Saturday in Prague

Sunday in Prague

It was a gloomy and rainy day out, but moods were at an all time high as we were able to sleep in again today and we knew that the Prague Castle was gonna be a wonderful site to see. I slept in until about 12 and then decided to go to KFC with Jared and Brandon. We saw Grant and Hailey there so we all ate together. We then headed back to the hotel cause we were to leave for the castle at 1:15.
        We then departed for castle and after taking the subway and waiting for the tram for 20 minutes, we arrived at around 2. Petr, our tour guide, was supposed to meet us out front of the castle, but we could not find him and took advantage of that by taking a whole bunch of pictures. We eventuall saw him and made our way inside the castle. First, we went inside the Church of the Virgin Mary which was first built in the year 870 making it the oldest church in Prague. We saw wonderful apses, naves, and stained glass paintings of the virgin mary and the nativity scene. There were also tombs for the members of the Premyslid Dynasty. People used to believe that stepping over the graves of one of these people would cure a toothache. Grant joked saying that these people must be the original tooth fairies.

        The church of St. George was next and it was nothing near magnificent as the Church of the Virgin Mary. It was almost empty of everything so we did not stay very long. The torture chambers were next and they were very interesting. We tried to guess what they did with certain contraptions, but I don't think we ever figured them out. We saw cages, chains with spikes, hand chains over a fire and a long spinning board. None of which sound very pleasant had you been tortured on them.

       That was as far as we got in terms of viewing the castle so we walked back to the subway. Once back to the hotel I watched soccer and took a nap waiting for us to depart for our free dinner. Dinner was very bittersweet because we knew that it was our last dinner and that we were going home soon. We took another group photo after dinner as if we already didnt have enough and then we were on our way. Once back at the hotel that night, I packed and watched some more soccer. We decided to pull an all nighter so that we could sleep better on the plane. (This strategy didn't work out too well). So we went and got food at around midnight. I got a very spicy Doner Kabab which was excellent. Then we waited in our rooms until our dreadful 2:30 departure time to the airport.

Conner Dodge

There's No Place Like Home....

Wow, two weeks really goes by fast when you're having fun. It seems like only yesterday, our grou was meeting for the first time to set plans for our trip. Now, we have parted ways for the last time. I really enjoyed my time with everyone. I honestly believe we couldn't have had a better group of pople. We all stuck together and were still making jokes and laughing during our last flight. So, what to do now?

After being greeted by the loving customs department in Minneapolis, we were allowed to venture out on our own. The first thing I did was use a public bathroom....without paying! Everywhere we went in Europe, even the train station that we paid to go into, charged you to use a "public" restroom. I never thought something as small as that would mean so much to me. It was so nice to walk throught the airport and understand what people were saying around me. Next item on the list, some American food!

When returning home, my mother had cooked a large dinner. Her famous meatloaf and mashed potatoes were the warm smell I was welcomed home by. I dashed to the kitchen and stuffed my face. It was so nice to be able to sit at the kitchen table and eat dinner with my family. I could say whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I loved not having to walk back to the hotel after I ate, but sit down and share stories of the trip and catch up on news from home. After dinner, I sat on the porch and listened to nothing. I live out in the country and it was so nice to be able to listen to nature and enjoy peace and quiet. The next thing I can't wait to do is to sit out on the deck and watch the stars. Last night, we had a storm blow through so it cut my peace and quiet time short.

After dinner, I fell asleep. I was practically in a coma. It was the best sleep I have ever gotten. I fell asleep around 9 and didn't wake up intil after 10:30 this morning. I could continue to sleep but I figured I better get up or I would regret it when trying to fall asleep tonight. Today was filled with homemade food, laundry, and catching up on homework.

It is so nice to be able to leave my house and drive my car when I want and not have to wait for public transportation. It's also amazing not to worry about your driver reversing on the interstate! It was sad to see the trip end but I am so thankful I took the opportunity to go. I met amazing people, made great friends, and created memories that will last a life time. Until next time, Eurocats. (Remember Teri, reunion soon!)

Our trip home started at 3am in the lobby of the hotel. We got our breakfast boxes and loaded the bus. It was sad saying bye to Petr. We had a good time with him in the Czech Republic. At the airport in Prague they called you to check your bags in by flight which was different from how we do it in the United States. I breezed through security and got to our gate an hour and a half before the flight. I wanted to make sure that I slept well on the long flight so I went and grabbed and red bull and a vanilla muffin which tasted like white cake. We departed from Prague at 6:25am and landed in Amsterdam at 7:55am. We all went off to get some food before the nine hour flight and about twenty minutes after we all went our own ways, we realized that we needed all twenty-two of us to go through security at our gate. I managed to grab some chips and a sandwich while I rushed to the gate. The security at the gate in Amsterdam was different from how we do it in the United States. We had to go in groups of four to have our passports checked and they asked us questions. They were making sure that we weren’t bringing anything back for anyone else. Then we had to go through security all over again and get pated down just to go sit at our gate. We boarded our flight on time at 10:20am and headed to Minneapolis! On the flight I watched the movie Taken and watched a couple episodes of Two and a Half Men. I managed to get some sleep on the flight and we arrived in Minneapolis before we knew it! Once we landed in Minneapolis we had to go and clear customs. I stood in line to hold our spot and when the rest of the group joined, everyone in line was not happy. We had to pick our bags up and take them to a different location for them to make the connecting flight and then go through security again. We got to our gate with about 45 minutes until boarding time. We went to a little market in the airport and got a snack for the flight. We boarded our flight and left at about 3:10pm. We landed in Kansas City at about 4:45pm and I rushed off the plane to the baggage claim to see my mom! I had a three hour drive back to Omaha ahead of me. We got my bags and then hopped in the car and headed that way. I talked with my mom for about a half hour before I fell asleep for the rest of the drive home. When I got home to my apartment I was greeted by my dog and boyfriend! We had dinner and I went on and on about our trip. I managed to keep myself awake until about 11pm so that I could try and get back on my normal sleeping pattern.  Overall we had an easy travel day and managed to not get stuck by any delays!

