Touring the Audi Plant

On Monday, we had our usual marketing class. Everyone was so tired from traveling all weekend. Some of the girls who went to London didn’t get back until almost 5 a.m. on Monday morning because of flight and bus delays! After we got out of marketing class, many of us took a quick nap before heading to lunch and our German class. After German class, some of us decided to go walk around the city. We ended up getting some ice cream from an amazing little ice cream shop in the shopping square. The ice cream here in Germany is way better than any ice cream I’ve ever had back in the states. It’s so much creamier here! After that, I spent most of my afternoon at the train station. I am absolutely scared of flying. After last weekend’s flight from London and back, I refuse to get on another plane, unless it's heading back to the states! So, I basically had to figure how to get to Rome and back this upcoming weekend at the train station. I’m going to have to take a 12-hour train ride to Rome, but it’s worth it to me to not have to take a plane!

On Tuesday, we had classes and lunch at the hostel. After class, I went to the computer lab to catch up on some schoolwork for about three hours or so. That evening, some of us girls decided to straighten Dr. Droms hair for the night. It was quite an event! It looked so good! All of us girls had fun getting ready for our night out together. Our entire group was invited by Dr. Lembach, the Director of International Programs at the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (our host for the trip), to a biergarten party at a local biergarten. We all got dressed up, and we were looking good for the event! Some German students also came to join us for dinner and drinks. They will be coming to VSU next semester to take class and study abroad at our campus. It was really nice to be able to meet some of these students and tell them all about our city and our campus. They seem really excited about coming over to America. We all exchanged names and numbers, so when they do make it over to the states, we can meet up and show them around.

On Wednesday, we had our second weekly field trip for the international marketing and management classes! We were invited once again by Senator Aurenz, who is on the board of directors for Audi, to tour the Audi plant in Neckarsulm. It was about a 1.5 hour train ride from Karlsruhe, but was definitely worth the trip. We arrived at the plant around 10 a.m. Senator and Mrs. Aurenz greeted us and advised us to study hard, get a good job, make a lot of money, and then buy an Audi! We toured the production facilities that make the Audi R8s and it was amazing. Did you know that 80 percent of the R8s are made by hand? Only about 20 percent of the production process of an R8 is by robots. This means that each and every R8 is truly unique. You can have anything you want put into these cars. They will specialize the car to fit the consumer’s needs. Of course, the price tag increases with each specialization request.

It was so cool to see how the assembly line works in a car production company. For the Audi R8s, each station has exactly 29 minutes before the car parts move on to the next station. We also learned that each and every Audi car is sold before it is ever made. This makes it so the company does not spend a lot of money in storing product that hasn’t been sold. We later moved on to see how the Audi A6s are made, which is a much different process. A robot is responsible for about 80 percent of the A6 production. During the tour, we basically just watched a robot twist its little steel hands and rotate in all different kinds of ways to put the car together. These cars can also be specialized according to the consumer’s preferences.

After touring the plant, we were treated to lunch in the Audi Staff Restaurant. After lunch, we took a bus to a local wine vineyard for a wine tasting and buffet. We were given a quick tour of the wine cellar, and treated to a wine tasting of some of the different wines produced in the cellar. We tried five different wines, ranging from white wines, to blush wines, to red wines. We were also served dinner at the wine tasting. After we had our bellies full, we went to catch the train back to Karlsruhe.

* Mallory is participating in a study abroad program in Karlsruhe, Germany, organized by Valdosta State University's Langdale College of Business Administration and International Programs.

A Weekend in London

Yay! Finally, a place that speaks English! Don’t get me wrong, I have loved being able to use some of the German language I have been learning recently, but I’m not going to lie, being able to talk to people with no language barriers was amazing! London was an amazing trip. I wish I had more time to explore its all around history and beauty. There is so much to do in London, and there is absolutely no way to see it all in only two and a half days!

On Friday, the first place we went was to Kensington Palace. This is the place where Princess Diana and Prince Charles lived for a short period of time. I am a huge fan of Princess Diana. My grandmother was from England, and of course, she was a huge fan as well. I can remember receiving gifts from England that had Princess Diana on them when I was young, including a tea set (the English love their tea) that featured likenesses of Princess Diana and Prince Charles in celebration of their marriage. I also received many calendars, pictures, stamps and postcards with Princess Diana on them. I have always thought she was an incredible woman with a huge heart. She is a role model for many people around the world still today.

