4/7/12
Hi there to all that are reading this. This will be my first entry. This well before I've even left for Asia. To be exact it actually twenty-two days before we leave. I just wanted to give you some idea of what I expect from this trip. My number one thing I want from this entire is to have an experience, maybe some encounter or moment of deep understanding or even something as simple as beautiful view of the landscape, that leaves me speechless. Out of anything that I could possibly buy or do I want this more than anything. Sure you can buy something nice or see something cool, but what could be better a speechless life changing event? This is my ultimate goal of this trip and if I'm so lucky maybe there won't be just one speechless moment.
4/30/12
Today we left to go to the airport. My god what a long day this was. We pretty much traveled for roughly 20 straight hours. One thing I've discovered through this ridiculous ordeal is, American plane services are severely lacking. Korean Air's hostess are the most polite helping air service I've ever experienced. Granted I haven't flown every air line but after this experience I think it will be hard to top. So after we finally landed we made our way to Incheon. That was about another hour or so. We had dinner at what was basically a Korean barb a Q. We had bulgogi its beef maybe I never asked and ton of vegetables. Also total misconception that Asians eat less than Americans. Either they have wonderful metabolism or they all work out constantly because as you can see from the pictures, food galore. It was a great time meeting the staff of the Incheon International Office. From there we finally made our way to the Guesthouse where we would be staying. Now I feel so bad for the Korean students who come to Lander. The Guesthouse is absolutely amazing. My room is awesome even though I couldn't understand what any of the bottoms mean on the toilet. A shower later and I fell out onto my home for the next week and some days.
5/1/12
Alright so new day, in a new country, ready for new adventure. Uh lets see we stated off by meeting with (sorry I miss some things. I finally have been able to access some internet) with a representative of the Univeristy of Incheon, who was a professor. He explained he joy that Lander was able to send a delegation to Incheon to further explorer our two worlds. He also expressed interest in seeing the relationship grow. Now I'm going to get a bit side tracked when we went to this conference to have our meeting. I walked through the most beautiful campus I have ever seen. It was recently built and has only been open for 3 years roughly I believe. Everything is built with a artist's perspective and a engineer's practicality. I suppose it doesn't hurt when the president of the university has a P.H.D in civil engineering. We actually got to meet him. I'm sorry to say that I did not take pictures of his office. It is by far the most lubricious office I've ever seen. All wood paneling and gorgeous lighting. Someone definitely had fun designing the office. Sadly enough being so overwhelmed by the luxury, I failed to take pictures of it. From their we took a campus tour of the university. Like I said before absolutely beautiful. After our tour we went to an island fair thing. To be quiet honest I'm not too sure what to call it. Wolmi island, at least where we visited, seems to be a hot spot for locals and tourist alike. Some sort of fair was going on the day we went. I believe it was Chinese fair. Much like fairs in America they had tons of food venders and just as many rides. So many great ideas are over that would make it huge in America. We went to this coffee shop that served the typical things but it also served waffles and other foods. Not just little snacks but you could get a decent meal here. A coffee and waffle I know many people who would like the sound of that. We then visited, with some irony, Chinatown. Crazy Chinatown in Korea? Chorea? Skepticism aside it was pretty interesting place. Near by we visited the Douglas McArthur memorial for the landing of Korea during the Korean War. It was a very beautiful memorial with the Cherry Blossoms in bloom. We finished with dinner in a Chinese restaurant a bus ride later and I was asleep.
5/2/12
Today was a bit of a inside day. We had our presentations for the Incheon students who will be coming to Lander. After our presentations we had lunch at Bon Appetit. No French food, more Korean food. We returned for the presentations by the Incheon students. Afterwords we returned to the Guesthouse where we waited to be picked up for a dinner with a host family. Now this was an interesting time. For those who don't know Korean drivers are pretty insane. U turns everywhere, dodging in out of traffic, speed up to 60 then slow down in the next second. Well our lady who was driving was no exception. So we make it to the restaurant, which is another Korean barb a Q, where were met by her child and her friends child. Well one of women only spoke English well to a point the other not at all really. Supposedly the two daughters could speak English really well. That term is relative when it comes to pre--teen girls. Between the giggle fest and trying to understand the English+Korean it was fun. The real interesting moment happens we go to have desert at a coffee shop like place. While two ladies go to order desert one of the mothers stayed up stairs, see spoke English better, and talked and took pictures. Then comes this mountain of shaved ice, bean paste, vanilla ice cream, and nuts. It was so good but hard to eat. This wasn't made easier by the older women trying to tell us to just dig in a take it down, while trying not to dump everywhere. Here goes the kicker. The friend of the two mothers begins to ask questions about me and Lauren(she is a Spanish professor at Lander). She told Lauren she had face like fist. Whoa way out of left field right? Well it turns out that its a compliment. Its considered beautiful to have a small face here. Still way funny. Next I was asked how old I was. So of course I responded. She then tells that she is 38. Innocent right? She then tells me that I'm handsome like actor. Okay I know I blew this way out of portion but it was too fun not too. She kinda seemed like she was hitting on me especially when she says oh so young. Then more directed at me I was asked if we wanted to go to her house. Way out of portion but is this not funny? Anyway stupid aside the one ladies apartment is beyond amazing there was marble or a stone very similar to everywhere. The walls, the floors, I don't think the ceiling though. I can't imagine how expensive this place must have cost. Also there was at least a 65 inch television with full surround sound. I didn't take pictures of the whole place because I thought it would be rude. Final cool point for the day the daughter who lived here plays the cello. FYI I love cello and violin. Especially good players. This little 13 years girl was an amazing player, even though she didn't think so.
