After taking the train out of Munich, we arrived in the small town of Traben-Trarbach around lunch on the 13th. We dropped off our things at the quaint little hotel, and headed up to Mont Royal for our glider flights! I was a little nervous about being shot up in the air, and I let a lot of people go before me. However I finally gathered my courage, put on my parachute, and climbed into the glider. The take off was pretty intense, but it was a beautiful view and definitely a fun ride!!! I am very glad to have done this, and I definitely believe this was one of the highlights of the trip. You can check out the video of my take off from the airfield at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7618HEPPTco . The next morning we were given a great lecture on German Air Traffic Control, and later that day we took a 23 km bike ride through German wine country. I really enjoyed the small town of Traben-Trarbach and the beauty of the German countryside.
Unfortunately, after our wonderful two days in Traben-Trarbach, the official school trip was complete. I really had enjoyed the group and Professor Kirton, and it was sad to say goodbye. Some students chose to fly home, while others, like me, decided to continue exploring Europe. On the 16th, three of us took the train to Stuttgart where we got to see a friend from ERAU. Our friend (and my roommate for the fall) showed us around the area and opened his house to us for a night. We only stayed one day however, and the next evening two of us flew to Milan, Italy.
My friend and I had a great time while in Northern Italy. We saw so many things: the Duomo, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Castello Sforzesco, Santa Maria Della Grazie. Also, we did some shopping in what is considered to be the world’s center for high fashion. After taking in all of those sights on the 17th, we headed up to Lake Como the next day. The train ticket was cheap and we spent the day around the beautiful lake at the base of the Alps. My favorite part of Italy was standing on the lookout tower at the top of a mountain. We could see all of Lake Como, the snow-capped Alps, Switzerland, and much more. The view was breathtakingly beautiful, and I wanted to stand up there all day! After two great days of history, nature, shopping, and pasta, we headed back to the airport to make our final stop before heading home. We flew to Frankfurt on Sunday, July 19, and met another friend of mine who lives near the city. For two days he showed us all the main sights in the area and gave us yet another local’s view of Germany.
Sadly, after three amazing weeks it was time to head back to the U.S. I was not ready to come home but I knew I had a lot to do before heading back to Daytona for the school year. I loved every minute of the European Aviation Study Abroad program, and I would certainly recommend the program to everyone. Not only do you learn about aviation and its affect on Europe, but you also broaden your horizons and truly begin to think globally. I have not only gained six credits from this program, but I have gained an experience of a lifetime I will certainly never forget. If you have any questions about the summer program or about ERAU in general, do not hesitate to email me. Thanks for reading my journal, and I will see you on campus in the fall.
Goodbye from Missouri,
Mack
On Friday we flew from Paris to Munich to begin the Germany section of the trip. The flights had been booked for us, and we got to take Air Berlin (check out the picture). I was very impressed by this low-cost European carrier, and will certainly fly them any time I can in the future. Upon arrival, we got checked into our hostel and only had a few hours remaining in the day. A few friends and I headed straight for the city center of Munich, known as Marienplatz. It was definitely the liveliest area in the city, and had a lot of things to see and do. After a nice dinner we headed back to our comfortable room to get prepared for the next day.
Saturday afternoon, we headed back into central Munich to the main Deutches Museum building, which included airplanes but had also many other displays. At this museum, we got to see many different military aircraft from Germany. Also, there was a Lufthansa Boeing 707 cockpit that you could see into. It is very cool to notice the huge differences in cockpits from many years ago when compared to cockpits of today. Another interesting display was the section on German air traffic control. Aside from the aviation part of the museum, we were encouraged to stay after the session and check out the rest of the exhibits. This museum was certainly one of my favorites and housed exhibits on nearly any technological advancement you could imagine. Some things covered were aviation, space exploration, boating and navigation, nuclear energy, computers, assembly lines, robotics, and thousands of other items. The never-ending array of information was fascinating, and I could have spent a much longer time at the Deutches Museum.
After a long Saturday of work, we were rewarded with a free day to end the weekend. I started my day on a free walking tour and saw a lot of the city. Some of the better sites included the Hofbrahaus, Glockenspiel, Frauenkirche, Mozart’s temporary home, and the City Hall. Although those sites were quite breathtaking, they didn’t even compare to what I was about to experience. That afternoon I hopped on a train and decided to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp outside of Munich. From the moment I arrived I felt the power of such a devastating place. The barracks, the showers, the washrooms, and the museum were almost too much to handle. And then, when I thought I had seen it all, we stepped into the gas chamber and crematorium. The entire time I visited the site I couldn’t help but feel saddened by certainly one of the low points of the human race. However, it was quite a sobering experience, and I certainly will never forget how I felt and what I saw at Dachau.
