Two weeks later, namely Aug.19, 2005, I traveled to the city of Paris. Before this, I was always considering to arrange a long-distance trip myself. I thought this would turn out to be a good memory as well as a good training. Finally I decided to go to Paris to realize that dream in the most rewarding direction. I booked the online ticket of Lufthansa Airways at a special price of 138 euros. I checked the Internet to collect information and set the itinerary of my tour program. At last, I worked out a copy of my survival guide including major attractions introduction and a map for metro transfer. So this was a real DO IT MYSELF trip ever. Surely I would be proud of it.

It was at the midnight of Aug.18, 2005 that I left for Munich airport just because no S-Bahn or U-Bahn would be available so early in the next day’s morning. My flight would take off at 6:30 according to my reservation statement. So I had no other choice than to spend the night at the airport. The whole airport was empty but not closed, with only a few passengers like me and couples of policemen on patrol. No bed or fleabag was needed because I was too excited to fall asleep. Finally I dozed only for one or two hours.

After five hours’ wait, at 5:00 A.M, I set out to look for the Lufthansa desk where I could check in. The Lufthansa’s online booking was a new sort of way to fly, so no paper flight tickets needed. Maybe it helps to promote the protection of environment or save the money of printing. But it was really convenient for passengers like me. I soon got my corresponding electronic ticket with a boarding pass attached.

I boarded the plane. It was a small size airplane A319, designed for short haul flight by Airbus. Our plane smoothly ran along the runway. It suddenly stopped on the starting line just like a runner ready to go. Powered by two aggressive turbojet engines, the plane generated an incredible acceleration. When I woke up to the reality, I’d already been flying in the sky.

One hour passed, I started to observe the weather condition outside the windows. The horizon disappeared into a sea of dark clouds, which predicted a bad weather below. When landed, I was so disappointed to find it was raining, though not heavy. It was a wrong time to a right place? Damn it! Reluctantly, I had to start my journey.

After walking out of the CDG Airport, I found the bus Line 2 to RER station by which I could go directly to the downtown area of Paris. It cost me 8 euros for one way.

I arrived at my first stop called Saint-Michel Notre Dame. Originally I planned to visit the Versallles(凡尔赛宫) located in the suburb, 14 km southwest to the city center. But when informed of the very high transportation fee only for one-way, I changed my schedule, deleting the item of this art museum which was not a must for me. I went out of the underground station, and came to realize the fact that I was in the city of Paris. I wandered into several bookstores, trying to hunt for another better-covered Bible though I’d bought one in Salzburg. Luckily I found one, since English edition was pretty rare in the area of Europe out of Great Britain. As scheduled, my first destination was near here, a place of historic interest and cultural heritage---Church of Notre Dame(巴黎圣母院). It was unfinished according to my friend majoring in Architecture. From the east front of the building, you would not miss its two flat roofs, and the river of Seine(塞纳河) running by on its right-hand side. I was always wondering how our ancestors were capable of building such magnificent architectures as churches, towers and the pyramid. This time perhaps I would discover something new to me, at least a couple of fresh ideas.

In the afternoon, dark clouds gradually vanished and the sun emerged. The light from heaven touches everything on the earth. It should be perfect to climb one of the most spectacular World Cultural Heritages---Eiffel(艾菲尔铁塔). I got to go.

Almost everybody had heard that French people don’t willing to speak English. But I’d never experienced so. They were all kind and generous men. Sometimes when you encounter somebody not knowing English, they would spare no efforts to tell you something you wanted to know by taking an international approach, body language. Every photo in DC was taken by passerby and every site was directed by whom I didn’t know at all. This time I hadn’t brought a detailed city map for the reason that I didn’t prefer to pinpoint a place on the map.

Most people I turned to help suggested I go to Eiffel by metro. But at last I got there all the way on foot. It did cover a long distance from Notre Dame to Eiffel, nevertheless it was worth the effort.

When I finally came to its foot, the Eiffel just looks like an iron giant standing still. After all, it has remained largely unchanged since it was built by the engineer Gustave Eiffel as a temporary exhibit in the World Expo of 1889, witnessing every change of this land. At the first blush, I was completely astonished by what I saw and felt, the masterpiece of the combination of art and technology as well as its well-preserved exquisite workmanship. The price bulletin board showed that the fee for climbing onto the second platform was 3.8 euros. I didn’t hesitate to pay for that.

