July 19, 2019
Today is the day. We're all heading our separate ways. Mostly everyone is going straight back to the states, but I'm stopping in Ireland for the weekend to visit some family.
This trip has been incredible. I've been to so many places in such a short amount of time. It also was perfect timing. In September I start my job, so I won't get the chance to travel like this for a long time. There was a lot I loved about the trip. I liked getting my thesis done ahead of time. It allowed the trip to really be a trip. There were some assignments we had to do throughout, but the majority of our time was used to see and experience other cultures. I also really liked seeing so many different places.
In China, I really liked having activities planned out. This was our first stop and the biggest culture shock, so having planned dinners, etc. was really helpful. I also felt prepared for the culture shock. The meetings before the trip to tell us what to expect were informative and very helpful on what to pack. I think the time balanced between planned activities and free time in China was really good. It was also incredibly helpful for Professor Liu to be there. The language barrier was the toughest in China, but he really lessened the struggle. I also really enjoyed going to the job site visits. We had a good amount to see, and the companies were really welcoming.
Also, I liked the route we took in China. I liked starting in Shanghai because it was a big city and in a way felt familiar to home. I really liked how we spent a good amount of time in Shanghai because it allowed us to become familiar with the city. By the time we headed to Xi'an, I felt really comfortable in Shanghai. Some people don't share the same opinion, but I really liked Xi'an. The Terra Cotta Warriors were really cool. I also really liked going to a smaller city after Shanghai. It was a nice break and really set the two apart. Similar to Shanghai, I felt pretty comfortable with Xi'an by the time we left. Ending at the Great Wall was perfect. I think if we had started here everything else wouldn't have been as exciting. The Great Wall was incredible, and the resort we stayed at was really cool. I loved how we went to a more remote location. It didn't feel touristy at all, and it really felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. I think spending a full day and second night at the wall would have been really cool, and then we could've headed straight for the airport hotel.
In Europe, I loved all the cities we visited, and I wouldn't have cut any of them from the trip. I loved seeing so much and traveling from place to place. However, I think because we didn't have a lot of time in each city, the ratio of free to planned time was off. It didn't feel like we had a lot of time to explore the cities on our own. We had a lot of walking tours which I do think are a good idea. It's important to know a little bit about the city and culture you're visiting. I just think the tours were too frequent or too long. Instead of 4 hour tours, I think a two hour tour would be just as informative. I really liked our bike tour in Munich. I loved how the guide prepared notes and tried to connect things about Auburn to Munich. The bike tour was a really fun experience and each stop the guide made was the right amount of time. I also really liked our guide in Prague. He told us a lot of history, but he kept the tour moving and we saw a lot of the city. He also was good about telling us things that were helpful and useful to our stay like where to go to eat and things like that. All the guides were pretty helpful in telling us good places to eat and areas to stay away from because they target tourists. Our guide on Hvar Island was great. Her tour was short, but she told us all we needed to know. Croatia is general was really awesome. It's definitely somewhere I want to go back to. I loved our hotel in Dubrovnik because it was right on the beach. We were kind of far from the city center, but there were enough restaurants around us and the public transportation to get to the city was really easy. Our day on Hvar Island was really great too. More time there would've been great, but I know the ferry schedule is restrictive. I think in general, more time in each city would've been really great. Even if it meant taking a few days from China, I think adding days to Croatia and Prague would be a good idea. Also, having more construction visits in Europe would have been cool. I know timing didn't work out with some of the companies, but adding more visits would be nice.
Overall, the trip was amazing. It was seriously one of the best experiences, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have been apart of it. Being able to see so much of the world in such a short amount of time was incredible, and we had a great group of people to experience it with. I forget who it was, but someone said by the time we fly back to America, we will have flown around the whole world. That was a pretty cool realization. I'll remember this trip forever and am so thankful to
the faculty for planning and organizing everything.
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