Welcome back to our blog! Before we get into today’s blog, Michael and I just want to thank you for following us on our journey through Europe! It has been a pleasure, and we hope you have enjoyed our stories and adventures.
As the program is wrapping up this week, we thought this might be the perfect opportunity to talk about our highlights.
When we first arrived in Vienna, we went on a scavenger hunt to find answers to some questions our professors had given us. We found these questions to be thought provoking and fantastic conversation openers. This was more than a game, as it was the beginning of our learning how to entrench ourselves into a new culture. It required us to have confidence to talk to all kinds of people, to quickly adjust to a new metro system, and finally to learn to respect the unspoken manners of this society. We learned that we were going to make many etiquette mistakes, but we should not use excuses for making them. We needed to respect the local people through observation and learning the social norms.
Throughout this course we have also learned how to work effectively together. In every avenue of life, teamwork is a must and we think this partnership has been a success. We originally divided up the assignments, but soon realized this would hinder our collaborative efforts. We began to work on each assignment together, allowing us to bounce ideas off each other, help formulate sentences, and create a partnership bond. At first, it was apparent that we had very different writing styles, but after working together almost every day we have found a rhythm. From this experience, Michael and I have both learned valuable tools to make a partnership work. We found that working with your partner, and not for your partner, is the best strategy to have a successful partnership.
What did you guys find as the most rewarding aspect of the trip?
Here is Michael at the United Nations in Vienna, and Stephanie at Schonbrunn Palace.
Above is Vienna's user friendly map.
Our lunch during the scavenger hunt.
-Stephanie and Michael
We really enjoyed reading your blog, we also enjoyed many of the same things as you guys did! If we were to think of the most rewarding part of our trip it would have to be dealing with the challenges of the different cultures. The most challenging part would have to be the language barrier, from doing simple tasks like going to restaurants, or asking for a bathroom are very difficult when speaking a foreign language. Although we have only learned a few foreign words such as “Danke” or “thank-you” and “sprechen sie english” or “do you speak English”, we have learned much about communication. The most important thing we’ve learned was patience, while speaking a different language than the locals it is easy to get frustrated, but it is important to take a step back and try a different approach. The different approaches we have tried are taking time to translate the words or pointing to or actions what we mean.
ReplyDeleteAnother rewarding part of the trip was learning about international trade. We knew that international trade was an important thing for business to grow but we didn’t realize just how much it could help them. For example Ottakringer brewery is based out of a smaller town in Vienna, without international trade their market would be quite limited and their profits would reflect that limitation. However, since they are able to export they can reach markets all the way in Canada, broadening from a couple thousand to millions.
Throughout the trip we’ve learned many beneficial things from personal experiences and business presentations. This new found knowledge is from things we could not have learned in Canada and we are glad we have taken this opportunity to expand our worldview.
This trip provided our group with so many valuable opportunities. Our visits to international organizations like the UN and OPEC were eye opening, like a look under the hood. We were able to gain so much insight that would not have been possible from a tradition classroom lecture.
ReplyDeleteVisiting multiple cities and countries allowed us to observe and appreciate the differences in each place. It has forced us to adapt to the local culture and style. We are also able to appreciate our home in that the comfort and simplicity that home provides. At home, it is easy to ignore what is happening in the rest of the world. It is rewarding to have a different perspective that forces us out of this comfort zone.
Another very rewarding thing I was able to take away was applying our studies. Both being international business students, we have focused on so much theory and applied learning in class. It has been rewarding, after so long sitting in a class, going through notes, to be able to actually see real world business practices somewhere so far from home. We are both able to draw on our classroom knowledge and make connections to these real, established, and successful businesses.
We also want to thank everyone on this tour. It has been rewarding working with such a great group of people. We have been able to learn and grow together in such a short period of time.
This is an experience neither of us will ever forget.
-Xoxo
Erik and Jenna