Much different from the beginning of week 1, where Hannover's weather disappointed with rain and low temps each day, week 2 gave us the first glimpse that Hannover did have a summer season from time to time. With our German lessons ending on Monday, it was surprising how much of a language you could learn in a week, but also equally frightening that we'd be expected to "get along" with a week of a foreign language....luckily most Europeans also know English though (some better than I do).
Even though we were all sad to see our language teacher leave, we were excited for the next few days where we'd be going to visit German corporations. Our first visit was to Nord LB which is a fairly large regional bank headquartered right here in Hannover.
The day before the excursion to the Bank, myself and another student were assigned to present on the structure of the German banking system....a remarkably complex system that was really interesting to learn about. When we were at Nord LB, we met one of the guys who will be instructing the international finance course during the second half of the program, who works as a researcher at Nord LB as well as an adjunct faculty member at Leibniz and a few other Universities in the area. The visit to Nord was interesting, as they talked to us about a few different topics ranging from the US housing crisis to the European Sovereign Debt crisis...both of which were interesting to hear about from a European point of view. But perhaps more interesting was the division between thought between one of the Econ Research Department Analysts and the Bank's VP for Research, with the analyst favoring the Austrian viewpoint on public spending/intervention, and the VP following a more Keynesian approach. They would openly disagree on some of the most divisive topics. It was really refreshing though to see how much the three people who presented to us were able to openly disagree on the events which happened and how they will affect the future.
Nord LB's Headquarters in Hannover. Architecturally stimulating building to say the least.
The day before the excursion to the Bank, myself and another student were assigned to present on the structure of the German banking system....a remarkably complex system that was really interesting to learn about. When we were at Nord LB, we met one of the guys who will be instructing the international finance course during the second half of the program, who works as a researcher at Nord LB as well as an adjunct faculty member at Leibniz and a few other Universities in the area. The visit to Nord was interesting, as they talked to us about a few different topics ranging from the US housing crisis to the European Sovereign Debt crisis...both of which were interesting to hear about from a European point of view. But perhaps more interesting was the division between thought between one of the Econ Research Department Analysts and the Bank's VP for Research, with the analyst favoring the Austrian viewpoint on public spending/intervention, and the VP following a more Keynesian approach. They would openly disagree on some of the most divisive topics. It was really refreshing though to see how much the three people who presented to us were able to openly disagree on the events which happened and how they will affect the future.
HISSEMA Participants and Nord LB Presenters.
The next day we went to the Volkswagen manufacturing plant just outside of Hannover. And while I've been to the much larger Ford River Rouge Complex in Dearborn, it was still an impressive sight. The cultural and economic reliance upon the auto industry in Germany is very reminiscent of what its like in Michigan. Interestingly enough, however the two cases are much different due to the large amount of governmental intervention in Volkswagen and other German car makers. In the US, we saw the economy in Michigan decline significantly (and some might say the country) due to the influence some auto unions had on The Big 3, but in Germany there hasn't been such a collapse as demand for VW, BMW and Mercedes Benz has remained sufficient to keep a strong economy. And give Germany a top spot in exporting economies, not to mention sustain Germany's efforts to keep the EU stable.
The week ended early as we didn't have class on Friday, so we were able to depart for our second weekend of travel to our further destination of Amsterdam. From what I've heard, Amsterdam was going to be an interesting experience...
The trip began with a 4 hour train delay due to some track issues between Hannover and Amsterdam...so while we were supposed to leave around 230, we didn't depart until after 630. But, it was worth the wait since we got a 50% price reduction for the tickets, which was much welcomed. The difficulties didn't end their though. About 75% of the way to Amsterdam, the train sat motionless at a stop for 15 minutes longer than it should have, and we got some "welcomed" news from the conductor that the engine wasn't working....so a new one was on the way, so continued our streak of bad luck...and 20 minutes later we were en route again. Then, upon arriving to in Hilversum (about 20 minutes outside of Amsterdam) just in time to catch the last train into Amsterdam Central for the night, we must have got on the the wrong train as it never went to Central Station. But we noticed it early enough where we could get off without much trouble. 30 minutes and a ride on the Amsterdam metro later we finally arrived in Amsterdam at central station.
Amsterdam was quite the city, with a very unique nightlife. It also had some nice sights to see during the day as well. The first day we went to the Anne Frank House to see the small hiding place of the famed diarist during the Holocaust, a place I'd wanted to visit since my 8th and 9th grade English teachers had done significant teaching on her book as well as Night by Elie Weisel, a holocaust survivor. The experience was much worth the 30 minute wait in line and 9.5 Euro entry fee.
No pictures allowed inside... In the presence of some serious history here.
The next day we went to the Van Gogh Museum which featured many other artists in addition to Van Gogh. Not only were the paintings, sculptures, and drawings interesting pieces of art... but the insight to Van Gogh's life was extremely interesting. Later that day we also had time to go to the Heineken Brewery for a tour and tasting. For 17 euro, the price was steep, but the two free samples at the end made it a little more bearable.
Amsterdam was a beautiful city, with a very interesting side to it as well. And after a few days, It was time to return to Hannover. This time, there were no glitches in the train schedule, horray! The funny thing was that when we got back, it was really the first time (but we'd soon feel it again when we got home from Berlin) that we felt a big sigh of relief for being home!
Top 3 Lessons of the Week:
- German style has no mercy for heat. Despite temps in the 80s people continue to wear highly fashionable, but impractical attire. Jeans, sweaters and coats are still common even when Hannover has its warmest weather "in 10 years" (according to Malte).
- Train travel does have its ups and downs. I hadn't really realized that trains could be delayed for such long periods of time. I guess I'd erroneously assumed that the lack of variance in train traffic due to the fixed track structure caused less room for error. But I guess no mode of transportation is perfect. At least Deutsch Bahn has generous discount policies (thank goodness, since our original tickets were only booked two days earlier at full fair).
- Even German banks make mistakes. At Nord LB, the presenters were very frank about some of the mistakes they had made. And it was somewhat relieving that they made some of the same mistakes that US banks made in not properly evaluating risk, and just the day we visited they were forced to lay off 10% of their workforce (many were given early retirement packages).
No comments:
Post a Comment