He reached the podium and smiled down at them. For a moment, Samara thought their eyes met. She leaned forward, iPad at the ready, waiting to record everything Bjorn said and did.
“Good morning MBA class,” he began and smiled.
“F.M.L,” Samara murmured on seeing that smile.
“My name is Bjorn Fredriksen and I am happy to be here to speak with you about our industry. I will start with a small tale and then we’ll do some Q&A around the topic of shipping. Would that be acceptable to you?”
The class murmured its ascent and Bjorn clicked his indicator to show a picture of a ship on the projector.
“On September 12th 1745, the Swedish East Indiaman Götheborg headed for her home port after almost two years sailing on the world’s oceans. The ship suffered heavily from storms, and the crew were exhausted but full of expectation. But alas, the triumphant homecoming would end in catastrophe.
With a pilot on board, and before the very eyes of encouraging Gothenburgers in small boats and on the beaches, the vessel ran aground in the middle of the entrance to Göteborg harbour – and sunk with her entire cargo. Thanks to all the nearby boats, all the crew survived. Repeated attempts with varying success were made to salvage the valuable cargo, which was worth as much as the national budget. Speculation was fervent. An insurance fraud? Rudder problems? A drunken captain? What do you all think?”
Samara raised her hand and Bjorn smiled at her. He didn’t acknowledge her though but just continued to speak.
“Eventually the ship Götheborg was forgotten, until 240 years later when a diver rediscovered her and began a marine-archaeological excavation. The attention surrounding the find and the excavation whetted people’s appetites, and led to the slightly crazy idea of rebuilding the entire vessel – in full scale using traditional techniques – and sailing to China once again. All ingenious ideas have a degree of madness. It is therefore good to know that adventure lives on, and madness still flourishes.
“2004 was the year when the outfitting of the ship was finalized and she was named by Her Royal Highness, the Queen of Sweden. In spring 2005, Götheborg was tested under sail and approved by the authorities. In the autumn of the same year, she managed once again to take the Swedish East India Company to China. And the circle was completed.”
Samara put her hands together and clapped but then stopped when she realized she was the only one. Bjorn smiled again at her and quirked his eyebrow as if he was amused at her enthusiasm.
“Any questions?” he asked addressing her directly.
Samara’s hand was up like a shot.
The lecture took just forty minutes and consisted mostly of Bjorn answering questions. He tried to be fair but to be honest, Samara had the most questions of anyone in the room and was the most enthusiastic. It wasn’t just because it was her research project; Bjorn was articulate, engaging and had a lot of insights to offer. Samara wanted to take advantage of every second she had with him. Just as he was wrapping up, Professor Zhang stepped in the room and walked up to the podium to stand smiling by him. It was as if she was his child since he was so much taller but Prof. Zhang’s composure didn’t slip.
“We want to thank Mr. Fredriksen for giving us his time and knowledge and would like to present him with this gift in gratitude.”
Samara felt someone nudge her and turned to find one of the other TAs holding out a wrapped package to her.
“Prof asked me to give this to you to present,” she whispered to Samara.
She leapt to her feet and took the package, heart beating faster at the thought of being so close to Bjorn. It was stupid and somewhere inside she was laughing at herself for being such a cliché…even as she felt her knees go weak as she climbed the stairs. Bjorn watched her come, his eyes unreadable but with a slight smile on his face.
She held out the gift to him with a curtsy, “Thank you very much Mr. Fredriksen for coming to share with us today.”
Prof Zhang stepped forward, “Samara is one of my best students and she really pushed for you to join us today.”
Bjorn’s eyes brightened with interest, “Is that so?”
“Yes. Her research project is on the subject of your family’s shipping so like any good student, she didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to get the facts from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.”
“Ah,” Bjorn said still with that brightness in his eyes.
Samara smiled, at a loss as to how to proceed. She was still holding the gift out to him.