Final Thoughts and Final Post

This study abroad trip was one of the most amazing three weeks I've had in my life. All the activities we had, the people we met, and the places we visited will be memories that I will treasure for the rest of my life. First off, I have to give a big thank you to Dr. Peng and Dr. Laurence. Without their hard work and planning, this trip would not have happened. They both did everything they could to make sure that everyone enjoyed the trip and that we all learned from our time in both Japan and Taiwan. I cannot thank them enough for this opportunity and I truly did enjoy everything.

If I had to pick one thing out of the entire trip that I liked the most, it would have to be the people I met. Everyone we met in Japan and Taiwan were extremely nice and were very accommodating. The people I met were a very crucial part in making this entire trip a success and a lot of fun. However, it was not only the people in Taiwan and Japan that made the trip fun and successful, but the other students from UofM - Flint helped too. Going into this trip, I only really knew one other person. By the time this trip ended, I had 13 new friends. I am really looking forward to meeting up with everyone in two years or so, just to see what everyone has been up to and to laugh and joke about everything we did on this trip. By the end of this trip, all 16 of us (the professors included), basically became our own little family. Everyone had a part in making this trip a success and everyone had a part in making this trip as fun as it turned out to be. I am very happy that I decided to go for this study abroad trip and there is not anything in the world I would trade for the experiences I had on it. To any students who have the chance to participate in a study abroad trip with their school, I would say do it. Participating in a study abroad trip is something you will not regret doing.

With all that said, this is it. Finally the end of my blogging. It has been fun and I hope everyone enjoyed reading about what we did everyday. If anything, it will be nice for me to look back through to help me remember all that we did!

The entire group

Looking back on Japan

Japan was awesome. I have been wanting to go to Japan for many years now and it did not disappoint. In such a short amount of time we went to so many interesting sights. From, exploring Akihabara, to visiting Hiroshima, to going to JICA, Japan was an extremely busy (but fun) part of the trip.

I am honestly not really sure what I could say my favorite part of going to Japan was, there was just so much that I enjoyed. However, I believe I would have to say my top three picks (in no particular order) are:

Sumo Wrestling:
Getting to go to the Sumo Tournament was a lot of fun. I honestly did not know quite what to expect when going because I did not really know anything about sumo. After Dr. Laurence told us that each match would last somewhere between two seconds to two minutes, I was trying to figure out how less then 15 matches were going to take two hours or so. I was worried that the time between matches were going to be really slow and the entire thing would become more boring. This was not the case though. There was way too much energy in the entire building. There were people screaming for the wrestler they wanted to win for each match and you could tell that everyone was enjoying themselves. With all of this energy, you could not help it but enjoy yourself. I would definitely go to another sumo tournament if given the chance.

Hiroshima:
This was probably one of the more humbling experiences of the trip. While you learn about the A-bomb in school while growing up, you really cannot comprehend just how damaging it was until you go to a place where it was dropped. The peace memorial and the A-bomb museum in Hiroshima really did make the whole thing more realistic. At a certain part of the museum, you could actually touch tiles that had bubbled just from the extreme heat of the bomb. At other parts, you could read the stories and see pictures from those that were affected either by the blast or by the radiation (most of who all would end up dying). This was one of the more intense experiences of the trip.

Shibuya:
There was quite a bit I enjoyed about Shibuya. First of all, I am not a big fan of cities or crowded areas, but I felt comfortable in Shibuya (actually I felt comfortable in pretty much all of Japan). The other main reason I enjoyed going to Shibuya was the group I was with. Out of the 16 people total (this includes the two professors) about ten of us went to get dinner and explore Shibuya (including a Dr. Laurence). I'm glad Dr. Laurence ended up coming with us because none of us could understand any of the Japanese writing or what was being said to us. Anyway, it was a lot of fun to walk across the world's busiest crosswalk and just see all the different restaurants and shops in Shibuya. All of us in the group that went had a fun time and it really helped us all become closer as well.

Overall, I loved Japan. I liked the food, the people, the hospitality, the sights, just everything. If there was one thing I would have to say it is that there needed to be more time in Japan. Moving to different cities and hotels as often as we did made it a bit hard to truly see and appreciate all the different areas we visited. Towards the end of the trip, once we were done with our daily activities, I was too tired to want to explore the area because I wanted to sleep. However, this was just a minor issue I had. Japan was everything I hoped it would be and more. I really hope I can go back to visit Japan again one day.

