1. Project Azubi-Europa Internship Calendary Our trip to Slovenia and Croatia 27.05.2013 07.06.2013 by Katja Stolze apprenticeship: office administration assistant training company: Mobau GmbH Halle

2. Outline 1. 2. 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 3. 3.1 3.2 3.3 4. 5. 6. 7.About the project and my ambitions Slovenia Facts about Slovenia Port of Koper Intereuropa Global Logistics Service AHK Slovenia Vocational school for economy Ljubljana DB Schenker Croatia Facts about Croatia Cargo Partner Croatian Chamber of Economy Split Sightseeing Other project work My conclusion This is a picture of our Sources project group in Zagreb. 3. 1. About the project and my ambitions The project Azubi Europa is organized by the isw company for academic advice and service corporation. The trainees have the possibility to visit foreign countries and their companies. It serves as a chance to improve the knowledge of young trainees in terms of their intercultural communication and their foreign language. The trainees also learn something about the MOE countries and the importance and possibilities of international relationships and trade. In this project I expected to gain international experience such as communicating with people from foreign countries to become more confident in my appearance and foreign language. My ambition was also to learn a lot about our 2 foreign countries in general as well as about their economic affairs. 4. 2. Slovenia Our journey began on the 27th of Mai 2013. We met at the main station in Halle and went by train to the airport in Leipzig. From there we went on by plane via Cologne to Klagenfurt in Slovenia. In the afternoon we arrived in Ljubljana, which is the capital of Slovenia, and immediately checked in at our hotel. That is why after a short briefing, which also included some words of Slovenian, we still had enough time to explore the town on our own.Here you can see the position of the countries and towns we were travelling to. 5. 2.1 Facts about Slovenia The country Slovenia is located in Middle Europe, has Austria, Croatia, Italy and Hungary as its neighboring countries and around 2 million inhabitants. It is a republic and since 2004 a member of the EU. Since 2007 Slovenia changed its currency to euro. The capital is called Ljubljana and around 280.000 people live there. Between 1918 and the Second World War Slovenia was part of the kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. From 1945 to 1990 it was part of the socialistic Yugoslavia. The Slovenes were not satisfied with this situation, so they declared their independence in the year 1991. The result was the invasion of the Yugoslav troops, which could be successfully repelled within 10 days. That is why the Slovenian War of Independence is also called the TenDay War. 6. The towns Ljubljana, Jesenice and Maribor are among the most important industrial places and the most important industrial sectors are wood processing and the food industry. The vocational education is, like in all MOE countries, not organized in a dual system like in Germany, but it is in a reorganization process. The vocational education only happens in vocational schools and practical training most likely only takes place in the summer months as a kind of internship. The trainees do not earn money, because they only go to school and the certificate the trainees get is not very respected in the society. That is why most pupils prefer studying rather than doing a vocational education. 7. 2.2 Port of Koper To get to our first appointment we had to go by bus to the coast side of Slovenia, better to say to the only town which had a port in Slovenia and this was Koper. The port of Koper is really important for Slovenia because it is the only one that exists in Slovenia and that is why it is the main place for logistics and international trade. We made a tour through the port by bus and a guide gave us interesting information about the port. We learned that it is a very young port, but also the greenest port of Europe. The port has to be very careful with its noise and environmental pollution because many people live near the harbor. We also got to know that most of the harbor is based on huge pillars. It is as if the port is floating on the water. This is their technique to conquer their shortage of place. 8. This port has three piers, a large railway net through the whole port for transporting all the cargo and lots of different terminals for dry cargo, liquid cargo and live stock. She explained to us that their car terminal is the most important because they are the 2nd best in terms of car trade. We also learned that the wood they store has a very good quality because in the good climate of Koper the wood can dry outside without any chemicals.In the left picture you can see the outdoor stocking of the wood and the right picture shows the pillars on which most of the port is built. 9. 2.3 Intereuropa Global Logistics Service We had our second appointment on this day with the company Intereuropa, which is the biggest client of the port of Koper.We got to see a presentation which showed us that Intereuropa is not only present in all the capitals in the southeastern regions of Europe, but also the biggest logistic company in the Balkan area. It is an expert logistics provider and the market leader in Southeastern Europe. We also learned that this company specialized in finished vehicles, too, because Slovenia is very good at trading with cars. There are two direct weekly container services from the Far East to the Adriatic, so Koper has a direct connection to China which boosts their economy. 