Day off in Prague

Furtunately we were able to have a day off to do our own exploring of Prague but unfortunately, due to a fun night of extra curricular activities the night before, we got a late start to the day. We made it to some shops to spoil our family members with authentic Prague items. I really think my family members will thoroughly enjoy the items i have purchased for them. Now that i look back i really should have bought a souvenire from each country we were in. That is one thing i regret. After we finished up shopping for the parents and family, the fellas and I went on a nice 2.5 mile scenic jog of the city. Half way through I'm in the front of the group and I hear from a few yards back "Grant.... Hold up..... wait...." and I turn around to see Connor doubled over with his hands on his head. I feel like we got better on our day off. It's very important for the athletes in the group to stay motivated and continue their training on the trip. All together this trip has been an unforgettable experience with great people. Allison was single handily the best supervisor this group could have asked for along and we can't forget her partner in crime, Teri. Those two keep the trip pretty laid back and smooth going. I'm very glad I got to know this group of people and hope to keep in touch with all of them as we finish up our final years at Northwest.

Gmoney, Out

Last Business Day in Europe...

Today marked the last visits  on our study abroad trip here in Europe. It's hard to grasp the idea that in two short days we will being parting our ways for good. On our last professional dress day we visited HP and Prague College. Both visits were very informational.

 

We started the day off by being able to sleep in, which was amazing! First on our agenda , was to visit HP. Out of the 11 business visits, HP was my favorite. Marta Blachnik, the "Talent Acquisition" or employee recruiter, geared the entire presentation towards us. She started the visit off with questions about us. Out of the businesses we visited HP was the only one to ask questions directly towards us during the entire presentation. Instead of being lectured on the CZ economic situation or history of the company, Marta described the graduate program that HP offers. The HP graduate program is known as "Young Guns", operating in its fifth year, and has over 100 graduates. The program consists of four main points which include; networking, working on interesting projects gathering experience in numerous fields, and opening the door to new career opportunities. Upon graduation, HP offers there graduates  position in one of their many fields. HP believes that throwing new employees into their line of work on the first day is the most successful and efficient way of training. When you think about it, they're right. When I started my job back home, I was thrown onto the work floor the very first day but now they have you watch another person work for a week before letting you loose. Another lesson I enjoyed was the mentoring aspect HP offers. They believe that every single person at HP, no matter what the job title is, should be mentored by each other. The seniors mentor the "fresh meat" and vice versa.

A concept I have seen happening a lot in the workplace over here is charity and strong team building programs. At HP, they are given four hours per work month to donate their time to a charity of their choice. Marta said that they don't always take those hours each month, but instead they let them build up and take a few days off to contribute to larger charities. As for the team building aspect, HP provides a party at the end of each fiscal year for the entire company to join in on. Each department has their own teambuilding strategies and sports teams they can play on within the company. I think this is a great idea for every company to be able to build realtionships with your co-workers and potentially increase productivity and energy within the workplace.

 

As for history, HP gave us a little bit of their background. When hearing the company "HP", the only products I knew that they produced were PCs and printers. Although, the printers and PCs are the most stable product and the hardest to be hired under, HP offers a lot of other products. Some of their other products consist of servers, storage, networking, IT management, big data and analytics, and security. This company is present in over 170 countries world-wide with $120 billion in world-wide revenue. HP employees over 324,000 people.

 

After our visit, we were able to catch a bite to eat on our own. After returning to the hotel and changing out of our business wear, Ashley, Emily, and I decided to catch a bite to eat down the street. Sherwood's is the place to go in Prague! Emily and I have been there for dessert, lunch, and dinner the past three days. Today, I decided to go outside of my norm (pastas and burgers) and tried the duck. It was actually quite good. The only complaint I have is that I'm still extremely full and miserable 4 hours later. While waiting for our food, we decided to look around the restaurant at the waiters and noticed quite a few things that would not be tolerated in the US. The cooks didn't wear hair nets or gloves while in the kitchen, waitresses were able to wear long, painted fingernails, and you can order a pack of cigarattes right from the bar tender!

 

After lunch we visited the Prague College. Upon arrival, it was nothing as I expected. I thought it was an actual campus like ours but instead one college was fit into a building the size of Valk. We were able to hear from the dean and the chair of the business department. Prague College is quite a bit smaller than Northwest with only 600 students from 93 countries. Their tuition comes out to roughly $6,900 per year. To finish a bachelor's degree in Prague, it only takes three years. The class sizes are about the same as a normal business class at Northwest with 20-25 students per class.

