Melbourne

Thank goodness we finally made it into Melbourne! After a 5-hour train ride in order to avoid flooding and a 4-hour delay on our flight from Brisbane to Melbourne we are finally away from all the flooding. My prayers are still with the residents of Queensland. 

The group boarding a Tiger Airways flight to Canberra.

The train ride that we went on first to escape the flooding.

Today my group had two company visits; one with a beer brewery called Fosters group, and the other with the Australian Football League. At Fosters, we met with the CEO of the company Ian Johnston. He talked to us about how Fosters had to be reinvented from the inside out through creativity and innovation in order to increase profits. One thing that I noticed about his demeanor that was different from some American corporations was that he did not broadcast his company's strengths; he mostly talked about ways that they could improve. Perhaps this was an example of Australia’s "Tall Poppy Syndrome", which is when Australians never choose to brag about anything. After our talk with the CEO, we took a tour of the brewing facilities. I never realized how efficient and sanitary brewing facilities had to be in order to produce premium quality beer. 

Fosters International Beer company

Ian Anderson, the CEO of Fosters

After our trip to Fosters, we went over to the headquarters of the Australian Football League and talked with their CFO Ian Anderson. After, we had a tour of the main stadium in Melbourne. 

Me in the lobby of the AFL

Me posing with an AFL football in an AFL stadium

I had front row seats to a 20/20 cricket match between Australia and England. Australia won!