Munich has been a great way to begin our visit in Germany. I have really enjoyed the city’s liveliness and culture. The German language is very different, but I am having fun trying to use some of what I learned prior to leaving. I am excited to head out to Traben-Trarbach, where our group will take a glider flight. I hope you have enjoyed my Europe journals, and if you have any questions about the trip or something else, email me at 
After the fast train ride we checked into our hotel and headed to the Louvre for a group cultural experience. The Louvre displays sucha wide variety of works of art from all different time periods andplaces all over the world. It’s a bit overwhelming to try to grip theimportance and historical value of everything you see. A few of thethousands exhibits included Michelangelo’s Dying Slave and Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. I really appreciate the effort of Professor Kirton to make the cultural events part of the course. Not only have I learned a lot about aviation, but also I have broadened my global thinking.
Thursday was our free day at Paris, and we accomplished a lot. A group of five of us visited Notre Dame, the Sacre Couer, Centre Pompidou, and the top of the Eiffel Tower. Each attraction was a little different, but I found all of them very interesting. Although they are quite close geographically, the cities of Paris and London feel worlds apart. I love both of them, but I still believe London ranks higher for me. Tomorrow however, we are switching it up again as we fly to Munich to begin our German section of the trip.
The afternoon of our arrival (July 2), we all met at the British Science Museum for our first session. The museum has a great display of all different types of aircraft and parts. One of the most interesting planes was the Vickers Vimy (pictured), which was the first plane to cross the Atlantic Ocean. It was a larger plane for its day, and had some pretty impressive specifications. My other favorite display was a cross section cut out of a British Airways 747 jet. It interested me greatly to see all of the inner workings of the commercial aircraft. The next day (July 3), we headed off to the Imperial War Museum north of London. The train and bus rides to Duxford took a little while, but the wait was well worth it. My true love of aviation is in commercial aviation, and this museum had many commercial displays. I really enjoyed the British Oversees Airways Corporation (BOAC) BAC-VC10. I had never heard or read too much about this aircraft, but it was much bulkier than I expected it to be from pictures. It was like an MD82 on steroids with two extra engines. It was very different looking, but still very cool. Another plane I was surprised to see in Duxford was the Concorde.
(Check out the picture of me by the Concord landing gear!) The exact Concorde at the Museum was never used commercially, but was one of the testing planes used by the production company. In its testing it had set the record speed and the record transatlantic flight time for all the Concords. Also in this museum was a de Havilland Comet 4, B52 bomber, and tons of other really neat planes. The Imperial War Museum was definitely my favorite in England. Saturday (July 4) came and we were off to the Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon. Although military aviation interests me less, it was still top-notch. The displays in the museum were very interactive and held tons of good information. A lot of information was always appreciated as part of our work included filling out information sheets on aircraft and how they affected aviation and the world. With the information sheets completed we would gather and do short presentations on our favorite planes. This was an effective and simple way to grasp an understanding of how important these planes were to their country’s development and protection.
Along with taking finals this past week, I was also packing up and getting ready to head home. I had to do some major cleaning but I got it all done and was officially checked out of my dorm. It was a little sad to leave my room that I considered home since August. I left Daytona Beach early Tuesday and stopped in Nashville to spend the evening with my friend Brent and my cousin Susanna (in the picture in front of her dorm at Vanderbilt) who go to school there. Wednesday I made it back to Missouri where my family was excited to see me. The drive was long, but I truly love living in Florida and going to school at ERAU which makes the long travels worth it.
This past weekend my friends and I (and my car) made it to the beach one last time before we headed home for the summer. The weather in Daytona has been absolutely perfect (80’s and sunny). We spent all day under the warm sun and boogie boarding (because we aren’t skilled enough for real surfboards). I never get tired of the beach, and I already miss it being back in the land-locked state of Missouri. It has been in the 60’s and rainy since I have been home and I already miss Florida’s weather.
Last weekend was the Task Force One incentive dinner. We all met up and went to Sapporo Japanese Steakhouse. The food was very good, and we had a lot of fun spending time together off campus. I have met some really good friends through TFO this year and I am very glad I was part of the organization. I would recommend any first-year student to become a part of TFO as it is a great way to get involved on campus and meet a bunch of new friends. This week, TFO is having an unofficial meeting where we all bring food and hang out one last time as TFO-ers. I am looking forward to these last few hours our organization will spend as one.