Kensington Palace had eighteen of the dresses that she had worn while she was alive inside the palace. There was also a make shift memorial outside of the palace because her birthday was July 1. We explored around the outside of the house and its gardens, which were stunning! After the palace, we decided to take some fun, candid pictures in the ever-so popular red phone booths, and then headed to do some shopping at Harrods — one of the largest department stores in the world! It sits on over four and a half acres of land with 330 departments within the store. It's every girl’s dream shopping store. You can find almost every brand/designer name in the world in this one store! It was also the first store ever to install an escalator.

After a little shopping, we went to visit the Princess Diana memorial fountain. It was located in a park close to Kensington Palace. It is in a beautiful garden where people are welcome to put their feet in the fountain to cool off and relax. We later decided to check out the London Eye. It is basically a huge, modern ferris wheel (www.londoneye.com) that gives riders an amazing view of the city of London. Built in 2000 for the millennium celebrations, it was so popular that the city of London decided to keep it up for tourist and their citizens. You can see for miles when you get to the top of the eye. It takes about thirty minutes to make one whole revolution around the wheel. You can get spectacular pictures of the Parliament building and the Big Ben. Afterwards, we decided to get some dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. We heard that the ethnic food in London was really good, so we gave it a try — it was really good!

On Saturday, we decided to take an open top bus tour around the city of London on the “Big Bus Tour.” It took us to see all the major attractions in the city including Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, St. Paul’s Cathedral (where Princess Diana and Prince Charles got married), the London Eye, London Bridge, Tower Bridge and the Royal Courts of Justice. It also included a river cruise that offered excellent views of the Big Ben and London Eye. We also got to see the Shakespeare Globe Theater and the Millennium Bridge. After that, we stopped by the first ever Harley-Davidson shop in Europe and then headed to dinner at the first ever Hard Rock Café. I had pork nachos that were out of this world good! We also got to tour their “Vault” where we saw all kinds of famous memorabilia from people, such as Elvis, Madonna, B.B. King, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Beatles, Tom Petty, Prince and Kurt Kobain.

After dinner, we went to get a t-shirt for Kent’s sister from Wimbledon. When we got there, we were told we could actually get in to see Venus and Serena Williams play in the women’s doubles championship for only 10 pounds, so we jumped on that deal! It was so much fun! I mean, how many people can say they’ve been to Wimbledon! It was definitely one of the many highlights of our trip!

On Sunday, we had to pack and prepare for the trip back to Karlsruhe, but we didn’t leave without having a little fun first. We went to Buckingham Palace at 10 a.m. to see the Changing of the Guard and ended up sticking around until 11:30 a.m. to see the entire ceremony (with the band). For lunch, we ate at a local café that served England’s famous fish and chips. They were very good! Then we headed back to the airport to travel back to Karlsruhe.

Overall, it was an amazing weekend! It was a wonderful experience and I will definitely be back to visit London!

* Mallory is participating in a study abroad program in Karlsruhe, Germany, organized by Valdosta State University's Langdale College of Business Administration and International Programs.

Back in Karlsruhe

This week in Karlsruhe was an amazing week! We did so many fun things around our hostel and the city.

On Monday, we had class, as usual, and lunch at the hostel. During lunch, everyone sang happy birthday to me (my birthday was actually on Sunday, June 28). Ms. Droms and Dr. Ware had bought me a cupcake from Starbucks and put a candle in it for me. It was so sweet!

It really meant a lot to me! For dinner, we went out to a local restaurant for Tiara’s birthday, and later, we all came back to the computer lab to start studying for our daily quizzes and case studies. We wanted to get as much done that night as we could, so we wouldn’t have to worry about it all week!

I’m slowly starting to pick up on some key German words! Two of our favorite words to say are “danke,” which means thank you, and “bitte,” which means your welcome or please. These words are very important for anyone to know if they are planning to travel to Germany. However, being able to understand the German language when Germans are speaking to you is very tough. They speak really fast! I really wish I would have taken a German language class before I came over to study so I would be able to speak and understand the language a little better. Luckily, many of the Germans I have interacted with know some of the basic words in English, so that makes it easier to communicate.