 

I can't wait for our free day tomorrow! Emily and I plan on touring the gardens and returning to the John Lennon wall, time permitting. For dinner we would like to go to the James Dean restaurant, recommendations are welcome! As for the night life, we plan on popping into a small 80's place where they play nothing but the oldies. As for now, Emily and I are getting ready to go to dinner at the best pasta place we have ever had by the Museum. Chow for now!

 

By: Ashley Burnett 

Logo of the College we visited in Prague

History of the HP logo sign located in their CZ office

Roof-top picture of Emily and I after the HP visit

Day 2 in Prague

It was a little cloudy for our first day in Prague and about the same temperature as in Vienna. We had to wake up pretty early and be ready to go around 8:15.  From there we headed to our first tour in the Czech Republic and visited T-mobile. There are 10 million inhabitants in Prague and almost 6 million of them have T-mobile. This stat kind of amazed me because I have sprint and so do a lot of my friends back home so I do not think of T-mobile as being a phone company powerhouse. The European Union in 2008 decided to stop charging money for roaming data. This has caused a huge decrease in the T-mobile revenue and the phone market as a whole in the Czech Republic. They have had to adapt a lot to still be successful and work hard every day.

           Once the visit was over we headed back to the hotel to get some food. We went to a random hotel restaurant on the main strip and I order the pork tenderloin. Something I have noticed in Europe is that the food at restaurants seem to be much healthier and is definitely a reason why there are so few obese people.
          We then preceeded to go to another business tour to a company called Avast. Avast is an old word not used anymore meaning stop. It is fitting for the company as they are an antivirus company which stops viruses from infecting your computer. I learned that there are hundreds of thousands of viruses for PC's and only thousands for Macs. Avast sells free antivirus software along with a 40 dollar and 60 dollar package even though the speaker claimed that the free one is identical with the 40 dollar one. They do not market at all and just use word of mouth and rely on people to suggest using avast because of its superior protection. For every computer sold at certain stores like Best Buy with Avast installed, gives the company ten dollars. They also won a prize for being the best place to work at. The speaker said that it was very fun to work there because it is so relaxed and a fun environment. Right when we walked into the room the speaker pulled up a photo of some of us at a club that had been posted to the internet as a joke. He had also memorized all of our names and picked on Grant as an example of getting a virus. He chose to say Grant watched porn and got a virus and that once Avast detected one it would not let Grant go back to the site. The only future problem Avast foresees is that sometimes it can pick up a false positive which can ruin a computer. If there is a massive false positive issue then likely no one will use Avast anymore and the company will go out of business.

         For dinner we went to a very good place and I ordered a burger which I have ordered a lot. Then we headed back because no one felt like going out. All in all, great first full day in Prague and I am looking forward to the days to come.

Sincerely,
Conner Dodge

Today we actually got the opportunity to sleep in. Last night I got the most sleep that I have gotten this entire trip. This morning someone came to the hotel to speak to us from Johnson & Johnson, his name was Vladimir Kosek and he is a healthcare compliance officer. He has worked for Johnson & Johnson for 13 years. This presentation was interesting to me because he made sure to point out the differences between how they do things in the Czech Republic and how we do things in the United States. Johnson & Johnson has three sectors and they are medical devices and diagnostics, which make up 40%, Janssen pharmaceuticals, which make up 36%, and then consumer, which make up 24%. This was interesting to me because all I am familiar with is the consumer section and that is their smallest sector. One big way they differ from the U.S. is that Johnson & Johnson is an umbrella company, which means that they are all under one legal entity. There are many companies under the Johnson and Johnson brand. Just to name a few thee is Gynecare, Ethicon and Codman. Here in the Czech Republic they do not have as big of an issue with keeping doctors like Austria and Hungary do. The average salary for a doctor here is $2400 a month. We found out the Czech Republic has one of the worst age structures in Europe.

Ways in which the Czech Republic differs from the United States were very interesting. All people here have health insurance and there is almost no co-payment. Since there is no co-payment there is a low level of private resources in healthcare. You can pay for private care but you have to pay for the WHOLE procedure, not just the difference. There are also 7 sickness funds and 58% of the population is in the major one. There is also no stability in healthcare financing. Compliance and corruption is also a problem here and there is low adoption to new technologies and new procedures. This is because there is no clear process for lobbying and relationship management. I’ve also learned that it seems to be a trend in Europe that they get way more vacation time then we do in the U.S. The standard so far has been about 5 weeks!

After the Johnson & Johnson presentation we got free time to go eat and we went into a little grocery store here to get a delicious sandwich for lunch. After lunch we went to go meet with Cisco. They deal with software and a lot of other technical things that I do not understand. There we learned about trends that they are seeing and the biggest one is mobility, which I’m sure surprises no one. Another trend is smart-buildings and he showed us how they can control LED lighting with your phone or tablet. We also learned that 46% of organizations are planning to transition to internet connects and this is because the cost of internet is going down. In 1998 it cost $1000 and by 2012 it only cost $2.34. One crazy prediction that have made is that by 2017 video will exceed 66% of all mobile data.

For the rest of the night we are going to get ready and go to a local pub to watch the world cup! Tonight it is Germany v. USA. I’m excited we get to experience watching some soccer here in a local pub and get to cheer on USA at the same time! It will be nice to enjoy a few drinks and get to sleep in again tomorrow!

