Dining in Gernrode with Anja and Detlef (Gernrode, Germany)

After a flurry of  text messages earlier in the week, I was (finally) able to arrange a dinner on Saturday night.  We drove to Erfurt to see our German daughter (Anja) and meet her boyfriend Fynn.  We then told them they would have to "work" for their dinner, but we did not tell them what that meant nor where we were going.  After some very strange GPS suggestions by our rental car, we drove to Gernrode to have dinner with my (distant) cousin Detlef Gremler and his wife Mechthilde.  We dined in a (the?) restaurant in Gernrode that Detlef''s mother used to own and run.

Anja and Fynn served as our interpreters over dinner in Gernrode.

Dwayne Gremler and Detlef Gremler!

Conducting the "Publishing Scholarly Research" Seminar Again at WHU (Vallendar, Germany)

This week I returned to WHU School of Management in Vallendar, Germany (near Koblenz) to conduct my "Publishing Scholarly Research" seminar for the third time.  The students were eager to learn and asked many good questions.  And, as is my custom, I treated them to a drink (for most, a milkshake!) at the end of the course to make sure they had sufficient celebration skills (needed for when they succeed in publishing their research). 

The next generation of great business scholars!

But, before we got to the point were they practiced their celebration skills, we spent several days deep-diving into understanding the research and publication process.

An attentive audience!

Visiting My German "Brother" Uwe (Piene, Germany)

After leaving Karlstad, we spent the night in Malmo, Sweden, and drove the next day through heavy German traffic (again) to visit my German brother, Uwe Gremmler (two "m" name), and his wife Beate.  Samantha and I visited them in June of 2016, and so this trip was Candy's opportunity to meet them.  We were treated to a wonderful dinner at Uwe's golf club and we discussed plans for the next "Gremler Family Meeting" (this time, a reunion!) for 2021.

Uwe inherited the hair in the family!

Catching Up with an Old Friend in Karlstad (Sweden)

Candy and I drove from Liege, Belgium, to Karlstad, Sweden, so that I could attend the QUIS 16 Symposium.  (I first attended the QUIS Symposium in 1996 in Karlstad...it was my first international conference as an academic!)  Our drive was quite challenging, and involved two (expensive) ferries to get to Sweden (from Germany to Denmark and then to Sweden).  The highlight of the trip was the opportunity to see a friend I had not seen in probably 10 years...Patrik Larsson.  We hosted Patrik, Maria, and their two children for Christmas when he was a PhD student visiting Arizona State back in 1993.  And we attended his PhD celebration party in Karlstad in 1996.  Patrik is now one of two deans at the University of Karlstad.  We had a great time catching up with each other during the conference dinner...and, remembering a phrase I taught his son Jakob while they were in Phoenix: "Good stuff Maynard!"

Life is much too short to be able to spend as much time as we would like with good friends!

Site-seeing in Copenhagen (Denmark)

We drove in a rental from Liege, Belgium, to Copenhagen, Denmark, in about 12 hours.  (Yes, we DROVE!)  Google Maps indicated that the trip should be about 8-9 hours, but the GPS on our car had us going by a ferry that would have got us in to Copenhagen at midnight.  So, we intentionally deviated from what the car GPS said (until it stopped telling us to turn around and go back); eventually we received alternative instructions from the car GPS.  We also got stuck in several traffic jams on the German highways (on a Saturday!).  We finally arrived in Copenhagen at about 7:30 p.m.

At Nyhavn (the Copenhagen Inner Harbor)

Instructing Future Scholars How to Celebrate Success (Liege, Belgium)

The final day of our four-day Publishing Scholarly Research seminar concluded this afternoon.  As has become the tradition with the seminar, I treated the class to a drink and instructed them on the fine art of celebrating publication success.  (Publications come so rarely in this career that we probably do not get enough practice in doing it right.) 

Their favorite session during the seminar...learning to celebrate success!

The "HEC-School Management Publishing Scholarly Research Seminar, Class of 2019"

Enjoying Our Time in Liege (Belgium)

Candy and I visited a few places that we had been in previous visits to Liege.  One was a restaurant Le Labo 4.  It is an old chemistry lab, owned by the University of Liege, that was converted to a restaurant. 

Eating right next to the lab tables!

Much of the original lab equipment remains!

Apparently wine has some sophisticated chemical formulas.

We also had a drink at a classic spot in Leige, La Maison Du Peket.  The building is quite old, adding to its atmosphere (inside).

I had a caramel (Peket) drink, and Candy a white chocolate (Peket) drink.

Watching Candy Lead Singing of "Un Petit Canard" (Liege, Belgium)

I was photographer for Candy as she led a Belgian kindergarten class in singing "Un Petit Canard."  She originally learned the song from Stina's mother (Cecile) before coming to live in Liege in 2015-2016 (when I was on sabbatical and we were living in Liege).  Candy learned the song then so she could play it for Stina on the days they "hung out" together.

"Un Petit Canard"

If you would like to see/hear the video I made of Candy singing with the class, click here: https://youtu.be/BQiBFVLQP7M .

Starting the "Publishing Scholarly Research" Seminar at HEC-University of Liege (Belgium)

Today we had 16 PhD candidates attending my seminar, "Publishing Scholarly Research," being hosted by Yves Crama and Cecile Delcourt at HEC School of Management at the University of Liege. This is where, in effect, my seminar was first given...it was a "mini" version that I did at HEC (in a couple of hours) in November, 2011; I did the seminar two days after Cecile's PhD defense (in Nijmegen, The Netherlands).  The seminar has grown in length to 20-24 hours of discussion (and, lots of articles to read concerning publishing) over the past eight years.

The next generation of great business scholars!

After they heard me tell a couple of stories of my publications, they shared with each other a piece of research that they considered to be "interesting" and one that was "NOT interesting".  (Several students suggested is was actually more of a challenge to identify uninteresting research.)

Discussing "interesting" research

Visiting My Favorite Belgian 6-Year-Old (Liege, Belgium)

Candy and I spent the weekend just outside of Liege in a small hotel (10 rooms) called Au Comte de Mercy in Hermalle-Sous-Argenteau, Belgium.  (The GPS on our car sent us to a very different location, but we were finally able to make it to the hotel after leaving Muenster.)  Most of the time was spent working on my "Publishing Scholarly Research Seminar" for next week as we sat in the hotel garden next to the Maas river.  After we transitioned on Sunday to an Airbnb apartment in Liege, we went to have dinner with my Belgian colleague Cecile, her partner Fabrice, and their daughter Stina. 

Fabrice made Mojitos for everyone except me...I had a Belgian beer (Curtius), of course!

Stina (with her mother's encouragement) has been working on her English language skills since she was quite young.  Recently she received a certificate for her English language knowledge!

My next co-author?