5/3/12
Good to all of you who are still reading these at this point. Today was a pretty fun filled packed day. Easily my favorite so far. Today we visited a few museums. The Korean War museum, a history of Korea museum and the IFEZ(Incheon Free Economic Zone) museum. At the history of Korea museum I actually made it on camera of some local tv station. That was pretty cool they must have wanted some film of an America who came to visit of something. Next at the Korean War museum there was two walls with messages written to those who served in the Korean war. It was a really surreal moment. I even added my own message to the wall outside that I have a photo of. Then at IFEZ we learned about how Sedong is working to become a major hub for world trade and business. All the concept work I loved. I love all things futuristic and that what this particular area was all about. After our run through these museums we landed in a salt marsh. It's where they make salt, I guess I'm not too sure. While we were walking around we ran into some Koreans who were walking on a wheel moving water. Much to all our surprise they invited us over adamantly to try a hand at it. I tried and I'll admit I sucked I fell a few times and never really got a handle of it. So continuing our journey through this seemly random marsh, we find random windmills. I know it doesn't sound strange but look at the design and theme of them in the pictures and you'll see what I mean. For Incheon being such a big upcoming city this big patch of nature was beautiful to behold. It nice to know even as they progress Korea hasn't forgotten the beauty that nature holds. Next was the seafood market. This place was way cool. If you want some fresh seafood I definitely suggest this place. There are literally close to 50 or more sellers. You can get anything from flounder to octopus to seaworm things. It's a pretty cool cultural place to visit and get a feel for what life is like in one aspect in Korea. We finished off the day at this wonderful restaurant/home. We cooked shellfish over a grill while enjoying the company of everyone, joking and telling stories. This definitely was a highlight for the trip so far.
5/4/12
Okay so today only continues the amazingness that was yesterday. Today we headed to the capital of Korea, Seoul. We took a combination of the Korean public transit, bus and metro. Okay I'm going to rant a little here. Why doesn't American have something like this all over? I know they do in the larger cities but public transit everywhere across America would be wonderful. I know I would like to ride a train for at a much faster speed then drive at lower speeds and deal with other drivers. Okay done. When we arrive to Seoul its just like Incheon just amazing. One amazing thing about both these cities is the amount of people. These two cities are two of the three biggest cities in Korea and yet you can hardly ever tell. Sure there are more people then where I'm from but for 2.8 million plus people you can hardly tell. Anyway the first place we go to visit is the more modern shopping area. We had lunch here at a cool underground barb a Q place. Then we headed out for some shopping and sightseeing. We next headed to Kyongbuk Palace, this was home to early emperors and queens. This place is hard to describe because its not like anything we have in America. For one even in the past they had a form of central heating. Not in the sense we know where we heat the air. In Korean design they heat the floor and in turn this heats the building. Very cool idea. Plus this palace was just expansive and huge in size. All while remaining beautiful. From here we headed to dinner in the more tradition market for tourist. Still more shopping here. Cooler than that much of what is sold in the traditional market is all handmade and for a lot of things still a reasonable price. Surprising when you see the beauty of the goods. We had dinner at a dumpling restaurant. Very good. From here we headed by taxi the hour and a half back to the Guesthouse. To get in the only traffic I've seen so far. After a wonderful refreshing shower, I took my leave and went to bed.
