Another Business Day

We had a busy day today. One thing that is annoying about this trip is that our professor worked out some deal with a local restaurant owner by our hotel to provide us with breakfast each morning for 7 Euro, or about $10 USD. He promised the guy we would by at least 20 meals; there are about 24 of us on our trip- so we basically have to go. Their breakfasts are much different than the US- no bacon, pancakes, french toast, etc. Basically it's cereal, fruit, cucumbers/tomatoes, and a lot of bread. This morning I had a yogurt, a banana, and an egg- not really worth $10! We eat there every morning.

After breakfast we went to Siemens world headquarters. They gave us a presentation and I feel asleep (oops)!! They are an interesting company but that part was boring, plus we had already studied it before we left. Siemens is comparable to a GE- they basically do everything. They have over 400,000 employees. They make everything from CT Scanners to trains to refrigerators. I cannot really comprehend a company doing so many things. It’s also amazing to me that they operate in so many countries. Imagine having to know the local laws and customers of hundreds of countries well enough to do business in them. One issue that comes up with this is that some developing countries use a lot of bribes and paybacks in business. Siemens has got into big trouble with this in the recent past; they were using bribes and writing them off their taxes. Now they have strict policies against this. They are pretty excited about Obama’s energy plan and the potential for a contract to update our energy grids.

Here is a picture of their headquarters building and their museum. The building looks old, and probably is, but is very high-tech. They have remote control blinds. The museum was very interesting; it had Siemens products going back to when they first started doing business in the mid-late 1800s.

After Siemens we got on a train to a small town called Erding. It was about an hour trip. There is a large brewery called Erdinger here, and we toured their facility and drank their beer. It was comparable to an AB or Boulevard tour. Some parts of it were so hot (remember no AC here) that I could hardly concentrate. It was really interesting to see the level of automation and their bottling lines. Here is a (not great) picture of one of their lines.

I don’t remember how many countries they export to, but it is a lot. You can find it in KC liquor stores. They only have 80 employees, which I think is amazing given the amount they produce. One thing that was disappointing is that we didn’t really get to have a question/answer session with them. After the tour we ate a very german meal in their meeting area- pretzels, sausage, and beer. If I never have to eat another sausage again that will be okay with me. Their pretzels are cold here and not served with cheese.

We have a free night tonight, but it is storming pretty badly so I’m not sure what we’ll do. One thing about being here is that we are constantly on our feet. I walk a lot at home but am not used to standing all day, so my feet are very sore and I take advantage of every opportunity to sit down. Good thing my shoes are comfortable or I’d really be in pain.

Tomorrow is a free day as well (after the stupid breakfast). Mark and I will be going to the Dachu (Daw-cow) concentration camp, and I’m really looking forward to it….does that make me sick and twisted?