Looking back on Taiwan

Prior to this trip, I really did not know much about Taiwan. It is not really a country that you learn much about in school. If I would ever hear about Taiwan, it was usually when the sticker on something I just bought said "Made in Taiwan". Honestly, I was not expecting that much from Taiwan. However, after spending about two weeks there, visiting many businesses, experiencing a few night markets, seeing the sights, and trying some of the weirdest food I've ever eaten in my life, I was just completely blown away by how awesome Taiwan is. Let's break this down:

The Food:
For anyone that knows me, I am quite a picky eater and I am not really that adventurous with food. I decided that, in order to get the most out of this experience, I would try some food. For the most part, I really enjoyed everything I tried. While a lot of the food was different then the kind of food I can get at home, the combination of flavors was delicious.
Top 3:
-Gua bao (A steamed bun that has braised pork belly, pickled Chinese cabbage, and powdered peanuts)
-Fried Dumplings
-Xiaolongbao (Soup Dumplings)

Bottom 2:
-Chicken Feet
-Stinky tofu (lived up to its name, I only hope I never have to smell it again)

Honorable Mention - Beef noodles (quite tasty, just wish I would not have gotten the spicy ones)

The Business Visits:
I definitely saw a wide variety of businesses in Taiwan. I've seen small family shops (like Wang Tea Company) to global companies (like KPMG). While all of the companies were vastly different in what market they are in, all of them did have something in common. All of the companies really did seem to care about their employees and all the employees seemed to care about their company. Being able to foster this kind of relationship is good for any kind of business that wants to be successful. I truly enjoyed all of the different business visits we had and I am grateful for the hospitality and the time given to us from each business.

University Visits:
I am not sure what I was expecting from the University visits, but I was happy with what I found. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) had very nice students and were very welcoming and helpful to all of us during our time in Taipei. I was especially thankful to Anne for making sure our last day in Taipei was enjoyable. Tamkang University had some of the most energetic people I met the entire trip. All of the students that hung out with us all day truly seemed excited to have us visiting. Everyone was friendly and they did everything they could to make sure we enjoyed our time there. I wish we could have spent more time with them, but I did make some friends from there that I still talk to even though I am back home (I know you read this Peggy and I do mean you and Jenny, miss you guys!). Finally, the university with the most beautiful campus in the world (and Dr. Peng's alma mater) Tunghai University. The campus was actually quite beautiful and, just like the other universities, the students and staff really did what they could to make sure we enjoyed ourselves. All of these university visits were a lot of fun and I am very glad we had the opportunity to have them.

Taiwan as a whole:
Taiwan is a beautiful country and extremely clean. To this day, I still do not understand how a country can have so few trash cans, but still not have any trash on the sidewalk or on the ground. Everyone we met or interacted with was extremely friendly and did whatever they could to help us. I am very happy I was able to go to Taiwan and experience everything I did. Taiwan was definitely two weeks well spent and I would urge anyone who has the chance to visit Taiwan to do so. I highly doubt you'd regret it.

Final Day in Japan

Today would basically be split into two parts. The first part was the final business visit to JICA, while the second part would be our free time. We had to leave pretty early in order to make it to JICA on time, which meant we finally got to get a little taste of the rush hour on the trains. This took me completely by surprise. Up to this point, I had not really thought of the fact that we have not really been using the trains during the actual rush hours. We actually got to the train station at the last bit of the rush, so it still was not as bad as it usually is. However, we were still jammed packed into the train we needed to ride on. Thankfully, people got off with every stop, so by the time we were close to our destination, it was not that crowded.

The business we were going to visit was actually a government agency called JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency). JICA is a kind of foreign aid agency of Japan. They do a lot more then just organize and send care packages though. JICA has many volunteers that go to countries that suffer from natural disasters in order to help with relief, but they also have many more volunteers that will go to places like Africa in order to improve the standard of living there. One of the bigger projects they have currently been working on is increasing the level of education in Africa. Not only are they trying to help and make sure the education system is better, but they are trying to make it so that women are also allowed to go to these schools and get educated. In order to make sure this happens, JICA has needed to educate the communities they are trying to open schools in. This way, they can work on getting the schools supported by the community to ensure that they are a success. I think what I enjoyed most about this visit was that it was different then all the other business we have gone to. JICA gave us the view of a company that is trying to help people globally and I was happy to have been able to go in and learn about them.

When the visit with JICA had concluded, it was time to have our final group discussion. Everyone pretty much took this time in order to say what their favorite trip or memory has been so far on the trip. Everyone agreed that everything was extremely enjoyable though. Once the discussion was over, it was free time. The only requirement we had was to be at the train station by 7pm in order to move on to our final hotel by airport.

The House of Ramen

I would end up spending my free time with Carol, Dani, Charles, Ryan, Matt, Paul, Andy, Theresa, and Dr. Laurence. Our first stop was the House of Ramen. This had been a trip I was waiting for. The first floor of the House of Ramen was actually kind of a ramen museum. It had everything from describing the history of ramen to selling different cooking ware in order to properly make ramen. The real treat though was downstairs. After going down about three floors, you reach where the ramen is. This floor was set up to look like a street from the 1950's, they even would broadcast boxing matches from that time. There were six restaurants that all specialized in different kinds of ramens. The normal bowls of ramen were big enough that one bowl would fill you up. So, thankfully, you could order half bowls. I ended up trying two different kinds of ramen. Both were absolutely delicious and I left feeling very full. As we were leaving, I knew that if there was one thing I was definitely going to miss from Japan, it was going to be the ramen.