Almost in every turning of the staircase I asked others to take a photo for me with an introduction board in the background. During the climbing process, I met a Polish guy who was also a new comer to Paris. He was a servant working in Great Britain, and said to me he’d perished with the boredom of life so he tried to explore something exciting. He thought it would be good if he could have a parachute and jump off the tower. Certainly it was a joke but a cool one…

Here was a perfect site to look around Paris in the distance. I was carried away in involuntary admiration by overpowering endless vistas of scenery beyond scenery when viewed as a whole. Out of the blue, the sun shot through a break in the clouds.

I tired for one day’s walk. So after going down the tower, I found a nearest metro station to turn back to my Youth Hostel. The problem was that I didn’t know how to read the time table at the station. But as happened previously for many times, I asked a man for help. When he spat out his first word, I could easily tell that he was American, because his accent of English was American style, the familiar way I like most. We talked, but could only take the train together for two stations. So at the time of saying goodbye to each other, he gave me his business card and let me e-mail him later. He was a real nice guy.

My hostel building appeared just close to the station “Porte de Clichy” of Line13. At the check-in point, the administrator gave me the key for my room and some reminders for the security reason. In the room, a newcome Japanese guy and a Canadian had already been in. Last time when I went to Vienna, I also shared the room with two Japanese, and the rest of my roommates were from different countries, seeming to be a small United Nations.

It was not so difficult to communicate with Japanese guys as imagined. They were all very interested in China. The two in Vienna planned to visit China maybe as their next stop. One of them bought a book in Japan introducing China from different perspectives. And the one now in front of me also showed great enthusiasm on the ancient China’s history of SanGuo and story of Liu bang & Xiang yu. We talked in English. When running into misunderstandings, we just took a piece of paper and write down what we want to say in Traditional Chinese. It could work in most cases.

I peacefully spent my first night in this city of exceptional charm.

I began my second day at 8:00 A.M. The L'arcde Triomphe(凯旋门) came the first. The year of 2005 would be its 116^th birthday to be celebrated. The whole building was characterized by four gigantic arches, on the surface of which carved innumerable names of heroes died in France liberation wars. And right beneath the front arch I found a long-lit lamp, commemorating soldiers sacrificing themselves for their motherland.

Twelve roads converged to the Square of Charles De Gaulle, centered by L'arcde Triomphe, and one of these was the world-renowned avenue---Avenue des Champs Elysées(香榭丽舍大街). Here was also one of the most expensive residential areas in Europe. Phoenix trees trimly lined the avenue and its fallen leaves covered on her surface. The inviting views aroused my free imagination. Maybe long time later when I come back, everything here would unfold again to me---streets, cathedrals, tower, and its friendly people, unchanged as what they look like at present. I strongly felt that I was fortunate to witness so many beautiful things I’d never seen. This time I knew a little bit about what was the so-called outside world.

It was an interesting story that I got a wrong direction to one end of Avenue des Champs Elysées, while originally I decided to go to the La Place de La Concorde(协和广场) at its opposite end. From my later viewpoint, it was good because I could be better exposed to the beauty of this city. As a matter of fact, I covered the whole miles of the Avenue from its west end to east, coming to a halt every now and then just for a rest.

Successfully I arrived at La Place de La Concorde. On this immense square, you could obviously see the L'arcde Triomphe standing in the middle of the other end of Avenue des Champs Elysées, and the world’s largest art museum alike on the left-hand side---Palais Royalmusée du Louvre(卢浮宫), with the construction of a glass pyramid over the new entrance designed by a famous Chinese American architect Bei Liming. After taking a few photos of the fountain in the square center, I went straightforward to this mysterious palace worthy of a visit.

I paid 8 euros for entrance. But when I checked the museum guide, I completely felt at sea, four or five terminals in all, with respective themes inside. Not knowing which to begin, I selected one at will, which later led me to a hall for an exhibition of ancient Egyptian culture. Work of art and antique were not my favorite, but I ought to have a look at them now that I came in. A couple of weeks ago, my friend Wangchen, a postgraduate of Shanghai Jiaotong University, e-mailed me his photo with the corridor of Italian work of art in the background. He came to Paris for an international conference one month ago and had also visited here, the Louvre. I determined to take a picture in the same place where he stood in his photo. After a hard search, I found it was on the second floor that a great amount of Italian paintings were on display including the most invaluable one---Mona Lisa.

