Over the course of my time in Germany, I have learned so many things about how business is conducted abroad. Because one of the courses I took while studying abroad was focused on the European Union, my eyes were opened to how the history of the EU has shaped much of how EU citizens do business. Since the EU was created to stop European countries from fighting, it makes sense why they have such open borders and lots of trade. Trading goods and people allows citizens to seek new opportunities easily and helps less developed countries in the EU benefit from the free movement of knowledge and skills. Something that surprised me about business in Germany was how much of a focus and pride there is around start-up companies. The culture around start-ups in Munich and Berlin is based on supporting start-ups and giving them the tools they need within the first few years until they can sufficiently support themselves. While there are programs focused on entrepreneurship in the US, there is such a bigger focus on entrepreneurship in Germany. The only initial impression that I had of Germany was that people there drink a lot of beer. While that was not an incorrect impression, I have learned that there is so much more to Germany. People love spending time together in the community. We saw this in Munich at all of the Biergartens and in Berlin with all of the people sitting and eating dinner on the Spree. There is a much larger sense of community in Germany than there is in the US. When we first went to Berlin, I was not expecting there to be such a prevalent impact from the Berlin Wall as there was. While I knew the Berlin Wall had devastated Eastern Berlin, I did not know that the effects are still felt today. I assumed that East Berlin would have kept developing like the rest of Berlin and Germany, but that was not the case. There are still areas in East Berlin where you can experience the effects of the Berlin Wall and areas that are still being rebuilt.
