International Co-op Reflection
My time in Germany was spent doing many things, but the two biggest are working and traveling. The main purpose of my adventure was to complete my international co-op assignment with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Bremen.
At the DLR, I worked on a project developing a navigation system for the SHEFEX III rocket. My job was to develop a unique navigation system using redundant sensors to measure inertial data (accelerations and rotation rates) that could be used to create a navigation solution (position, velocity, and orientation). My work was largely independent and required a great deal of research, learning, and struggling to complete.
Throughout the project, I was challenged to remember things from years ago in my curriculum; things that I never imagined I would need ever again after those classes. I had to draw upon a majority of classes I have taken and rent books from our company’s library to learn how to set up an information filter, which is a computer code that determines the validity of a data set based on known information and probability.
The work environment was much different than I was expecting. Knowing that the Germans are exceptional engineers, I expected long, strict hours, a completely serious setting, and stringent professionalism at all times. On the contrary, I found working in Germany to be much more laid back than in the United States. They dress casually, don’t work after leaving the office, try to avoid overtime, and we took many breaks to chat or eat cake (if someone brought it in for a birthday or other celebration).
Surprisingly (read: fortunately), the work was all in English. I found that English is the international language for engineering (among many other things, such as flight).
Presentations were different than my experiences in the USA, also. When people, students generally, give their final presentations, it is typical practice for everyone in the room to sit and discuss the reality, plausibility, and benefits of incorporating your work in future projects at the DLR. My experiences at my other co-ops and research presentations is that people ask general questions and don’t give you any idea of whether or not you achieved their goal. In Germany, they would ask me if I thought my work would actually be beneficial to their overarching goals, which caught me off guard but makes a lot of sense.
I was very fortunate to get hired at the DLR in Bremen because they hire many interns and graduate students from all over the world. During my time there, I worked with people from Germany (of course), Italy, France, Mexico, Australia, Bangladesh, and Iran. The multinational culture of our office allowed me to learn about the education systems, work environments, and many other topics as they relate to several countries. Interestingly, many of them were also curious about the United States. One of the most interesting inquiries I got was asking me to explain baseball. It’s an incredibly difficult task to explain baseball without playing it and when someone has never seen a game before. I also was able to learn about other cultures and share my culture with the people I met on my adventures.
Travel, the other major component of my trip, was done on weekends and days off that I accumulated by working extra time throughout the week. My travels took me throughout Germany and to nine other countries in Europe. In Germany, I visited Stuttgart, Munich, Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, and many areas along the Rhine River. My adventures out of Germany include London, Porto (Portugal), Paris, Austria (two ski resorts), Prague, Barcelona, Rome, Venice, Amsterdam, and many cities in Greece.
Traveling to many places comes with many difficulties. You have to constantly be aware of the cultural differences and be sure not to offend anyone. After all, you are a guest in their country. I spent a lot of time doing research before traveling to these destinations to find things to do and see in the cities, but I would also look into things not to do when visiting certain places. For instance, doing the Hitler salute in Germany can result in a hefty fine, but doing it in Munich (where his uprising began) can result in you finding yourself behind bars.
It is important to know what is acceptable to ensure that you are respectful of other peoples’ countries and traditions. Another example comes from Greece; many of the ancient ruins are open monuments, but you should be aware that people are not allowed to climb on or defame any of the remains because it is viewed as incredibly disrespectful by the Greek people.
Much of my experience was supplemented before I traveled abroad. In order to prepare for my journey, I took multiple German culture courses (including one in Cologne at the beginning of our International Co-op Program) and two language courses. The main, intensive language course gave us the chance to work with a professor at UC, originally from Germany, who helped ensure our pronunciation and word usage were correct. However, having a German professor provided an invaluable resource to learn about the typical dos and don’ts in German culture.
Taking my courses prior to and at the beginning of the trip gave me the opportunity to practice and nearly perfect my German accent. Many times throughout my travels, I was complimented on my pronunciation, and even more people were surprised to find that I came from the United States. Most Europeans expect native English speaking people to simply get by on English.
