From Dim Sum to Strudel
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Published: April 24th 2016
The driver screams around another corner of the Austrian motorway that connects the airport to the Viennese city center. The tail lights of the car in front of us become closer and brighter at an alarming rate of speed. The driver casually glances over his shoulder and moves into the next lane to bypass what he deems a slow-moving vehicle in front of us. Placido Domingo’s soaring tenor fills the backseat and I enjoy some of Austria's finest compositions as the seemingly insatiable need for speed of Austria's midday drivers encourages greater and greater rates of speed until everything outside the window is a blur. I lean my head against the headrest and marvel at the fact that I am in Vienna, Austria.
Earlier this month, I traveled to Europe for a work trip on behalf of my new employer. After three-and-a-half years spent working with Chinese training delegations, traveling to China to build relationships with new partners, and drinking more varieties of tea than I thought possible, I had come to the realization that if I wished to continue to grow professionally, it was time to make a change. I was by no means an expert on all things
China, but I had a healthy amount of knowledge of the history, culture, and business practices of the country, as well as fluency in the language. I wanted to know more about the world. My statement of self-purpose for this blog is to help others who don't have the time or opportunity to travel to broaden their perspectives, but I was feeling as though I was no longer accomplishing the same thing myself by remaining in my current position. Ultimately, curiosity about the world outside China prompted the change.
My new role provides me with the opportunity to work with students from 20+ different countries, including China. The University has partnerships with universities in Vienna, Austria and Guangzhou, China, which permit students to attend classes at those universities in Europe and China, respectively, and still earn an MBA from the University. Faculty from the University fly to Europe and China to teach half of the course modules, while our partner universities select faculty from their institutions to teach the other modules. In the fall, students from all three campuses (Vienna, Guangzhou, and Minneapolis) are put into virtual teams to prepare for a final presentation in which they present a
proposal introducing a new product or service into a specific business market. In May, students from all campuses meet in the United States to present their capstone projects to faculty in person and graduate with the rest of the MBA programs on campus.
It's so cool.
I began my new position in August 2015. My first international trip was to China in October to welcome a new cohort of students, primarily from the southern China region. It was the first time I'd visited the sprawling port city of Guangzhou, which is located northwest of Hong Kong on the Pearl River and is considered the birthplace of dim sum. The trip began somewhat auspiciously when I landed in Hong Kong after 18+ hours of travel with our assistant and associate deans of international initiatives, only to discover that my luggage had not made the trip. It was not an ideal beginning to my snazzy new position, especially as I had no desire to burst into tears of despair in front of our school leadership. For the next 37 hours as I waited for my suitcase to make the journey from Seattle to Hong Kong by plane and then from
Hong Kong to Guangzhou by van, I drafted various lyrics about how much Delta Airlines sucks, á la
">this musician, whose luggage was mishandled by United. I have seldom felt as deliriously happy at 6:00 AM as I felt that morning in Guangzhou when a knock on the door revealed my beautiful, shiny blue suitcase filled with fresh clothing, toiletries, and, most importantly, orientation materials for our newly admitted students.
Apart from this initial snafu, the rest of the trip went very smoothly and I was even able to squeeze in a visit to my Chinese host family in Beijing while I was there for a 36-hour visit and meetings. I was thrilled I'd had the opportunity to travel back to China with my new position, but was even more excited to learn that I would be going to Vienna, Austria for the first time in order to participate in the orientation for students newly admitted to our Vienna-based Global Executive MBA program. It was for this reason that I found myself at the mercy of a driver who thought that his American passenger deserved the full autobahn experience, despite being in the neighboring country of this infamous stretch of
roadway.
I'd taken the red eye from Minneapolis to Vienna the night previous. Taking a flight departing so late at night prompted me to expect the flight attendants to break out into a full-fledged rendition of "So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodnight," because, after all, we were traveling to the land that made "The Sound of Music" famous. (Well, Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer really made the film, but the backdrops were still gorgeous). I had been stunned to receive a text message from my Chinese host sister a few days prior to my departure that included a short video of her spinning in circles in a field that looked suspiciously akin to that in the movie. Amazingly, my host family had been in Austria and would depart Vienna a mere four days before my arrival. C'est la vie, but dagnabbit.
I would only be on-the-ground for three days and I had three goals for any possible free time: eat a pastry and drink Viennese coffee in a cafe, find the Bösendorfer showroom and play the pianos, and find an excuse to say
danke schoen to someone. It didn't really matter who. The first day of my trip
was spent preparing for the orientation that would take place the following morning, but I was able to accomplish goal #3 multiple times that day. I also learned the German equivalent of "you're welcome" (
bitte) and proceeded to employ it profusely at every possible opportunity, probably to the point of being annoying. Such is the habit of the language learner! I also learned that singing the refrain from "The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Music" was not a typical Austrian greeting and that the American sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" is much funnier when dubbed into German. All in all, a successful first day.
