After moving across Germany, I’ve started my internship at Bosch! I now live in at the southern tip of Germany and work in manufacturing engineering for Antilock Brake Systems. I’m learning so much, not only about what it’s like to work in Germany, but also about manufacturing.
I live in a cute little apartment above a German family with two kids (7 and 3), and they have been super nice to me, picking me up at the train station, feeding me, taking me to work the first day, lending me their old bike.
Almost all my conversations are in German, and while my boss is ever so kind and speaks in English to me sometimes, almost everyone else speaks to me in German. It’s hard to explain how it is to function fully in a language that’s not your own. But I have so much more respect now for those who do it their entire lives. Sometimes at the end of a work day, my brain hurts so much I can’t even talk.
But for now, I love my new job. It’s only been a few weeks and already I feel like I’ve learned so much. Working with Bosch is great. It has been interesting to learn about its products, understand all the engineering that goes into the production line, and observe when VW, Toyota and Porsche come to see the products. In addition to learning a lot of German and engineering, I’m seeing how different companies interact with each other.