On Tuesday, we had classes and lunch at the hostel. Afterwards, a couple of us decided to check out the Karlsruhe water park named the Europabad. It was so much fun! They had four indoor pools, one huge outdoor pool (with plenty of chairs to lay out on), two super fun water slides, a lazy river and a sauna. It only cost three euros to stay for two hours! We definitely stayed the entire two hours and we want to try to go back sometime again before we leave! After the water park, we all went to eat at a one of our favorite local restaurants, the Doner Kabab. It is so good! They serve all kinds of sandwiches, pizzas and wraps. Then we all came back to our hostel and passed out because we were so tired from playing at the water park!

On Wednesday, we had our first weekly field trip for the international marketing and management classes! We were lucky enough to be invited to tour the L’Oreal plant in Karlsruhe, thanks to Senator Aurenz and his wife. Senator Aurenz owns a company in Valdosta called ASB Greenworld, and he is also on the board of directors for the Audi plant in Germany. His wife has connections with executive directors at the L’Oreal plant in Karlsruhe, and this yielded us a wonderful experience at the L’Oreal plant. Senator Aurenz and his wife have been loyal friends and supporters to the Langdale College of Business for many years.

Our group received a complete tour of the plant. We started in the room where they actually make the products (shampoo, make-up, creams, etc.), then we saw how they bottle it, label it and package it all up. The machines they are using to do all of this are unbelievable — so correct, exact and precise each and every time.

After our tour, they served us an amazing lunch. It was, without a doubt, one of the best meals I’ve had since we’ve been here. After lunch, we were served coffee and they answered all the questions we had for them. When the tour was over, they gave all of us incredible gift bags with all kinds of products for girls and boys. All of the products were labeled with German words, so we came back to our hostel to look up what the words meant to figure out what products we were given. It was like a scavenger hunt for German words! During our visit, we had tons of fun and learned a lot as well. We were all really appreciative of what the L’Oreal plant did for us. They really showed us a wonderful time. For the rest of the afternoon, I basically just ran errands. I mailed some postcards, grabbed some Starbucks, and ate dinner at the hostel. Most of us went to Scruffys for a little while, then headed back to the hostel to get some sleep!

On Thursday, we did the usual class thing then everyone started to pack up for their weekend trips. I was packing for my trip to London with Kent, April, Tiara, Gail, Lauren, Danielle and Ms. Droms. We left Karlsruhe around 5 p.m. and took a train to Baden Baden; from there we took a bus to the Baden Baden/Karlsruhe airport. We got there about three hours early, but we didn’t really have anything else to do, so it was okay. Our plane left at 9:45 p.m. and arrived in London around 10:25 p.m. London time. They are an hour behind Germany. So, the flight really took about an hour and forty minutes, not just forty minutes. When we got to the airport, we took a bus from the airport to the city of London. When we finally got there, we checked into our hostel, the Bestplace in Waterloo, and went to sleep!

* Mallory is participating in a study abroad program in Karlsruhe,Germany, organized by Valdosta State University's Langdale College of Business Administration and International Programs.

The Fast-Paced City Life of Lima

Hi everybody, it's me — Katie.

I'm here in Lima, Peru, where the weather is cool, the language is FAST, and the food is amazing!! I'm from a small town back home, so this fast-paced crazy city life is a little overwhelming at first. But, I'm getting there! Lima is a beautiful city with lots of old architecture and statues — there is SO much history here.

The people are very understanding with language blunders, which is good because I have made a few. I told a man that I had fat eyes, which was not at all what I was trying to say. We straightened things out and had a good laugh about it, so it was worth it!

We are learning the city by walking around and taking taxis and buses. I must say if you are ever in a foreign country, try to take a taxi because it is something you will NEVER forget! Here in Lima I live with a retired professor and his wife. There are three other college girls living here, but I have my own room and bathroom, which makes me pretty lucky. The girls are so nice and are helping with my Spanish. It's so exciting that everything is starting to click into place and the Spanish is spilling out of my mouth faster all the time. It's a weird feeling to hear a foreign language and realize it doesn't sound so foreign anymore, but that's what I'm here for right?