 

This is a picture of a pretty building we saw on our walk to Cisco!

 

This is a picture of the sign right inside the Cisco office!

 

Vienna Sausages make it to Prague

The next and final stop on our study abroad trip is Prague. From what we have heard from other travelers and locals on our trip is that it will be an amazing time! Not to get our hopes too high or anything but i was very excited to hear this, exspecially with is being our last city. We had a long morning on our 4 hour and 30min train ride but i enjoyed the Czech countryside for most of the ride. We arrived in Prague around 2:30 and met our guide Petr. He reminds me a bit of my father! He has a very laid back demeanor and quiet man. You have to make sure you are very close to him on our tours because it is very difficult to hear him. Petr then took us on a walking tour of Prague! Czechoslovakia was founded in 1918 but the Czech Republic was formed in 1993 after Czechoslovakia split. Petr then filled us in on interesting places to see and visit before we departed from Prague. He suggested a coffee shop on the top of this hill that overlooks and large part of the city itself which sounded really cool atleast for a picture anyway. We then made it to the John Lennon peace wall that some of our group members signed. We then made it to the St. Charles bridge which was said to be the most beautiful bridge in Europe with statues lining each side for the length of it. It gave a great view of both sides of the City. After Petr's great tour of the city we enjoyed some of the great beer and food that Prague is so Famous for. The Czech Republic the #1 beer consuming country per capita so I think we felt right at home! Along with the great beer I had one of the best meals I have ever had. It was grilled duck that was cooked with maple syrup. It just melted in my mouth but my wallet got a lot skinnier after that meal. The expectations were very high for Prague from what we have heard but the first day and night definitely didn't disappoint!

Gmoney, out

Day 9

Well, hello! It's hard to believe that this time tomorrow will mark two-thirds of the way through our trip. What an amazing, yet fast, experience! To end our visit here in Vienna, we visited BAWAG P.S.K.. Which is a financial institution that was founded in 1883 by Franz Joseph I. Back in 1883, BAWAG P.S.K. was not combined, it was only P.S.K.. In 1884, Georg Coch became P.S.K.'s first CEO and came up with the idea of doing non-cash transactions. During WWI, the bank decided to shut it's doors and didn't pick up business again until after the war was over. It wasn't until 1922 when BAWAG was founded. It took five years total to merge the two seperate banks. In 1996, P.S.K. turned into a corporation. In 2006, a shareholder of 100% of the bank's stocks sold to Cerbirus, an American financial institution based out of New York City.

Just as with many of our banks back home, BAWAG P.S.K. took a huge hit in the economic crises a couple of years ago. They received 45 billion Euros, $61,159,883,959 USD, to help recover. In a few short years, this corporation was able to bounce out of their debt and today claim that they are 100% debt free. The building that we visited today was first opened in 1906, with 17,000 nails hammered into it's walls on the outside. Today, it stands as the headquarters for their 477 branches across the Austrian country. Customer banking, efficiency, capital and liquidity, and equity returns are four factors in Austrian Banking. Today, this financial institution is not focused on person-to-person banking. Having worked at the same bank for over 6 years now, I couldn't imagine doing financial business without someone their to face me and answer my questions. They label themselves as the "easy bank" but to me, it doesn't sound to easy. I think of my grandparents who are not tech smart, trying to figure out how to use their mobile banking app. I prefer person-to-person banking much more, but then again in this country "easy banking" might be the solution to their problems.

There were quite a few interesting facts given to us today. A float rate mortgage in Austria is 1.7% while in the US it is 4.25%. There are special taxes a bank has to pay which result to 25 million Euros per year which decreases the equity returns on shareholders. For a bank account, you have to pay to keep the account open. At Wells Bank, my workplace, we offer free checking where all you have to do is deposit $50 into the account to open it and there are no service charges. It doesn't matter the balance of your account at Wells Bank but at BAWAG P.S.K. you are charged quarterly to keep the account open as well as the ending balance fine if it is not up to their standards. In the US, we would call those types of accounts Money Markets or Interest Bearing accounts. Austria allows one type of abnk account to be opened free of charge and that is savings accounts. I really enjoyed learning about the differences in my workplace compared to this place. It was also neat to see the old deposit slips, safety deposit boxes, and log accounts. Today was my favorite business visit this entire trip!

Account Logs: What the bank used to keep track of Bank Account Records for each customer

                                                      An old Check from the 1880's

                                                                 Teller stations

By: Ashley Burnett

            Today we got up and went to go tour the Schonbrunn Palace, which is where the Habsburgs’ summered. We got the opportunity to view the 40 rooms available to the public and it was gorgeous inside. We also got to go out and explore the garden area and the entire palace and garden area was huge. The area was originally just hunting ground for the Habsburgs but later the palace was expanded to what it is today. Our tour talked a lot about Maria Theresa and her impact on the palace.  

