Recap

Looking Back:

This trip was two of the best weeks of my life. I really do not know how to describe it. I made so many new friends, both from Pitt and Augsburg. The German students were all super nice and the best hosts for our two weeks in Germany. For my first time abroad, I could not have asked for a better experience. I got to see so much of Germany through the cultural visits and learned so much about business in other countries through the company visits. The food was nothing like I’d ever had before and I will miss it. Downloading recipes off the internet isn’t quite the same though. I can’t wait to go back to Germany, even though it probably won’t be for many years. The friends I made and the experiences I had will stay with me forever. Finally, thank you to Dr. Feick and Hillary for setting up such a great trip.

Final Day

Day 13: Friday 5/20/2016

Our final full day in Germany was very relaxing. After suffering through hotel breakfast for nearly two weeks, we could not take it anymore and decided to go out for breakfast. Apparently they don’t know what scrambled eggs and bacon are in Germany because at the place we went to all they had was 2 types of sausage and potato salad for breakfast. At least the sausage I did get was very good. After breakfast we decided to walk around Augsburg and buy some gifts for family and friends. Later that day was one of my favorite things of the trip. The Pitt students and some of the German Students got together in the park and grilled all kinds of sausages, burgers, and steaks. We also played soccer, which seemed very fitting being that soccer (or football) is so popular in Germany. It was awesome being able to just relax and chill. It almost felt like a summer afternoon since the weather was so nice as well. I can’t believe this trip is already over, it feels like it just started yesterday. Although, I am ready to go home for two reasons; good, filling breakfasts and being able to understand everything again. 

Typical sunset picture

Ulm

Day 12: Thursday 5/19/2016

The city of Ulm was the destination for today. Shortly after arriving, we met up with our tour guide and went on a city tour. By this point in the trip, a good deal of us were not too thrilled to be going on yet another walking tour of the city. While the city was very cool and I enjoyed walking around seeing the city, the tour guide was not the most entertaining, making it difficult to pay attention. Lunch was definitely a unique experience. We went to a place where the specialty was pancakes with the most outrageous toppings. I got a pancake that was about the size of a medium pizza, with creamed spinach, a fried egg, and bacon on top. It was very good and not like anything I’ve ever had before. The highlight of the day was the climb to the top of the Ulm Minster. After climbing 768 steps and being very sweaty, I finally made it to the top. The view was unreal. I could see in every direction for miles. Later that night we had our goodbye dinner with all of the German students. We gave each of the Germans in our group a Pitt t-shirt and in return we got some chocolate and a hand-written t-shirt. The time and thought that they put into it made it extra special. It was sad saying goodbye to some of our German counterparts because we had grown fairly close over the course of the past two weeks. 

All 768 steps worth of the Minster

Presentation Time

Day 11: Wednesday 5/18/2016

Today was one of the best days of the entire trip when it comes to weather. It was at least 70 and sunny all day and of course this was the day we stayed inside most of the time. I met with my group around 10 and we worked until 3 when the PowerPoint was due for the final project. Then after a brief 20 minute break to get changed, we regrouped and continued to rehearse our parts until we gave the presentation at 5. Since I hadn’t eaten since 12 I decided to bring some snacks to the presentations. I was the only one carrying a bag of cookies in with me, but oh well. I think the presentation went really well (hopefully Dr. Feick thinks the same). Afterwards, we got some dinner at what you could tell was a college restaurant; relatively cheap and a good portion. The food was good and it was nice being able to relax knowing the projects were done with. 

Final Company Visit

Day 10: Tuesday 5/17/2016

After a long 3 hour bus ride we arrived at PPG or Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company. It was a bit strange being in Germany and visiting a company that started out in Pittsburgh. It was really interesting to hear about how PPG changed their business model over the years to go from producing mainly glass to producing mostly paints and coatings. I was also blown away by some of the things that PPG coats. I never even thought that some things were coated; for example the rubber around the door frames in cars is coated in something. It was also really cool to have such a high level executive speaking to us; the global supply chain manager. This was especially interesting for me because I am looking into supply chain as a major and got to hear what it is like first-hand. I never realized before how much stuff is involved in a supply chain like PPG’s. It seemed as if there is no scenario where they do not have a backup plan or some measure in place in case of something going wrong. After heading home my group went to Dennis’ flat to work on our project. I was super hungry after going hours without eating so I decided to buy a baked chicken from a food truck even after many recommendations not to. It was probably one of my better decisions this trip. It was so good and it was nice to have a more American food. I even ate two plates of the spaghetti bolognese that Dennis cooked for us just an hour later. We ended up working on our project for at least 5 hours that night. Hopefully it all pays off in the end. 

Can You Say Tourist?

Day 9: Monday 5/16/2016

Today consisted of numerous cultural visits. First, we visited Neuschwanstein Castle in the Alps. The views we encountered there were absolutely amazing. In one direction I could look out over the German countryside for miles and on the other were some of the tallest mountains I have ever seen. Some of them even had snow on them. Between seeing snow, a chair lift, and ski slope, it made me sad that I couldn’t go skiing; but I’ll be back some day to do that. The castle itself was magnificent.

How people were able to construct something like that in the 19^th century is mind-blowing. Not even just building it, but getting all of the materials up the steep hills and inclines must’ve been an engineering marvel. The inside of the castle was immaculate with all of the artwork and woodwork that was done. Everywhere you looked there was either a painting or some extremely detailed wood carvings. The tour guide told us that one room alone took 14 men four years to complete. Next, we went to and ate lunch in the little town of Fuessen. The town, in my opinion, looked like a much smaller version of Munich. However, it was very cool that the town was right at the base of the mountains and if you looked the one direction out of town the mountains shot up thousands of feet. The final stop for the day was at Wieskirche, at massive church in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. On the inside it was by far the most beautifully decorated church I have ever seen (and we’ve seen a lot of churches on this trip). I really do not know how to describe it, there were paintings and statues all over the walls and ceiling. For dinner we were on our own so Jan took a few of us to a Mexican place in Germany. Safe to say it was decent, but was definitely not the Mexican food we eat in the states for obvious reasons. 

Neuschwanstein castle

The inside of Wieskirche

Dachau

Day 8: Sunday 5/15/2016

One word to describe Dachau; eerie. Our day today consisted of visiting the first concentration camp set up by the Nazi party in 1933. Since I love World War 2 history I was super excited to finally get to visit a concentration camp. Well I guess as excited as one could be to visit a place where thousands of people were killed… but you know what I mean. I really liked being able to see the camp and learn about its history, however I did not like the tour guide at all. She did not let us stop and read any of the signs and we went faster than I felt we should have. It was a very surreal feeling standing in the gas chamber, the actual place where people were murdered about 75 years earlier. Also, seeing pictures of the piles of bodies was sickening. We were also told that the SS training grounds were right next-door to the camp. I understand why it was completely destroyed many years ago and the tour people don’t want to discuss it (the SS were truly sick, the worst of the worst of Hitler’s army), but I would have liked to see it because it is history. While it was a very sullen afternoon, it was very interesting and I now look forward to visiting other World War 2 historical sites like Normandy and other concentration camps. 

Looking down the center of the camp