thank you

I would like to thank Fred F. Weingruber for helping to make this wonderful once in a lifetime trip come true for me.  It has truly been an experience that has shaped my life and career goals.  I have gained so much insight from this trip that it has helped me grow as a person. 

Reflecting

As I, sit in my house and reflect on my trip now that I am back in the good old U.S.A.   I am glad that I experienced Germany with study abroad.  It helped me realize how important it is to be environmentally friendly. I also was able to associate with some amazing professors who I feel have broadened my perspective on the gap between Europe and the U.S.  I am proud everyone wants to be American, but I feel we as Americans could take some lessens from Germany.  I hate to say that I may be less American now than when I left for Germany in May. I will be more conscious of my carbon footprint because these people have made a big impression on me. 

Career Insights

Study abroad has strengthened and shaped my career goals.  I now have a deeper meaning for wanting to be a chemical engineer.  I want to be part of something bigger and help future generations to share this beautiful place we call earth.  It is up to engineers to update factories with new ways to prevent pollution and keep the air and water clean.  Before this trip my career goals were all of self interest.  I like to solve problems, do math, and chemistry.  Now I can truly say I want to be an engineer to help make the world a better place.  This gives chemical engineering a greater meaning and I am proud to be on the road to accomplishing great things.  

 

Local Life

I did not experience any trouble communicating with German people.  For the most part they all speak English extremely well.  I think I had a fair amount of things in common with these people.  One of the students even said I should move to Germany because I act more German than American.  My grandfathers side of our family had roots in Germany.  The German culture class revealed a great deal about my family.  The German people are hard working, straightforward, strong willed, and like details.  I see all of these qualities instilled in me that have been passed down in my family for generations.  I did not know about the extreme importance of beer in Germany and how the beer purity law is written into the constitution.  It was interesting to find out that Bavaria was not originally part of Germany.  They did not unify with Northern Germany until  1871.  Bavarian people will even say "I am Bavarian first and German second." They even have a different dialect from Northern Germany.  They have a acutely, deep, and rich history that has been shaped by many things.
This is a picture of the new town hall in Munich.  This is a special building that features a spectacular engineering show every hour.  This show depicts a war where Bavaria wins.  The second picture is of one of the wonderful locals at a brewery we toured.  He was a perfect example of the German people.  He had so much exuberance for his job.

Challenges

I would have to say traveling oversees by yourself is challenging.  It surprised me how much independence and free time that was given to the students. I thought that every minute was going to be planned out and there was not going to be time to do any extra sightseeing.  I was wrong.  I saw many sights other than the planned events.  I took a day trip to see neuschwanstein castle, which was well worth it.  This castle was like something out of a storybook.  I just wish the tour was not so rushed.  This tour also included a 2 mile uphill walk, which took a good bit of time.  One problem I had was finding something to do after 6:00 pm at night. Everything in Germany closes at 6. I tried to go see a movie, but only found one in English. I feel I wasted a lot of time not knowing these things.  Also, it rained a lot during our trip. I also was unsure what to do on these days when I first arrived.

 

Differences from home

I found many differences from home here in Germany.  Munich although immense is an exceptionally safe city compared to U.S. cities.  This is due to their strict gun laws and police enforcement.  The police are everywhere and they do not put up with anything.  I had to get used to being able to walk around at night comfortably by myself.  I think it is an American thing to always be on guard and look over our shoulders.  This trip has given me a view into my life as an American as well.  I went to experience another culture and their culture taught me about mine.  Europeans are not afraid to fly.  They ride planes for 20 or 50 euros every other weekend to see their friends in Madrid.  I know quite a few Americans who would never step foot on a plane in Europe. As I mentioned before there is no air conditioning.  They drink beer whether alcoholic or non alcoholic with lunch.  The German people are more professional when it comes to business.  When we were in class there was no time wasted.  In America there are distractions and jokes during class.  There are too many differences to list here. 

Modern Conveniences of the U.S.

