The first morning being home after staying in Germany was the first time I have ever been upset to be able to sleep in. I wish I was still staying at the Ibis Hotel in Augsburg among all of the new friends I have made in a country I have come to love! In all…
Tag: Summer 2018
Italy Scholarship Reflection
I would like to express how thankful I am to have received the Thomas Angelo Honors Scholarship. I have always wanted to study abroad but cost was a big concern for me and my family. With the help of this scholarship, I was able to go on the trip without the financial worry that I…
Final Blog: Post-China Final Summary
For my final blog, I will discussing five professional development topics. My responses are a combination of previous knowledge and fresh opinions. The topics of the questions are found in the headers below. Ethical Issues In My Profession To be clear, my current, intended profession is somewhere within the finance industry. We have seen the…
Day 13- Ich Sprechen Kein… Serbian?
Today was one of the best days ever and such great way to spend my last day here in Germany. I was originally nervous- Anna and I were to spend the day in Stuttgart with her family, who even she hadn’t met until today! I knew I would be welcomed though, because Anna Facetimed her…
Day 12- Gondolas and Goodbye Dinners
Our last full program day in Germany started off in a rush! My phone died while I was asleep so my alarms didn’t go off, meaning that Anna and I were awakened by Bob and Derek pounding on our door while everyone else was waiting for us downstairs. After getting ready at lightning speed, we…
Reflections
I was very lucky to have this opportunity to visit China. When applying to the Plus3 program, I was originally stuck between China and Germany. Germany’s focus on the automobile industry was attractive as a mechanical engineer, but ultimately I am so happy to have chosen China as my first choice. China’s role in the…
The Homeward Haul Day
May 19 Well… it’s over. And now I have to endure this absurdly long plane ride home. At least there are some good movies on the plane (and I’m in the middle seat again). We woke up today and had an hour drive to Shanghai Pudong International Airport. Security at the airport was a little…
The Past and Present(ation) Day
May 18 The last day of the trip! And our shortest bus ride of the trip? Yep. Today we visited the Yu Garden with our tour guide Alex, who we had not seen since the first day we got to Shanghai. We parked in a parking lot in some random area of the city and…
The American Bunny Day
May 17 Today’s bus ride was not nearly as long as yesterday’s (thankfully). Today in the morning we visited Delphi Technologies. The person we met with there was head of sales but most shockingly, he was also a Pitt Grad. Well, he got his Ph.D. from Pitt, but still! In his talk, we talked a…
The Shipping Noodles Day
May 16 Today we had a really long bus ride. Two hours one way to get where we were going. On the bus ride, we met Mac. He is an American who has been living in China since 2008. He came to China because he had always enjoyed travel and when he graduated college the…
A Brief Reflection
I cannot believe how much happened in the very short two weeks I was in China. It was all around an amazing experience, one that I would recommend to anyone who wants to study abroad. I knew a few people going into the trip, but traveling together allowed me to become so much closer to…
Day 14: The End
After our late-night karaoke, I think everyone appreciated the late report time for this morning. Since neither flight was going to be boarding until after 2:00, we didn’t have to be ready to go until 11:15. I wanted to enjoy the breakfast one last time, so I meandered down to the lobby about half an…
The Vocal Acrobatics Day
May 15 Today was the first time we were able to see where our hotel was. It is an entirely different world from downtown Shanghai. The hotel is in the French concession of Shanghai. The area is covered with trees (allergies were a bit of an issue) and the buildings are mostly residential, and the…
Day 13: The Last Day (For Some of Us)
Our final full day was packed. We began with breakfast as usual (including dumplings, of course), then loaded up the bus for the Yu Garden. Today’s weather was probably the worst out of the entire trip. It was hot, which we were used to by this point, but is was also terribly humid. Even just…
Day 12: Two’s Company?
Today’s first visit was to a company I hadn’t heard of before, Delphi Technologies. Their main focus (at least of what we saw) is in motors and the automobile industry. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. When we got to the office, we had the chance to take a quick look around before we were…
The River Boat Day
May 14 Another early day, another long commute. But the commute was from Xi’an to Shanghai and that meant bullet train. This ride was a little more enjoyable than the last, however. This time we worked it out that everyone in our row was on our trip, so I didn’t have be woken up at…
Day 11: A Shipload of Logistics
After arriving back at the hotel late last night, I was tired when I woke up for another start. I decided to try the coffee provided in the hotel room. I’m not really sure what I expected, but even for instant coffee it was not close to being good. I decided to stick to tea…
Day 10: Back to School
My day began with an exploration of our final breakfasting location. I think the spread at this hotel was by far the most impressive (although their bacon didn’t hold up to Penta Hotel’s standard). My favorite, of course, were the dumplings and steamed pork buns, but they also had some great Asian pears (a few…
Day 9: Shanghai? Shang-hellohello!
The day started early once again, since we had to catch the train to Shanghai. After what was probably the quietest (and also the earliest) breakfast on the trip so far, everyone met in the lobby to check out. I had to tape my luggage shut again, but I made a mistake thinking that I…
Thomas Angelo: Final Reflection
Being able to go on this trip was such a blessing. My case was even more special. Originally, I had been waitlisted for the entire Plus3 program. Then, magically I got an e-mail saying I was accepted for Plus3 China. After setting up my meeting with Mr. Miner and learning about the due dates, I…