Dag tre - Alingsås - what just one person can do!

Tomorrow we give our first presentation! The rotary members we have met so far have been great so I'm really looking forward to it!
So even with an internet connection and computer and every good intention in the world, we're doing so much stuff that it's almost impossible to update this blog every day. And it would be 20 pages long if I included everything. So I'll summarize and hopefully others will have a chance to update their versions of the story soon!

Susanna and a lovely coffee/tea at the Stora Mellby Västergård farm

Today we went to a small farm and also met Annika Qarlsson, one of the members of Swedish Parliament; their local community has successfully built a wind turbine that has been running for 4 months and has had enormous payback already. The community itself has amazing ideas and approaches to sustainability and we had a lovely conversation over coffee and tea. We also went to a wrapping paper company - the CEO is this amazing guy with this beautiful outlook on the world. He built a sustainable office space for his workers because he believes that happy workers produce better results. The place has a sauna, jacuzzi, and gaming tables, and the atmosphere is great. They also have breakfast together 15 minutes before the shift starts so that everyone is fueled with energy and has discussed all prior night's activities before work starts. You could see that everyone there loved their jobs and where they worked. It's true that good design really pays off in the end and that value is more important than cost.

Team GSE Sweden 2009 at Flexoprint, and Mattheus Kemper and Jennifer at Flexoprint.

Everyone we've met so far has had a great story and has done incredible things; it's pretty overwhelming and incredibly inspiring. What just one person can do!

We've been eating like crazy; stroganoff, potatis, yellow pea soup (eaten on Thursdays), delicious desserts at every meal, wine, local pear cider, and amazing coffee! I truly can't complain (until I need to let my pants out!).

Tomorrow after our presentation Rachel and I are meeting with an Alingsås
city architect while others are visiting sites within their own vocations, and then we're all having a big dinner at a really nice Italian restaurant in Alingsås. Then we're going to see live music at the Pallidum with Alingsås Rotary Club members.
Being with the host family has been so great - I feel incredibly lucky that Rachel and I are together and that Anders, Anna-Karin, and Johan are so great! One thing I loved about today was going to the grocery store. They sell gigantic chunks of cheese here. They also have hand-held scanning devices that you take with you while you're shopping. You buy paper bags and put them in your cart, scan your item directly off the shelf, and place it in your bag. At the end you give the cashier your scanner and everything is on there already and your food is bagged - it's so fast! We picked up some local Swedish apples and many other Swedish foods. I'm anxious to try the rosehip soup over vanilla ice cream!
Some of us (me included) are incredibly jetlagged and really need sleep, so off I go! Vi ses! - Alison