Everything is so busy here, but I guess that's mostly just how things go outside of my quiet little life. I'm learning so much about how different parts of the world work. It's a very different life here, but I am loving every minute and trying not to miss anything. I will let ya'll go for now, but there will be more to follow!!

Katie

* Katelyn is participating in a study abroad program in Lima Peru, organized by Valdosta State University's International Programs and Modern and Classical Languages.

Montezuma’s Revenge

Hello, again! Our group finally arrived in Lima, Peru very late Saturday night and headed off to a local hotel to grab a few zzz’s. Sunday was a very busy day, filled with interesting first experiences. My first impression of Lima is that it is a HUGE city filled with crazy taxi drivers, American fast food restaurants and the sweetest people you will ever meet. Everybody here welcomes you with open arms. My host parents are Oscar & Julia. These are the wonderful people who really make this trip special. We live in a cute duplex apartment with my “host sister” Amber who is also on the trip.

Monday was the first day of classes at “La Universidad Cientifica del Sur.” We were originally to be at “La Universidad Nacional de San Marcos;” however, it was changed at the last moment. Because it is a satellite campus, it has only three tall buildings. Every Tuesday and Thursday, we take a bus to the main campus, which is 40 minutes away, to take part in a speaking class with other native students. They try to improve their English and we try to improve our Spanish.

Living in Lima is very different than living in the United States. It really makes you so appreciative of what you have and what you have access to. Not many people have cars, so everybody takes taxis. We have to negotiate a price depending on where we are going, because they do not have meters. The more people you pile into a taxi the cheaper it is. On average we can fit 5 to 8 people in one small taxi including the driver (disclaimer: I don’t recommend more than 6). Lima is also full of McDonald’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Papa John and KFC restaurants. I’ve eaten at a Pizza hut and it’s very similar to the restaurants in the U.S., yet at the same time a bit different. However, I highly recommend the local authentic food — it is amazing. Here you can eat a huge three course meal for only eight to ten soles, which is about $2.66 to $3.33 American dollars. Lima is an up and coming culinary capital of South America. There is a huge blending of Peruvian, Japanese and Chinese cultures. One thing that remains truly Peruvian is the Pisco Sour! This cocktail is AMAZINGLY tasty and my beverage of choice! I wish you could get these back in the U.S. because there is no other comparison.

Although the food is amazing, you have to be very cautious of where you eat. If you eat at a bad restaurant, Montezuma’s revenge will hunt you down and find you!!! I unfortunately have been laid up in bed for the past three days from a horrible bout of food poising. I would not wish this on my worst enemy! My host mom has been so sweet by making the best homemade chicken noodle soup, so I can recover more quickly!

Until next time!

* Stephanie is participating in a study abroad program in Lima Peru, organized by Valdosta State University's International Programs and Modern and Classical Languages.

T-Minus 46 Hours and Counting…

That title pretty much sums up my life right about now. Currently, my to-do list is stretching miles long with no end in sight. Now is the time where a maid would come in VERY handy….oh wait…I just paid my little sister to do all my cleaning and laundry for me!!! Yay!!! Now the only thing left up to me is homework. For my Latin-American Literature class, I was assigned three papers and an extensive reading list. So far, I have two papers done and most of my reading completed; however, I still have one paper left that I have to finish before arriving at the airport (and of course I saved the worst one for last).

In these few precious moments that I have to reflect on the past few months, I feel a sense of calm. I am ready to go and experience a different way of life, yet there is still this lingering anxiety, anticipation and nervousness about the trip. I have been well prepared by my very capable and amazing director Dr. Aronson Friedman, which makes me feel much more at ease. She has worked long and hard putting this trip together for many, many, many months now, so I just want to say thank you to her! I have high expectations about this country and this trip, as I have heard many wonderful things said about the past study abroad program to Peru.

I hope to have some sort of Internet access set up as soon as possible after we arrive. I’ll update everyone then as to my first impressions and experiences!

Lots of Love,

Stephanie

* Stephanie is participating in a study abroad program in Lima Peru, organized by Valdosta State University's International Programs and Modern and Classical Languages.

First Weekend Trip (Munich)

Hello again! Well, we finally had our first class with Dr. Droms. She is seriously one of the best teachers at the business school, and being able to have her as a teacher for International Marketing in Germany is amazing!