The second day in Vienna flew by. I provided an overview of the Virtual Team Project to the newly admitted cohort, which included students from 20+ different countries. Austrian students comprised about half of the group, but we also had students from Qatar, Brazil, Russia, Bulgaria, Egypt, Poland, and Ukraine, among other countries. In the afternoon, I observed team building exercises which provided students with an opportunity to make personal connections in preparation for what will be an intensive course of study for the following 14 months. All students participating in
the program are currently working full-time and have approximately 10 years of mid-level management or work experience. Many also have families and children, which makes striking a balance between work, school, and personal lives a challenge. I have some experience with this, as I just completed my master's degree in December. I shared some tactics I found helpful in maintaining a balance with the students, which I hoped would build a good foundation for future communication. Indeed, since my return to the United States, I have received many emails from students seeking my assistance and have felt a palpable connection with them.
My final day in Vienna I was able to accomplish both goals #1 and #2. After my morning meetings, I boarded the train to downtown, armed only with a tourist map á la the 1990s. The folded paper felt foreign in my hands, as I hadn't traveled without a smart phone connected to the local network since the days of cross-country road trips with my parents and younger brother. Come to think of it, that was in the days before cell phones even existed in the average American household. It felt curiously liberating to not be tethered
to an electronic device and free to get lost and wander to my heart's content.
At the same time, I was extremely mindful of the travel alerts for Europe issued by the State Department in the days following the terrorist attacks in Brussels and immediately prior to my departure for Vienna. My initial reaction was one of fear; something I am not proud to admit. I considered the idea that traveling to Europe was not a safe or advisable activity; after all, if the U.S. government was cautioning its citizens against travel to the region, who was I to question that judgment call? However, the flights were purchased, planning was underway, and expectations were high that our partnership with the university in Vienna would not be damaged by fear exhibited on the side of the American partner. It seemed like I didn't have a choice. After a few sleepless nights, I realized that I did, in fact, have a choice. I had the freedom to decide whether I would be paralyzed by fear and cancel what was a normal activity for my work--the exact motivation behind the terrorist activity in Brussels, Lebanon, Paris, and elsewhere. Those misguided individuals committing
such terrible acts are actively encouraging global citizens to turn against one another in a cloud of suspicion, fear, and mistrust. They wish to see sectarian violence flare up on every continent as they continue to pollute the minds of susceptible youth and those individuals desperate for a better life, no matter how it is acquired.
That wasn't the motivation I wished to employ as my guiding light.
I was attentive while boarding the plane in Minneapolis and vigilant during my four-hour layover in Amsterdam. However, I also wanted to feel a kinship with my fellow travelers, a sense of "we're all in this together" rather than a cloud of suspicion about the intentions of strangers. In this humble way, I could fight back against those who want to create division and hate.
I spent the afternoon before I returned to Minneapolis in the Bösendorfer piano showroom, creating beautiful music in a harmonious space. It felt like a metaphor for my new position: the opportunity to work with individuals around the world who will be making their own connections across culture, politics, and religion. Playing a small role in that learning inexperience is so invaluable and I'm
proud to be a part of it.
I stepped off the plane in Minneapolis feeling as though I had been gone for far longer than a week. The experience of being in a new country and culture is always thrilling, but, for the first time, I got a sense of how I could truly be part of something long-lasting and meaningful. I felt grateful for the lessons I'd learned during my short jaunt to Europe and for the great hospitality shown to me by my Austrian and Romanian colleagues. I was looking forward to seeing them in Minneapolis in a few weeks and working together to create a successful international experience for the students. As I passed through customs, though, I redirected my focus to be in the moment...and stepped into the waiting arms of my new husband.
But that is a story for another blog.
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Congratulations on your marriage!!!
I can't wait to read that blog. And congratulations on your new job which you are eminently qualified for. I hope that both you and your husband have plenty of opportunities to get to know Vienna and the rest of Europe well...and he with China as you already know that well. And I'm glad you confronted and overcame your fears of terrorists...good choice! The terrorist attack on the Brussels Airport hit near home to me. I was there last April and will be there again in October. I also lived in Brussels from 1984 to 1995, during which our family was confronted with the bombing of our Support Activity and the threat arising from the first Gulf War...our kids' school bus had armed troops on board. I suspect that our war against terrorism will last a long time. And welcome back to TB after over a year.