After touring the palace I went and explored the world’s oldest zoo, Tiergarten Schonbrunn. This zoo was opened in 1752! I got to see wolves and pandas along with a lot of other animals. They had an exhibit of bees, which I thought was unusual. Ashley and I spent an entire hour at the zoo walking around looking for a bathroom. We followed all the signs we saw and looked it up on the map but they were nowhere to be found so we ended up having to go all the way back to the front just to find a bathroom. For lunch at the zoo we had a hot dog, which was different from what you would get back in the U.S. The hotdog was completely surrounded by almost a crescent roll filled with ketchup but it tasted good! My favorite part was getting to see the pandas! When we were there we heard a story that back in 2002 a jaguar actually attacked one of the caretakers during feed and killed her in front of zoo visitors! My mouth dropped when I heard this but overall I had a good time at the zoo and it was very cool to see the architecture of all the buildings because it does not look like our zoos back home in the United States.

After the zoo we navigated our way back to the city center and went to Stephensplatz Cathedral. The inside of it was gorgeous and we got to take an elevator to the top to see the view. We also decided to climb some 300 some stairs to the top of the tower. The tower stairs were very narrow so it’s a good thing we aren’t claustrophobic. It was a tight squeeze because you go down the same way you came up so there was traffic going both ways in the tiny stairway. It was definitely a work out; my legs will be sore tomorrow. We then went on a mission to find a Starbucks because at this point in the trip we were dying for an American style coffee.

Tonight the whole group went to a nice dinner! Here in Vienna the restaurants are actually at the same pace as us. Everyone had finished their food after only being there an hour and 15 minutes! I finally got a good steak in Europe and the potatoes that came with it were very delicious as well. Now it is time for bed to rest up for the bank visit tomorrow.

This is the Schonbrunn Palce

This is one of the pandas at the zoo!

Day 6

Vienna, Austria

It is a tad colder here in Austria, but the men were able to withstand the cold with just a t-shirt and shorts. We had to be ready in the lobby at around 9:45 this morning and from there we took a tram to Museum's Quartier. This is a very historical place where some of the buildings were built in the 18th and 19th century while there are even some buildings built ten years ago. This mixture really spices the Quartier up and makes it a beautiful place to be. An example of a building built in the 18th century would be the 400 meter baroque facade.

Hofsburg Palace

 We saw the Leopold Museum; this is a place in terms of coloring, which symbolizes the consoldiated history of the Leopold collection, the white limestone paving of the courtyard forms a single unit with the facade. After seeing this we traveled to the Hofburg Palace. The palace was very beautiful with elegant designs and when it was in use there were thousands of people living there. All of them servants to the queen at that time. We then walked past the entrance of the Palace and entered an area called the Sattlerhof which was built by Empress Sisi. It used to be used as an octagonal circus riding hall, but today it is merely a library. In the Palace area we watched the The Hoch and Deutschmeister Band perform. They perform there every saturday and many people show up to watch.

Leopold Museum

We then saw a whole bunch of northwest alumni whom were in Vienna also. What a coincidence! After a few B-E-A-R-C-A-T-S chants we headed to the Golden Quarter. This area has some of the most expensive stores in the world hence the name Golden Quarter. We went inside some of the stores but they all seemed to be out of my price range. This concluded our tour for the day. After our group split up to find restaurants, we went to some random place in the market where I made the decision to get a burger; a decision I have made almost everyday here in Europe. We then headed back to our hotel and I took a long nap and prepared for the night. We ended up having a great night and I concluded that Austria is better than Budapest.

Conner Dodge Crooker

Day Five! The Journey to Vienna

We enjoyed our last night in Budapest before heading off the Bratislava for our tour of the Volkswagen plant. When we arrived to the plant it looked a bit larger the most of the car manufacturing plants in the United States. Little did we realize that it was massive. It's area was around 1,780,058 meters square.It was compared to being the size of 160 football fields. That is Insane! This plant also produces around 1,800-2,100 cars in a day. The Porshe Cayenne is also manufactured is this same building also. This plant mainly exports to the EU countries as well as the US and China. This plant is so large that employees have the option of riding a bike to there destination within the company's campus.

After our enlightening tour of the VW plant we traveled into the town of Bratislava to eat lunch before heading to Vienna. I had lamb for the first time at this Argentinian restaurant. Although we didn't have much time for sight seeing Bratislava was a nice small little town. We then arrived in Vienna where we met our new host, Manuela. She seems like a very knowledgable tour guide who has traveled for a large part of her life. I look forward to what this new city has to offer.

Gmoney

Day Four: Budapest

During our fourth day in Budapest, we visited an international business and a castle, or what was left of it. SAP, Systems Application Product, was the international business that greeted us with honors. During the presentation, given by their chief of the Hungarian office, we were thrown many facts. The first interesting and incredible fact was that after 42 years of business, SAP has grown 50% this year alone. SAP specializes in computer software and has over 250,000 customers world-wide. A few fun facts we learned were that SAP'S customers fly more than 1.7 billion of the world's passengers, produce more than 82% of the coffee and tea we drink each day, produce more than 62% of the world's movies, and helps reliably reach more than 97% of the world's wireless subscriber via text messaging. SAP currently holds the Guinness World Record for loading, storing, and analyzing big data at 34.4 terabytes per hour. A few commonly known customers of this company are Porsche, Audi, the NBA, and Skullcandy. I thought the story he shared with us about saving the company Skullcandy, a headphone production company, was very interesting. I enjoyed hearing about my favorite brand of headphones being saved. To think without SAP, a company I hadn't heard of until the past month, saved one of my favorite company's product is amazing.

