It was another beautiful day in Finland. We did our first presentation at one of the Kokkola Rotary Clubs today. All men - fifty members. Gailmarie is a whiz kid with the presentation remote and guided us flawlessly through our first run without any technology glitches. We finished three minutes later than we should have due to the fact that I took three minutes too long. See the soon to be posted pictures for the special presentation headwear that I designed for the Green Rider ladies in our group.
I had always wondered what it would be like to attend a singing Rotary Club. Well, today I found out. We started the program part of the meeting by singing a Finnish song which was then repeated using English lyrics. I happened to be sitting next to a famous Finnish tenor. Of the more or less than three of great tenors in Finland, this chap was one of definitely one of them and his voice filled the room. He had performed for many years in a German opera house. Great sound.
Not knowing what was up for the afternoon, it was a pleasant surprise when Juha mentioned we would be going to tour a couple of boat building places and a port. Boat building places?? I'd say. The Finns have the most amazing collection of high-tech manufacturing I've ever seen. The first facility we toured is part of the Rolls Royce marine division and makes water jets, propulsion systems for really big, really fast boats. They recently manufactured a number of water jets used in combat boats for the Brazilian army. Joachim, a business manager for Middle East and Asia sales division, talked to us about the products they make. Complete systems range in cost from 20,000 to 500,000 Euros and lead time can range from 10 weeks to over 10 months. After his presentation, Joachim toured us the welding shop. We all put on full safety gear, although I'm not sure how safe it was considering Catherine and Gailmarie are not used wearing men's, size 10, steel toe footwear. Great looking group. Wearing out white Rolls Royce lab coats we looked like we might be the new cast members from the medical drama that will be soon be replacing ER.
Next stop was Charger Composites. Evert Aartsen is a high energy Dutch fellow who, with his Finnish wife, runs a rapidly expanding fibreglass molding business. They produce world class sail boats and kayaks. Evert seems to be a great leader for his company. He is full of energy, so proud of the people that work with him and extremely proud of his product. Sail boats made by Charger Composites are used by top sailors from around the world. Brad, you better check with Catherine to see if she left a down payment on a 4,000 euro kayak.
Our last stop was a tour of the Kokkola harbour and a visit to a rock museum. If I understood correctly, a since past fellow from Kokkola found and recorded 3,600 of the 4,000 types of rocks there are to be found in the world.
We'll be heading off to Jakobstad early tomorrow morning so I'm not sure when you'll hear from us again. The schedule says I'm in for "Fur Design Education" tomorrow. Does anyone have a clue as to what that might be? First they tell me I have to wear a tie. Next, I have to wear a belt instead of a bungee cord to hold my pants up. Now Fur Design Education. What's next? Kim, I'm not sure if you'll recognize me when I get home.
We had a fine day today. Over and out.
Marty
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Seems to me that a bungee cord around the waist is a much more practical idea than a belt .. esp. if you are eating all that wonderful Finnish food.
ReplyDeleteThis is just my expansive personal viewpoint of course !!