5/5/12-5/6/12
Okay so for a Saturday in a foreign I pretty much accomplished nothing. I didn't go out anywhere. I stayed inside updating this weebly page. Since I finally had internet I could actually fill in everyone to what is going on over here. So after I waited around till Charles, my former roommate, showed up so we could hangout for the weekend. We ended up having dinner at the Guesthouse, which consisted of, believe it or not, fried chicken. Yeah that's right we had fried chicken in Korea. A bit weird considering where we were but enjoyable all the same. So the next day we headed off back to Seoul to see some of the parts that we didn't have time to see the last time we came. First stop we headed to Yeouido Park. Now this wasn't so much a park but a giant playground would be a more accurate description. There were basketball goals everywhere on this massive paved square. There of course were trees so it wasn't entirely concert. Next we headed over to the HQ of KBS, the Korean equivalent of CBS. It was pretty cool you could see inside to some of the radio rooms where the DJ's were selecting the next track to play at the station. From here made the long journey down to the Han river which was packed with people. Friday was Children's day in Korean. As the name says it was a holiday for the children. Well Sunday at the Han looked as if it had never ended. There were literally hundreds of people and children if not thousands. Still to my amazement never seemed to overcrowded. Of I've forgotten to mention something. If you ever come to come to Korea rule number 1 watch your step. I'm not sure how many times I've tripped, stubbed my toe, and almost fallen. I digress. The atmosphere around the Han river was just so awesome I don't know how anyone could ever not enjoy themselves around here. After leaving the Han we went back to the shopping district, so that we could some more gifts for family. On our return trip back to Incheon Charles left to get on a train for 5 hours back to Busan. Then back in Incheon we tried to find two different sushi places. The first,we discovered, was closed after searching for 10 mins. Then the second place, where we finally had dinner, was hidden away and we had to travel through so many back areas to find it. Finally afterwards we returned to the Guesthouse for some much needed sleep.
5/7/12
So today we headed out to Hyundai Steel. This place was pretty cool. According to the spokesperson its the most advanced steel mill in the world or at least in Asia. This place is so big that it has it's own port. That's pretty handy when you need to ship out all your product. I wish we were allowed to take pictures in the manufacturing areas. Sure I can try to describe these gargantuan domes that house material but sheer size on this scale can only really be grasped by first person experience. Not to mention when you a steel sheet, roughly 20-30 feet long, get stretched to well over 150 feet. That process itself is surprisingly long. The slab of steel probably went under at least 5 stages of cooling alone, this goes without mentioning the stretching parts. I think one of the coolest aspects of this plant is the fact its under 10 years old. The mill is so young and its competing for placement in the top 4 steel making companies in the world. This is a pretty impressive feet considering the short time frame. On top of this the company is planing on adding another blast furnace within 5 years and there was extension construction everywhere during our visit. After our visit at Hyundai we left to go visit another traditional market. After this adventure we went back to the guesthouse for some much needed sleep.
5/8/12
Today was a jam packed day. How couldn't it be when visiting a place like the DMZ. Not only was it busy it was a reflective day for me in particular. With the long sprawling that following the DMZ I believe it is an important site we need to remember and not repeat. That being said I'm all for the education about the DMZ but not in the way it is being taught currently. During our visit is seemed more of a tourist attraction for the world to come see the legendary DMZ. As such people themselves seemed to treat it like a tourist site. I do not agree with the South Korean governments current plan for the DMZ. To me during my visit it seemed as if the goal was to sort of cover up the past and decorate it with pretty wrapping. A video we watched shows both sides have worked to rebuild the wildlife in the DMZ. While this maybe true, it was a bit helpful to portraying this atmosphere by quickly looking past all the landmine warning signs. Am I a pessimist about this? Yes I am. This comes with my personality I suppose. Although I might disagree with the current set up, with some tweaking I think the South Korean government can do a great job in education. Pessimism aside you would never guess there was world tension on this little area. Its so quiet with the no fly zone and the only reminder of animosity is the military presence. Excluding them you could easily see this place as a wonderful country side get a way. Its in this beauty that I've always retained a hope for the unification of Korea again. I believe the world did wrong by the Koreans in their history. Hopefully they can be better and come to together.
5/9/12
So today was the day that we traveled to a Buddhist temple to get ready for our temple stay. So my first reaction upon arriving was how quiet the area was. It reminded me of home after being in the teeming big cities. The nature everywhere was gorgeous. It is in this that I can't believe I left my camera for this portion of the trip. At the end of the trip well be putting all the pictures together so maybe everyone can see what I saw. So our monk education beings with some simple behavioral rules. Bowing, walking and such things like that. From here we learned, from our Sunim, the basic principles of the Buddhist faith. We then had a amazing vegetarian meal. We then preceded back to our Sunim who then began to instruct us in the way of meditation. I'll admit this was a bit hard. For one with a surgically repaired knee, that doesn't like to be in uncomfortable positions for long, it made it more uncomfortable. Even so it was nice to a point to just kinda sit and do nothing for awhile. I think its a nice change of pace for everyone, since where constantly going. With our day drawing to end we retired to our sparse sleeping accommodations. I didn't care I was so tired I could have slept anywhere. Especially since in the morning we will be waking up at 4, probably to the sound of monks' chanting.