10. Intereuropa offers continental services, intercontinental services and also a small percentage of finding logistical solutions. At the end of the presentation we were allowed to go outside on the roof of their HQ office in Koper to look all over the town. It was really beautiful.The left picture reveals the car terminal of the port of Koper and below you can see the view over the town Koper. 11. 2.4 AHK Slovenia All of us were glad about this appointment because it was with the Chamber of Foreign Trade of Slovenia and that meant it was held in German language. Mister Ppperl explained us the bad economic situation Slovenia had. It had a weak domestic demand and together with the collapse of the building companies this led to the permanent crisis in Slovenia. The amount of business crashes was increasing constantly. We learned that Germany is one of the main export countries of Slovenia and also that 98% of all German foreign trade are operated over the AHK. The AHK offers many opportunities like the boost of German foreign trade, giving advice in marketing and holding fairs and advanced trainings in Germany. 12. 2.5 Vocational school for economy Ljubljana This was the most exciting appointment for me. Although the weather was not on our side this day, we were welcomed very warmly in the vocational school and brought to their big and beautiful library.This picture shows our group sitting in the library of the vocational school for economy Ljubljana and listening to a presentation held by their pupils. 13. At first we learned some general facts about this school from the school principal and then pupils showed us a project they were working on. The pupils explained to us, that lots of people in Slovenia like drinking coffee and so they decided to develop an app with which you can buy coffee very fast and easily. It was amazing what those pupils established in such a short time on their own and how they were supported in this school to achieve their goals. After that the youngest professor in Slovenia held a lecture for us. He really had a rousing and exciting way of speaking. He clarified, that you do not need much money or famous parents to be successful. Everyone can be prosperous because the only thing you need is a good idea! 14. He illuminated with many examples that if you only have a good idea the rest, like the way of putting it into action, will come on its own. The method, how the pupils are encouraged to just do something, although it may turn out bad, is just amazing.In the end we held a presentation about our school and the dual system. I would have been happy, if we had had stayed longer in this school to listen to everything they had to tell us, but we had to go to our next appointment.Here you can see another group picture in front of the school. As you can imagine, it was raining, but nevertheless I like it. 15. 2.6 DB Schenker After a longer bus ride we managed to reach our second appointment that day: the logistic company DB Schenker. We learned in their lecture, that DB Schenker is the strongest network in South East Europe. It is present in 130 countries and has around 95.000 employees. They have the leading position in rail and land transport. DB Schenker offers the full range of logistic services including warehousing and distribution and their warehouses are located in Ljubljana and Maribor. They not only gave us some presents, but also a short insight into their warehouses. It wasnt really tidy and the safety standards could have been better, but it was the first time for me to see a warehouse at all. That is why nevertheless this tour was interesting for me. 16. 3. Croatia On Friday our journey went on by train to our next destination in Croatia. It was the capital of Croatia, Zagreb. There we had one appointment, stayed over the weekend and on Monday went on south to the coast to Split. Unfortunately two of our three appointments, that we should have had in Split, were canceled. That was really sad because I was so excited to see the port of Split to get a comparison to the port of Koper, but there was nothing we could do against it. Nevertheless we did not have more free time. That means we did more project and group work in Croatia to improve our intercultural competence. 17. 3.1 Facts about Croatia Croatia is located in South East Europe. It is often called country of islands because it has more than 1.200 islands. The capital Zagreb has around one million inhabitants and is the cultural and academic center of Croatia. They will join the EU on the 1st July 2013 and so they also still have their own currency, kuna. The important steps in Croatian history are connected with Slovenia. Between the 10th and 11th century there were the first Croatian colonies. Croatia was like Slovenia part of the kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and after that under Yugoslav occupation until 1990. They also declared their independence in the year 1991, but it took them four years to finally fight back the Yugoslav troops. This war from 1991 to 1995 is called War of Independence. 