One hour passed, I was hungry and tired, and the feeling was so strong that I only wanted to exit. Anyway, I’ve been there.

Outside the palace building, quite a lot of buffets dotted the square. I ordered a cup of Coke and one sort of chicken hamburger, 8 euros all together which just suited my palate as well as my pockets. The following two hours were an absolute leisure of mine, lying on the bench, breathing fresh air, and reading my newly bought Bible.

It was still a little bit earlier to return hostel. I conceived an idea to have a bus tour---my unique way of sightseeing. At a bus stop nearby, I chose one bus shuttling in the downtown area. Soon the bus No.42 came and I got on. It carried me around the city, showing me a different picture of Paris vestured in the nightfall, deep and attractive. Early as I set foot on this beautiful land, I was planted in the depths of my mind the inexplicable “Paris dream”.

I got off at the same bus station where I started. It was dark. The city presented in front of me another style of her beauty. I took a stroll back to L'arcde Triomphe along the tree-lined Avenue des Champs Elysées. Everything had stopped moving just like a giant gradually coming into repose. But I could still feel her blood gently pulsing through the body.

It was late when I finally returned to my hostel. The Japanese guy had already in the room and tonight a new comer from Scotland would stay with us. We chatted, but not long. None of us were still energetic after one day’s travel.

The third day I visited the highland Montmartre(蒙马特高地). I sat in Sacré Coeur(圣心大教堂), deep in thought of my own ebb and flow, what I gained, what I lost and contemplated the mystery of God. I wanted to be a good man guided by something really exists. Suddenly I felt that I was now inclining to the belief in God, maybe due to the curiosity to another sort of culture or the influence by Bush’s words? Who knows? I couldn’t tell what actually happened to me and doubted my new religious convictions, which I think developed because I couldn’t understand why a God whose existence I couldn’t prove would create a world in which so many bad things happened. But I did find that I was changing.

I spent quite a lot of time in souvenir shop down near Sacré Coeur, shopping around for my friend’s gifts. In the end, I picked up several pieces of brass models of L'arcde Triomphe and Eiffel, all made in France. But at the moment, it remained only 2 hours before my flight’s takeoff. I was worried and so scared, I must add. But as I said, God was always with me. I successfully boarded the plane and flew back to Munich, ending the first independent tour I’d ever had.

On July 31, 2005, the girl also in Munich and I went to a trip as usual. Macao guy was busy with his GRE test, so couldn’t join us. This week we went to Regensburg and Passau, two places within one day. The scene here was just like the former three’s, but something new did happen this time---missing train.

We looked round freely at a merry pace. Suddenly, we stopped at one storefront decorated with a huge amount of eye-catching jewels. When detecting our interests, the owner gave us a warm welcome and let us come in. This was a world of stones and rocks with grotesque formations as well as strange names.

Once I entered, I was deeply dazzled. There were so many minerals, so many crystals I’d never seen. The owner described the crystals as mysterious and rare so that I immediately wanted to pay money down. I had to admit this was nothing else but a shopping impulse, which shouldn’t have been one of my shortcomings.

Time flowed quickly. When it came to us how bad the situation was, we had only 15 minutes left to catch the train. We quickly paid for what we decided to buy and rushed all the way to the railway station. But for the losing on elevated roads, we would have been two hours earlier back to Munich. Anyway, it was interesting that we carelessly ran onto elevated roads in a country strictly governed by law.

After hardly finding our way out, we saw the railway station. The train had just gone. We rested at the given platform, awaiting the next one. A drunkard came to us and just sat down beside the girl student. He was in shabby clothes, apparently a little bit out of mind and spitting out something I didn’t know at all. I paid vigilant attention on this eccentric guy. Meanwhile I saw him trying to touch the girl with his hands. We quickly exchanged our seats. I warned the guy at the top of my lungs that he should behave himself though I didn’t believe this would work. But my purpose at that moment was only to attract others’ attention in case of emergency. I knew that we should not be bogged down in the pitfall like this, so the best solution was to leave here as soon as possible. As you know, this would be recorded into my log as an interesting episode of my trip---first time to deal with the low class guy in German society.