For lunch, Emilee, Allison, Terri, Hailey, Taylor, and I hustled over toward the Parliament to get a closer view and grab a quick bite to eat. I've noticed in Hungary there is no such thing as a "quick bite to eat". When it comes to food, time simply doesn't exist. Every restaurant I have been to has been super slow and none of the waiters or customers seemed to be displeased with that. On the other hand, I FINALLY was able to catch a bite of that wonderful Tiramissou. After rushing through lunch, we ran back to the tram and hitched a ride to meet with Sylvia and the rest of the group.

From there, Sylvia took us on a tram and bus to a beautiful church. Standing outside the church, we were fed information of the building of the church as well as the structures around it. We were able to catch a glimpse of a Hilton Hotel, which was much prettier than the ones in the United States. After learning about the church, we hiked to the back and was stunned by the view. Hands down, the best view in Budapest was the view we were able to see outside of the church. After taking our "Forever Green Photo" we hiked on up to the castle. When we were told that we were able to tour a castle, I was thinking an enormous castle that would take hours to completely see. After seeing the remaining pieces of the castle and hearing the chilling story and seeing the pictures was enough to make you sad. The castle that we toured was the remaining parts left that had been restored after the castle was destroyed during the war. The pictures gave you the chills. The oddest thing I saw in the castle museum was a skeleton in a glass box that was covered after being found in a grave yard after the war. I find that very weird.

It's hard to believe we are approaching the end of our stay here in Budapest. It has been quite the experience. I have learned a lot during our stay here. Hungarians have no sense of time but yet are always in a rush to get to places. Overall, I've enjoyed the stay here but I don't plan on coming back to Budapest anytime soon. Now, on to the next place!

                                                          Castle: Stairs Leading up

Church we were able to hear the history on

Taken before lunch in front of the Parliament Building

SAP: Business Visited This Morning

By: Ashley Burnett

Day 3!

            Today we went on two business visits. In the morning we started off at the Kopint-Tarki Institute for Economic Research. Here we got to learn about Hungary’s historical background and their economic situation. After this we went to a mall in Budapest and ate lunch. I’m starting to catch on to the fact that Hungarians are not in as big of a hurry here as we are in the United States because it took 2 hours to do lunch. It took an hour from when we put our order in to get our food and this was just a bit of a shock to me but also a cool idea that they don’t rush for their meals. I had a salmon pasta and it was actually pretty good. After lunch we went on another business visit and the European Union Commission and we got to learn more about what the European Union Commission does exactly and where Hungary stands in the European Union. I thought it was interesting that the European Union Commission makes recommendations to the countries in the European Union and then from there the countries decide what they want to do with it. After that we had some free time to go back to the room and nap and freshen up and then Ashely, Allison, Terri and I went to explore by the Ferris Wheel. We ended up walking around a very cool area trying to find somewhere to eat. On our walk there we came across a band of gypsies and this was really interesting to see. When ended up stumbling upon this restaurant and found out that it was supposed to be one of the best in Budapest. It was one of the best meals I have had here and well worth the wait. It took us about 2 hours to order, eat our food and pay; which I realize to be a standard around here. It was nice to be able to just sit and enjoy dinner and not have to rush or be anywhere.

            Learning about Hungarian history today was really interesting. They were a communist/socialist state for about 50 years until 1990.  They have been a member of the European Union since 2004 and a member of NATO since 1998. They are currently not a member of the EMU. It seems that a lot of Hungarian people do not really think that the communist/socialist period was that bad of a time and that is really eye opening. It just shows me that although we have our thoughts on things, other countries might not see it as bad as we do. During the socialist period it would take about 11 years to receive your brand new car. This was mind blowing to me; that you would pay and have to wait on average 11 years to get your car. This made used cars more valuable because they were already there to buy and take home, which is backwards for us. The speaker also explains how  back in the communist/socialist period that the government would come in and just declare that your house was too big for you and take it away and split it up into a bunch of flats. Our speaker lives in a hour split up in 12 flats because of this. At the end of his presentation a speaker from Bosnia talked about the economic situation there and its history. This was interesting because I did not realize how confusing their government was and their country is set up into weird territories run but different people but still under the same state. Bosnia has 45% unemployment which is shocking to me. Also we were told in Hungary it can take up to 2 months to get an MRI. It just was really interesting and eye opening. We take a lot for granted in the United States that we should be more thankful for.

 

This was a photo taken at the European Union Commisson

This is a photo taken right outside of the restaurant we ate at called TG Italiano

Day 2

Day 2

The Jewish Synagogue

It was a beautiful and sunny day in Budapest! We had to be up and ready to go by 10 am to start touring. Unfortunately a couple people didn't set their alarms so we did not start our journey until about 10:15. I did not have breakfast, but I heard that it was quite good at the hotel. We started the tour down the street by our hotel where we learned about a Jewish synagogue. The people in Hungary refer to it as the great synagogue. During World War 2 the great synagogue was in the middle of a ghetto and many people ended up dying. There is a memorial where people are remembered inside the gates of the synagogue. They shaped the memorial so that it looks like a wheeping willow to signify how sad of an event it was. People's names are listed on the leaves and people can donate money to the cause.