5/10/12
So I was correct. I did wake to the sounds of monks chanting and banging on wooden gong thing. My Buddhist monk boot camp had started. So for a boot camp like situation, it was pretty chill. When we woke, we went to a morning ceremony. This included watching two monks go to town on some percussion instruments. From this we headed to the main hall where half participated half watched while the monks went through their rituals. Its truly an experience you can only understand being there in person. While the monks fall in to a syncopated chant that drones into the morning. It was close to mesmerizing as can be. We then headed to meditation and the one true workout of the temple. What I mean by this is that we joined in 108 prostrations. Honestly this doesn't sound like that much. That is till your on number thirty and you realize your already sweating. Covered in sweat once we finally finished we had breakfast. This was unique more less because we ate in the traditional monk style. This incorporates a set ritual upon setting the bowls out and down to how you clean the bowls at the end. A bit complicated but by no means impossible. I would like to mention one things though. Monks eat good. All the food I ate was prepared to amazingness. I wish I could borrow their cooks indefinitely. Upon completion of our meal we went on a walk up the mountain to the top of the fort that use to exist around the temple. This was a light headed experience, whether because of the prostrations or the view I'm not sure, seeing how small the country looked around us. After our decent down the mountain we were picked up to precede on our way to meet our host families for the next four days. My host family the Hahms' consist of the daughter Yearan, her younger brother, mother and father. Upon my first meeting them, the mother was nervous because I was the only boy on the trip and I would be staying with them. Although by the end of the night she told me herself that all her worries were gone after getting to know me. After having dinner with everyone we headed to the homes of our host families. This is where I settled down and took some much needed rest.
5/11/12
So this morning I woke to sun shining into my window and to a feast waiting for me. For breakfast I had eggs, three kinds of kimchi, rice, bugolgi, fruit and to be quiet honest some other food that I've forgotten. Then when we got ready to leave to be picked up for the day my host mother prepared me a "snack" which could have been a meal in itself. laden down with food I got on the bus that headed first to Naksan Temple. Luckily we weren't staying here to do another temple stay. Although while we were here I did do the traditional two half bows and three full prostrations. This is when I rubbed off some skin on my knee. No big deal honestly to me but the vice principle, being the awesome guy he is, eventually got me to cave and fix it up. It during this that some very touching words were told to me. The vice principle didn't know enough English to converse but through Korean translation it was conveyed to me that he thought of me as a son. I will admit caught me off guard in the best way. At this point I'd maybe known him for all of twelve hours and he already felt this sort affection towards me. Easily this was the highlight of my day. We continued our adventure for this day by heading over to Sorak Mountain, where initially we had plans to walk the one hour hike. Due to some poor planning on my behalf, I dressed for much warmer weather then what was at the mountain. Luckily we ended up taking the sky tram so I didn't have to experience the cold mountain air for nearly as long as planned. So after our "hike" we headed back to Chucheon for dinner. It was at dinner that I met my host father. Who nothing but as hospitable and friendly as the family. So after some dinner we went home to rest and get some sleep after a long day.
5/12/12
So today we presented for most of the morning. After about the third time doing these presentations I'm beginning to wonder if I even need a powerpoint anymore. None the less the students at the high school were nothing by hospitable and respectful. Even better news I think we even have quiet a few who will be considering Lander for university. I feel proud for playing some part in this and helping Lander to grow. From the school we headed out for some barb a q(and yes I do know this isn't the right way to spell it, but I like it haha) Korean style. I don't know what I'm going to do in America when I can't have Korean food. I'll need my kimchi fix. Back to the day our host students caught up to us after their school day as we headed to Nami Island. This is a pretty famous place from what I understand. Its been the site of numerous movie and drama settings. Not to mention the wild ostriches that roam around. You can see for yourself in the pictures, where one was right behind of me. Anyway Nami Island is the perfect place for the setting of some story. Its an island for one and there is no shortage for beautiful scenery anywhere. The island also has a lot of cool man made objects that you can check out in the pictures also. Back to Chuncheon for dinner. It was then later I was able to experience the best shock I've had so far. My host family took me to an observatory. It was here we got see Venus and Saturn. This was a huge highlight for me. I love space and I've never had the chance to see these planets like I did on this awesome night. After the observatory we went home for some good sleep.