On Easter, my BA201 group (MoKurity) decided to hang out and spend the holiday having fun. We went to lunch and spent time at the beach. I think it is so great that a random group of kids from BA201 have become such good friends. Even though our group project was completed a week ago, we still meet up and goof around. We genuinely have a great time when we are together, and I am sure we will continue hanging out even past this semester.
Delta Upsilon is continuing to grow and become more and more active. This past week we took part in a canned food drive put on by Theta Phi Alpha, one of the sororities on campus. DU brought in over 100 pounds of food and we placed second! Also on Saturday, we took part in the annual Oozeball (mud volleyball) tournament. Those of you who came to the Spring Preview probably noticed a bunch of crazy people rolling in the mud and water. I had so much fun playing, especially with my DU brothers. We won two games and lost two games, but we all got muddy and that’s what matters.
On Friday some of my friends and I went to support the AcaFellas at their end-of-year concert. The AcaFellas are the male a capella singing group here at Embry-Riddle. They do a very good job, and it seems like they have a lot of fun. Check out my video of one of their songs (Apologize) at: 
It’s finally spring, and I couldn’t be any more excited. There is so much going on around campus that I can’t even keep up. I will certainly do my best to tell you about everything! First of all, Task Force One (TFO) is finishing up our duties and trying to get set up for the new students next fall. On March 27, we took part in Embry-Riddle’s Relay for Life. We set up camp on the ERAU track and stayed up walking all night. Even when it began pouring down rain we didn’t quit, and the rain made it even more fun. The ceremony was very meaningful, and the activities all night were tons of fun. ERAU raised tens of thousands of dollars for cancer research, and the event was a huge success.
Delta Upsilon is keeping me very busy as well. We have colony meetings every Monday where we have been getting a lot of things done to establish DU at Embry-Riddle. As an officer, I also have meetings on Sunday to get ready for the next meeting and upcoming week. Recently, Delta Upsilon took part in Collegiate Kindness Day, where we painted and worked all day. Although it was an early weekend morning, we had a good time and got a lot done to help the ArtHaus improve their facilities. We are also planning on participating in more activities this semester including Oozeball (mud volleyball), which I am very excited for. This past weekend, Touch-N-Go Productions put on their big spring concert. 
This year they brought the band Sugarcult to ERAU, and they were very good! You may know Sugarcult from their songs Memory or Bouncing off the Walls. They were pretty good live, and the lead singer was a really funny guy. TNG also brought two opening bands, Luna Halo and The Sleeping. Both did a good job, however Luna Halo was more my type of genre. The crowd got a little crazy and crowd surfing was common, but it was a fun experience!
BA201- We are about to present our semester-long project this week in Business. We have been working hard to perfect our product and set up our mock companies. My company’s name is MoKurity, and we specialize in home security. The ten of us in the group have a lot of fun and have become good friends over the semester. This past Friday we painted the spirit rock in MoKurity colors and had a great time goofing off together.
On Wednesday March 11, Alpha Xi Delta (one of the sororities at ERAU) held their annual Xi-Man competition. The whole point of the event is to raise money for their philanthropy, and the competition proved very successful once again. Each fraternity on campus can nominate one of their brothers to compete in the pageant-like event, and the winner is crowned the sweetheart of Alpha Xi Delta. The Delta Upsilon representative was one of my very good friends Mike. He had to take part in a swimsuit competition, Q & A session, boy-band performance (note the picture of the 4 DU’s in ponchos), and many other things. It was HILARIOUS to watch the guys get on stage and thoroughly embarrass themselves. Mike did an AMAZING job, and he placed fourth overall. Xi Man is a must-see event for anyone at Embry-Riddle, and I am already looking forward to the competition in 2010!
Just as everyone else, I was very excited for Spring Break to arrive. Nearly all of my friends left for the week, and I followed suit. My mother, sister, sister’s fiancé, and my best friend flew down to Florida and we spent a week on the beach near Tampa/St. Petersburg. The weather was absolutely perfect all week, and my skin picked up a nice tan. The first half of the week was very relaxing as we sat on the beach, ate good meals, and enjoyed each other’s company. However on Thursday, things got a little crazy. While we were all sitting in the living room, my best friend collapsed and had a seizure. I had never experienced anything like that before, and to say the least, I was horrified. The next few days were spent at the hospital, where my friend was unfortunately diagnosed with a form of epilepsy. The event was easily one of the worst things I have had to watch, and I feel so bad for her. Although I love spending time with her, I was relieved to send her back to her very concerned family in Missouri.
