Haley Whitaker, 2014

Arriving in a foreign country can be an overwhelming experience in many ways: from the weight of my thirty-nine pound travel backpack packed for three and a half weeks on my back, from the exhaustion from sleeping only a couple of hours on the plane the night before, and from being in a new place for the first time. Even after preparing for a study abroad trip for months, it is surreal to get out of the airport and actually be walking around in another country, especially one where English is not the native language. This led to many interesting cultural experiences from learning how to avoid the bikes that were flying past us on the sidewalk or figuring out we had to carry change to pay to use the public restrooms.

Our class in Munich focused on the principles of lean, reliability, and maintainability. We were able to see these concepts in action on four different factory tours: KUKA Robotics, BMW, IABG (a space institute), and Erdinger Brewery. Through these tours we were able to see several different types of factories from low to high volume processes and low to high complexity products. One of the goals of this class was being able to walk into a factory and get a feel of how well a company is implementing lean engineering concepts. After going on these tours and discussing how the factories run, I can say with certainty that I know much more about lean engineering and how to tell if it is being implemented.

Through our study abroad experience we were also able to experience the German culture and visit several historical landmarks. One of my favorite excursions was a trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, former home of Ludwig II. Walt Disney used this castle as his inspiration for building Cinderella’s castle in Disney World and seeing the castle up close and in person was truly like something out of a fairytale. We were also able to experience traditional German food, most famously schnitzel and pretzels. Munich is steeped with Bavarian culture (the region in which Munich lies) which provided many opportunities to see men wearing lederhosen and women wearing dirndls, the traditional Bavarian dresses.

After my wonderful experience in Munich, Germany, I would advise everyone to study abroad. Being able to be immersed in a different culture and a different language even for a short time can change the way you view the world and yourself in it. Also, possibly the most important part, studying abroad was a lot of fun. We were able to see some things and go some places that I probably would not have found on my own and I enjoyed every minute of it.