Eight Days of Sustainability and Friendship

               This post is extremely long, but I haven’t blogged for a week so I’m making up for lost time. I’ve divided it into sections just in case you need to take a break and come back to it!

BMW Museum

TAP-YTL 

                For the past week, I have been with eleven amazing individuals on an intensive educational experience. We were each fortunate to be accepted into the TAP-YTL program through the German American Chamber of Commerce (GACCom). Each day was filled with at least one appointment with a German company that was implementing sustainability into their infrastructure or production process. Some of the companies we explored include Bosch Rexroth, BMW, Volkswagen, Siemens, and many more. I have included some details about each company on the “TAP-YTL”page.

On the City Tour of Munich 

Members: Part One

                Besides gaining wonderful insight into German businesses, we also had many opportunities to discover the culture and build lasting relationships with one another. Here’s an overlook of the group, whose names have been cleverly altered to protect their identity, and maybe pride.

                Jim – Jim was one of our fearless leaders! Despite struggling with allergies the entire week, Jim always kept us prompt, orderly, and (most importantly) awake at each presentation. With his darting looks that said “Drink coffee!” or “You should’ve stretched beforehand like I recommended!” we all managed to gain the most from each company. Of course, we were genuinely interested in the presentations, but certain circumstances (staying up too late the night before, eating too much at lunch, feet were about to fall off in pain) lead us to be exhausted at times. Nevertheless, Jim was there to set us straight!

Kranhäuser in Cologne

                Elise – Fearless leader Number Two! I remember Elise mostly laughing or dodging answering some of our more pestering questions. I think those questions mostly regarded appointment times or that day’s schedule. Again, very organized but a little more relaxed, having more of an “it will all work out guys” attitude with a calm demeanor. It was a comfort at times. She was always very bubbly and ready to share some laughs over dinner or drinks.

                Ben – Ben was one of the great question-askers in the meetings, having worked in the industry for several years. If I remember correctly, he is some sort of project manager, I think. (I have a horrible memory). In any case, Ben, along with most people in the program, was very jolly. He was a part of the worrying duo, one of the two people we were always concerned would not wake up on time. I don’t even think Ben was ever late, but the concern was there. Ben offered a lot of insight and advice to many of us that are still in college. He stressed the importance of teamwork and communication on multiple levels of the company. For example, you need to talk dollars in terms of revenue gained or costs cut when speaking to the men in fancy suits. Ben was full of wisdom and always knew how to have a good time!  

The Guys 

                Lydia- Lydia was also a primary question-asker. Lydia works for a government agency and has a daughter who might start learning music soon. Exciting! Although we did discuss the best instruments and methods for teaching music to young children, we also covered many other topics, including marriage, careers, parenting, health, etc. I learned from Lydia the importance of living in the moment and recognizing why you are the way you are. Of course, some book suggestions came along with the advice, so I will have to do some Amazon shopping when I return. Lydia was great at conversing, being a wonderful listener while providing life-changing advice.

Members: Part Two

                Armani- Armani is currently a chemical engineering student. Congrats to her because she just found out she was accepted into the engineering program a few days ago! This girl was a bottomless pit. I have no idea where all the food she ate went, but congrats to her for having a fast metabolism. She taught me a new card game, which we played with Blaine and Mitchell. Armani and I were partners. Did we play well? Absolutely not, but many of you know that does not really matter to me. It’s all about bonding time!

Boat tour in Cologne

                Elena – Elena is a petite Ukrainian architect from Texas with an ambitious husband who apparently was in the Olympics at one point for boat racing and now composes music. Many people find my dual major odd, but Elena’s life really astounded me. She was always a joy to talk to and was also a part of the “life advice” conversation with Lydia and I. Books were also recommended from her, which I need to read immediately. Obviously, both of these women are very successful and happy, so all the advice from them, I gladly took and cannot wait to begin using it in my own life. Elena and I always seemed to be ordering the same meals, and also sharing some dessert together. Good times!

                Claire – Very sweet girl! She was the last one I said goodbye to in the train station before leaving for Leipzig. Most of her train and bus rides were filled with sleep, but this made her wide awake for meetings and meals. I don’t remember ever seeing her dozing off in a presentation. We talked about boys, school, long-distant relationships, China, and boys some more. The topic of boys seems to never get old!

Siemens project 

                Cassie – The other talker! For those of you that know me, you know I love to talk with people… about anything! Well, I found someone else who really likes to talk…Cassie! So when we would get together, it was just blablablabla and I loved it! We talked about everything from books to boys to hair. Very typical girl things, of course. Cassie was also one of the few people in the group who could speak some German, so sometimes we would help each other out or have a mini conversation in German. By “mini,” I mean something like “The weather is nice today” “Yeah, it is beautiful” “I love the sun.” That was mostly it…then back to boy discussions. I hope the rest of her trip with her family is amazing!

                Giselle – Photographer of the week! Giselle was always taking pictures…of shoes in the window of a store, of buildings, of food and beer and of everything! She will most likely be our photographer at all Alumni events because her photos even turned out really cute. She was always willing to answer any crazy questions I had about China (I am very culturally ignorant with China). She was always smiling, and sometimes spilling tea on Blaine or getting yelled at by Germans because she left the door open. She was a real trooper and never let anything get her down! Props to her positivism!

Our Lock on the Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne

                Blaine – Blaine was the first person I met on the trip and I would call him the German Enthusiast. Ever since our first conversation, I realized he would definitely be living in Germany one day because he loved everything about it!...from the food to the fact that you could walk around the town with a beer or you didn’t have to have your dog on a leash. Just about everything, he loved. We had both gotten to the city a day early and were staying in the same hostel so we walked around together, met up with some of his Prague friends, and then later met up with Mitchell. Blaine had some interesting stories to tell, one including a tragic death of a kitten. Although this was slightly disturbing, I’m a dog person so I still like him!

                Mitchell – Mitchell is by far…interesting. With his monotone voice, he usually said some inappropriate or “maybe that was too far” comments, but you always just ended up laughing at them. Had to be the monotone voice. Mitchell was great to have conversations with about current events. We touched on some interesting topics such as fracking and the silly media. Mitchell had some interesting (sorry, this is the only word I can think of) experiences, such as staying up until five drinking with Ben and then showing up late the next day, or dropping his water bottle in a pool of urine outside the Dome in Cologne. Again, very interesting…

                                         Recap

Bach and I

                So that was my delegation group and now you can see why I couldn’t blog because I was having way too much fun with these people! I am now president of the delegation, which means they will all be subjected to my dorky bonding games at reunions. Yay!

Where am I now? Leipzig, of course! Just in time for the Bach Festival and a Blüthner factory tour!