Chris Kemp

The list of senior John Riederer’s experiences with German customs and culture is long and diverse – years of German classes, a high school student exchange experience and a semester abroad in Wittenberg, Germany in college.

He said these experiences have fostered a love for German customs and culture.

“I’ve just really had a good experience,” he said. “I’ve really liked the people and the way of life there.”

That’s why interning in Germany through the Transatlantic program is an opportunity he is eager to seize, he said.

As a double major in business administration and German for business professionals with an international business minor, Riederer said he will intern for one of a variety of German firms for three months during the summer.

Departing May 20, Riederer will attend an intensive week-long study of German language and customs in Berlin. He also will meet several business and political leaders before working with his respective firm.

However, the firm still is being determined through an interview process.

He said he hopes to gain experience in logistical management or marketing, as well as develop his understanding of German business practices.

Riederer had a brief preview of a German firm through a four-week program he participated in while studying abroad in spring 2002 and said he considered it a positive experience.

“I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the way the company was run,” he said.

The German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest (GACCoM) and its partner, InWEnt, a German science and technical idea network, are organizing the internship.

Riederer said he had to answer an extensive questionnaire and send a resum‚, a letter of reference and an essay discussing his qualifications.

He also took part in a phone interview with the program coordinator of GACCoM.

Johannes Strohsch„nk, a German professor who has instructed Riederer at Eau Claire and in Wittenberg, said his voracious personal drive makes him the deserving recipient of the internship.

“He has applied himself over the years, always through constant questioning,” he said. “His interest in German was always paired with lots of reading from the very beginning.”

Since the creation of the German for business professionals major last fall, he said, Riederer has been the first to distinguish himself.

“(Riederer) is the first to stand out as an example of what you really can do,” he said.

Strohsch„nk said Riederer may work together with a considerably high-level firm in Germany and act as a representative of both Eau Claire and the American business community.

While there, he will gain insight into European business practices, learn how to operate within the European Union and establish overseas contacts, Strohsch„nk said.

“He will learn to comport himself in a business environment in a professional way.”