This morning (May 12th) we woke up to eat a traditional Bavarian breakfast. We went to Baindlkirch and had weißwurst and pretzels. I was not sure if I would like the wurst because I am a bit of a picky eater, but it was surprisingly delicious. It was also an interesting process to eat the weißwurst because you had to cut the sausages off from each other which was harder than I thought. Then you have to peel off the first layer of skin which was also difficult because you are not supposed to use your hands. I struggled but barely managed to peel off the skin with my fork and knife. I also had Obatzda with my pretzel which is a German beer cheese dip. I already found a recipe to make when I get home because it was so good! We also got to enjoy a beautiful view of the bright yellow rapeseed fields while eating.

Today’s company visit was Faurecia. This company was closest to Augsburg so we were able to take public transportation to the plant. We got to tour the factory and saw the process behind making exhaust pipes. This was interesting to see compared to BMW because Faurecia had only a few robots and most of the process and welding were done by humans. We also sat through multiple presentations. I found the most interesting one about their investment in hydrogen-powered vehicles. They are also on the initiative of being environmentally friendly and reducing CO2 emissions.

As you might have noticed, sustainability seems to be a theme within all the companies. It is because Germany has a lot of environmental regulations and most companies are required to reduce their CO2 emissions. This is one of my favorite things I love about Germany. Most of the drinks at restaurants and in stores are in glass bottles rather than plastic. You pay a deposit on both plastic and glass bottles when you buy them from the store, but if you return the empty bottles you get the few cents back. One of the German students mentioned how they have noticed a difference over the years since the laws were implemented. In the end, I really like how every company we have toured so far is attempting to be more environmentally friendly because it will truly make an impact in the future.