German Business & Culture is in the books!

We are back in Paderborn and ready to start the Global Negotiation Course portion of our trip.  We have settled into our apartments at the Campus Lounge boardinghouse.  I didn't pull out my camera much but the students had a great time in Koln.  Friday night we ate at Fruh am Dom and enjoyed a taste of Kolsch!  Then Saturday was the scavenger hunt which saw the teams explore Koln and Bonn and put together fun presentations.  The winning team was able to pull off the win by getting bonus points for including 45 germans in their group photos.  Although the creative highlight was the Harlem Shake executed by group #1.  Ah, the culture we bring to Germany!

Today we came back to Paderborn and attended a SC Paderborn 07 soccer match.  They won 2-0 on two well placed crossing passes that were finished by on-rushing strikers.  We had a grand time.  See the photos below.

We had a great time and now it is time to get to work.  Let the negotiating begin!

Catching Up... Paderborn & the Rhein

Catching up since I have been traveling on the Rhein and it has been hard to carve time out to update the blog.  So here are the last few days in pictures...

The winning case competition team at Uni Paderborn with me & Dr. Andreas Eggert on either side.

My daughter at the Deutsche Eck in Koblenz

The SBM crew representing Coyote who generously gave us scholarship money for the trip

Bacharach on the Rhein - it really is picture perfect

The group in Bingen waiting for the Ferry to Rudesheim

The group at the Neiderwald Denkmal above Rudesheim

Hiking on the Rheinsteig trail along the Rhein

One of the many picture perfect sights in Bacharach

 

The view down onto Bacharach during my morning hike

Uni Paderborn Case Competition has Begun!

We had a great opening session this morning in our Marketing Value Case Competition with the students Uni Paderborn.  Dr. Andreas Eggert gave a brilliant lecture on customer value (he is one of the world's leading scholars in this area!) and then I gave a presentation on effective presentations.  The students are in their teams (mix of US & German students) and are figuring out their solution.  At 3:30pm the first team will present their solution!  Tonight we will have an awards celebration at the Paderborner Brauhaus.  Such fun!

Dr. Eggert helps the students understand the concept of Customer Value

A few Paderborn photos

Here are a few photos from Paderborn.... (thanks Rachel Sanborn for the first 2 photos)

Downtown Paderborn is the Cathedral.  It is an excellent cathedral with a poor entry way.  If you go inside it is quite spectacular.

The Paderborn Rathaus (on left) and the Rathaus Platz downtown Paderborn just as the Spring Festival was ending.

Our hotel, the Campus Lounge, which is relatively new and situated immediately adjacent to the Uni Paderborn campus.

In Paderborn

We arrived from Berlin into Paderborn last night and enjoyed the last couple hours of Paderborn's Spring Festival (Fruehlings Fest).  Today we had the first session of our negotiation course.  We met our German classmates, covered a little lecturing ground, got groups selected, and distributed the first case.  This afternoon everyone is on their own to explore and enjoy. 

I have one extra photo from Berlin - a better shot of the group having some fun in front of the Reichstag!  Thanks Jasmine Scott for the use of your awesome camera!

Fat Tire Bike Tour - Berlin 2013

You would think after doing this for the fourth time I would be blahzay about our Fat Tire Bike Tour of Berlin.  But once again thanks to our great guides, the perfect weather, and the amazing city which is Berlin, I had a great time.  And more importantly, so did the students.  We split up and did two smaller groups so my photos are a bit biased to the group I was in, but here is the day in photos....

Seeing the "Frenchie" dome as our guide Rob called it. 

 

Francis from New Zealand, the other guide teaches the students a few things about geography, the cold war and this little wall that used to be in Berlin.

The students with feet on either side of the wall - can you guess whose feet are on which side?

My group at Check Point Charlie

The whole group in front of one of the few remaining pieces of the wall. 

Listening to Rob explain the Memorial to Murdered Jews (commonly known as the Holocaust Memorial)

Parked in front of the Bradenburger Tor (Gate) the only remaining gate to Berlin and a place rich in history and popularity

The German Business & Culture Biker Gang!

Being goofy in front of the Reichstag on a beautiful day!

Negotiation Day @ Uni Potsdam

We took the train this morning out to Potsdam and visited the Uni Potsdam and participated in a program hosted by Dr. Uta Herbst and her team on Negotiation.  The students had a great educational, cultural and social experience with 26 students studying at Uni Potsdam.  I am happily worn out, so once again I will let the photos do the talking.

Dr. Uta Herbst from Uni Potsdam discussing cultural elements related to negotiation

 The Prussian Palace in Potsdam: Sans Souci

 The other Brandenburger Tor.  The most well known one is in Berlin.  This is the other end of the kings road in Potsdam.

 Dr. Eckert discussing the case experience with the students

 One of the winning teams that included Kayla Reinhackel

 The other top team that included Greta Lorr (2nd from right)

 The combined group of WMU & Uni Potsdam students - what a great day!

 The team that put the event on: Dr. Eckert, Dr. Herbst, Dr. O'reilly, Birte, Melanie, & Dr. Newell

VW World Headquarters

We had an amazing day at Volkswagen World Headquarters in Wolfsburg.  We took a ICE high speed train there this morning, got a great plant tour, two great marketing lectures and then went to the AutoStadt where we drove Tiguan SUV's over an obstacle course and took the car picking machine ride within the Auto Turm. (car tower).  Great, but tiring day so I will let photos speak for themselves so I can get to bed.

Harbor Tour - Hamburg, and now Berlin!

Today we had our final day in Hamburg, and what a great day it was!  It is Erste Mai in Germany which is May 1st, which is May Day, which basically translates to Labor Day in the US.  It is a big holiday and we enjoyed holiday-perfect weather in Hamburg.  We took the subway and ended up at Landesbrucken where we jumped on a "Hafen Rundfahrt" and got a tour of the Hamburg Harbor (largest port in Germany, second largest in the EU, and 3rd largest in world).  The group then found lunch on their own and spent a few final hours soaking up sun and all Hamburg has to offer.  At 16:00 Uhr we left the Hostel and by 17:06 we were on an ICE train traveling 220kph to Berlin.  We made our hotel in Berlin by 20:00 and now people are settling down early as we leave for Wolfsburg and VW World Headquarters at 7:30am tomorrow.   Should be another great day!

Here are some photos from today....

The group ready to board the Olympic Star for a round trip harbor tour, know in German as a Hafen Rundfahrt.

Next two are some of the students settled onto the boat as we head out to see the Harbor and the other sights of Hamburg via the Harbor (Elbe River).

From right to left: Rachel, Kelly, Sydney, Dr. O'reilly, Dr. Eckert & Emily.  The Docs and our families having another amazing day in the Planten un Blomen Park in Hamburg!

What a Short Term Study Abroad Faculty Director feels like 3 days into a 3 week trip.  Thank goodness Germany has great ice cream & chocolate to keep me going!