5/13/12
Today was so much fun. It was a free day that we spent with our host families. There was so much that we did its hard to remember it all but I'll do my best. It started off by first going to their church service in the morning. Afterwards we made our way over to a museum. I'm not sure what the name of the place but for me it was perfect. For those who don't know I love Asian artwork and this museum happened to be hosting a gallery full of it. I've taken many pictures that you can check out for yourselves. Next we headed to the biggest dam in Korea. Even more pictures are in the gallery for you to check out. Then I had the best meal I've had so far here. It was a noodle dish with I don't know in it. I do know that there was cucumbers(for some reason I seem to enjoy them here), sugar and a pepper sauce. What I do know for certain is that upon my return to this country I will definitely be returning to this place. Next we headed to meet up with some other host families at a county fair of sorts. So there is this thing here called disco pom pom and if you ask any Korean they will know instantly what your talking about. So the basic object of this ride is for the controller to mess with you and get you to let go, so he can mess with you as you fall about. While this ride is probably a lawsuit waiting to happen in America, in Korea its ridiculous amounts of fun. If given the chance you must ride. After rides we then rented dune buggies for a hour and cruised around the back roads in the town. This was probably some of the most fun I've had all trip so far and it was thanks to my host family for such a wonderful time.
Student Interview with Yearan
1.) How do you feel about your schooling experience? Good, bad or otherwise?
It was good but it was hard. Staying at school so late till 10 was hard.
2.) Would you want others to go through this same schooling system?
Even so I still would suggest people to go through it themselves. It was a good experience.
3.) Is there anything you would change about your school system?
I would change the amount of time spent in school. Get out earlier instead of 10 o'clock and start at 8:30.
4.) What is your wish list for a possible future college?
I wish that I could go to Inha University, in particular the industrial college. Smaller classes sizes would be nice and a good international program.
5.) What are you looking forward to most about college?
I like the fact I won’t be at school from 8 till 10. I also look forward to studying new things, also the new opportunities that will be available to me through university. The experience of college itself, I think, will also benefit me in the long run.
6.) Would you consider Lander as a possible college choice?
I will consider Lander because of the delegation that visited. They gave me a good outlook on Lander University.
7.) Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Do you think the educational system you were in helped to get you here?
I would like to see myself as a stewardess, particularly Korean Airlines. Yes, I think my school system would help me to get there. The English studies in my school system helped me get experience and confidence when using English.
8.) Do you think the Lander delegation was a good thing?
Yes!!!
9.) Do you think we should continue doing this?
Of course!!!!
10.) Final question. Do you think experiencing the home stay has helped with your English and help you understand foreign culture?
Yes, it has helped me with understanding the language, speaking, listening, writing and reading.
It was good but it was hard. Staying at school so late till 10 was hard.
2.) Would you want others to go through this same schooling system?
Even so I still would suggest people to go through it themselves. It was a good experience.
3.) Is there anything you would change about your school system?
I would change the amount of time spent in school. Get out earlier instead of 10 o'clock and start at 8:30.
4.) What is your wish list for a possible future college?
I wish that I could go to Inha University, in particular the industrial college. Smaller classes sizes would be nice and a good international program.
5.) What are you looking forward to most about college?
I like the fact I won’t be at school from 8 till 10. I also look forward to studying new things, also the new opportunities that will be available to me through university. The experience of college itself, I think, will also benefit me in the long run.
6.) Would you consider Lander as a possible college choice?
I will consider Lander because of the delegation that visited. They gave me a good outlook on Lander University.
7.) Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Do you think the educational system you were in helped to get you here?
I would like to see myself as a stewardess, particularly Korean Airlines. Yes, I think my school system would help me to get there. The English studies in my school system helped me get experience and confidence when using English.
8.) Do you think the Lander delegation was a good thing?
Yes!!!
9.) Do you think we should continue doing this?
Of course!!!!
10.) Final question. Do you think experiencing the home stay has helped with your English and help you understand foreign culture?
Yes, it has helped me with understanding the language, speaking, listening, writing and reading.
5/14/12
So today we left Korea for China. So its at this time I would like to thank everyone I met in Korea. These people are so incredibly friendly and willing to help you in any situation. I've gotten to experience firsts and life long memories here. Korea is truly a magical place that needs to be experienced. I would also like to especially thank my host family. They were the only family who accepted the only boy on the trip into their home. They did this with worry but without ill thoughts towards me. Although the short time we spent together I feel as if I have a Korean family who I can count on.(Oh and mom when you read this I told them they could stay with us if they ever come to America.) Yearan was amazing help during my stay. She helped me tirelessly with the Korean language, even when one of us were confused about any particular thing. So thank you again for everything you showed me and shared with me. You all will forever be with me, as I hope I will with you. So once again thank you Korean for everything and I can't wait for what the future may hold for me there.
