French desserts) and of course some French wine and Champagne!
It was really formal but a lot of fun! Unfortunately it started raining when a woman started singing the French national hymn...
We had a nice time and met a lot of French people working in Oslo too, listened to some French old songs... That's so cool to get the food and drinks payed by the French government!! And even more when you know how much that costs in Norway! :D


July was also the month when my youngest sister came to visit me here in Oslo. She stayed here for 4 days with a boy friend. I really enjoyed having her in Norway. I showed them the city and we walked a lot in all the touristic places in Oslo. We rented a car for one day and drove to Fredrikstad, in the south east of Oslo. We stopped also in Drobak (the city of Santa Claus) and Hankaa (really nice city located on the east cost of the Oslo Fjord).

We took some crazy pictures in Frogner Parken (it is park in Oslo with hundred of naked status!) and had a lot of fun!!

More pictures here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/audrey.coullet/OsloNorway_Part3

Finally, July was really relaxing at the office. Most of the employees were in holidays.
Next week will be really busy! but next Saturday I am taking a plane to Berlin!!
So my next post will be probably in few weeks, telling you about my holidays in Germany and Portugal!!