Today was the long-awaited company analysis presentation day. The day began with our group meeting at the University around noon. We first ate lunch at Mensa, which was great as usual. Afterword, we practiced our presentation numerous times, making sure to finish under the strict 20-minute time limit. After a few hours, we got everything…
Tag: Summer 2018
Germany Day 10: Horauf and Kohler
Our tenth day only had a visit to Horauf and Kohler scheduled. H&K is a family owned plastics company. H&K was assigned to me, and through our research from the introduction presentation, I knew that H&K was going to be small. Also, H&K is the only company of the five that is not corporate, so…
Germany Day 9: Kuka
We began today by traveling to the University to have a political talk. I was under the assumption that this would be another boring college lecture, but I was wrong. Once again, my expectations were shattered. I found the talk to be very interesting and intriguing. Considering I didn’t really enjoy history or politics, I…
Germany Day 8: Dachau
Today was an emotional but necessary day: we visited Dachau. As most people know, Dachau was a concentration camp during WWII. Going into it, I was a little bit skeptical and didn’t really want to go. I wanted to shy away from the events that will forever taint Germany. Although this was definitely the most…
Day 13: Free Day
We had many different ideas for our free day. A large portion of the students wanted to take a train to Salzburg, Austria and spend the day there, others wanted to spend another day in Munich, and others wanted to just stay in Augsburg and explore the city a little more. However, a couple of…
Germany Day 7: Free Day in Munich
Today we returned to Munich to have a pseudo-free day. The day began just like every other – waking up tired and quickly eating breakfast as we prepared to leave. We got on the train and departed, just like every other day, but about 20 minutes in, we decided to get off the train and…
Day 9: The Day of Mishaps
In the morning we made the trek by streetcar back to the University of Augsburg for a lecture on contemporary German politics. It was entitled, “The Age of Uncertainty,” because Germany is in uncharted waters regarding its near and long-term futures. Personally, I avidly try to avoid talking about politics at all costs because I…
Day 8: Always Remember and Never Forget
Today was Sunday and today’s event was to visit Dachau, a WWII concentration camp. We arrived and were met by a tour guide, a genial older gentleman who immediately captured all or our attentions and won our hearts. From the first 30 seconds he spoke to us, we could tell he was extremely passionate about…
Day 7: Train Trouble
Today we mercifully didn’t have to leave until 9:05 am so we all got to sleep in for the first time in a long time. Breakfast was extremely crowded and there must have been some event going on in Augsburg that drew so many people to our hotel. After getting to the train station, the…
Day 6: Ulm’s Stairway to Heaven
Today we visited Ulm and we began our day by taking a nice walk to the train station in the near-perfect morning weather. We got to the train station and found our that in an ironic happenstance, considering the punctuality of German trains, our train was delayed by 25 minutes. People in our group spent…
Day 5: Neuschwanstein: Where Natural and Manmade Beauty Meet
Today, we got an early start and got on a bus to Neuschwanstein Castle, about an hour and a half drive from Augsburg. As we neared the site of the castle, we entered rural Germany and the scenery exploded into brilliant greens fields and farmland. We began to see the Alps on the horizon appear…
Day 4: Innovating for the Future, Learning from the Past
Today was our company visit to Continental and on the ride there, we played cards on the bus ride. We played Rummy 500 and it worked surprisingly well especially considering our constrained playing space. When we got to Continental, we all had to sign in and get a name badge first. Then, we were led…
Day 3: Factory Tour: Sheer Walking Pleasure
Today at breakfast, I started to find out what I really liked to eat at breakfast. One delicacy that I discovered was, while attempting to get orange juice, I came upon a unique mango juice. The juice machine had two spouts and I couldn’t read the German labels on them, so I went for the…
Day 2: Gaining Our Bearings
Waking up at 7 am doesn’t seem that bad especially considering that I went to bed at 9 pm the previous night. At the University of Augsburg, we finally got to meet with and work with all of the German students in our group. I was very surprised that we only had an hour to…
Day 1: The Marathon Day
Today was travel day. The flight from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia was a breeze, fortunately. The next flight, from Philadelphia to Munich, was just a bit longer – more like 6 hours longer. I tried to view the result of the time change as a mini day as follows. The “day” portion of the day was…
Reflection
My study abroad in China will forever hold a place in my heart. I’m going to miss every part about it (maybe excluding the “squatty potties”). I really loved getting to know new people on the trip and experiencing China with them. The company visits were very educational, and it was really interesting to compare…
Day 13: I Wish Yu Were Here
On the very last day of Plus3, we visited the Yu Garden in Anren Jie, Shanghai. The Yu Garden is a classical garden which was built for Ming Dynasty government officer Pan Yunduan’s parents as a place for them to enjoy a tranquil and peaceful time in their old age. After being dropped off in…
Day 12: AmCham, Bunnies, and Cars
Today, we visited Delphi Technologies and AmCham, our last company visits. Delphi Technologies was a component division of GM that produce and test car engines. We met David Fan, who interestingly knows one of the professors at Pitt. Fan gave us a presentation regarding electric powered vehicles. In China, the government drove the development of…
Day 11: Land of the Boxes
We visited DAMCO, Ocean East International Logistics, and its warehouse as well as Yangshan Port today, but first, we were greeted by Mac Sullivan at the hotel. Mac is the Greater China Trade Lane Manager for Toll Global Forwarding, a logistics provider of international freight forwarding and supply chain management services. I learned that a…
Day 10: Last University Visit
Today, we visited the East China University of Science and Technology! As we walked onto campus, it felt like a little town. The dorms looked like apartment buildings, and you could see a convenience store down the street. We entered the College of International Education where we received a presentation by Professor Dr. Regina Huang….