The German's are also aware of their carbon footprint more so than in the U.S.  I expected to be cold in the hotel so I packed accordingly only to find out there was no air conditioning.  There was no air conditioning anywhere.  There was not an ice cold pop or beer to be found. They must keep their refrigeration units at a higher temperature than ours to use less power.  The biggest energy producer in Germany are solar panels.  There are hundreds of solar panels in the country side.  Any where in the U.S. in the summer it is cold to the max.  We like everything refrigerated. 

Being American in Europe

I had many conversations about being American with people from different cultures in Germany. Everyone thinks the U.S. is the best place to be. I am beginning to understand why. I was interested in seeing the differences between Germany and the U.S. because they seemed so similar. They have very strict gun control laws oversees. Recently, the German even have just passed a law concerning women's rights. In the U.S. we have had these laws in detail to protect women for some time now. There are many small differences that go unnoticed unless someone is looking for them. I spoke with a few refugees while sightseeing who come from war torn countries. America is a sign of hope for a lot of people. They see it as a safe haven that is full of opportunity. In the countries they come from there are no opportunities for these people. Even in the countries where they are staying there is limited opportunities. They are not citizens of these states, which means they have no rights there.                                                 

Company visits

Our first company visit was to BMW. It was like having VIP passes behind the scenes.  The factory was clean, but loud.  We walked through with one of our professors who organized the trip.  We gained access to places in the factory where only the lead engineers were permitted because of this professor.  He explained all the jobs that the robots and employees were assigned. The ways engineering was incorporated into a factory was amazing.  All the employees were surprised to see a tour group walking through.  We also went to visit Hirschvogel, Siemens, and Stadtwerke Munchen.  Hirschvogel provides steel and aluminum forging and machining to automotive companies.  The parts produced were heated and went through huge machines to form them into different shapes.  On the Siemen's tour we saw how trains were manufactured.  It takes a tremendous amount of effort to produce these enormous constructions.  We were not allowed to take pictures in any of the factories due to confidentiality of the production and processes.  This picture is my favorite car from the BMW museum.  It is prototype made of a special fabric.

Food in Germany

I can not claim to love the Bavarian style food in Germany. I did not try most of it to be honest.  I had schnitzel, which tasted like breaded pork chop to me and some kind of Germany style beef that i was not impressed with.  After 5 days, I got tired of eating pizza and sandwiches and went off in search of other food options.  There is a lot of pizza in Germany and Italians. I did not want the usual Burger King, McDonald's, or Kentucky Fried chicken. Yes, they have all of these fast food chains. This is when I found out I like Thai food and arugala salad.  The food tastes better in Germany for some reason.  I do not know why.  They take a lot of the high fructose corn syrup out of the soda and do not have as many artificial colors for candy.  There are white starburst and only red, yellow, and brown M & M's. Then there is the Beer. Who can forget about that? It has a definite huge cultural importance in Munich. There was beer on breaks, beer with lunch, beer with dinner, and beer gardens everywhere. People walked down the street drinking beer. This was the biggest cultural shock to me. It was strange to see people waiting for the tram with beer. Beer is also a large part of the history in Munich. They won a war by bribing someone with beer.  These are the average liters of beer that are served in the beer gardens all over Bavaria. 

Overview of Germany trip

My study abroad was located in Munich, Germany.  This program included weekend travels, company tours, and classroom activities.  We went on an adventure every weekend to see various places near Munich.  Some of the places we visited were a high rope park in the mountains, Lake Tegernsee, the alpine slide, and the Linderhof Palace.  We took a cable car to the top of a mountain that had a spectacular view.  The Alps are like nothing that I have ever seen.  A once in a lifetime experience.  They even had a little café at the top where you could sit and drink a beer, while taking in the view of the mountains. Lake Tegernsee was my favorite trip.  We took a boat ride around the lake that was surreal.  It was like floating through a picture. After weekends of fun we headed back to the classroom Monday morning.  The classes went fast and were interesting.  The topics included German culture, lean management, and ergonomics.  The lean management class was the most fascinating. I do not want to give away the details of the class, but it promoted team work.