Howdy! My name is Karli and I am currently traveling abroad with the Global Business Brigades and TAMU CIBS. We are in Athens, Greece where we will be helping entrepreneurs with their small business through business consulting. I am really excited to share the knowledge I have gain at Mays with my client. During our first days, we have just been getting acclimated to Athens and the challenges that our entrepreneurs may be facing. We went on a bike tour around the city center, a tour of the acropolis and the acropolis museum, and did a Greek cooking class! These experiences, along with lessons taught by our provider, has helped set the stage for how people in Greece live. Some differences in cultures that I have noticed is the lifestyle Greeks live. The food has been extremely fresh, and we have walked almost everywhere we go. This has been a fun part of the experience. Additionally, we have learned about Greece’s struggling economy. Individuals living in Greece must live on much lower salaries than what many Americans are accustomed to. Additionally, inflation has been detrimental to those with lower incomes with inflation rates beating those in the United States. We did a budgeting activity in teams to show how Greek families must work to allocate their income to all of their needs. Seeing these types of differences has allowed the team to gain perspective on what it is like to live and work in Greece. I am extremely excited to meet our client in the upcoming days and start working on our project for him! I know that we will be able to learn a lot from each other. Our provider plans our meals, and we have been trying new food every day! I am hoping to continue trying some more authentic Greek food and learning more about their culture.
Center for International Business Studies Blog