In Dr. Droms class on Thursday, we basically discussed the many cultural differences we have been experiencing since we arrived in Germany. We also talked about how the marketing techniques were different between Germany and America. One of our assignments over the weekend was to eat at a McDonald’s on our weekend trip. Dr. Droms wanted us to see if we noticed any differences. While there were no major differences in the McDonalds between America and Munich, there were some little variations. First, they offered a shrimp burger and real potato fries. Something I’ve never seen in the states! I tried the bacon cheeseburger, regular fries and a coke. It was exactly what I would have got back in the states. However, their large coke is a lot smaller than our large coke. I was expecting a big coke, and I got like a medium size in my opinion. Customers also have to pay for condiments and the straws are not wrapped like they are in the states.

I am also taking a German Language and Culture class with a professor from Germany. Everyone is in that class. In our first German class we learned the alphabet — it was pretty fun. We did have some German students who were laughing at us though. We probably sounded like we were in kindergarten! It was funny!

After class we went to pack to get ready for our weekend trip to Munich. We left on the train from Karlsruhe heading to Munich at 6:06pm (the Germans are very precise)! We arrived in Munich around 9:30pm. We checked into our hostel, and decided to hit the town. We just walked around and explored the city for a little while. The next morning, Friday, we woke up early and caught a train to Fussen. It is a two and a half hour train ride from Munich. We went to see the Schloss Neuschwanstein, which is the castle that Cinderella’s castle in Disney World is modeled after. King Ludwig built it back in the 1800s. Once we got there, we had to take a bus to get up the side of the mountain. When we finally made it to the castle, I was captivated by its beauty! It was absolutely gorgeous! There really are no words to describe how beautiful the castle and the forest surrounding it looked. The pictures just don’t do it justice!

After we left the castle, we headed back to Munich. We decided to eat dinner at the world famous Hofbrauhaus. It is one of the most famous beer halls in Germany. It was one of the most popular places where Hitler use to give speeches.

Saturday, we caught up on some much needed sleep and then headed to the Brandhorst Museum, a new museum that just opened up about a month ago in Munich. It included many paintings from Andy Worhol and other famous contemporary artists. It was a VERY contemporary/modern museum — very interesting — something you would never find in Valdosta! After we left the museum, we headed to Mike’s Bike Tour, a five-hour bike tour around Munich. It was the most fun thing we did all weekend. I would strongly recommend anyone going to Munich to take this tour. The tour takes you all around Munich to show you all the major sites in Munich. Here’s is a list from his website (www.mikesbiketours.com) of all the places we went during our tour:

• Marienplatz (Old and New Town Halls, churches, Marketplace)
• Hofbräuhaus Beer Hall am Platzl
• National Theather - Opera House
• The Residenz of the Wittelsbach Family
• Odeonsplatz
• Hofgarten (the back yard of the Residenz)
• Saatskanzlei (Governor´s offices, formerly The Bavarian Army Museum)
• Schwabing (Leopold Strasse)
• The English Garden (about 1/3 of it)
• Chinese Tower Beergarden
• Surfer´s Bridge
• Prinzregenten Strasse (National Museum of Bavaria)
• Friedensengle (Peace Angel Monument)
• Maximilianeum (Bavarian Parliment)
• The Isar River and the Lukas Kirche
• Deutsches Museum
• Isartor (Eastern gate of city wall from 14th century)

After the very informative, enjoyable tour, we were so tired that we decided to head back to the hostel. The next morning, Sunday, we woke up, packed all of our stuff up, and headed to the Dachau Concentration Camp Museum — our final stop before heading back to Karlsruhe. The camp was one of the first to be opened and was one of only a few to last throughout the entire war. It was really sad to know that thousands of people lost their lives in harsh, inhumane conditions where we were standing. The camp had a huge museum that took about an hour to go through. We also toured the bunkers, old prisoner cells, the gas chamber and the crematory. It took about two hours to go through the entire camp. After touring the camp, we hopped on a train headed to Karlsruhe. It was nice to get back to see everyone, share pictures, and tell stories!

* Mallory is participating in a study abroad program in Karlsruhe, Germany, organized by Valdosta State University's Langdale College of Business Administration and International Programs.