On August 5, 2005, our four girls and I went to Vienna, the capital of Austria. Because of the inconvenience of meeting in Munich caused by the long distance in between, we set our Youth Hostel in Vienna as our gathering point. At about 21:00, Liang and I arrived, after four and a half hours ride by train. Just after we finished making up our respective rooms, the other two girls, Ji and Bo, showed up at the lobby. They suffered from seven hours’ trip on train, much longer than us. We finally met at 22:30 to discuss where to go tomorrow.

The other two girls did prepare a lot. They have printed out much related information about a couple of recommended scenic spots and the corresponding traffic solution. The city of Vienna was the preferred one for Bo.

Next day, we went to a palace called Schönbrunn (美泉宫), which used to be lived by Princess Sisi. It is known to all a must tourist destination for people visiting Vienna. You will not find its boundary at first glance. The main building of the Palace staged a quiet grandeur and luxurious spectacle of particular interest. The king lived there and it was also the place for reception of guests and for entertainment of royal members. Inside the building, cameras were forbidden so I had to keep all I saw in my memory. The girls teased me about my ignorance of Sisi. I plead that I was a boy, so I knew more about trains than princess. Anyway, who said boy can’t know princess? I only meant to take it as a reasonable excuse. Here, I bought myself a porcelain teacup printing the panorama of Schönbrunn. After coming out of the main building, we followed the zigzag path all the way to its end, rising to the peak of something like a hill   where another palace sat. But eventually we found that it was only a restaurant inside.

But God didn’t help to bring us good luck. At noon, it turned out to be overcast for rain. I was the only one bringing the umbrella. We had to share. At the time when the rain became heavier, we discovered a little “tree hole” to take refuge. Nevertheless it only helped us for a while. Soon it began to be porous. As you can see, we four were totally wet.

In the evening, rain stopped. We went to Wiener Riesenrad, a kind of sightseeing cable car, which had a history of over 100 years. The cabin was made of wood instead of steel in modern ones. The whole round trip lasted about 10 minutes and during the course you can enjoy a bird’s eye of the whole city of Vienna. It was fantastic to overlook the legendary city immersed in dusk.

The second day we visited the downtown area of Vienna, not only doing some shopping but also having a bus tour. When getting tired, I very favor jumping a bus, riding it all the way to the terminal and then coming back on another one of the same line heading for the opposite direction. This will cost you no money if you’d bought a one-day ticket in advance. I preferred to travel like this.

Early on the last day, Monday, we would take the train back to Munich. But the same thing happened again, which followed in the wake of one girl’s being late. As a result, it was pretty urgent for us to catch the train. And it was also my first time to be a ticket-dodger, since we had no time to consider which and how to buy. God always watched over us. After the obstacle course without peril, we arrived at station just 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Soon the engine started and I got relaxed. With the rhythm of the wheels’ beating rails beneath, I fell asleep…

On July 23, 2005, the third weekend since the start of internship, I traveled to an island called Lindau together with the girl also in Munich. Lindau was surrounded by broad lakes, and located where the three countries---Germany, Swiss, and Austria border on each other. The sun finally dispelled dark clouds. According to my memory, this was my first time to see such a blue lake with a charming surface quite and mild. Sometimes a sailing vessel smoothly traversed the horizon. A flock of gulls hovered over the waves. All these that can only be seen on TV shows were now vividly in front of me. I was so delighted with the works of God. And I promised myself in deep mind that no matter how busy I am with my career in the future, I should spare the time with my family to be a real part of nature in which I can get refreshed and be energetic. This was vital and should be put the No 1 priority compared with other things because no health, no wealth. Here is a perfect example of this value of life. When you were born, you got “10”, and whenever you accomplished one of your targets you set, you will be added by one “0” after “10”. That is “100”. But let’s say, the “1” in the “100” just represents your own health. So this “1” was a prerequisite for the number you’d got. When you had this “1”, the more “0” you gained, the more successful you would be. But once this “1” had gone, one or two more “0” didn’t make any difference. That’s it.

We encountered three Chinese in Lindau. Once they got to know that we are also Chinese, not Japanese, they were pleased. They came to Germany about one month ago under an exchange program between the BOSCH Germany and BOSCH China. I said we two from Shanghai University were just like you---having the exchange program between LMU and SHU. Maybe due to their outgoing personality, they speak loudly, laugh loudly and often spit out something full of nationalism. They were all patriotic guys. We said goodbye to each other after giving help taking photos.