We then learned how Budapest is seperated into two by the Danube river and that the side we are staying on is called Pest. The other side is called Buda and it is much more fancy and hilly than the Pest side. There is a joke that people in Hungary either live in Buda or they wish they lived in Buda. Later on we visited a market where there were all kinds of stores and shops. Some of the stuff being sold would never be sold in America and they had all different kinds of weird meats to eat. For lunch we went to a cafe and the pepsi I ordered was so small I ended up ordering three of them and it turned out to cost more than my actual meal! After lunch we went to Memento Park which is deep into Buda so we had to take the subway and bus to get there. Once there we learned about the Soviet Union and how they took control over Hungary after the war because Hungary had been allies with Germany during the war. This was when Stalin was in control and was a ruthless leader killing thousands of people and many political leaders who threatened him. In 1956 the people of Hungary overthrew the Soviet Union and took down the Stalin statue that had been build. There were around 46 statues in the park and a video explaining everything that was happening during Hungary's journey to freedom and how they were released from communist control. This was the last stop we made.


Statue of Lenin

Conner Crooker of the Vienna Sausages



Day One

Well we started our long trip in KC where the excitment among everyone was evident but quickly faded once we were on the 8 hour flight. We landed in Budapest around 6 and got right to it once we landed with an orientation from our guide, Szilvia. She showed us important routes to take like the trains and bus routes that are most convenient to us and the hotel. Szilvia taught us how to "thank you" which is cussey. You can say we may be overusing it a bit but still polite none the less.

Szilvia showed us the main road to travel on to find most of the bars and shopping places close by. We then attended a 3 course meal of Hungarian cuisine. It was fantastic and the atmosphere of the restaurant made it a great cultural experience. There was a band that was keeping us entertained with gypsy music which was very enjoyable. After our dinner we walked down to the Danube river and received a little preview of what we would be exploring the next couple days.

Our group then split up to enjoy a bit of night life on our first night and what better way to grasp the european culture then through beer and soccer right? We found a park where a bunch of people were gathered around watching the world cup so we had a seat and just took in all of it. That basically wraps up our first day and I am very excited for the upcoming events we have planned!

Grant

Week 4 Prework

Just one week and we will be on our way! Through this week's prework, we worked with our group teams to design a powerpoint for the cities we were assigned. During the research process, we all got to take a deeper look into each category for our trip. We researched Vienna's attractions, demographics, and odd facts. Vienna has a lot to offer, especially with the amount of memorials and cathedrals to visit. The most exciting part of Vienna will be the sight seeing. After putting the powerpoint together and finding pictures to include, it's going to be a sensory overload! The buildings look magnificient. During the day, we will be able to see the beautiful architecture and details, but at night, we will see the entire city lit up.

Out of all of the attractions Vienna has to offer, the most interesting one is the Walking Tour of Jewish Vienna. There are numerous memorials in memory of Holocaust victims, facts, and gardens set throughout the city. The spot where the annexation speech Adolf Hitler presented is one of the attractions on the list. After reading the reviews on the tour from numerous tourists, it leaves you with chills. The next attraction that has got us all jumping is the Ferris Wheel in the city. The largest Ferris Wheel will have us drooling at the top being able to see the city from a different view. I can only imagine how it will look at night! After researching the ride more, I found that the Ferris Wheel has cages instead of seats to keep us in, which was comforting! We can't wait to see the other powerpoints and gear up for our trip!
-Ashley Burnett

Week 3 prework

This week we have been researching activities to do in our free time. One of the activities I researched that caught my eye the most was a small walking tour of Jewish Vienna. In this walk it includes a walking tour of a Holocaust Memorial. The tour lasts about 2 hours and on the tour you get to go visit Morzinplatz where the Gestapo headquarters were located and also a monument of Jewish prisoners of WWll. The Holocaust Memorial is located at Judenplatz and you get the opportunity to see the Jewish Textile Quarter. This walking tour really interested me.

We also have been researching places to eat and trying to find reasonably priced places, as well as some fancy meals. I think the one I want to go to the most is Ribs of Vienna. As you could probably tell it is most known for their ribs. Everyone was assigned items to figure out how much they cost abroad and it was really eye opening to see the difference in prices compared to the United States. I had to find out how much a can of domestic beer was and a gallon of gas and I was surprised to find out a gallon of gas is more expensive there than here.

Week 2 Pre-Work

Vienna Sausages-
In the duration of week 2 prework, we learned extensively about the European Union, the political environment, cultural environment, and the economic environment of Austria.

To summarize, the European Union was created after World War 2 in the hope to make a prosperous, and peaceful Europe. There were eleven founding fathers and it started out with only six states. There are now 28 states in the Union and it involves the majority of Europe. The Union accounts for almost twenty percent of all exports and imports traded globally topping even the U.S.A. which accounts for only fifteen percent. They focus on peacemaking, security, donating, and feeding starving people in Africa. Last year they donated over 53.8 billion euros to help aid other countries and to help their cause.

