Oslo and comeback

What a past week full of seminars. I had no time to write anything nor to sit down and think of a good post to write as I was busy with readings, lectures, presentations and dinners.

This week I travelled to Oslo for a 2 day seminar. This seminar was attended by most of the new and some of the old PhD Law Student from the Norwegian Universities: Oslo, Tromsø and Bergen. All in all, we were close to 70 people in an intense session of Fundamental Rights and Private Law.

We had 3 talks by guest professors:

Dr. Chantal Mak from the University of Amsterdam; Prof. Dr. Michael Stürner from the Europa-Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder); and Postdoctor Stig Solheim from the Univesity of Tromsø. All these talks dealt with the relation between fundamental rights and private law, particularly contract law and the principle of proportionality.

Then we had 8 presentations of different research projects. These talks were held by different students, including me, and served to gain an idea of what other people are working on at the moment as well as receiving feedback from the group that attended the seminar.

The presentation

I was supposed to be one of the speakers from the University of Bergen, along with other 3 colleagues, and, to be honest, I was terrified. My project is still very “raw” and I had little or no time at all to prepare. I had prepared some slides and had a clear idea in my mind of what to say but I had no chance to do any rehearsal before the “show started”.  I spoke close to one hour (including the feedback session) and was very happy with the outcome. I was able to transmit in a somewhat clear fashion what the project is about, the deficiencies of the same and the challenges ahead.

The feedback was excellent and, I had not a single question from the audience (maybe I was able to sell my project) but rather comments and suggestions on different routes to take. Thank you all guys for your remarks, they are very helpful!

The food

The Oslo seminar was an awesome experience because of the people, the topics and the food. Food in Norway is amazing (if you do not take into account that strange custom of eating a cold and quick lunch). We had a fantastic dinner with excellent wine, nice chess and elephant jokes conversations and tasty Norwegian delicacies.

Oslo

Do not ask me how Oslo looks like. I have no idea! I can only say that the airport is very cool and modern, but I still have not seen the first building of the capital of Norway. It is a shame, but also good that I have to go back and see the city. Oslo I am looking forward to visiting you again soon!

One year of BECCLE

Yesterday was officially my first week in Bergen and I am more than happy to be here. The city is fantastic, the University is great but, the best, is the people. Norway and Norwegians have received me in an extraordinary way and I can only say thank you.

Yesterday, as a coincidence to my first week here, it was celebrated the first year anniversary of BECCLE: http://beccle.no/, the Bergen Center for Competition Law and Economics. As part of my PhD research project I will be working and collaborating closely with this institute. I find this a wonderful opportunity for me to learn from a great team.

To celebrate this one year anniversary several interesting activities were organized. I was kindly invited as the "new one" to attend them and I do not regret a single second. Firstly, a summary of the achievements of BECCLE was given, followed by plans for the future and challenges to face. Afterwards, an interesting lecture on merger control regulation was held (in Norwegian, so that I understood... 2% of what they said) with a very active discussion of the attendees. This was a surprise to me. I am more used to little to no participation from the public in discussions after lectures or seminars and I always felt that I was the "odd one" posing questions or raising my voice on some issue. I am glad to see that the community that I am now part of is open, dynamic and not at all hierarchical.

After such an intellectually dense afternoon everyone gather to have a celebration dinner in an island about 25 minutes by boat from Bergen. What can I say? Norway is painfully beautiful. We had great food, interesting wine selections (our table, the "young table", had a fierce debate on this matter) and above all excellent conversations and warm people. It was a remarkable evening that I will remember with joy and sense of belonging. Thank you guys, you have all made me feel as part of the team.

I am looking forward to celebrating more BECCLE's birthdays in the future.

Happy anniversary BECCLE.

Eating like a Norwegian

I love eating. Period. My friends and family are aware of my passion for food and some red wine. I was more than happy to start trying my Norwegian food “experiments” as I headed to the supermarket after my first day at the office. At first I was shocked at the prices. Of course, I was thinking in Euros and Euro-wages. In Norway things are expensive, yes, but everyone can afford it. Norway is normal for Norwegians and lucky foreigners like me.

In my visit in July to Bergen I ate very basic student food as I was in a tight budget but I tried some of the Norwegian staples: Norvegia cheese, caviar, salmon (I love this), some Freia chocolate and other cool and tasty stuff. Oh, I also had the chance to drink Øl (beer) produced in Bergen. Not the best ever and very expensive. I still love my Austrian beer.

When I stepped into the supermarket I entered in a new world. This was the real culture shock. New names, new food, new ways of eating the same things.

In this new adventure I decided to be bold and eat like a real Norwegian. I wanted to eat Raspeballer. These are what I believe potato dumplings. I thought that, like Knödel in Austria, they are almost always filled with "something" but I was wrong... (later I discovered that there are filled ones as well). After 20 mins of cooking this in water (I supposed that was the label suggested) I tried them and to my surprise: they had no flavor!

This morning, when I came to work I was informed, among many odd looks and many laughs that Raspeballer are eaten as a side dish and usually with Pølse or something else. I guess this is the kind anecdote that will be worth remembering in a few months.

Tonight I will be eating the most common Norwegian dish: Pølse, which is nothing else but sausages. I saw that there are many varieties of pølse at the supermarket (I think Norwegians are pølse-crazy) and some of them are even called Wiener-Pølse! Funny, in Vienna I used to called them Frankfurter... Wish me luck!

Velkommen til Bergen!

What a trip! Vienna-Riga, Riga-Bergen. One stop in the capital of Latvia, the door to the Baltics. A beautiful an interesting city… After more than 14 hours in a plane/airport and the streets of Old Town Riga I made it to Bergen.

Bergen will be my new home for the next 4 years and I hope Bergen likes me as much as I like this beautiful, friendly and cultural city. Did I say that Bergen has a great music scene and was the home-town of Edvard Grieg, a fantastic musician?

I will be working as a fellow research on a PhD project in the fields of Competition, Public Procurement and State Aid Law in the Public Sector. The University of Bergen has allowed me to achieve this once in a life time dream, to become a legal scholar. This blog is part of my PhD research project as I would like to share my experiences in the North of Europe but also latest interesting news about Competition Law. Expect a bit of craziness and more of serious legal matters, but have fun reading these entries.

A bit of background of the author:

I am an Attorney at Law graduated at the Andrés Bello Catholic University (http://www.ucab.edu.ve/) in 2008 with Summa Cum Laude Distinction and worked as a private attorney in a well-known Venezuelan IP Law Firm. In 2010 I decided to try my chances abroad and study a Laws Masters in European and International Business Law at the University of Vienna (http://www.univie.ac.at/en/) and graduated in August 2012 with Distinction. During my studies in Vienna I was interested in the relationship between IP and Competition Law, particularly in the fields of Mergers and Acquisitions. Lastly, I have always been fond of International Law and International Relations and managed to fulfill a dream of mine by doing an Internship at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (http://www.unodc.org/).

I am kind of the classical nerdy type: I used to play D&D and Magic the Gathering, I love music but with weird tastes (Starting with Bach and finishing with Therion), a low-budget Epicurean and passionate for travelling. Oh, I forgot. I love to speak, a lot.