On July 25, 2005, Ms. Classen and her boss together hosted a reception banquet in the honor of our five students. Not as scheduled, we met at lunch time instead of in BMW plant. Ms. Classen unfortunately broke her arms a few days ago, so it was not at her convenience to have the sightseeing together with us. We fives, accompanied by two gentlemen, one of whom was the Director of Institut Student und Arbeitsmarkt of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, joined one tourist party which were composed of Americans. We visited the plant of BMW in Munich under the guide of one staff member there. We saw how the whole production lines operated and how the BMW cars tested. Meanwhile, I came to know one American guy who was a member of that America tourist party. He complimented me on my American English. You should know this was the best to convince myself how good my English level was since the grade of my Spoken English Test in senior high school was only C. We exchanged our ideas, from educational system both in China and U.S.A to our own future. Finally, we wrote down our respective e-mail address for further contact.

Ms. Classen was a middle-aged lady not as old as I imagined before. It made me embarrassed when I realized three men in all would join us in today’s appointment because I’d only brought two gifts with me. For the sake of keeping balance, I decided not to give any of them the two pieces. At the moment the only thing I expected was that one day before our departure, we would have another opportunity to meet again so that I could return the warm reception and hospitality I enjoyed. They invited us to the Bavaria specialty---beer and one kind of “bread ring” which nearly choked President Bush to death. At last, we had a good time except for my regret for the gift issue.

Next day, my boss Mr. Langer went to Oxford for a supplier negotiation of BMW. I could have a chance to move a little bit earlier to my heaven---the model shop. Before this I’d collected all the information about the distribution of model shop in Munich. I have been a model zealot since the age of 9 or 10. Nothing could escape my attention.

I was deeply shocked just after I passed through the door of shop. This was larger in scale than any shop I’d seen in China, awash with various models, ranging from static to dynamic options. Then I began to absorb myself in everything here. The idea of one day owning my long-awaited RC model vehicle powered by a small internal-combustion engine obsessed me in the early stage. This time I would make my dream come true. Here, you could find a very large variety of RC models mostly from Germany and Japan, but made and assembled in China. I tried to calculate whether I could afford the TAMIYA Buggy because the salary of my first month was not so good. I had to pay the tax for first month because of the delay of my tax confirmation although I can get them all back in the second month. This meant I would have less money flexible for the whole August. What’s even worse was that the one I preferred was on discount at present and this price would stop just after the sold-out of the remaining threes. Buy or not? I was standing at the crossroads. To buy it meant I could have them at a comparatively low price but had to take a risk of no-money available for the remaining days of August. Otherwise, if I want to have them later I had to pay more. Time limited! I needed to make a decision.

Since then, I spent much time everyday after work checking the Internet for what I wanted to purchase, which, according to my memory, had been my hobby ever since my junior high school. I was not intend to miss this precious opportunity to possess one since it would be less possible to do so after getting back to Shanghai. It seemed to be a plausible excuse for convincing myself to make the decision. I thought it over and over, but couldn’t get a good result. I knew models were not the indispensable for me, but… It really irritated my nerves.

Another thing which made me astonished was the model trains. Once we came back from Salzburg, I found a model shop right in the Munich Central Station. The shop exclusively sold a rich assortment of model trains, most of which were made in Germany and Austria with premium workmanship. It’s very rare to see such a shop even in Europe. The owner was an old German who in his early stage served as a locoman, repairing locomotives and wagons. I asked him out of mere curiosity about the models on display, but was fully gratified. As a result, he aroused me a strong desire to have both of them, one set of the model train and one RC engine-powered Buggy. How greedy I came to be~

Sometimes it was of great difficulties when you had to compromise between two options with similarity---“which” is always harder than “what”.

I started my first day of leave at about 8:00 A.M. My roommate had already gone for work. Nobody was in the room except me. After finishing breakfast, I plugged in my laptop to see what was going on. This time, I decided to try voice chat based on QQ with the friends in China. Thanks to my own decision to replace my first defective Dell laptop, which had some problems on its microphone system, with its producer, I could hear the voice of my friends with thousands of miles in between. My college roommate Jimmy was the first to be heard. Just like chatting face to face, the voice signal was smoothly transmitted without delay. These happy hours covered almost everything happened since my departure.

