Interns@AutoCom

Last week was one of the most exciting times of my internship so far because everything focused on this year’s North American International Autoshow at Cobo Center, Detroit. I had the opportunity to meet one of our clients at their Hospitality Suite during industry preview days and explored the show after. It was very nice to meet the HELLA team who explained their high-tech safety systems and their lightening technologies to me, provided to a several number of popular cars like Audi, Mercedes or Cadillac. After lunch I visited the BASF booth, because I was interested in what they were presenting to journalists and key industry people. After a cup of coffee and a nice talk to one of the European Sales Managers, I entered the auto show and felt like a child running from one luxury car to another outstanding vehicle, sitting inside, checking out some electronic devices, skipping to the next.      All day long I was dreaming about...

As you know I was travelling to Germany for my final Master’s presentation at the university. Fortunately I was able to combine it with Christmas, so I could spend the Christmas time with my family and friends. It was an awesome time and I was happy to see all my friends again before the next four months here in the U.S.! I had planned to prepare and organize some stuff while crossing the ocean sitting on the airplane. Unfortunately dinner, several good movies, some funny games and a couple minutes of sleep crossed my plans. Nine hours passed so fast, that I didn’t have a chance to look at my thesis again. ;)  With a grinning face, thoughts about home and the thesis in my backpack plus approximately 3 Kilogram peanut butter M&M's in my luggage, I arrived in time. (We don’t have this special taste of M&M’s in Germany and I received some “orders” – that’s the reason why :D) I was looking forward to the next day because a Handball game was taking place and I had the c...

December started and fortunately Michigan’s winter seems to be on a break now. Even though it is always around 0 degrees Celsius, the snow melted. The last two weeks haven’t been less exciting than the weeks before – quite the contrary.  Last week I was invited to Nadine’s farewell party in downtown Detroit. As a former intern of AutoCom, she was living in a big apartment building in the center of the city, where we had a rooftop party. After my 50 minute drive around the blocks of Detroit (Redwings and Tigers were playing this evening), I was fortunate enough to find a parking spot. View out of the sky lounge. Enjoying an awesome view out of the sky lounge, we spend an amusing evening with nice people including funny stories and some bottles of beer. After a short billiard game in the end, I left very late.  As usual I tried to find the way back to Royal Oak with my mobile, but recognized very quick that I was driving through other streets than on my way to D...

Two more weeks have past and right now I am in my fifth week in the USA. Meanwhile I got used to the daily American life, so far many things are already quite normal for me, which have been very overwhelming in the beginning. Now I am feeling comfortable in stores with all the grandmas and grandpas sitting and cruising around with small electrical caddys through the widths of Walmart. When I hear a beep in the store, I know that it might be a granny backing up around the corner. I am always prepared for a caddy crash ;-) Another thing is: cars and trucks in a bad condition wouldn’t have a chance to get a wheel on roads in Germany. In the U.S. it is not a problem driving a car which is falling to pieces. I pass those cars everyday but still with an uneasy feeling right next to them. On the other hand there are many luxury cars and pickups, more than twice as high as my car, glaring at me through my rear window with their headlights on every traffic light :-D. I think I should get...

Hi guys, this is Martin again..  Time is running by so fast – it is my third week at AutoCom. A lot of exciting things happened in the meantime. Find some of my most interesting experiences below.  Wednesday, October 22nd, was an awesome day: After a couple of days looking around for a car, I was finally successful and bought a 2002 Taunus with comparatively few miles. Now I am happy to be more flexible. I am proud to drive my car with the Michigan plate on a cruise where and whenever I like to.  The next event on Wednesday was the Oktoberfest: The Detroit Press Club celebrated their Oktoberfest at Jacoby’s Biergarten, downtown. AutoCom and two of our clients sponsored the band, so Merle and I attended the celebrations as AutoCom representatives. It was fun to be there and I never would have guessed to drink some German beer so close to my arrival ;) This was my first time in downtown Detroit and from now on all the prejudices were reduced since I had been drivin...

Hello everybody! My name is Martin and I am the new intern at AutoCom for the next six months. I joined AutoCom’s team on Wednesday, October 15 th and I am totally excited about all my new colleagues, tasks and the office at its own/itself. Since I arrived from Germany on Monday, October 20 th , every single day was new and fascinating. I will mention some happenings later. Originally I live in a small village a couple of minutes away from Kassel, right in the middle of Germany. But now, compared to the American places I was already driving through, everything seems to be so small where I come from. At the University of Kassel, I studied political science and finished my master thesis last week – just in time before my departure to Detroit. After I successfully passed the visa application and finishing up all my travel plans I was absolutely relieved, sitting on the plane - grinning broadly. I have to add that I have never been before to the USA. Nine hours late...

Meeting on a Saturday to hang out with co-workers?    Yes, with such a wonderful team you can also have a nice day on the weekend . Denise our business manager was friendly enough to invite us on Saturday to go with her to the winter fest “Aqua freeze,” which took place close to her house.  The SCS Aqua Freeze Festival got its start in 2013 when a few friends came up with the idea of having an ice festival in the city. Although it was really cold because of the wind coming off of the lake, as the festival was of course was an outside event, we all had a lot of fun seeing all the different types of ice sculptures. There was also an area where it was possible to see the sculptors cutting the huge ice blocks and the different figures in front of everyone.  For those who wanted to go ice skating there was also the possibility to play pond hockey on the frozen lake.   And for the people who couldn’t get warm enough trying to catch the few rays o...