Gothenburg - Sun and the City

A sunny autumn Gothenburg evening.

Over the last few years I have been in Gothenburg countless times. Almost every time I've been there, regardless of the season, I've been greeeted with a gray and wet sky. At the moment it's that gray sky time of year in Stockholm, so my expectations for something better in Gothenburg were not high. Imagine my surprise to arrive to a city bathing in sunshine!

From then on, everything about my journey fell perfectly into place - out of airport quickly, taxi waiting, traffic to seminar location light! The event I was speaking at was supurbly organized by IFL Stockholm School of Economics - everything set up and ready to go. Even my computer equipment worked smoothly (and for those of you who know me - that is some amazing feat!)

My lecture 'Strategies for Successful Communication Across Cultures'  for about 50 guests was very well received - which made for some delightful conversation over wine with guests after the seminar.

Our discussions included everything from missing work because the dog is ill (not totally uncommon in Sweden) to reinforcemnet of my belief that after all my time in Sweden, the word Lagom can not be translated directly into English. It's meaning is subjective to the beholder - for example, 'lagom size' can be anywhere from 15 employees (the size of Key) to 250 (the size of the consulting company one of the seminar participants belonged to). Some people say it can be translated to  'just right'. Well, my experience in Gothenburg felt 'just right' - so does that mean it was 'lagom'?. No - because lagom isn't always perceived as a positive thing. Sometimes it can mean - good enough or Ok, but not great.

So, I don't want to say my time in Gothenburg was 'lagom'! In fact, the only problem with the evening was that it was over much too quickly! Before I knew it I found myself back on the plane to Stockholm. Although, I must admit, I was happy to be getting home again as I am away a little more often than what feels 'lagom'.

Lynn G.