We woke up bright and early. Kaylee my roommate and I tried our first ever Germany hotel breakfast. It tasted so good and also gave us good energy. I decided to have a croissant, two boiled eggs, and some Greek yogurt. After we got ready for the day, and we all took the Tram for the first time. This is basically a bus that is on a track; it travels all throughout the city. It was surprisingly similar to the public buses us Pitt students have access to. I will however note that they came more frequently and also were cleaner. We took the Tram to the University of Augsburg.
After walking through the beautiful campus, we went to business school and got situated for morning class. We met with our company groups (there is a total of four). I am with the group Faurecia. We had a total of 5 Pittsburgh students and 3 Augsburg students. We all talked, researched our company, and then gave a presentation on it. All the students were so nice and welcoming and the other three presentations were so insightful. After, we got to experience the German take of a university dining hall. The food was so fresh, delicious, and diverse. I appreciated not only the transparent nutritional information but also the different types of food that suited all students from all over the world. We all agreed we’d take the food over American dining halls any day (especially the Eatery).
After lunch, we went into two groups to get a tour of the campus and then do a Scavenger hunt in the city. The students giving us the tour were grad students. They are coming to Pittsburgh for a semester this upcoming Fall! We learned a lot about the University, Augsburg, and Germany as a whole. It was also nice giving them advice about Pittsburgh; especially because I know the whole city as I grew up there. They were also super insightful when it came to German culture as well. The three individuals giving us the tour (Sasha, Noelle, and Tim) were surprised at how expensive our education was, the level of experience needed, and also how pricey many things are. Overall, I cannot wait for them to study abroad at Pitt, and I am so glad I learned more about Augsburg as a whole.
After this we met at a Pizza place, and all got authentic pizza. I went simple and got a cheese pizza. After another great dinner (girls’ addition this night) we went to the hotel and called it a night. Tomorrow, we visit our first company and get to explore the mountains.
Talk Tomorrow!
Kat Listwak