My friends’ supper time in China was just the noontime here in Munich. This was called time difference, six hours in daylight saving time. I planned to go outside, just to experience the feeling to be fully immersed in a new world. But my destination this time was not so great---the supermarket. There were no grocers nearby our neighborhood, so I had to take the No.50 bus for two stops as was told by a Chinese student. But I couldn’t make it when the 2^nd stop passed. The view out of windows was not as same as Saturday’s. What happened? I came to be bewildered. I guessed maybe I’d taken the wrong bus in the wrong direction? Maybe there existed two different lines sharing the same bus number? …Then I began to turn to others. Unfortunately I found they were all Germans not well knowing English. So the conversation between us turned out to be the toughest one I’d ever made. You can imagine how awkward I was at that moment. At last, maybe the word ‘supermarket’ sounds similar to its counterpart in German, an old lady came to my rescue. Later on, I knew I did get the wrong direction. But lucky enough, I found another branch of the supermarket for which I originally headed. I bought everything I needed but just didn’t know whether it was comparatively cheap. Before this I was always proud of my good sense about direction, but as you know, this would be my first time, recorded in my internship log, to be lost.

Everyday since my arrival in Germany I put a lot of time sending and receiving a blizzard of mails from my parents and friends. Though it was exhausting, as my father mentioned before, I was fully satisfied with this kind of precious friendship strongly supporting me. My internship or career was short but our friendship, certainly, would last for long! So, here, let me say I am grateful for everything happened between you and me~ as it was, I spun out my entire three days just doing one thing---connecting people.

During the second week, nothing new happened. I got my own staff card of BMW, signed the internship contract, and applied for the tax confirmation with which I didn’t need to pay tax out of my monthly salary. For each lunch I had in BMW, it cost me about 3~4 euros. Every time when I paid for my meal I couldn’t help translating the purchase price in Euro into RMB in the proportion of 1 to 10. It always turned out to be very expensive! Anyway, it was my first time to enjoy so much food from tasty steaks to various desserts, from special Bavaria sausage to crisp French fries, which was all new to me.

One day during the second week the threes staying in Munich unexpectedly met on MSN. When discussing how to kill the time of weekend, we unanimously agreed to travel. At last, Salzburg, a famous small town of Austria, located on the boundary between Germany and Austria, was selected to be our first stop. It was about 2 hours’ train ride away from Munich.

It was July 16, 2005 that we woke up early and gathered at Munich Central Station (Hauptbahnhof DB) just on time---7:10. Because we couldn’t read the electronic timetable displayed in German, we tried to find out a person of whom we could inquire about which platform to go. We were lucky.

When it comes to train, it was indeed one of my favorites, especially in my childhood. I enjoyed the great power of its engine, the graceful rhythm of its motion, and the beautiful landscape out of its windows. Till now, I can even clearly recollect most of the things happened in my early stage when my father took me to Xinzhuang railway station to watch various trains running back and forth.

After two hours’ ride, we arrived at Salzburg, known as the hometown of Mozart. This was a typical European town caught in the mountain's embrace. A sense of calm breathed from its landscape. And the breeze caressed my face. Maybe it was the mountain, the church, the castle and the alley that gave Mozart full inspiration to his creation. Here you could take in the freshest air, trace the most splendid civilization of human, and think of who you are, where you’re from and to where you will go. I first felt how tiny I was when immersed in so many incredible things. Individual was nothing else but a split second to long history and our universe, I came to realize.

Salzburg was memorable for sure as this was our first travel we ever had during the three months’ internship abroad, our first deep entry into the land out of Germany, and also the first time to experience the greatness of Mother Nature.

The first thing we should do was to buy a tourist guide as everything here was entirely new to us. As previous, our trip began with the inquiry about which way to go.

There were quite a lot of things here that I couldn’t even represent them in my mother tongue. So the best way to capture the beauty of them all, I think, was not to keep them in forms of words but of pictures.

Oh, I nearly forgot to tell my first dance experience on the last day of the first week. That was on Friday evening, I was told by a Polish girl that somebody had an idea to hold a dancing party in the basement of our dorm building. I was a little bit shy because I never danced before, but still eager to participate because this would be a good chance for me to know more people and would also make me confident when accomplishing it. Finally I had to attend owing to the warm welcome from the cute sexy party girls. I remembered that night until 5:00 A.M Saturday did we rock and roll---my first time to stay up all night. In the dim light of dawn, we took a photo keeping this memorable night for good, tired but refreshed.

