Friday, May 15th
We just spent the past 3 days visiting some awesome places. Our group has had so much fun and really bonded. I think I lost 10 pounds from all the walking, hiking, rafting, biking that we did (which is greatly needed). What an awesome experience. I’ve been to Taiwan before but I have really come to appreciate how much Taiwan has to offer. Not just in business but all the natural beauty of the island. I have visited many of the national parks in the U.S. like Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, Zion, Yellowstone, and Taiwan’s Taroko National Park is just as amazing. On Wednesday, we traveled by train south along the east coast to get to Hualien to begin our tour. After a 3 hour train ride, we boarded a tour bus to start our hiking and lower body workout excursion. We stopped at many of the famous sights in the park to hike and take pictures including Swallow’s Mouth, Tunnel of Nine Turns, and the Eternal Spring Shrine. That was the most walking I had done since Jo and I visited the Grand Canyon and Zion a few years ago. The day ended with us staying the night in Hualien City. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Still, I was up at 5:30am. I haven’t been able to sleep past 5:00am since arriving in Taiwan but I’ve enjoyed the early mornings.
The next day Thursday we would start our upper body workout excursion with a “team building” Xiuguluan rafting trip. It was a 2 hour bus ride to the river. Everyone was very excited. First we had to get some basic safety training then it was off to the river. It was a 22 km trip with about 18 rapid areas which were fun but not dangerous as it was not the rainy season and the river was pretty shallow. One thing about Taiwan I could not get used to was the heat and humidity. We were lucky today the sun wasn’t that bright but still, after a 3 hour trip, everyone had some good sunburn and tired arms. A funny story on our trip back to Tapei city while riding the train, another tour guide was talking to our tour guide and asked him what was wrong with our group? What did he mean? He noticed everyone’s legs. Why did everyone in our group have red legs? At least some people could get a laugh at our pain. After the rafting we then traveled to a resort in Kwansan where we could get some more lower body workout. This time it was a 12km bike ride around their town and rice fields. I didn’t expect to find such a cool bike path in a place like that. We finished the day with a nice dinner and cool down in their pool along with homework. This is the kind of homework I could get used to :-).
The next morning Friday, I was up at 5:30am again. So another classmate and I took the bikes out for another trip on the bike path. While riding, I heard a truck playing music (Beethoven) so thought, do they have ice cream trucks in this area? But the truck playing the music was a garbage truck. I thought that was unique. Back in Tapei, I noticed the same thing. Just an interesting cultural difference. We spent our final excursion day traveling to some scenic views and visiting two different aboriginal tribe areas. The Buton and Amie tribes. You never think that a place like Taiwan having aboriginals but the whole trip was a great learning experience into the culture and history of Taiwan. It was late before getting back to Tapei and I was looking forward to seeing Jo and Annabelle. Tomorrow, Saturday would be a free day in Tapei before departing for Japan on Sunday. We would spend the time with family and shopping for things to bring back to the U.S. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone by. Next entry will be from Japan.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Taiwan Day 2
Tuesday May 12th
Day 2’s agenda will have us visit the NTPU campus in Tapei City, visit the American Chamber of Commerce in Tapei (AmCham), and finally Tamkang Univeristy in Dansui. This morning finally had a chance to eat some traditional Taiwan breakfast of sweet soy milk and shāobǐng (unleavened pocket-bread with sesame) and yóutiáo. I’ve been looking forward to that since landing in Taiwan as I’ve really grown to love it. It certainly is nice to be able to speak Chinese. Being able to go out and not worry about how to communicate is nice. Then it was off to the subway and bus. The bus ride was crazy as we were trying to pack our group of 15 people onto an already full public bus but luckily it was only a short ride. At NTPU our lecture talked about the economic development in Taiwan. Again, just amazed at how such a small country with very little natural resources has transformed itself. Next we visited AmCham and learned more about the business climate in Taiwan. AmCham’s mission is to help the government and people by offering practical assistance in improving the business climate in Taiwan. The more I learn about Taiwan, the more I’m convinced Taiwan is in great need of a marketing campaign to tell the world who they are and to tap into the full potential they possess. Next, lunch at McDonalds (only because it was convenient) and then off to Tamkang University. The experience there was quite unique. Instead of a special lecture for our group, we joined an existing undergraduate management class and joined different groups in the class to discuss a case study. It was quite chaotic and a little awkward at first but once we started interacting, it was a lot of fun to get to know the students. After class, they arranged to have students show us around their campus and take us into Dansui. I actually left early to get back and have dinner with Jo’s family as our schedule is so packed I wanted to make sure we could spend some time together. Having been to Taiwan before, it’s not a completely new experience but it’s been a lot of fun hearing about the experiences of my classmates as everything is new to them. They had a blast with the Tamkang students. This ends the academic portion of our Taiwan trip and the next 3 days will be a tour of Taiwan’s beautiful scenic Taroko park and east coast.