Before my experiences abroad, I viewed the United States as the best and most powerful nation in the world. I thought everyone wanted to move here to find better job opportunities. Living in Germany for seven and a half months changed my perception. The United States is viewed in the same regard we view countries like Germany and the UK. We think that they are doing well and don’t pay too much attention. Nobody really cares. Some people prefer the setup the United States has, but others have no desire to move to here. Many Americans move abroad and don’t ever want to go back because they think Europe has a better setup.
To an extent, I agree with both sides, and I know I will end up in the US simply because I want to be near my family. However, I recognize that many people prefer many different things. While some people are happy here in the US, others can’t wait to leave and live in another country, and I don’t blame them. Most of Europe has cheap, if not free, education through college, and it is incredibly accessible.
Safety is, in my opinion, less of an issue in Europe. Transportation is cheap and safe. There is a ride-sharing program where you can find people online to tag along with. I would be very hesitant to do that in the US. In most major cities, your biggest concern is being pick-pocketed. While this is a real concern, it’s not nearly as much of a concern as the dangers of major cities in the US. I know from living in Cincinnati that these dangers are generally contained and managed well, but it’s not even an issue in most European cities.
My biggest takeaways from my experiences are the fact that the US is not regarded as highly in other countries as we think, and the people and community you surround yourself with are more important than I ever realized. Here’s a short story from my adventures to convey the latter:
In Greece, I lost my glasses in the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. I can’t wear contacts for extended periods of time, so I needed a new pair to fully experience everything. Our tour guide, Matina, helped me find places that might sell glasses in each city we stopped in. We looked in five different cities, and my hope was fading. Finally, we stopped in a small city called Itea.
Matina asked the owner of the restaurant where the nearest shop was. He said it was a little over a mile away, but I would never find it on my own. Rather, he would take me there. I was hesitant, but Matina assured me it was safe. He drove me there to no avail. Nobody was in the shop. He told me not to worry; he would just call in the shop owner. Soon enough, the owner was coming in to help me find new glasses.
This is when I realized the ridiculousness of my request: I needed new glasses in the next two hours. It takes days to get new glasses in the US, but he told me he could get them ready in just under an hour to help me out. As he was writing down the prices, he would cross out the tag price and write in a lower price. I was confused but wasn’t about to argue with him about it.
As we were leaving, the restaurant owner asked me if I was happy with my new glasses. Of course I was! I was astonished. Then, he asked if I thought the price was good. I told him I was, a bit perplexed as to why he would ask. That’s when he blew my mind. He told me the owner gave me a discount because he told him we were friends, and I ate in his restaurant. “That’s how things work here,” he said, “Everyone is going through a tough time, and we help each other out.” That is the kind of community I want to live in for the rest of my life. I know it exists, and I may even have to move to Greece to be a part of it.
All of these experiences and others are written in more detail in the online blog that I kept for my friends and family who were (stuck) back in the US. Upon my return, I was amazed to find that many of my friends, and even students I rarely talk to at school, had been following my Facebook posts and even read my blog. Multiple people have come up to me to ask for advice about traveling abroad, how to make it happen, and how to go about it. I’ve been honored and offered as much help as I can. I will continue to do so as long as people keep asking (and probably if they don’t).
I hoped to share my passion for travel and my yearning to understand the history of these cities with my readers, and I believe I achieved that goal. My uncles, in particular, loved to read about the tours and history of each city I visited. It’s much easier to be passionate about a city and develop a connection when you understand how it has been shaped by its history. Berlin and Munich are perfect examples because much of their current culture was shaped by the events of World War II and the Cold War, which is a hard-hit topic in our generation’s educational career.
My time abroad helped me find the universality of my values and beliefs of openness, doing what you love, and a belief in people. I met interesting people from all over the world who shared my opinions and developed many connections. I now believe that the world is not as big and our differences are much smaller than I believed them to be.
