October 15, 2012

Wow--I had an amazing weekend.  The past weekend was my class's field trip to Munich.  We left early Friday morning and everyone met at the Schoenefeld airport. I helped the group figure out how to get there from our apartments, and it was nice to be able to read the map and not become confused. I really feel like I am starting to settle in to my new life in Berlin.   On Friday, we went to OSKA fashion headquarters.  Initially, I wasn't the most excited because I am not extremely big on fashion, but talking to the owner was a really cool experience.  He was really nice and friendly and answered every question asked by our group really well. It related back to the presentation that I heard at the Bavarian Embassy in Berlin on Thursday.  The owner explained that the company was mid-sized and did very well and that Munich was a good place to be centered, which is something that I heard over and over again during the presentation.  It is really interesting to me that Germany, at least Bavaria, is run by small to medium size businesses instead of being ruled by large corporations like in the US. I think it makes it a lot easier for people to start their own businesses and actually expect to have some success where in the US it is difficult for a business to get off of the ground.  The owner even talked about how much the employees have a say in the company and that they had very few   problems because there is good communication and everyone works together. During the reading last week, it talked about the workers-council and I really found it cool to see that concept in practice. I could tell that he loved his company and the people that we saw during our short walk-through seemed to be really happy and enjoying themselves.  That night, the UW purchased dinner for us at the Ratskeller in Marienplatz. It was delicious. I had Bavarian duck and potato dumplings and it was one of the best meals I've had in Germany thus far. On saturday, we toured the BMW museum and that was really interesting as well.  I am really enjoying all of the places I have seen during my trip so far. They had a motorcycle with a side car on display from the year 1943, which is obviously a war-time production.  The tour guide didn't spend any time going through the role BMW played in WWII, where as it is quite evident that they provided a large number of airplane engines to the Nazi regime.  The lack of this information from the tour signaled to me that Munich is not ready to face its past. I saw this in other places around the city as they had very few memorials toward the Jews and other victims of the Third Reich.  This is my first time in Europe and I am loving experiencing a different culture and a refreshing change of scenery.   Saturday night, most of the people in the program went to the Hofbräuhaus  which is world famous for their beer. It was a really fun time and I am getting closer to people in my program.  I feel really lucky to be around such a great group of people; I enjoy being around all of them. On sunday, a few of us got up early (around 6am) and went to the Neuschwanstein Castle, which was about a 2 hour train ride away from Munich.  I was so tired on the way there, but I am SO glad that I got up and made the journey. It was a 30 minute hike from the village, which was a 20 minute bus ride away from the train station in Fussen.  From the castle, it was another 20 minute hike to a bridge that served as a viewpoint.  We were rushed on time since we had to leave at 2pm to make the train back to Munich in time to make our flight, but the viewpoint was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen.  I will upload pictures when I have faster internet, but it still amazes me that I was lucky enough to go to such a beautiful place.  We went on a guided tour of the inside and it was the first castle that I have been in so far in Europe, and the inside was amazing as well.  I am still exhausted from my adventure in Munich, but when I got back to my apartment in Berlin it really felt like home.   

Above: Me at the Neuschwanstein Castle Viewpoint 


More later, Ciao 

Becca