Today was such a short day and a good opportunity for a much-needed reset and a catch up on sleep! We started the day by taking the streetcar to Kuka, a robotics manufacturer. When it comes to robots the only thing I know is the surgery on a grape video that went viral a few years ago. I now know the company who did surgery on a grape is not Kuka and is in fact called Da Vinci, but I was still interested in learning about robots outside of the surgical room with a grape.

I found it fascinating that robotics has applications across so many industries, from healthcare and agriculture to automotive manufacturing. The KUKA headquarters felt incredibly futuristic and even featured an AI-powered robot connected to a monitor that could communicate in 18 different languages. Before heading on the factory tour, we stopped at the company cafe, where I ordered an affogato that was surprisingly one of the best drinks I had all week. The tour itself was detailed and informative, although I occasionally struggled to keep up with some of the highly technical engineering terminology. What stood out most was seeing how robots are designed to work alongside people rather than completely replace them. The visit helped me better understand why automation has become such an important part of modern manufacturing and how companies like KUKA are shaping the future of industry.

Later in the day, I went on a walk and stopped by the supermarket for the first time. I honestly felt like an illiterate mime as I was mute the entire time in the store and I really couldn’t understand anything I was reading. Something I noticed is that there are no baggers at the store and the cashier only scans items, whereas the stores in the U.S typically have a bagger or the cashier scans the items and bags them. Even at the register I spoke maybe a total of two words and just made hand gestures when I needed to. A weak spot in my preparation for this trip was learning some basic words in German, I now feel very silly asking people to speak in English for me or just showing pictures of what phrases I want to say translated to German. I’m asking how to pronounce unfamiliar words and trying to be sponge to this culture in general. Learning new languages doesn’t happen overnight and I’m very thankful for all the service workers who have been very kind and patient with us in light of this language barrier. At the same time, moments like this have pushed me outside of my comfort zone and encouraged me to become more confident asking questions and learning new vocabulary. Every interaction feels like an opportunity to learn something new.

While I was at the market, I picked up sushi and ate it in the hotel lobby with Ella and Pat as we all worked on our blogs together. I then headed back out to the market to meet Chloe and we got pretzels from a cafe. This was a nice relaxed day with a good amount of free time. I’m looking forward to visiting the Neuschwanstein Castle tomorrow!