Exchange of experiences abroad for IBA and IBAIT students
November 13, 2019 - an exciting evening was about to begin. The four-month stays abroad of the dual BIP degree programs International Business Administration (IBA) and International Business Administration and Information Technology (IBAIT) had come to an end at the end of September and was now to be revived in a visual way for the subsequent BIP years, company and university representatives and all those involved.
Prof. Dr. Edith Rüger-Muck, Vice President for International Affairs and Diversity at the university, welcomed the guests and opened the evening. Full of new experiences and formative impressions, an exciting "duel around the world" then began, which, based on Joko and Klaas' TV show, was intended to take the audience on our journey(s) and provide insights into all destinations.
Few could have staged the two TV heroes better than the two BIPs Michael Marchenko and Roman Trott.
15 exciting travel destinations were presented, all of which contained their very own "challenge" - and 15 times you could look forward to thunderous applause, while you could recognize the all too familiar wanderlust in the faces of the viewers. The following year supported the "duel" by having one team each compete against each other on stage for the two presenters Roman and Michi. There was an additional challenge to master for each continent in order to determine the winning team at the end.
The world tour started in Asia, followed by Europe and finally Central and South America. The presentations of the individual destinations provided numerous insights: facts & figures about the country, a brief introduction to the practical application, do's & dont's and the odd funny anecdote. For example, the guests learned about apparently "married" IBAs who had to protect themselves from the military with their little white lie. The highlight was the video contributions, in which the most impressive moments of the stays were compiled.
As humorously as the presenters led through the evening, the cultural differences that the IBAs had experienced at first hand during their time abroad became tangible in many places: not only in terms of food and travel, but also in the way people interact with each other, at work and in the everyday challenges on site.
The guests gained insights into how to deal with rainy days in Kuala Lumpur, live impressions of the protests in Hong Kong, food experiments in Bangkok, increased safety precautions in Mexico, language challenges in China, weekend trips in Europe, small talk rules in Hungary, the start-up feeling in Slovakia, flat hierarchies in Belgium, mate tea in Uruguay and biodiversity and pura vida in Costa Rica.
The IBAIT degree programs, which completed a trimester at Tongji University in Shanghai and then got to know the Chinese work culture in a six-week internship, rounded off the evening with their own impressive report.
Even though much of the evening revolved around the organization of work-free time abroad, it was clear to see that the topic of work was never neglected and that none of the students were underchallenged.
After the last performance, the score was tallied - victory for Team Roman. After thanking everyone who had made this stay possible, the finale of the evening once again highlighted the end of the study abroad phase: how quickly you can "fly through" a period of time and suddenly the light goes on again - you are back, back in Ludwigshafen.
Further information on the study programs:
International Business Administration and Information Technology Management (IBAIT)
International Business Administration (IBA)
Subject contact:
Kathrin Paul
Tel. 0621/5203-440
kathrin.paul@ 8< SPAM protection, please remove >8 hwg-lu.de