So now I'm in China to start a new adventure in a new world. After experiencing Korea I can't wait to see what she has awaiting me. So upon arrival in China we made our way to the guesthouse to put away our stuff and get some much needed rest. After our rest we headed out for a campus tour. I must say if Lander had a larger twin it would be Sanda University. Both universities so similar its rather funny. How did two schools separated by hundreds of miles and different cultures develop similarly? I don't know but I like it here since it reminds me so much of Lander. We went out and had dinner a bit later and partook in some wonderfully appetizing food. I wish I could Chinese like this back in the states. After dinner we headed back to our rooms for some sleep.
So now I'm in China to start a new adventure in a new world. After experiencing Korea I can't wait to see what she has awaiting me. So upon arrival in China we made our way to the guesthouse to put away our stuff and get some much needed rest. After our rest we headed out for a campus tour. I must say if Lander had a larger twin it would be Sanda University. Both universities so similar its rather funny. How did two schools separated by hundreds of miles and different cultures develop similarly? I don't know but I like it here since it reminds me so much of Lander. We went out and had dinner a bit later and partook in some wonderfully appetizing food. I wish I could Chinese like this back in the states. After dinner we headed back to our rooms for some sleep.
5/15/12
Alright so today was our first full day we have actually spent in China and it did not disappoint. We had breakfast in the school's cafeteria. Once again why can't we have food like this in America. I would be a very happy content person if I could could. After breakfast we had a mini lecture on some of the larger aspects about China and we observed a business class that was giving presentations businesses they had created. Both events were very informative and insightful into the Chinese education and ideology of the people of China. We had lunch in the cafeteria again with no objection from me. Then we went and visited the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum. This place was really cool, although I wasn't thrilled about the spider room. To be quiet honest it was a bit random. They had all this animal stuff and for some reason they decided to put a spider exhibit in out of all the animals they could have been chosen. I don't know I guess I'm a bit bias when it comes to this. Anyway my favorite place was probably the robotics exhibit just because of all the cool stations that you could use robots in. Like there was one who could solve a rub-ix cube and another that could play go. This place was just cool. We then had dinner at a place called Xin Wang. I had some excellent curry here, definitely another suggestion if you happen to be in the area. We then headed out for a river cruise on the Huang Pu river. This was pretty cool, since we've really haven't gotten to see much of the city of Shanghai and this put us in the heart of it. We were able to see a lot of famous place like the Bund all in one simple trip. Anyway its late so I'll be signing off. Later everyone.
5/16/12
Okay I know I've said this before but this is a fact, today was the best day of the trip. Okay so today started out with us visiting a water village. What that means simply is the village is built upon a water source. In this case it was a canal. This place had a ton of cool building with subtle details, that point to more tradition style building. As you can see from the pictures, if you look at them, this place is pretty huge and pretty. There are great picture moments everywhere. On top of that there is also tons of shops. Most of the shops sell the same thing but you do find some pretty unique stores here and there. I was able to find a cool tea pot while here for a great deal. That's another great thing about this place, haggling. In pretty much every traditional market you can fight to get a better deal. Granted I know fewer Chinese words then fingers on one hand, with the help of Boyoung, I able to get a better deal on the things I bought. Then after we left the village we got prepared for a farewell party that Sanda was throwing for us. On the way to the party I got what is probably my favorite picture thus far, the pink rose. I didn't place it there or anything it was just laying in the hall like the picture shows. Although I wish I could have gotten a better picture, ie a better focused shot, it came out pretty good. So after taking the some pictures we made our way into what was a gym at the school. It was here we were informed that the show would be put on by the talented Sanda students. From the pictures you can see what some of the performers did. I have video of some of the performers but I can't upload them to weebly cause that cost money. I can always show them to you guys if you want when I get back. So I digress. Every performance was brilliant but truly the best was saved for last. In all retrospective thought it was a simple song with some dancing. The beauty of this particular performance was in the singer. Her voice was beautiful but (as lame as this will sound) what I heard was the 5000 years of love, pain, suffering, joy and all things like through her. Needless to say I was a bit fond of this performance. I will get the video for it so I can show everyone and maybe you guys can feel what I felt perhaps.