Day 2’s agenda will have us visit the NTPU campus in Tapei City, visit the American Chamber of Commerce in Tapei (AmCham), and finally Tamkang Univeristy in Dansui. This morning finally had a chance to eat some traditional Taiwan breakfast of sweet soy milk and shāobǐng (unleavened pocket-bread with sesame) and yóutiáo. I’ve been looking forward to that since landing in Taiwan as I’ve really grown to love it. It certainly is nice to be able to speak Chinese. Being able to go out and not worry about how to communicate is nice. Then it was off to the subway and bus. The bus ride was crazy as we were trying to pack our group of 15 people onto an already full public bus but luckily it was only a short ride. At NTPU our lecture talked about the economic development in Taiwan. Again, just amazed at how such a small country with very little natural resources has transformed itself. Next we visited AmCham and learned more about the business climate in Taiwan. AmCham’s mission is to help the government and people by offering practical assistance in improving the business climate in Taiwan. The more I learn about Taiwan, the more I’m convinced Taiwan is in great need of a marketing campaign to tell the world who they are and to tap into the full potential they possess. Next, lunch at McDonalds (only because it was convenient) and then off to Tamkang University. The experience there was quite unique. Instead of a special lecture for our group, we joined an existing undergraduate management class and joined different groups in the class to discuss a case study. It was quite chaotic and a little awkward at first but once we started interacting, it was a lot of fun to get to know the students. After class, they arranged to have students show us around their campus and take us into Dansui. I actually left early to get back and have dinner with Jo’s family as our schedule is so packed I wanted to make sure we could spend some time together. Having been to Taiwan before, it’s not a completely new experience but it’s been a lot of fun hearing about the experiences of my classmates as everything is new to them. They had a blast with the Tamkang students. This ends the academic portion of our Taiwan trip and the next 3 days will be a tour of Taiwan’s beautiful scenic Taroko park and east coast.
Taiwan Day 1
Monday May 11th
Officially it is day one of our study abroad curriculum. Jo and Annabelle are staying with her family during our time in Taiwan. The agenda for the day is to visit National Tapei University (NTPU) in Sansia which is their main campus. We will visit their other campus tomorrow in Tapei City. The school has over 10,000 students. In the afternoon, we will visit Hsinchu Science Park to see one of the most important areas in Taiwan’s high tech industry. The day will end with a welcome dinner from our hosts at NTPU. The day started out with breakfast at 7 Eleven as we had to grab something quick and eat on the bus. Now the 7 Eleven’s are a little different than the ones in the U.S. They offer more than just slurpees, big gulps, and snacks. They seem very popular and are everywhere and offer a simple breakfast. First stop NTPU. Our hosts at NTPU prepared some interesting cultural activities as well as a class lecture on inventory management of Taiwan’s electronic industry. We first learned some karate (self defense) and calligraphy. Next, the lecture gave us a look into Taiwan’s strength in the electronics industry. The thing that really struck me was the depth and extent of their electronics industry. People always think of Japan when talking high tech but Taiwan is the number one supplier of motherboards, notebooks, LCD monitors, routers, and much more in the world. I doubt most people would know that. Next stop Hsinchu. We were given an introduction and history of how the park started from a small farming village but the Taiwan government saw the potential of the high tech industry and transformed the area to a launch pad for Taiwan’s electronics industry. It was no accident they have become such a leader in electronics today. Then it was dinner with our hosts from NTPU and after I finally had a chance to see Jo and Annabelle before heading back to the Taipei Teacher Hostel to sleep. No chance to rest but I learned so much about Taiwan.