At the DLR, I worked on a project developing a navigation system for the SHEFEX III rocket. My job was to develop a unique navigation system using redundant sensors to measure inertial data (accelerations and rotation rates) that could be used to create a navigation solution (position, velocity, and orientation). My work was largely independent and required a great deal of research, learning, and struggling to complete.
Throughout the project, I was challenged to remember things from years ago in my curriculum; things that I never imagined I would need ever again after those classes. I had to draw upon a majority of classes I have taken and rent books from our company’s library to learn how to set up an information filter, which is a computer code that determines the validity of a data set based on known information and probability.
The work environment was much different than I was expecting. Knowing that the Germans are exceptional engineers, I expected long, strict hours, a completely serious setting, and stringent professionalism at all times. On the contrary, I found working in Germany to be much more laid back than in the United States. They dress casually, don’t work after leaving the office, try to avoid overtime, and we took many breaks to chat or eat cake (if someone brought it in for a birthday or other celebration).
Surprisingly (read: fortunately), the work was all in English. I found that English is the international language for engineering (among many other things, such as flight).
Presentations were different than my experiences in the USA, also. When people, students generally, give their final presentations, it is typical practice for everyone in the room to sit and discuss the reality, plausibility, and benefits of incorporating your work in future projects at the DLR. My experiences at my other co-ops and research presentations is that people ask general questions and don’t give you any idea of whether or not you achieved their goal. In Germany, they would ask me if I thought my work would actually be beneficial to their overarching goals, which caught me off guard but makes a lot of sense.
I was very fortunate to get hired at the DLR in Bremen because they hire many interns and graduate students from all over the world. During my time there, I worked with people from Germany (of course), Italy, France, Mexico, Australia, Bangladesh, and Iran. The multinational culture of our office allowed me to learn about the education systems, work environments, and many other topics as they relate to several countries. Interestingly, many of them were also curious about the United States. One of the most interesting inquiries I got was asking me to explain baseball. It’s an incredibly difficult task to explain baseball without playing it and when someone has never seen a game before. I also was able to learn about other cultures and share my culture with the people I met on my adventures.
Travel, the other major component of my trip, was done on weekends and days off that I accumulated by working extra time throughout the week. My travels took me throughout Germany and to nine other countries in Europe. In Germany, I visited Stuttgart, Munich, Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, and many areas along the Rhine River. My adventures out of Germany include London, Porto (Portugal), Paris, Austria (two ski resorts), Prague, Barcelona, Rome, Venice, Amsterdam, and many cities in Greece.
Traveling to many places comes with many difficulties. You have to constantly be aware of the cultural differences and be sure not to offend anyone. After all, you are a guest in their country. I spent a lot of time doing research before traveling to these destinations to find things to do and see in the cities, but I would also look into things not to do when visiting certain places. For instance, doing the Hitler salute in Germany can result in a hefty fine, but doing it in Munich (where his uprising began) can result in you finding yourself behind bars.
It is important to know what is acceptable to ensure that you are respectful of other peoples’ countries and traditions. Another example comes from Greece; many of the ancient ruins are open monuments, but you should be aware that people are not allowed to climb on or defame any of the remains because it is viewed as incredibly disrespectful by the Greek people.
Much of my experience was supplemented before I traveled abroad. In order to prepare for my journey, I took multiple German culture courses (including one in Cologne at the beginning of our International Co-op Program) and two language courses. The main, intensive language course gave us the chance to work with a professor at UC, originally from Germany, who helped ensure our pronunciation and word usage were correct. However, having a German professor provided an invaluable resource to learn about the typical dos and don’ts in German culture.
Taking my courses prior to and at the beginning of the trip gave me the opportunity to practice and nearly perfect my German accent. Many times throughout my travels, I was complimented on my pronunciation, and even more people were surprised to find that I came from the United States. Most Europeans expect native English speaking people to simply get by on English.
