Although exhausting, our first week in Berlin has been nothing short of amazing. It’s been so interesting to experience a foreign city for the first time, and I’m so glad I chose Berlin. I couldn’t be happier with the atmosphere of the city, and the location of our hotel is perfect. This past week, we have had packed days consisting of German classes in the morning and tours/sightseeing the rest of the day. The first day, we we had a walking tour of Berlin, and then a welcome dinner to get to know everyone. Throughout the week, we went on tours of Humboldt Forum (the former Berlin Castle) and the new Amazon Tower that will soon be opening in Berlin. We also visited companies such as Zalando, the American Chamber of Commerce, and the Federal Agency for Civic Education to learn about what they do and how they operate in Berlin. It was very useful for us to have a week to learn about the city and get used to life in Berlin before starting our internships. We also had a lot of opportunities throughout the week to learn how to navigate the public transportation in Berlin. So far, it has been astounding to see how expansive Berlin is. We’ve been to so many areas and neighborhoods already, and it seems like the city is just never-ending. Every area we’ve been to has been so different and there has been so much to see in each neighborhood. Yesterday was the Carnival of Cultures in Berlin, so we were able to see the parade and festival in the city. There were so many people and performers, it was like nothing I’d ever seen before in the U.S.

Tomorrow, I will be starting my internship at Vencon, where I will be working on the advisory and consulting team. To be successful in this industry, it is important that I utilize my problem solving skills and collaboration skills. It will be valuable to be able to work efficiently with my co workers and to be open to learning from them throughout the summer. From what I have gathered so far, the German work place is more formal than that of the U.S. and Germans greatly value efficiency and punctuality. In Germany, being on time means being there 5 minutes early. Because of this, time management and organizational skills will be extremely valuable for me at my internship. It is important that I manage my time so that I am able to complete tasks on time, and also to leave extra time if I need to change something. I think the hardest thing for me to get used to will be that in Germany, there is much less praise than there is in the U.S. In the U.S., criticism in the workplace is usually buffered by compliments. If someone is critiquing your work, they will usually tell you first what you did well, and then tell you what you did wrong. In Germany, they do not waste time telling you what you did well; they just tell you what you did poorly and what needs to be improved. This might come off as harsh or like I am not doing a good job at work, because it is not what we are used to in the U.S. During our orientation this week, our program manager, Britta, told us that we should try our best to be independent in our internships, and not have to constantly ask our supervisor what we should be doing. Instead, once we finish a task we were assigned, we should be proactive and come up with something else that we thing would be useful. She said it would be better to propose an idea to our supervisor regarding what we could do next, instead of just asking them over and over what we should do. I expect that Vencon’s client companies are all very different and unique, so I expect that adaptability and flexibility will be useful for me in the workplace, as well as my day-to-day life here. Much like having to learn to navigate a new city, I will have to learn to navigate the differences between the German workplace environment and the American workplace environment. It will be interesting to see this week how an office in German differs from an office in the U.S., and I am excited to get started. I also know from my research of Vencon, that their staff is extremely diverse and come from all different backgrounds, so I am interested to work with a diverse group of people, and take advantage of all of the learning opportunities I will have.