Farewell - Post by Brandy Ray

While I was walking around Vienna on my last day in Europe, I started to think about my experiences over the last month. I thought about my expectations of the trip and how it was completely different from what I had imagined. I was anticipating a month in Europe full of free time and having fun, with a bit of schoolwork. I was expected a relaxing experience. I couldn’t have been more wrong. We had a total of four days off this entire month, we were expected to be awake and alert every morning around 9am, and taking nine hours in six weeks was definitely not relaxing. However, I think that I can speak for the entire group when I say that we have all grown as people. It has been a difficult month, but I will always look at this trip as a turning point in my life. Before I left, I thought that I knew exactly who I was…but I can definitely say that it is frightening how much I have learned about myself. When we all get home, our families and friends will ask us what our favorite part of the trip was. Professor MacDermott told us not to answer that question right away, but first to tell them who we have become as a result of our study abroad experience. We have all become strong, independent people, who can easily navigate the world (no matter what language is written on the street signs). We have all become people who know how to act, speak, and carry ourselves confidently in whatever situation we may find ourselves. Finally, we have all become people who simplify the complex, who take positions for which we can make the case, and who never, ever give up.

Final Days....

We rounded out our Vienna visit with three company visits: The ExPat Centre, IAC Group, and Bridge It (two pictures of the group included here). Last night we enjoyed a wonderful farewell dinner at a lovely restaurant here in Vienna. We celebrated with traditional food and music from all 4 countries we visited: The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Austria. Today we are all saying our final farewells, packing, doing last minute shopping (can there possibly be any more room in these suitcases???) enjoying one last dinner, one last embrace...It has truly been a trip of a life time -- for us all!

Kerry Richardson: Danube Island Festival

Note: please scroll down our blog page - there are several new posts today!

Our last “cultural” event for our program was to attend the Danube Island Festival which is held yearly in Vienna and is free to the public. A quick ride on the U-Bahn put us only steps from the festival entrance. We were welcomed by a beat-boxer accompanied by another guy playing the Didgeridoo. After watching his “act,” we set out in search of music and other activities. The path was crowded with attendees and vendors which made for a slow pace. We stumbled upon a crowd cheering and music blaring loudly so we made our way to the front to see what was going on and found a BMX exhibition in progress. We watched as several of the riders displayed their awesome skills then decided to continue on. After walking for a while we came to the end of the path where a huge crowd was gathered with a really awesome DJ setup on the middle of the stage. He kept the crowd entertained for several hours and we spent the rest of our time there enjoying the music. To end the night we made a pit stop on the way to the entrance so a couple of the guys could join in on a Turkish line dance. Great night in Vienna!

Lestat Vaughan shares thoughts about post communism

The after-effects of communism and fascism run thick through the air of central Europe as evidenced in both the lingering pain and the attempts to move forward. To a business major, the drive to entrepreneurism in most of the region is startlingly low. However, our first night in Poland we went out to a restaurant and I noticed something very peculiar for European wait-staff. While our waitress was providing European-style service to others, we were provided American-style service. Her energy went up, she spoke perfect English, and she checked the table often. The overjoyed group tipped her generously. This was a common trend among Polish people. They were entrepreneurial in ways that other Central Europeans were not. Instead of giving up in the face of failure they invent new ways to try for success. Though we spent little time there, I am convinced of the spirit of the Poles and hope to return some day.

Friends

It has been an amazing 30 days. We will say goodbye and go our separate ways very shortly...ah, parting will be such sweet sorrow. To life-long friendships!

Vienna

We have reached our final destination: Vienna. Here we will spend the week, sight seeing, visiting companies, and soaking in every last minute of our sweet time together. Here are some shots from our city tour, our first day in Vienna: St. Stephen's Cathedral, some of the 343 steps to the top and the beautiful view from the top, along with a terrific group shot in front of one of many amazing pieces of art this city holds!

Post by John Allison: Hot Air Balloon Ride Anyone?

After leaving Brno, our next stop was Kubicek Balloons. This company produces many different products including recreational, racing, commercial, and promotional balloons. The company was founded during the Communist era. During this period Kubicek needed to use clever tactics to get the rights from the government because of the fear that people would use balloons to escape across borders. Kubicek suggested to the communist government that Kubicek could use balloons to transport parts for nuclear power plants. This rationale seemed to work.

In addition to learning about the history of the company, we also learned about the many different uses, shapes, and balloon designs. The balloon shapes vary, even coming in special designs such as a cathedral balloon. Our visit began with a slideshow showing us some of the different products Kubicek offers. We then headed upstairs to the manufacturing floor where we saw balloon panels being cut and sewed together. Finally we saw the baskets being woven. Seeing such a unique product being made by hand was amazing. The only thing missing from the experience was watching a test flight in the field outside the factory – and a balloon ride!

Jessica Pollard: Templar Wine Cellars of Cejkovice

As a side note to our readers/viewer: there are likely to be multiple entries from here until the end of our month-long study abroad. So please continue to scroll down as you read. We hope you have enjoyed our posts; thank you for joining us on our journey of discovery!

Here's Jessica's post about our wonderful cultural evening in Cejkovice:

Wednesday night we had an exciting evening at the Templar Wine Cellars of Cejkovice. After checking into our hotel rooms in the adjoining castle, we headed to a wine tasting in the underground maze of cellars. The Templar Wine Cellars were built in 1248 by Templar Knights, whose leaders were later killed by the French king because he owed the order money and didn't want to repay his debt. The cellars changed hands several times after and are currently managed by a wine cooperative with over 400 members. We descended into the damp, musty cellars and saw the operation, including the largest wine barrel still in use in Moravia which can hold up to 100,000 liters of wine at one time. Then came the fun part - tasting! We sampled 5 wines but my favorite was the Moravian Muscat. There were coins stuck to the walls of the cellar and the legend says that if you stick a coin to the moldy cellar wall you will one day return there. After sticking our coins and saying our goodbyes, we headed back to the castle for a feast and an evening of folk music plus you guessed it - more wine! There was dancing, good conversation, and good times were had by all.