Before my experiences abroad, I viewed the United States as the best and most powerful nation in the world. I thought everyone wanted to move here to find better job opportunities. Living in Germany for seven and a half months changed my perception. The United States is viewed in the same regard we view countries like Germany and the UK. We think that they are doing well and don’t pay too much attention. Nobody really cares. Some people prefer the setup the United States has, but others have no desire to move to here. Many Americans move abroad and don’t ever want to go back because they think Europe has a better setup.
To an extent, I agree with both sides, and I know I will end up in the US simply because I want to be near my family. However, I recognize that many people prefer many different things. While some people are happy here in the US, others can’t wait to leave and live in another country, and I don’t blame them. Most of Europe has cheap, if not free, education through college, and it is incredibly accessible.
Safety is, in my opinion, less of an issue in Europe. Transportation is cheap and safe. There is a ride-sharing program where you can find people online to tag along with. I would be very hesitant to do that in the US. In most major cities, your biggest concern is being pick-pocketed. While this is a real concern, it’s not nearly as much of a concern as the dangers of major cities in the US. I know from living in Cincinnati that these dangers are generally contained and managed well, but it’s not even an issue in most European cities.
My biggest takeaways from my experiences are the fact that the US is not regarded as highly in other countries as we think, and the people and community you surround yourself with are more important than I ever realized. Here’s a short story from my adventures to convey the latter:
In Greece, I lost my glasses in the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. I can’t wear contacts for extended periods of time, so I needed a new pair to fully experience everything. Our tour guide, Matina, helped me find places that might sell glasses in each city we stopped in. We looked in five different cities, and my hope was fading. Finally, we stopped in a small city called Itea.
Matina asked the owner of the restaurant where the nearest shop was. He said it was a little over a mile away, but I would never find it on my own. Rather, he would take me there. I was hesitant, but Matina assured me it was safe. He drove me there to no avail. Nobody was in the shop. He told me not to worry; he would just call in the shop owner. Soon enough, the owner was coming in to help me find new glasses.
This is when I realized the ridiculousness of my request: I needed new glasses in the next two hours. It takes days to get new glasses in the US, but he told me he could get them ready in just under an hour to help me out. As he was writing down the prices, he would cross out the tag price and write in a lower price. I was confused but wasn’t about to argue with him about it.
As we were leaving, the restaurant owner asked me if I was happy with my new glasses. Of course I was! I was astonished. Then, he asked if I thought the price was good. I told him I was, a bit perplexed as to why he would ask. That’s when he blew my mind. He told me the owner gave me a discount because he told him we were friends, and I ate in his restaurant. “That’s how things work here,” he said, “Everyone is going through a tough time, and we help each other out.” That is the kind of community I want to live in for the rest of my life. I know it exists, and I may even have to move to Greece to be a part of it.
All of these experiences and others are written in more detail in the online blog that I kept for my friends and family who were (stuck) back in the US. Upon my return, I was amazed to find that many of my friends, and even students I rarely talk to at school, had been following my Facebook posts and even read my blog. Multiple people have come up to me to ask for advice about traveling abroad, how to make it happen, and how to go about it. I’ve been honored and offered as much help as I can. I will continue to do so as long as people keep asking (and probably if they don’t).
I hoped to share my passion for travel and my yearning to understand the history of these cities with my readers, and I believe I achieved that goal. My uncles, in particular, loved to read about the tours and history of each city I visited. It’s much easier to be passionate about a city and develop a connection when you understand how it has been shaped by its history. Berlin and Munich are perfect examples because much of their current culture was shaped by the events of World War II and the Cold War, which is a hard-hit topic in our generation’s educational career.
My time abroad helped me find the universality of my values and beliefs of openness, doing what you love, and a belief in people. I met interesting people from all over the world who shared my opinions and developed many connections. I now believe that the world is not as big and our differences are much smaller than I believed them to be.