18. The Croatian population is mostly settled on the coast region, alongside the Adriatic Sea, and around Zagreb. It is a Catholic country because 88% of the population are Roman Catholic and that is why you can find many churches there. The most important trade partners of Croatia are Italy, Germany, Slovenia and Russia and the most important sectors of economy are tourism, which makes up 20% of their GPD, the transportation industry and the food industry. Croatia is a very good trade partner because they have a very modern infrastructure system and also the investment climate is very beneficial.In the left picture you can see the currency of Croatia. It shows nearly how much kuna you get if you change 50 euros. 19. 3.2 Cargo Partner At first we had some trouble, but after a long journey we arrived at our first appointment in Croatia, which was with Cargo Partner. They held a presentation at the beginning to introduce their company. They explained to us, that they have been in Croatia for just 17 years now. They were the first movers in eastern Europe and they are family owned. We learned that their clients were for example Coca Cola and Siemens and that they combine rail with other transportation methods. We could also go and see the warehouse. This was a good opportunity for us to compare it with DB Schenkers warehouse. I would say it was much cleaner and better sorted. 20. 3.3 Croatian Chamber of Economy Split The appointment with the Croatian Chamber of Economy Split was our last one, but nevertheless it was very interesting. We learned many things about Split and Croatia in general and of course about the EEN. They named the advantages of being member of the EEN and combined with this the tasks they had to perform. We got to know, that they organize exhibitions and fairs at home and also business meetings and business delegations. The Croatian Chamber of Economy Split coordinates the common interests of their members and therefore cooperates with foreign chambers.We also got some brochures about Split and Croatia, which was a really nice gesture because it included useful information and beautiful pictures. 21. 4. Sightseeing Apart from all these appointments with different companies, in which we gained economic knowledge about the countries, we also did a lot of project work in our group to improve our intercultural communication and our English. One of our tasks was to arrange a sightseeing tour through Zagreb and Split. It was really funny, I have to admit. First we had to search for information about the sights, especially Zagreb had a very friendly and informative tourist information. Then we started to walk from sight to sight, told the others what we had discovered and took a lot of pictures. Here you can see a scene which is played at the Diocletian's palace in Split everyday at 12 oclock. It shows a ceremony in which the guards are exchanged by other guards. 22. These are all important sights of Zagreb. On the left you see the Funicular, on the right there is the famous cathedral of Zagreb and above you can see the St Marks Church. 23. 5. Other project work We listened to many presentations from our coach Miss Kaufhold. She told us a lot of general facts about the MOE countries and business English. After that we had to prove what we had learned during our partner and group work. For example we performed a telephone call, played a scene and also did a survey with people in Split to find out about their job, their home country and their school education. It cost me quite an effort to speak to those foreign people, but in the end it helped me a lot to improve my English and to get a direct feeling what kind of people the Croatians are. This picture shows the presentation of my partner and me about the results of our survey. We made three circle diagrams to visualize our findings. 24. 6. My conclusion On Friday, the 7th June 2013, we started our way back home, where we arrived nearly at the scheduled time. In the end I have to say, that Im really glad that I did this project. All the people of our group, and of course our coach Miss Kaufhold, were really nice and it was great to work together with them. It was not fun all the time, but it was worth it. I learned a lot about the MOE countries and gained a lot of experience in intercultural communication. I think, that I will keep all those facts better and easier in mind for a long time because I could experience them all on my own directly in those countries. Finally, this is a picture of me, in which I recommend everyone, who gets the chance, to take part in such a project. 25. 7. Sources All the facts written in this presentation are coming from my own experience and the appointments we had in our two countries.Most of the pictures I took on my own. The logos in the first slide, the group picture in the second slide, the map in the fourth slide, the picture in the twelfth, fourteenth and twenty-third slide are taken from Miss Kaufhold. The flags in the first slide come from the following link: Croatian flag: http://www.thetripchicks.com/images/croatiaflag_1_.gif Slovenian flag: http://www.nationalflaggen.de/media/flags/flaggeslowenien.gif 26. hvala for your attention