Today was definitely one of the more relaxed and easy days of the trip, which was a nice change of pace after several long travel days. After getting the chance to sleep in a little (sleeping in is 8 am for me on this trip) and enjoy a good breakfast, our group headed to Schaezlerpalais, an art museum in Augsburg to start the day. It was interesting to walk around and take in some of the history and artwork. My favorite part about it was the ballroom at the end, which was painted with unique designs and symbols everywhere around the room, and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

After the museum, we took the tram over to the University of Augsburg where we listened to a speaker from Bloomsburg talk about his perspective on the current automotive industry. I thought the presentation was really interesting, especially hearing about how the industry is changing and adapting right now. Once the presentation finished, we split into our assigned groups to work on our projects. We spent time going over our notes from our company visit at KUKA, and divided up which sections each of us would be presenting next week. After we all felt comfortable with where we were at, my group decided to take a walk over to the WWK Arena, home of the FC Augsburg soccer team.

Ever since arriving in Germany, I’ve really appreciated seeing the country’s passion for soccer everywhere we go. Soccer has been a huge part of my life since I started playing when I was six years old, so it has been cool experiencing that culture here firsthand. While we were there, I bought a green FC Augsburg jacket from the team shop, and it’s easily my favorite souvenir clothing item I’ve purchased on the trip so far. After spending some time around the stadium, we made the one mile walk back to the tram and settled in for a relaxing evening back in Augsburg. It’s crazy that we are almost halfway done already, this trip is flying by. This is my first time out of the country so I didn’t know what to expect heading into this trip, but it has exceeded my expectations for sure.