Everything here was fresh to me. On July 3, 2005, an Italian student called Peter from Ludwig-Maxmilians-University was appointed to meet with us. We met at a fountain called “Fischbrunnen” in Marienplatz, which was regarded as the center of Munich since its birth. Peter came just on time. Then working as a guide, he showed us around the city we were about to stay in. Founded in 1158, Munich has long been the center of Bavaria, Germany, boasting a strong classic architectural style of Europe. Not as large or modern as Shanghai, it first impressed me with its majestic as well as centuries-old appeal. Unfortunately my DC went out of power halfway. Surely I would come here later to pick everything up again.

Here I had to mention my roommate, a Macao guy, who I got to know in the very beginning of my college. He was more or less like a foreign guy because, from my perspective, he was always out of my way of thinking. It is something more simple and direct, something that can give rise to misunderstanding as well as ideology difference. So the very thing we should do was to negotiate and then learn how to compromise. But he was good deep down. To some extent, it was a pro-training of being a well-rounded person giving me the chance to develop skills in how to eliminate the culture gap. Actually, to live with others is no easy job itself. But it was worth every time and effort.

The day of July 4, 2005 was special for me because it was my first day to start work formally. But before reporting for duty at BMW, I had to sign a contract with the student hostel administration and to file complaints over the room issue in passing. After this, I went to a recommended bank called HypoVereinsbank to open an account. This bank account was essential because this was the only way BMW gave me my monthly salary, and as much as I knew it would be safer for our Chinese to deposit money into bank because Chinese, known as carrying the cash all the time, always become the targets of criminals. I hadn’t opened a bank account even in China, but it was not that difficult as I expected mainly due to the very good services here.

I then took the subway U6, transferred to U3, and last U2. Finally I arrived at BMW FIZ. It was at one station of U2---Am Hart. In the following days, this was my regular route for work, half an hour for single direction. FIZ was not the headquarters I saw before, but was the research and innovation center of BMW Group. How magnificent the buildings were. As I was told the line of Langer’s office was busy, maybe a lot bit earlier at the moment, I decided to look around the building and take this precious photo opportunity. Clear sky, spectacular buildings and a refreshing fountain surely contributed an extraordinary beauty to the pictures in my CASIO.

I punctually came to the reception desk again at 11:00 but was told the line was still busy. I started my long time waiting for my tutor, Mr. Langer---the first time I knew that even the sober German could be late for a certain appointment. Almost after each half-hour, I went to the desk clerks to let them dial the number again for me. They were pretty sorry for Mr. Langer’s absence. I was completely confused.

Shortly after I got back to my seat from the desk for the last try, a man came to me with a smiling countenance. My instinct told me that it was no other than the person I wanted to meet. I was correct.

He was a man around 55, passionate and interesting. He told me he just finished a meeting so he couldn’t come to pick me up on time. When given the business card, I found he was the General Manager of the Department of Business Development International Manufacturing. Not surprising to be so busy! We went together to his as well as my new office. Known that I haven’t had my lunch, he invited me my first meal in BMW, one kind of Asian cuisine. But I could not remember the exact name of that, tasty but costly one. When Mr. Langer left me for his unfinished work, he asked whether he should in person take me back to the office after my meal maybe because I was a newcomer here after all. I replied quickly that I would be available in the office half an hour later, only to give him a favorable impression that I would be a good trainee adaptable quickly to new environment. So I swallowed everything up front without well chewing in case I forgot the way back to my office. BMW was a very big company. At 1:00 P.M, I quietly sat in the office scanning something related…

Mr. Langer came in. He kindly told me that at present he still had something important to do. So the only thing I could or should do was to wait. Meanwhile, I couldn’t help looking around my working environment every now and then. Right here in BMW, each person has their unique working unit. Maybe this was a good idea to avoid disturbance from each other. In front of me, it was a big empty desk, nothing else. I sat there, imagining just one day, if I were a member of BMW here in Munich, and got a salary of at least…

“So, let’s have a talk.” Mr. Langer came to me and said. We then chatted away about what I planned to learn and what he could provide me. Finally, we agreed that my job was to prepare and arrange the materials for presentations designed to introduce to suppliers the process and its techniques of our unique production. In doing this, I would gradually understand my job scope and responsibility as well.