Andrew Adams Post: Reflections on Auschwitz-Birkenau

Note to readers: Our students were greatly impacted by their visit to Auschwitz. Each student can select a topic of his/her interest for the blog entry; hence another very moving experience by one of our students: Andrew Adams.

Visiting the death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau was a life changing experience that chilled my bones and soul. The image that I will never be able to shake from my memory is the picture on the wall of the Roma children who were used as experiments by the Nazi medical scientists. The children were so young, sickeningly skinny, and looked as though they had been terrorized and tortured by demons from hell. Seeing that image hit me like a rock because not only was the image visually disturbing, but I was actually in the room where these atrocities took place. I could feel, smell, and spiritually sense the pain and suffering that had occurred in that room. It not only saddened me, but made me ashamed of humanity, and angry that a group of people could be so evil to another human being. I consider myself a citizen of the world, meaning that every person of every nationality in the world is my brother or sister. I could not imagine being a German soldier and being asked to perform such atrocities, or worse be the subject of the terror.

One last stop in the Czech Republic - Saving the best for last!

Today we drove to Mikulov, a quaint village just across the border from Austria. There we took a 3 hour walking tour (up and down!) of the historical Old Town. This was followed by a guided tour of the Templarske skleypy wine cellars and a terrific cultural evening, with a wonderful folk band, at Hotel Zamek Cejkovice. Tomorrow we take our tour of the IAC Group and Bratislava ... and slowly make our way to our last destination: Austria. Here will spend the remainder of our trip (just a week). It's been an amazing 3 weeks -- hard to believe we're on the "home stretch."

Post from Melissa Valle: Auschwitz - A Walk Through History

On June 16th, we visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum. The hours traveling gave us time to reflect about our expectations. I thought about scenes of movies or facts I learned in History class about Holocaust. Little did I know the difference it would make to see reality compared to reading about it in history books.

When we met with our tour guide and began the walk into the camp, everything changed. Each building was charged with more tragedy than the last. Some rooms contained information, pictures about how everything began, the Nazi mindset, the initial taste of affliction. The next ones contained personal objects: shoes, clothes, brushes, even hair. I was seeing an object which belonged to a person just like you and me. I imagined the medical experiments right in front of me. It was definitely a strong learning experience. Though the remembrance of such a horrible crime scene can be impacting and somewhat depressing, it is important that the concentration camps remain in place as museums symbolizing the consequences of extremism and racism. As Italian director, Roberto Benigni said, the Holocaust, “belongs to everybody in the world. It is a part of humanity.”

Walking Tour of Brno, Czech Republic

We are in Brno, is the 2nd largest city in the Czech Republic, (Prague is the largest) for a couple days. We spent the morning on a walking tour of the city and learned about this charming city with many legends. My favorite story is why the town clock chimes noon when it is in fact 11:00 a.m.

According to the legend, after four months of siege, the Swedish General Torstenson declared that if Brno did not fall by midday, he would drag his whole army away. Brno citizens chimed noon an hour early, and thus the siege ended, and since then the noon bell has struck at 11:00 a.m.

In the town square one can now find a modern clock which resembles a large bullet. The clock, in my opinion, is much like a Rorschach ink blot, in that observers tend to see what they want to see. Sculptor Oldřich Rujbr and his student, graphic designer Petr Kameník, decided to create a unique clock that gives off the sounds of clattering marbles and orchestral bells instead of a usual tick-tock sound. The complicated mechanism inside the obelisk will push glass marbles in the colors of the Brno flag (red and white stripes) down a spiral while chiming xylophones and bells hidden inside. One marble is released at "Brno noon," which is 11 a.m., to mark the courage of the locals who managed to resist the Swedish siege. When we were there (at 10:30 a.m.) people had already begun to stake our their place around the "missile-looking clock" to see if they would be the lucky one to "catch" the glass marble. There are only a few seconds to grab one before they disappear back into the clock's entrails. Marbles in the obelisk symbolize the ammunition used to protect Brno's citizenry.

Travel Day...from Poland to Brno, Czech Republic

Today was a travel day -- from Krakow, Poland to Brno, Czech Republic, where we will spend the next couple days. We have some real troopers on this trip! As you can see we were in a "cozy bus," but never once did we hear a complaint -- these guys and gals are savvy world travelers and a real joy to be with! We all send Happy Father's Days greetings from Central Europe!!!

Learning from Leaders and Scholars

Today was rich with educational opportunities to learn from international businessmen and scholars. This morning, we were honored by guest presentations from Mr. Dave Risser, General Manager of Marathon Oil, and from his Poland associates, Josh and Ken. These savvy and successful international businessmen shared information about not only the oil business, but also about the political, social, economic, and cultural impact of their work around the world. I think we may have 13 students standing in line to intern with this amazing company after today's lecture!

This afternoon, we made our way to Jagiellonian University where we heard a fascinating lecture from Dr. Jacek Klich, professor of economics and management, researcher, and Polish journalist for several Czech newspapers. In addition, his graduate research fellow, Georges Jurkowski, presented his research about the entrepreneurial environment in Poland.

Tomorrow we head back to the Czech Republic - specifically to Brno. Stay tuned for more adventures!