It has been 1 month since I arrived in Germany. During this time, I participated in the Winter Academy. This is a short intensive language course taught over 3 and a half weeks. It is 5 hours of instruction 5 days a week. It was one of the hardest courses I have ever taken. Learning Deutsch is very difficult for a native English speaker with no other languages spoken. However, it was a fantastic experience and a good opening to Germany. The teacher introduced us to German culture while teaching us basic German. Ich sprache sprechen bisschen Deutsch. That means I speak a little German. It is enough for me to be able order a coffee or ask for directions. It has come in very useful for the short time I have been here. This course also makes you very close to a few others and this is a boon when you travel abroad alone. There were about 80 people participating in the Winter Academy and I was able to become very close to many of them. The Winter Academy also offers 
many tours and day trips to different German cities and attractions. I partook in as many as I could and it really helped fill in my time. The first excursion was to a UNESCO Heritage site in a little village called Eberstadt. The claim to fame was a cave that was discovered by
miners blowing up portions of the hillside. The cave was beautiful inside, it had many stalagmites and stalactites which had a unique yellow color similar to wax. I wasn’t s
supposed to take photos, so I only have a few to share with you. The same day we went to a quaint little German town called Buchen. It still
maintained much of its medieval charm and had the wood beam houses. It is always fascinating to me to explore and discover cities that have been around from before America was even discovered. All of these towns are very different from anything in America and it is exciting to be able to walk down the street every day. Even within Mannheim which many people have told me is “ugly”. I find it to be beautiful and a unique experience. Mannheim is located between two 
rivers, the Rhein and the Necker and used to be a castle town in medieval times. The city is laid out in a grid which comes from the old castle design. The buildings are all different from how we build in America. But after a while you get used to the oddities and realize that even if things are a little different the people within the city are the same. They have the same goals and
passions that we do in America. The only thing you should remember from any of
my ramblings is to never judge another person based on where they live or what nationality they are.
I have had many people asking me if I have had any bad experiences yet in Germany with the differences in people. I can honestly say I have not. It has been a great time and I attribute it to my attitude towards the people I meet. I am always willing to give them the benefit 
of the doubt if they do not understand things about where I am from and I hope they do the same. Every interaction I have I go into it with a positive attitude and the expectation that things will work out. I do not get worked up or let things bother me when things do not work out. It is a foreign country and it is important to just accept the things that happen to you while you are abroad. I do not always understand the bureaucracy involved with living in Germany. However, I do not let that take away from my experience living here. Recently I was asked by a UMASS advisor how people’s attitudes have been towards me because of Trump. I have not had anyone harass me or look down on me because of who my president is. Just as I wouldn’t look down on someone for who their president is. People abroad are curious about Trump because the media, even here, talks about him all the time. Oftentimes they are misinformed or do not understand the political and societal implications behind his election. This is through no fault of their own as I also do not understand most other countries political and societal issues and rely on the media to relay tidbits of information. Because they do not understand they ask about it and want to talk. It does not bother me to have someone ask me about Trump or anything else about the USA they want to talk about. To me them wanting to learn and be better informed is a good thing and not something to get upset about if they offend me. I hope this trend continues and by the end of my time here I am able to report back that I had zero bad interactions.
During the Winter Academy I also went to a local brewery and winery. While they were both very similar to American operations there were just slight differences that stood out to me. The brewery for example showed us an advertisement for their beer, it had totally nude women in a regular television commercial. This is something that would never be allowed on American television and stood out to me as something that is socially acceptable here in Germany 
but not in America. Another thing about beer in Germany is that you can start drinking at 16 years old and young people are not judged for drinking. Oftentimes you will see people drinking beer in the middle of the day and walking around and drinking beer. This to me is a great way to do as you do not see the same level of drunkenness that you see in American bars. It does happen but the majority of people have been drinking for a long time and know how to handle it. The winery was very similar to an American winery, however it has been in operation since 1711, making it older than the US. This was very interesting to see the wine barrels in the cellar that was built around the barrels because of their size. Overall my experience as part of the Winter Academy was a 
fantastic one and I look forward to next month when classes start.
My journey to Mannheim was a long time coming. I first started thinking about it when Jorge Islas a MBA candidate a year above me went to Mannheim for his fourth semester. (Just like I have) He put the idea in my head and hearing about his adventures got me motivated to look into it. As time passed I noticed many job postings wanted students with international study abroad experiences. This was another big factor for me as it is important that I have a job once I graduate. I was influenced by a few other things when making my decision. The first is my love of travel, I have driven across the United States two times and visited many interesting locations, I recently spent a month backpacking across europe and went to 10 countries in 30 days. Those are just small examples of my love of travel and my constant thirst for visiting new places. I have found that traveling and understanding the differences in cultures helps you become well rounded and more tolerant of differing opinions and practices. I have broken bread with people from all walks of life and from many countries. Next I was influenced by friends and family. I consulted with everyone important to me and they all told me to go that it would be the chance of lifetime. I also spoke to a few German exchange students from the University of Mannheim about their experiences and how it would be to attend the university. Everything they told me was favorable and they only spoke well of it. Lastly I chose Mannheim over the other MBA abroad programs because of the strength of the business school. They are the top ranked business school in Germany and one if the highest in the European Union. This only affirmed my decision to attend the University of Mannheim and I submitted my decision.
Hi There! My name is Andrew Stewart! I am a 2nd year MBA candidate at the University of Massachusetts Isenberg School of Management. As you might have noticed from my picture I am a huge Patriots fan! One More! However I am originally from Southern California a little big town called. But my love of the Patriots brought me out east for graduate school. I attended the California State University of San Bernardino for my undergraduate degree in Management. While attending CSUSB, I worked full-time for a regional grocery store chain, Stater Bros. Markets. I worked there for over 13 years! Time flies! Currently I am employed at the University of Massachusetts as a MBA Fellow. I am co-authoring a report on the Principles of Responsible Management Education for the United Nations. I am an avid reader focusing mostly on science fiction, alternative history, fantasy, business, and history. If you had asked me about 6 years ago I would have included computer gaming as a hobby, however school takes a great deal of my time. Someday I might be able to say that again. That about covers most of the basics. I will be diving into more depth on some areas as I reflect on my upcoming semester abroad.
Adventure in Mannheim (Semester Abroad) 