innovation 15:12

Nothing is ever too objective but charts and graphs give us a good picture of what is generally going on in the world. So what can this list of the fifty most innovative companies tell us?

1) US still dominates in innovation. 22 out of 50 companies are American. If one breaks down the companies by their countries, it would go something like: Japan in second with five, China and Britain with four, Germany and Korea with three, Switzerland, Canada, Italy, Brazil, Finland and Spain with one each.

2) Innovation is increasing in Asia (13 in total). Especially as China rises, the number of innovations, patents, and companies will naturally increase as well. We see this in the number of patents Asia is producing (The top three patent holders are America, Japan, and South Korea) and even in the number of gold medal counts at the Olympics.

3) Innovation is decreasing in Europe (11 in total). Although still a very affluent part of the world, many continue to wonder when and if Europe will ever be as powerful as it once was. Or perhaps, the social Marxist bent of many European governments tends not to lend itself to innovation? I personally wouldn't care to work hard to create if the government took care of all my needs. (Although with the collapse of certain economies (i.e. Greece), the E.U., especially with Germany's lead, is slowly realizing that their socialist governments were unsustainable and unrealistic. While our country, on the contrary AND unfortunately, goes the other way.)

4) Brazil is listed as well (although the one company seems to be an oil company). Will we start to see more companies from other parts of the world?

spain 23:10

Back in March of 2009, my soon to be friend Hugo contacted me through couchsurfing and asked if he would be able to stay a couple of days. He was coming to Los Angeles for ten weeks to take an English class. Instead of crashing for a few days however, he became my roommate for four months! He left for Portugal, his home, in June and we communicated through email and facebook occasionally after that. One afternoon in July, Hugo skyped me and had me check some flights to Europe. I had thrown around the idea of going to Europe, but I didn't really think I would go anytime soon. As I searched, I found a flight to Madrid for 560 dollars and I booked it immediately. Talk about an impulse buyer. I was off to Europe.

My first destination was Portugal. Afterwards, I flew to Switzerland and then to Madrid. Now in Madrid, I have a friend who I have known for a little over two years now. While living in Korea, Jorge found me through a language exchange site and we communicated through skype. I taught him English and he taught me Spanish. We became pretty good friends through it.

The idea came into mind that since I was flying into Madrid, I should meet up with Jorge. And that's exactly what happened! The funniest thing is that Jorge has a really unique voice and a really thick accent over his English. So, at the airport, even though I had no idea what he looked like, I was able to recognize him immediately once he opened his mouth.

This is the Palace of Communication. It pretty much dominates this main intersection.

The Plaza Mayor. A beautiful little square where people (mostly tourists) hang out. Jorge told me things are double the price here.

Parco de Retiro, an enormous park with many grand buildings and sculpture. This one commemorates some ruler in the past.

This is Jorge, his wife Raquel, and I in their living room. They have such an awesome pad in a town thirty minutes south of Madrid. They were so warm and welcoming.