A Robot Ballet

After racing to the train station this morning, we finally boarded the train to the city of Wolfsburg to the Volkswagen factory. The train ride was about an hour long, so we were a hodge-podge of students sleeping, listening to music, and doing homework. When we arrived at the Wolfsburg train station, Scottie was flabbergasted that the public restrooms cost money to use (this was right after he announced to us that he used his duvet and duvet cover as a sleeping bag the night before).

We walked down to the factory and met our very enthusiastic, passionate tour guide, Hassan. We began by watching a video about Volkswagen and their mission, where the production process was describes as a synchronized robot ballet of machine and man working together to complete and produce the beautiful Volkswagen vehicles.

We then moved downstairs to the factory where we piled into a 20 meter-long Volkswagen Golf. We cruised through the plant as we witnessed active assembly lines to our left, right, and above us. Not a single part faltered as the mechanical arms moved gracefully to the tune of welding and roaring engines. The workers seemed to move to the same tune as they inspected each piece carefully before it moved on to the next dance. Our tour guide brought us around the concert hall of a factory, and we finished with a finale of engine and vehicle shell becoming one to produce the beautiful Volkswagen Golf 7 we all know and love.