Phoebe Katz, May 12

I had a nice chamomile tea with sugar this morning before boarding the bus to breakfast. It was quite sunny, but I was still a little chilly because I did not bring a sweatshirt. The bus took us about 45 minutes away, to the countryside. There were pretty rolling hills with crops and we stopped at a barn-type place towards the edge of town. There was a vegetable stand outside the restaurant and inside, there was a cooler of assorted meats being sold. Many of the Germans were drinking beers when we got there (at 9am on a Thursday), which was surprising. We got drinks, but there was no still water, which was disappointing. They gave us large metal bowls of boiling water and strings of white sausages. It looked very gross, but it turned out to be pretty good. I could see little nuggets of fat everywhere inside it and we had to painstakingly peel the intestine off the actual edible sausage part, but it was pretty good. We also had mustard, pretzels, and a little cheese platter. I fell asleep on the bus ride home, so I headed to Starbucks for a Brown Sugar Oat Milk Shaken Espresso before continuing on with the day.

Coffee in hand, I changed into a more professional outfit to go to our fourth company visit, with Fuaricia. We took the tram there, which made me sad because I really like the vibes of our tour bus. We managed to get there on time and we passed an IKEA on the way, which was exciting. First, we listened to a brief presentation about the company and then donned leather shoe protectors, lab coats, and goggles for the factory tour. It was unfortunately difficult to hear our guide explain what we were seeing, as he was trying to speak to all 20 of us at once. I especially enjoyed seeing the robots laser cut and weld. 

We were fed right after the tour. I had a sesame bagel with butter, salami, lettuce, and a tomato. It was better than I expected it to be. I also ate a clementine. It was just as good as I expected it to be. The visit continued with 3 more presentations, a call with the US division of the company, and a quiz. The quiz was hilarious, there were odd emojis everywhere and lots of multiple choice answers floating all over the place. One of the presentations highlighted the  company’s investment into a future of hydrogen power. Having researched the technology behind hydrogen, I think this is a very smart investment. Although it may take some time and probably won’t be the primary propulsion system on the market, I think there is definitely a place for hydrogen in the trucking and public transportation sectors. Right as we left the building, it began to rain but luckily it stopped quickly because we waited outside at the bus stop for a long time. We did finish our day comparatively early, though, at around 6:45. I plan on getting burgers for dinner.

Disclaimer: I did not take my featured image for today. I did not take any pictures on this day of the trip.