For the political environment of Austria, Heinz Fischer is the leader of the country of Austria. He was elected in 2004 and again in 2010. (There is also a Chancellor who is Werner Faymann.) Once Fischer was in office he became independent and renounced any party membership. The president is elected by popular vote and holds office for one term, which is six years. The president is the head of the state but he acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers is led by the Chancellor (Werner Faymann). There is no electoral college; the president just wins by having the majoirity vote. If there is a tie they go into their second elections and only the top two candidates are allowed to run for office. In article I of the Federal Constitutional Act of Austria, it states "Austria is a democratic republic. Its laws emanate from the people." October 1, 1920 marks the day that the Federal Constitutional Act was passed. The Federal President is Dr. Heinz Fischer. Dr. Heinz Fischer was actually a professor of political science before being elected the Federal President on July 8, 2004. To become the Federal President, you are elected by the Austrian people for a term that consists of 6 years. The Federal President is the only representative of the country that is directly elected by the people. The head of government, is the Federal Chancellor, which is Werner Faymann.

To summarize the cultural environment, In Austria it is important to know that business meetings are conducted in a very formal way and they begin with a "quick but firm" handshake. When entering a room it is also customary to shake hands with everyone present; in social settings this includes children. It is important to maintain eye contact when you are greeting someone. Some older generation austrian men will kiss the hands of females when greeting them. Something I found interesting is that when women are introduced to men they also may kiss. You should use a person's title until you have been invited to refer to them by their first name. When it comes to being invited into and Austrians home you should come with a gift, something like chocolate or flowers. Something interesting is if you give flowers make sure there is an uneven number of flowers because even numbers, with the excetion of 12, are considered to be unlucky. "Do not give red carnations, chrysanthemums or lilies as these are considered as being for funerals." If you are bringing a gift that is not flowers, it should be wrapped. 

To summarize the cultural environment, Austrian companies have learned to deal with environmental and social friendlyness and also with the term sustainability. Enterprises ahve started to use the concept of sustainability in their management strategies and tools. Austrian Corporate Social Responsibility builds "upon long-lasting Austria tradition of broad stakeholder involvement within the so called social-partnership." Austria realized its pivital position when they realized they were in the heart of Europe. They came to realize the key role they could play. Over the last twenty years many differet and "social friendly economic development: programs have become part of the ongoing societal transformation process.

To summarize the economic environment, I found it interesting just learning about the European Union as a whole and learning about the European Parliament was interesting too. I found it intersting how the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union work together. I thought it was interesting learning about where they get their money and funding from but also what the money in spent on. I also found it interesting how many of the countries in the EU used the Euro.

Conner Crooker

Introductions

Hello everyone! We are the Vienna Sausages and our great team consists of four awesome members, Emille Krzyzanowski, Ashley Burnett, Conner Crooker and Grant Cozad. We did initial research over the city of Vienna and the country of Austria. Our departure is coming fast and I'm sure everyone is just as excited for the trip as our group is! Here some of the information we found about the country of Austria!

The exchange rate is 1.37 euros per 1 us dollar. 91.9% of people in Austria are Austrians, 4% Yugoslavians, 1.6% Turkish, and .9% German. Typical imports are machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, and oil. The main exports are machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, paper, metal goods, chemicals, iron and steel, and textiles. Austria is slightly smaller than Maine and about 75% of the area includes the mountainous territory of the eastern alps. Forest and woodlands cover about 40% of the land. The country contains many snowfields, glaciers and snow-capped peaks.

Austria's population is around 8,223,062. the Ethnic groups that are among the Austrian population are Austrians at 91%, Yugoslavs at 4% which includes croatians, slovenes,serbs and bosniaks another 1.6% are turks and .9% are german and 2.6% accounts for and unspecified group. The language that is predominantly spoken in Austria is German. And they are mainly Roman Catholic at 73.6%. The median age of the population is 44 years old!

One of the more famous tourists attractions in Austria is the Schonbrunn Palace. It offers a Privy garden aswell as the oldest zoo in the world and a labrinth and maze. Austria has a couple ski resorts that are very popular in the winter seasons. Seefeld, Tyrol has held the Winter Olympics twice in its existence. The other, St Anton am Arlberg is more for the experienced skier that has much experience to take on the rugged mountain terrain. Grosslockner Alpine Road is another popular attraction which give the tourist the great view of Austria's highest mountain.

Austria imports motor vehicles, metal goods, oil products, and food the most. The top four imports, in order, of Austria are cars, refined petroleum, crude petroleum, and petroleum gas. Austria's biggest import partner is Germany with 44.5% of all trade, Italy comes in second with 7.1%, and in third is Switzerland with 5.2%. Austria Exports machinery, equipment, motor vehicles, paper, metal goods, iron, steel, textiles, and food. The top five exports are packaged medicaments (antibiotics), vehicle parts, spark-ignition engines, petroleum gas, and cars. Austria's biggest export partner is Germany with almost 29.5% of total trade, Italy is second with 8.6%, and the U.S. comes in third with 4.3%. To give an idea, imports from the USA amount to more than $5.1 billion per year.

Vienna is Austria's capital and the largest city. Vienna sits right between the foothills of the Alps and the Carpathians; specifically right by the Vienna Woods which is a foothill section of the Alps. It is situated right along side Europe's second largest river, the Danube. This river cuts right through the mountains. The total area is about 160 square miles and the elevation is about 510 feet."The Vienna basin was a nodal point of ancient trade and military routes. It linked north and south along the “amber route” that ran southward from the Baltic and linked east and west along the Danube." The area first prospered as a trading center. The surrounding regions are Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary and strategically, Vienna commands these surrounding regions. Part of this reason is because they are in control of Europe's most important land and water routes. Vienna has become a center for art, music, architecture and education!