Officially it is day one of our study abroad curriculum. Jo and Annabelle are staying with her family during our time in Taiwan. The agenda for the day is to visit National Tapei University (NTPU) in Sansia which is their main campus. We will visit their other campus tomorrow in Tapei City. The school has over 10,000 students. In the afternoon, we will visit Hsinchu Science Park to see one of the most important areas in Taiwan’s high tech industry. The day will end with a welcome dinner from our hosts at NTPU. The day started out with breakfast at 7 Eleven as we had to grab something quick and eat on the bus. Now the 7 Eleven’s are a little different than the ones in the U.S. They offer more than just slurpees, big gulps, and snacks. They seem very popular and are everywhere and offer a simple breakfast. First stop NTPU. Our hosts at NTPU prepared some interesting cultural activities as well as a class lecture on inventory management of Taiwan’s electronic industry. We first learned some karate (self defense) and calligraphy. Next, the lecture gave us a look into Taiwan’s strength in the electronics industry. The thing that really struck me was the depth and extent of their electronics industry. People always think of Japan when talking high tech but Taiwan is the number one supplier of motherboards, notebooks, LCD monitors, routers, and much more in the world. I doubt most people would know that. Next stop Hsinchu. We were given an introduction and history of how the park started from a small farming village but the Taiwan government saw the potential of the high tech industry and transformed the area to a launch pad for Taiwan’s electronics industry. It was no accident they have become such a leader in electronics today. Then it was dinner with our hosts from NTPU and after I finally had a chance to see Jo and Annabelle before heading back to the Taipei Teacher Hostel to sleep. No chance to rest but I learned so much about Taiwan.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Travel Recap
Sunday, May 10th
What a day! Actually it was more than a day. We just spent 25 hours traveling from Detroit to Taiwan and I would not recommend that experience. It was especially tiring traveling with a 15 month old baby. Annabelle was a good baby but the leg from Chicago to Tokyo really tested your endurance. We were all tired and Jo and I could see how tired Annabelle was but she couldn’t sleep. It was almost 2:00am Michigan time when we started our decent to land in Tokyo and Annabelle started crying and was completely inconsolable. All we could do was hold and rock her until we landed. It’s amazing how resilient baby’s are because an hour later, she was playing in the airport like nothing had happened. The rest of the trip to Taiwan was much smoother and there are advantages to having a baby. We were escorted to a special line at customs and made it through in 10 minutes. Now the trip can really start.
What a day! Actually it was more than a day. We just spent 25 hours traveling from Detroit to Taiwan and I would not recommend that experience. It was especially tiring traveling with a 15 month old baby. Annabelle was a good baby but the leg from Chicago to Tokyo really tested your endurance. We were all tired and Jo and I could see how tired Annabelle was but she couldn’t sleep. It was almost 2:00am Michigan time when we started our decent to land in Tokyo and Annabelle started crying and was completely inconsolable. All we could do was hold and rock her until we landed. It’s amazing how resilient baby’s are because an hour later, she was playing in the airport like nothing had happened. The rest of the trip to Taiwan was much smoother and there are advantages to having a baby. We were escorted to a special line at customs and made it through in 10 minutes. Now the trip can really start.
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