Dresden & Columbus: Sister City Partnership (2024 - Part Zwei!)

Hallo Freunde!

I once again have the pleasure to be a chaperone on a student exchange trip to Dresden, Germany! Last trip (2019) I journaled our trip here in LinkedIn and it was a great exercise…so I’m doing it again!

Ten CSCC Students and four faculty departed Columbus on the afternoon of Tuesday August 13th, arriving in Prague where we spent the day sightseeing. That evening we took a bus to Dresden and were greeted by our hosts, the students and faculty from Berufliches Schulzentrum für Elektrotechnik Dresden, also known as BSZET.

The program is an every-other-year exchange of students (and faculty) for 10 days. The German students are studying engineering and IT, the CSCC students represent engineering, IT, arts & sciences, and theater!

While Day #1 was in Prague, today was when the real “exchange” began! We were taken by a vintage steam train (I think I was the most excited being the Logistics guy!) out into the country for some team building.

The students were broken into four teams and given a few hours (with instructions and maybe a few hints along the way) to build a raft that would hold the team well enough for a small jaunt out into the lake. All were successful and there was a lot of fun had by all!

Afterwards, we were free to mingle with our new German friends, explore, and find lunch on our own in groups. Afterwards we met at Dresden's Frauenkirche, where we got a private tour! The Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) was built in the 18th century, the was destroyed during WWII. The remaining ruins were left for 50 years as a war memorial. The church was rebuilt starting in 1994, completed in 2005. (The pic is from 2019 as today’s pics had…. stuff… in the way. More on that in another post!)

The best part of the tour was the view from the top! It may have also been the worst part as getting to the top was a LOT of stairs. But the view was WELL worth it!

We were then free to go on our own, and while I can’t speak for everyone, there was some traditional German cuisine (and maybe some bier) consumed at a brewer whose roots go back to 1417!

As the Supply Chain Management professor, I’d be remiss to not point out that ALL of our travels once we landed in Prague have been on public transportation. We bought 24-hour passes in Prague and were given monthly passes for Germany. So far we’ve used trams (electric trains), metro busses, small trains, a steam train, busses that run between cities, and a double-decker bus from a service that runs all over Europe. And we have plans to go on high-speed rail, a steamboat….and who know what else!?

The public transportation been very easy to figure out, VERY convenient, EXTREMELY punctual (although the locals may disagree with that) clean, modern, friendly, and fun! Routes are well published and there are multiple ways to track when the next mode is arriving. And when we do have questions, there’s always someone willing to help. Amazing.

More to follow as we resume our journey tomorrow…