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.