As I sat on the plane, my mind began to wander. I had this weird fear that something might go wrong like I would get mugged or something or maybe there was some fundamental mistake in my trip planning.  I was reminded of the time my wallet was stolen in Brussels and I certainly didn’t want anything like that to happen again.  And then I thought about how much fun I had when I lived in Stuttgart.  I have very fond memories of my experience in Germany.  I then felt a slight rush of emotion and almost reliving some of my experiences in my head.  Then I figured I just had to be confident with my trip preparations and let myself have fun on this trip.  After all, not many people get an opportunity like this.

This year, the company celebrates the 125th anniversary of the company’s founding as well as the 150th birthday of Robert Bosch. Because of this special occasion, the company created a photo book, known as Global Impressions of Bosch and in it, are 125 photographs of Bosch employees from all over the world taken at the same instant.  This book was given to every single employee, or associates as the company calls us, as an appreciation for all of our hard work.  I flipped through it, and I have to say, there are some really nice pictures.  I also found the pictures online in the form of YouTube videos (link at bottom).  I really like the idea of getting all the pictures at the same instant.  They managed done to pack as much as they could about Bosch at the exact same time.  It’s like they say, each picture is worth a thousand words.  With 125 pictures, that’s like 125000 words.

YouTube Videos: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=global+impressions+of+bosch&aq=f

Bosch News: http://www.exportapr.boschsecurity.com/content/language1/html/4863_ENU_XHTML.asp

Day 61

People describe Stuttgart as the cradle of the automobile because of the invention of the automobile in this city. Many people also consider the city as the origin of the automotive industry. Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and Maybach all produce their cars here in Stuttgart. Even automotive parts giant Robert Bosch Gmbh set up their headquarters in the region. Mercedes-Benz and Porsche both opened a museum in Stuttgart to show off all the cars they designed over the years. In January, I went to the Mercedes-Benz Museum, and yesterday, I visited the Porsche Museum.

The Porsche Museum differs from the Mercedes-Benz Museum in the way that Porsche displayed their sports cars and racing cars more than their other cars. The Porsche Museum is also smaller than the Benz Museum and contains less cars. I thought the cars that the Benz Museum displayed seemed much more interesting, but that has to do with my interest their pre 1950’s cars more than the new Porsche sports cars. One thing I thought was very cool about the Porsche Museum was that they had a car that everyone could sit in. I can’t think of any other time where I’d be able to sit in a Porsche! As usual, I take lots of pictures whenever I go places, but unfortunately, I left my SD card at home, so I had to take all the pictures with my phone camera.

My photo album for the Porsche Museum

Eight months is a long time to be away from family.  It will be my first time going away for so long.  Before this, I had only been living at UBC and with my parents.  This is a big step for me to learn how to be independent.  My parents were always kind enough to do all the cooking and chores.  I guess I am kind of spoiled.

It helps that I am going with a friend of mine from UBC already.  Having a companion helps so much more than being alone.

During these eight months, I will be working for a company named Robert Bosch, which is based out of Stuttgart, Germany.  My work will be on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).  At the same time, being in Germany enables me to travel around Europe as much as I can (provided that I can afford it first).  I am hoping this will be an extremely positive experience.

Some pictures:

Flying Above the Clouds

My First Stop: Heathrow International Airport