Sooo shouldnt really have stayed up so late last night, as the sun still broke through the window and jumped onto my face at 5am. Silly sun. At breakfast i did find out the rooms have real metal blinds that block out all the light. If only i'd known three days ago...
TODAY. Wow. So long. First we breakfasted. Got to know some of the other group members. Just talked about what we study and where. One girl was from Canada and studying in finland (she married a guy there), the other from Portugal. So cool to meet such a mix of people! We had to meet in the lobby at 8.30am (half an hour before 9am michael tells us...). So we did. From there we walked to the uni together. Then had a welcome session - with info about the uni, and about the state of Baddn-Wurttemberg (we were are). Then we got info on the case study. Where they basically said it wasnt really about all the info in the case (exporting) but it was about event management. Sooooo vague. But in a group. And i got a nice group! YAY. So i feel less stressed, because i feel they cant really expect too much in 3 days, and Michael told us it shouldnt take more than 5 hours of work. Having said that, i still wasnt really sure what we were meant to do a 15 minute presentation about on wednesday.
Then we were taken on a tour of mannheim by an older lady,..i forget her name... Basically it seemed everything was invented here, and all famous people came from here (or at least stayed here for a night in an inn...i exagerate...). But Mozart stayed here for 162 days, and played the organ in the Jesuit, Baroque styled church we went to. Very impressive. The first bike, car and tructor were all invited here. The guy who made the first car (three-wheeled), got laws made especially for him because people were scared of the new transportation mean. he could only ride at 5km an hour...seems a bit pointless really. The tour was long, and really really hot. So sunny here and no shade. But she did point out the nice cafes. And one place rents out deck chairs so you can go and sit on the grassy lawn - cool idea! We also walked up to the famous water tower. It is cool and old. Its famous for preventing diahorea and other illnesses. It was funny how our german guide pronounced that word.
Headed back to the uni for lunch. Their cafeteria is amazing. This lunch was included in the course. We all helped ourselves. Then found out you pay by weight (they weighed each plate). I tried to go healthy, so halved the chocolate berry tart with S (im not really sure if people would want me putting there names here...). Had interesting conversation with the couple from Belgium about Australia and Australian animals. And the guy from Germany (who is also half arabic) - he lived in israel for a while, didnt have to do army service in germany (which he was pretty pleased about) and he wanted us to send him some kangaroos. He thinks they're awesome. It makes me laugh.
After lunch we had our first lectures - both 90 mins long. One about the germany economy (they;re BIG exporters - i didnt know hoow powerful Germany was, and how labour used to cost so much becaus of additional labour costs - social security payments - so unemployment was high) and then about the European Union (Parliment, Council, Commission) and the problems with the euro at the moment (because everyone went into high debt). I thought we Aussies and American were at a little disadvantage, but all the Europeans said they had forgotten it all. The lecturer kept saying it was way too much to cover in 3 hours. And it was. We hardly got through any of it. But what we talked about was interesting. I also had my first Haribo gummy bear. How exciting.
Next, we spent an hour and a bit in our group to work on the case study. How should a winery use a function room, garden and outside area (in a vineyard) to make money through events??? Well we thought of seasonal holiday events (mothers day brunch, valentines day etc.). Everyone was getting pretty sick of it, so we called it quits and decided we would ask Michael tonight at dinner (he, by the way, is the guy who is leading our program). Its hard not to overthink the questions, and not to get into minute details of what events would be like. But at least everyone was friendly, and wants to work. Plus, i hardly think they will fail us...
Now its time for me to go meet the group for dinner at an italian restaurant. I'd rather have the night in, and im not even hungry from lunch still (and that was nearly 8 hours ago!). But im sure it will be fun when i get there.
I'll keep you posted.
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