Pitt Plus3 Program

Terra Cotta Warriors and Bike Rides through the City Wall

As we woke up, we were all very excited to eat the wide assortment of breakfast and bask in the fact that we would be seeing the very renowned Terra Cotta warriors today!! I was so excited to see in person what we have spent so many years learning about. I have realized that China…

A Child’s Smile is the most Precious and I learned that I am bad at Origami today

Let me just start off by saying that today was extremely special, and I feel so incredibly blessed to have been able to witness the amount of beauty, wisdom, intelligence, cuteness (omg!!) that the children from China have. I strongly believe that the strength of a nation is in the upbringing of their children-all of…

Speed Trains zip by!

Today was our last morning in Beijing-we were going to travel by speed train to Xi’an today. It was a little bittersweet when we woke up-we were excited to be able to experience another city in China, but sad at the same time that a few of our friends would not be there to join…

Forbidden City and Taichi: loved it!

Today was our last full day in Beijing, and I woke up knowing I wanted to make the most of today and all that Beijing had to offer. Today, we were going to go on a variety of cultural visits to the Forbidden City, Hutong Tour, and Temple of Heaven with a Taichi class! Wow!…

Chinese Companies are a world of its own

Today, we were going to do two company visits: to the Sunshine Insurance Group and Xiaomi companies, and it is needless to say that I was so excited and looking forward to the visit. I enjoy going on many different company visits, as you are able to learn about the company in a short period…

Central University of Finance and Economics Visit

I woke up so excited for the day ahead-we were going to the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing today! The plan was to interact with the students there, go on a campus tour, and hear a lecture from a faculty member in order to really be able to see how our education…

The Great Wall: An Architectural Feat

AHH!!!!! Today, we were going to see the Great Wall of China! As I woke up to the beautiful morning light of Beijing, greeted by the plethora of cars and busses on the road and people on the streets, I was smiling from ear to ear as I got ready for the day. I was…

Landed in China!

Finally! The day had arrived that we would finally be in China. The excitement of landing in China was so extremely real that the entire time on the flight all I could think about were the adventures that were yet to come and the crazy journey that had somehow led me here. It was such…

Final Blog post – transferable skills

This trip, hands down, is going to be the highlight of my year. I can honestly say this has been one of the most rewarding trips that I have ever been on. I think this has to be due to the fact that this was the first trip abroad on which my parents haven’t come….

Thanks to Vietnam

Plus3 Vietnam exceeded all my expectations. Since we had an itinerary, I relatively knew what we would be doing each day and it got me excited pre-departure. However, nothing could prepare me for being in the moment, in Vietnam, and visiting companies and sites that were so fascinating and spectacular. Our time spent at UEF…

Anddd We’re Back

One month later and I still miss Vietnam and the friends I’ve made. This experience was beyond amazing, and I am so lucky and grateful to have been apart of it. I told my Vietnamese friends that I would see them again someday and I sincerely meant it because they were the highlight of the…

Reflection

I loved this trip. It was the best first time out of the country I could have asked for. The food was great, the Germans were great, and the people I went with were great. There was some work, but not so much that I could not enjoy my time in Germany. I am really…

5/18-No Kangaroos in Austria

For our free day, a large group of us decided to go to Salzburg, Austria. First, we took a train to Munich, and then we got a train to Salzburg. As someone who had never left the U.S. until this trip, I was amazed at how easy it was to just visit another country. The…

5/17- White Sausage and Obama’s House

As it turns out, the village of Oberammergau is not Obama’s house. However, we did not let details like that stop us from calling it Obama’s house. Before we visited, we got a traditional Bavarian breakfast of weisswurst, white sausage, and pretzels. The weisswurst was interesting. You had to cut away the inedible skin, and…

5/16-Presentations Already?

When I woke up, I could hardly believe it was already the day of our presentations. I packed my bag with my presentation clothes, got breakfast, and went to the university with my group. There, we met our German students and went to Mensa for lunch. Once again, I was not sure what I was…

5/15-Worst. Company. Ever.

Hörauf and Kohler was our last company visit, and we did not save the best for last. 70% of H&K’s production goes directly to BMW, and the other 30% goes to BMW’s suppliers. They only do one thing, injection molding. They had a separate building for their older employees to work on products that do…

5/14-KUKA

We started our final week in Germany with a talk about German politics at the University of Augsburg. I had already learned most of the information both in high school German and in the Plus3 classes in the spring, but it was interesting to hear a German’s perspective. After the talk, we went to Mensa…

5/13-Dachau

Dachau was a very sobering experience. While I had previously read and learned about the Holocaust both in school and on my own time, nothing prepared me for actually seeing a camp. I learned on the tour that Dachau was not an extermination camp, even though it had a gas chamber and crematorium. While I…

5/12-Munich!!!

We got to sleep in a bit the day we went to Munich. Our train left at 9:30. Bayern-Munich was playing that afternoon, so the train was crowded with soccer fans. For whatever reason, we decided to get off the train at one stop and try to find another car with more space. However, none…

5/11-768 Steps

We had to get up early again to catch the train to Ulm. The first thing we did when we got there was walk to the Münster, the tallest church in the world. Outside, there was a large collection of Albert Einstein statues. They turned out to be for a fundraiser, but we did not…