Tuesday, May 10

            Tuesday began the first of the 5 site visits we have planned during our time here to SGL, a company that makes carbon fiber for all applications. It was about 45 minutes away from Augsburg in a small town that was perfect for a massive plant like SGL. First, they gave us a presentation on the background and the amount of time and investment it takes to make carbon fiber, the biggest reason why it’s so expensive. Following the presentation we were taken on a tour of the facilities, from the corporate sector to the manufacturing buildings and the chemistry labs, where they are constantly researching new methods and techniques that could make the carbon fiber cheaper and better. They also gave us a very good lunch that many of us were not expecting, and we all really appreciated the time they took out of their day to show a bunch of American college students what they do. When we got back to Augsburg we first went to the town hall for a lecture on migration in Augsburg, and Germany as a whole. The head of migration for the city came in and told us about how until 2000, Germany did not want to consider themselves a place of diversity and a refuge for foreigners, even though almost the country’s entire history has been shaped by people not native to Germany. She also talked about the recent migration crisis from the Middle East and how Augsburg is dealing with the influx of refugees coming through the city. I thought it was quite interesting, and it sounds like they are doing all they can to make sure the refugees are treated in the most fair and humane way possible throughout this whole process. After that we actually went to a place where refugees were staying and got a tour, which I personally thought wasn’t right and made me uncomfortable because I felt like we were walking through a zoo, taking pictures and invading their privacy. While it was also a hotel and hostel, I just felt that we could have done something more productive with our time. We had the rest of the day to ourselves after that, and all of the students went to another classic Bavarian restaurant, and then we again hung out with some of the German students.