REGION 2 MEETING

When the American Women's Club of Gothenburg discussed the planning of the Region 2 Regional Meeting, three recurring thoughts came up consistently: show them who we are as a club, keep it relaxed, and feed the guests good food! Looking back on the Region 2 Regional Meeting held on September 20-22 in Gothenburg, Sweden, I think we accomplished all our goals!

The weekend kicked off with the “traditional” dinner hosted by the AWCG's members. The AWCG is a club with an embracing spirit. It isn't easy to sum a club up in one in three words, but the AWCG is all about laughter, home, and family. So, carrying on the Region 2 tradition of a pot luck-style dinner was never in question. We just spiced it up a little by making it all about PIE. (An idea borrowed from our friends and neighbors, the AWC of Malmö!) The dinner was held at the club's regular meeting location, the Emigrant Museum in Gothenburg.

The next day, it was off to another museum, the World Culture Museum for the main conference day, “Thinking Outside the Box: which box would you choose?” Throughout the day, we heard speakers talk about daring to (re)define who we are, about when to embrace organizational thought (inside the box) in order to allow for creative problem solving (outside the box), and how to retrain ourselves to see something amazing in something seemingly mundane. And, of course, we ate. Cupcakes, sandwiches, a big lunch, carrot cake and, a fabulous vegetarian Indian dinner at a local hot spot. Oh, how we ate!

Turns out we needed the extra calories though because the unseasonably wonderful weather gave way to a nasty cold Gothenburg torrential down pour just in time for the Sunday walk. What are girls to do when the heavens are pouring down? Introduce the out-of-town guests to Swedish “fika” at the oldest building in the city, of course! (Fika = coffee + something sweet or a sandwich.)

After three days, everyone left Gothenburg happy, tired – and full.

Kara Fairchild

Region 2 Coordinatior
AWCG FAWCO Rep