Today we took a coach bus an hour south and visited the company that I was assigned: Hirschvogel. It was cooler than I expected it to be. Hirschvogel forges steel parts for cars (forging manipulates molten steel to reshape it) and we got to tour the plant and watch the workers forge the parts.

After the Hirschvogel company visit, we were taken to a touristy town near the alps named Oberammergau. This town is special because during the world war it was never a threat, so it was never bombed. This is cool because the buildings are the classic Bavarian houses one would picture, whereas much of Augsburg is new and renovated because many buildings were destroyed in the war. In Oberammergau, we had an hour to walk around and buy souvenirs.

We later regrouped, got back on the bus and drove to a place where you can take a cable car up a mountain. So, we took the cable car up and was welcomed by a breathtaking view of the Swiss Alps. The pictures don’t do it justice. It was hands down the most beautiful sight I have ever experienced and I loved every second of it. I could have stayed up on the mountain for hours just watching the alps. Also, it was the first sunny day yet on the trip so we lucked out. I even got sunburnt. Even though there was snow it the weather was very comfortable.

Also, I made friends with some German students which makes me happy. I enjoy talking to them and asking them questions about their culture, their stereotypes of Americans, and their experiences in Germany. New German friends also made today the best one yet. One of my new German friends, Katarina, and I talked the entire two-hour bus ride home. We bonded over our mutual love of Channing Tatum, use of snapchat, and knowledge of bears. She is really sassy and probably thinks I’m really stupid because I ask her random questions that I don’t know about Germany – and many of them end up being really stupid questions but I don’t realize are stupid until I have already asked them. So, my new friend Katarina is cool even though I told her boyfriend that she wasn’t. And Katarina, if you are reading this don’t let it go to your head… and also you better come to Niarga Falls and visit me. Once we got back to Augsburg, a group of us got bratwurst for dinner and it was delicious. Also, when getting bratwurst, we made a friend who was German but he went through college in Connecticut, so we talked to him for a while.

Observations: Europeans are so well dressed and no matter how hard you try, they will always be more stylish than an American. Katarina says that the stereotypical German boot of beer is not real and that no one actually drinks beer out of boot glasses.