5/17/12
So after my amazing day yesterday I suppose its only fair to have a more normal relaxed type day. So my "relaxed" day consisted of us traveling to the Shanghai museum of Medicine. I will admit not my favorite place we've visited so far but I got to see one huge red ear slider(turtle). So I guess that made this particular place pretty cool. Next we headed over to the Shanghai World Financial Center. This is the tallest building currently in Shanghai. I got some pretty awesome pictures at the top of a large portions of the city. You can even see the progression of the smog as in rolls across the city a little. I also got a great picture of some window cleaners coming up the side of the building. Overall this was pretty much a picture day for me. I had a lot of opportunities to get some pretty good pictures of the buildings. I even got a pretty wonderful picture of the sun reflecting off one of the buildings. Its one of my favorites I've gotten so far. After our visit to the Financial Center we went ahead and moved on to Shanghai Normal University, for more even more adventure here in China.
5/18/12
So this first day at a new university has been the same as every university. We introduced to our new student buddies, meet staff, give presentations about Lander and hear presentations from the host school. Just to high some of the stuff we had a lecture on Chinese culture and history. We were even privileged to hear the lecture from a world renowned expert in the field of Chinese culture. After the lectures we had some dinner and I did some much needed clothes washing. As our last activity for the day we had a special concert put on for us by the flute ensemble from Shanghai Normal. I video the ensemble so everyone can eventually see it too. So as bit of a spoiler the ensemble will blow your mind. I don't understand how so much talent can be generally average across an entire nation. It seems almost everyone has a super awesome musical talent. Crazy town. Its late so I write to you all later. Night
5/19/12
So the theme for today is.........shopping!!!! That is right folks today we visited a plethora of shopping centers. We covered the major department store style mega centers of China and even the out door local designers market. Man can I say that China's people will never be at a lost for somewhere to shop, although whether they can afford is an entirely different subject. So out of all the places we visited I liked the outdoor market. Although way out of my budget to really shop here, it had a ton of cool little stores. They might all be selling the same things but its fun to see the different tactics they try to employ to try and win customers. Okay so that you don't just think we visit shopping areas we first went to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. This use to be the largest building in Shanghai before the Financial Center was built. We traveled all the way to the top and I have tons of pictures from the top. The coolest part though was when we went down a few levels and went out on to a see through observation deck. I'm not afraid of heights but its another thing to realize all of sudden your hundreds of meters in the air. This and the fact you seem to be only held up by what appears to be glass can make a acrophobic out of anyone. I have tons of cool pictures from this so go check them out. Also I love the Chinese people but they don't believe in lines. They go with the idea of clumping when waiting. This can get especially frustrating when your late and trying to get to the ground floor of the tower. Ton of people all fighting to cut one another to get to the same place faster. Its something you have to experience. Trust me it may not be the best part of China but its a requirement to experience if you visit.
5/20/12
Alright today we headed over to the Shanghai Museum. This place was pretty cool it had a ton of stuff from China's history, money, furniture from different dynasties, art and some other exhibits that I can't quiet remember right now. Of course I was spent most of my time in the painting section. Evidence for this can be found in the 25+ photos I took in this one exhibit. Upon leaving the museum I was privileged to see one strange sight. A person dressed up in a bear costume. I was informed that the bear is an anime character, from some show I've never heard of. Possibly even stranger than that, the person who was in the bear suit and his friend had no particular reasoning for being there. They asked for no money or anything. Shanghai strangeness possibly? I'm not sure. After my bear incident we headed over to Yuyuan garden. This garden is over three hundred years old and you can see it when you visit. Overall renovations and repairs have probably updated the garden but there are subtle details that hint to its age. After walking through the gardens we went out to do some more shopping!!! Gosh so much shopping but I can't complain I'll be coming back with a bunch of really cool stuff. Anyway that was pretty much the end of the day for us today. It was a rather short day but that is okay with me considering I'm a little tired. Night everyone.
5/21/12
Today we headed over to one of the other campus Shanghai Normal. The Fengxian campus is a small town in itself. The craziest thing though is the separation of the colleges for the school. The tourism college has basically its own private area for its students. They even have a hotel that is completely run by the students in this college. After our mini tour we made our way on over to the Student Activities building where we participated in some traditional artwork. If I had any doubts left about the talent level of the Chinese students they were eradicated today. The art students who helped to teach us were unreal. You can see one painting that I took a picture of. Guess how long it took the guy to draw it? 30 mins or an hour? No it was less than 30 mins!! I must say that I was just a little jealous haha. Anyway we got to take a shot at the art ourselves and we made calligraphy and you can see my tree like thing painting. I'm a little proud of my tree thing considering it was my first time. Although I wish I could do the amazing flower painting. After this we got to experience some kungfu. We learned a basic progression that appears very graceful if I say so myself. I've done a little martial arts training myself for a short time. I loved the entire time that I did it and this just made me want to go back to it. I think I'll have to find somewhere I can learn some more once I get back to the states. After dinner we went out to do some karaoke. It was pretty fun to get up their to sing like we did back in South Korea. Overall a pretty awesome fun filled day.