He was really a busy man in company. Leaving me a problem which must be solved by Microsoft Excel, he went out to have another seminar as planned in advance. I found it very serious that all software in his computer was German Edition. I could do nothing but try by impression of icon without knowing the German language at all.

My first working day ended early in the afternoon. And next day, I went to company at 8:30 A.M. Having done the same work as yesterday’s, I was informed at last that I would be given three days off from today (the 3^rd day of my working) due to the unfinished company’s enrolling procedure of mine. Good news or bad one?

Today is the second day I’ve been in Germany. It is valuable, I think, to write down something and take pictures during the internship period so that I can clearly recapture everything exciting and memorable hereafter. Therefore I decided to record what I saw, felt and experienced in order to let them all retained. It sure is a good story…

Well after making up my room, I eventually had time to turn on my laptop, link to the Internet and chat with friends in China. When first seeing these familiar names in my QQ after such a long flight for nearly 13 hours, I fully witnessed what can happen via our great invention---the Internet. It was really astonishing.

The day before yesterday, July 1, 2005, was remarkable for us five. With the Lufthansa Flight LH 727 taking off from Pudong International Airport (PVG), our internship to Germany formally started.

Looking back to the past seven months, so many things happened to me. Why to call it “seven months” in particular? Because I received my first message regarding this internship just in the end of November, 2004, according to the log of my Outlook Express. Time elapsed quickly. I can even repeat what was written in the first message through which you can see it really meant a lot to me at that point of time. I remember that happened just during exam-period of the first semester in the third grade. Followings were documents preparing, interview taking, visa applying, flight tickets booking and luggage arranging. But for the help of my parents and friends it would have been a hard work for me.

At 5:40 A.M (German Time) we landed eventually. It was amazing flight indeed. We five wearily got off the plane, claimed our luggage, and went through customs formalities. Quickly we found that Munich was completely different from Shanghai, especially its temperature. The mercury stood at about 15^0C. At the gate of “International Arrival”, one beautiful German girl along with a German boy had already been waiting for us, putting up a sign that said “Mr. Yuan und Mr. U”. Wow, it was apparently a mistake. Yuan is my given name, while Mei is the surname. Foreigners have different ways calling other’s name, as no one will call President George W. Bush Mr. George! Anyway this was not so bad. The German boy gave the three of our female member warm reception. Accordingly we males’ were given by her, the girl. We piled into her mini car crammed with luggage and us three. She was beautiful, generous, and so high-spirited who was curious about almost everything about us. Knowing my internship company to be BMW Group, she asked whether I wanted to have a look at its headquarters building. The car ran at a high speed. Suddenly it occurred to me a building looking like a four-cylinder engine with another one shaped like a bowl accompanying aside. I can’t help shouting BMW. The advent of this building really made me very excited. Even as the traffic light went red and car stopped, I immediately pressed the shutter to photograph what was standing in front. I expected much of the place to be where I’ll work at. After we finally reached our destination called Studentenstadt, I got the name of this girl by exchanging cell phone number. Her name was Stefanie, a pure German girl with blue eyes twinkled with joy. At the mean time, we found a little problem. No new bed linens, pillows, and blankets could be found in this double room as scheduled. I e-mailed my tutor, Ms. Classen to ask why. But I first didn’t expect to get any response because it was Saturday. Holiday is sacred to westerners according to my College English textbook. As a result, no response came. So the only solution was to use the old ones found in the cupboard. But luckily at the first night in Germany nothing out of the ordinary occurred to me, including insomnia.

Coincidently in our student hostel there lived a Chinese guy also from Shanghai, a graduate from Tonji University. We chatted a lot, talking something about the life here in Germany. I gradually came to know how excellent he was. He applied for the postgraduate course just after the graduation from Tonji. And now he was working for a U.S corporation called Johnson Control, doing something like project planning and coordination. Chinese, English, as well as German, he mastered any of them. I first realized the existence of difference between him and me. A real international talent, wasn’t he? But only comparison with others might exert a profound pressure that was not so good to me, as I knew, and it was quite impossible to exceed him in such a short time. I must identify myself clearly what the purpose of my internship was, and by all means focus on and finally accomplish perfectly everything within my job over the next 3 months. Not to weary, not to despair, but try my best to observe, to ask, and then to master. I thought it was just the right thing to do.