I cannot believe that I am almost finished my internship here in Germany.  I am halfway through my last week here, and cannot believe how fast the internship has gone.

As is customary for interns in Germany I have been asked to write a Zeugnis (summary/review) and it has made me reflect upon my time here.  Yesterday me and Laura (who is also with Bilfinger Berger in Wiesbaden) were invited to lunch with Ken Reid, a member of the Bilfinger Berger board of directors and a Global Scot - the reason we are here.  He wanted to catch up with us and see how we had enjoyed our time here and if we had thought it was worthwhile.  He was pleased to hear that we had felt that we had benefited from  our time and we in turn were glad to hear that he has received good feedback from our colleagues in our respective departments.  He asked us what our expectations were and if the internship had met them.  We both agreed that it was not what we expected, however this was certainly by no means negative - quite the contrary.  Personally I began my internship with a somewhat narrowly defined idea of marketing and communications and I can say that, cliche-ed as it is, that I have had my eyes opened.

I have experienced aspects and niches of marketing which I had not previously considered and met with people from multiple backgrounds who now work together in the same field.  I can certainly say that this internship has confirmed what I want to do in my professional life.  As I go through my final week I begin noticing things that I will miss about Germany - trams for instance (Edinburgh, quit complaining! They will be fantastic no matter what you end up paying for them!), the politeness and socialbility of the Germans and the fact that beer is cheaper than soft drinks, however there are things that I am also looking forward to leaving behind (nothing here is open on a Sunday and my stomach and I have decided speed limits are most definately a good thing).

Finally I must conclude that my internship has been a personal success as I have learned a lot about communcations and marketing (particularly internal marketing and comms) which I will admit I would never have learned about through my subject choices at university and it has broadened my understanding of the subject as a whole.