5/22/12
So today we went on a tour of Shanghai Normal's campus. Like before I will say it again, the campus is huge. They have a museum on campus but that isn't all they have multiple museums on campus! One happens to be about the school's history and then they have their own personal art museum. This campus is amazing. We've explored the campus for roughly two days and we haven't even seen a fourth of the campus. Not to mention you should google the library then you will get an idea of how massive this place is.
Notes to readers
I have been having issues with uploading pictures so the picture files will not be up to date till I can get them working sorry. Keep coming back to check. Also at some point I got the dates mixed up so some dates are probably not actual, so I apologize. I will not be trying to go back and fix this due to the fact that it would require me to do some thinking that I don't want to do.
5/23/12
Okay this will be a very entry. Today well left for Xi'an. All today consisted of was an extremely long train ride. Big time fun. So I rather not bore you with mundane train ride descriptions.
5/24/12
Okay so for our first full day in Xi'an it was all about terracotta warriors. First we went over to a shop that produces replicas of the warriors. The cool thing is that they still produce the warriors as closely to the original way as they can. As the pictures sow they do a pretty great job and they make for excellent gifts for the family. Next we went over to a palace of one of the emperors favorite concubines.(I don't remember which). As you can see the emperor must have really liked this women because this place is absolutely beautiful. I wish I could have a cool home like this. After the palace we went to see the real deal terracotta warriors. This place was really cool because you always see pictures but its something entirely different in person. The sheer scale of how big the tomb is becomes reality once you set foot into the building. Then another fun fact to think about is the fact they haven't even excavated that much of the tomb. They haven't even made it in too the main burial chamber of the emperor. Makes you wonder what kinds of cool things still remain hidden.
5/25/12
Okay so we've had some long days on this trip so far but this one definitely takes the cake. Okay first we visit the city wall that surrounds a large portion of Xi'an. Since Xi'an is so old its amazing to think that this fortress and its walls still remain in such great condition. From here we headed over to one of the gardens that are in Xi'an, It was a nice change of pace after being around so many people. It was very quiet and they fewer people really allowed you to get a feel for the area. Okay so now for the event that made today especially long. Another train ride. This might not seem so bad till you look at the pictures and see how many people were at this train station. Then realize that because there were only stairs, you have to visualize the work me and Dr. Vartainian had with moving everyone's suitcases down to train level. Then we had to figure out the rooming situation on the train. With so many people on the train this made for a very hectic experience but enjoyable. I got to ride on my first overnight train which was a blast. I look forward to doing it again at some point.
5/26/12
Okay so for our first day in Beijing we visited quiet a few historical places. First the Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City we saw together. Now from the pictures I've seen I thought the city would be bigger and the square smaller. Its hard for me to visualize how the square was at one point completely filled to capacity with people. Also I must say I was a bit disappointed with the Forbidden City. Maybe my expectations were a bit high but I expected something crazier. To be honest for somewhere that has been home to so many emperors it doesn't seem that way. Now this is not me saying that its a dump but with the head of China living here I expected something a bit more extravagant. Like I said my expectations might have been a bit high on this one. Afterwords we got to take a rick shaw tour in a more rural area of Beijing. I think this was my favorite part of the day because it allowed me to see what can be considered the normaler life of Beijing.
5/27/12
Okay so we visited two pretty cool places today, The Great Wall and the Ming Emperor Tombs. So our day started out with us climbing a section of the Great Wall. Now I'll start off by saying. That its a lot easier said than done. For one the walk way is uneven. Its a engineering marvel that its as flat as it is considering where it was built. Two the steps for the stairs go from easy to insane. To explain myself it goes from a inch or two high to almost a foot high. Regardless of the toughness of the journey, I made it to a pretty awesome part of the wall where you could see so much of the country side. In the future I would like to climb it again and further but I'll be much better prepared than I was this time. Next we visited the tombs of some of the Ming emperors. Well to be more accurate we visited the tomb of one emperor and his two empresses. Its a pretty funny situation with this particular arrangement. See this particular emperor was buried at the decline of the Ming. So money was a bit short so they had to bury these three royalty together. When you go inside the tomb though you never once get the feeling of finical issues. For someone with money problems the emperor still made sure he had a nice place for his body to be buried.