Today was one of the days I was most looking forward to! Everyone from past years always talked about Neuschwanstein Castle and how it was one of their favorite parts of the trip. The 6:15am departure time was a shock to my system, but excitement and adrenaline kept me awake the whole bus ride until…
Day 14 – Sound of Salzburg
Happy free day and last day abroad! Most of our group woke up bright and early to catch our eight AM train to Salzburg, Austria! Thanks to the help of the German students, we were able to figure out how to get tickets for relatively low prices at the times we wanted. As a huge…
Day 12: The Day Has Finally Come
The day has finally come, the day many have been dreading. I am just kidding, but in all honesty, today was pretty intimidating. The whole trip, even back in Pittsburgh, has basically revolved around this presentation. It is honestly surreal that it was finally time to present. We started off the day bright and early;…
Day 11: Audi
After two days of early wakeups and long days, it was finally time for a more relaxed day. Today we were going to Audi. I can say that this was my second most anticipated trip behind BMW. In America, when we think of German cars, we usually think of Audi and BMW. I was not…
Day 13 – Wrapping Up in Augsburg
Finally! Today was presentation day, and I woke up feeling nervous. I changed into my nicest dress shirt and business pants and headed down for breakfast. I reflected on how much I’m going to miss the hotel breakfast due to its many options and being pretty tasty. I headed back up to my room to…
Day 10: Building Engines and Rebuilding Cities
Our day started early around 6:30 AM and we headed to the MAN Truck and Bus Company campus. We had a long bus ride this morning, over two hours, so most of us got to continue our slumber on the way there. When we arrived, we were given neon construction-looking vests showing we were visitors….
Final Reflection: What Bavaria Taught Me
If you asked me to name one moment from this trip that I keep coming back to, it is Neuschwanstein. Not the inside of the castle, though the gothic bedroom and the walls covered in paintings of people in love were unlike anything I had seen before. It was the drive into Füssen. The Alps…
Day 10 – MAN and Nuremberg
Since arriving in Germany, I have seen MAN trucks everywhere, so I was excited that we finally got the chance to visit MAN Truck & Bus today. The day started really early with a wake up around 6 am since we had about a 2.5 hour bus ride to Nuremberg. Once we arrived at MAN,…
Day 9 – Dachau Camp
To be honest I didn’t think of anything of this day at first. When I think of a concentration camp, my mind just always goes to Auschwitz and never anything else. Once we arrived at Dachau concentration camp, we went straight into the tour. The tour guide first stated that understanding the time frame of…
Saturday: Heading Home
I woke up this morning before the long travel day and went on a nice hour long walk. I wanted to have one last coffee overlooking the town square in Augsburg. Throughout the past two weeks, I had eaten meals and snacks there many times. Eating there was always very peaceful, and it is definitely…
Day 4: Robots and roaming Augsburg
After the traffic we hit on our way to Munich yesterday, it was so nice to have a later wake up and take the train in Augsburg to KUKA! Before even arriving to the site visit, I thought the background of the name “KUKA” was so interesting. It stands for “Keller and Knappich Augsburg” and…
Day 13: A Full-Circle Day
Today we had our final presentations. It was a culmination of all of our preparation leading up to the trip and our experiences from the past ten days. My group focused on Audi, and we spent the morning finalizing our slides and practicing our lines. Before presentations began, my group decided to eat lunch at…
Day 9: Remembrance and Reflection at Dachau
Today we are going to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site and I know today is going to weigh heavily on my heart. It is quite a switch up from the site visits we have had so far, but I knew today would be very informative. With my Jewish background from my dad’s side of…
Final Blog
I saved the hardest part of this blog post for first because I have been thinking about how to write this since the moment I left and I still do not think I have the right words for it. My host family gave me something I did not fully expect when I walked through their…
Day 12: Aiming for Perfection
Today was our first day this week where we did not have to wake up at a time starting with 5. Even though we still had to leave at 8:30, it was a nice change of pace. The day felt a little bittersweet since it was our last company visit. We did not have a…
Day 14: The Journey Back to Chipotle
This morning, I woke up at 5am with excitement and also a new crippling fear of oversleeping. I did most of my packing when I woke up and I also used the early morning time to take my luggage down early. Just imaging all of us trying to cram into the elevator with our bags…
Day 12: The Final Company Visit
Today we visited Audi in Ingolstadt. This visit made me think about how companies in the same industry can face similar challenges, but approach them differently. Like BMW, Audi is dealing with supply chain pressures, electrification, and fierce competition from new Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers. However, the atmosphere and priorities at Audi felt different from…
Tschüss Germany
Saturday morning came much quicker than any of us wanted it to. Before I knew it, we were packing our suitcases and getting breakfast one last time before heading out of Augsburg to begin the long trip home. At that point, my suitcase was packed with souvenirs, clothes, and so many memories from the past…
Day 12 – The Final Factory
Today is our very last company visit and one I’ve been looking forward to since the beginning! It felt great not having to wake up as early to get ready before our bus left at 8:30, heading toward Ingolstadt for Audi. We didn’t have to go as early because we already had our company talk…
Mountains, Matcha, and Salzburg Adventures
Friday was by far my favorite day of the entire trip. We used our free day to travel to Salzburg, and honestly, I was excited just to experience another country regardless of what we ended up doing there. Erin suggested hiking part of the Sound of Music trail, and since I love hiking and being…