After leaving the House of Ramen, our group decided we wanted to try and see Mt. Fuji. Since we had the rail passes, we were able to ride the bullet trains for free in order to do so. There were two main stops where you were supposed to be able to see Mt. Fuji. The first one we could kind of see it. It was really far away though and the true size of the mountain was partially blocked by a nearby mountain. So, we moved on to the next stop. This stop was going to give us a clear shot of the mountain. Unfortunately for us, this side of the mountain had rain. Meaning, when we looked towards where Mt. Fuji was supposed to be, all were were able to see the start of the mountain and then clouds. While disappointing, I was glad we attempted to see it at least. Since time was running out by now, we all decided to head back to the Shinagawa station. A few of members of the group decided to try to get massages, while Charles, Ryan, Andy, Dani, Dr. Laurence, and I decided to go to a rooftop restaurant and relax before we left.

If you look really closely, you can see Mt. Fuji

Unfortunately, 7pm did come around and it was time to head to the final hotel. Riding the trains for the last time, we reached the airport where a shuttle would take us to the last Toyoko Inn. What was nice was that this hotel was a lot bigger then all the other ones. Instead of just having a small room that one person could semi-comfortably live in, we had full size rooms (they were bigger then both hotels in Taiwan as well). After everyone had a chance to settle in, everyone made their way to the first floor. We had all decided to spend part of our last night in Japan just hanging out and talking about the entire trip. It was definitely


a great way to end my final day in Japan.

Yamaha and back to Shinagawa

Unfortunately, today was going to be a day that had a lot of running around...with our luggage. First, we had to ride a few different trains (including the bullet train) in order to get to the train station where Yamaha was near. Then, we had to get taxis, load ourselves and luggage into them, and then take a short ride to the actual Yamaha Musical Instrument Factory. Thankfully, Yamaha had a safe place we were able to leave our luggage so we would not have to carry everything around with us for the tour.

Yamaha began by giving us a presentation about the history of Yamaha Musical Instruments. This included how Yamaha began with making the woodwind instruments but then started branching out and made all different kinds of instruments, including strings. Also, they showed us that the top selling instrument was (to everyone's surprise) the flute. Most of us were guessing the instruments like the saxophone or trumpet were the number one sellers, but we were all wrong. After the presentation, we were given a tour of the factory. Like most of the other factory tours we had, pictures were not allowed. This tour was actually quite interesting though. We were able to see the technique they use in order to bend parts of the instrument. I think my favorite part of this tour though was being able to see the guys basically chisel the designs into the saxophone bells. Because they want to make sure the designs do not harm the instrument, but are still deep enough where they will last, they are all hand made. For the designs that are not as important, they are lasered into the instrument. Another fun part of the tour was when we reached the areas where they would sound check the instruments. This was done in order to make sure there were no cracks or anything that they have missed or any other errors that would make the instrument play incorrectly. Because most of the workers there love music, many of them actually know how to play basically all of the instruments they make and are a part of the factory's ensemble.

Following the tour, we were able to get a chance to actually play some of the instruments. There was a room that we were able to explore a bit that, not only had the history of Yamaha, but had many different instruments around that you could try out. They had everything from drum sets, to pianos, to guitars, and even an accordion! I think the drum set, or at least the people who were playing them, were most of the group's favorite part though. Once our time was up, it was basically time to go back the way we came. We collected our luggage, rode the taxis to the train station, and then rode the bullet train back to Shinagawa.

After arriving in Shinagawa, we went back to the Shinagawa Toyoko Inn, which was the very first hotel we stayed in when we arrived in Japan. After we were all checked in, we were given free time for the rest of the night. Dani, Charles, Theresa, Carol, Matt, Dr. Laurence, and I all went back to the Italian restaurant we had the first night we were in Japan. The seven of us just relaxed and talked about what we thought of Japan and what we were going to do the next day during our half free day. The funny part was this was the first and last restaurant I ate at in Japan. With only one more day to go, I was excited to see what we would do the next day.

A day with a bit of everything

Today was going to turn out to be one of the busiest days of the trip. The first thing we all learned was that we would be splitting up into groups. One group would go with Dr. Peng, while the other would go with Dr. Laurence. The three activities we would be participating in that day was going to a Buddhist altar maker, Zazen mediation, and going to a traditional Japanese sweet shop. The basic setup would be that, in the morning Dr. Peng's group would go to the sweet shop, while Dr. Laurence's group would go to the altar maker first. Both groups would then meet up at the Buddhist temple for the Zazen mediation and then the groups would switch and go to the other visit. There was one main difference though. Dr. Laurence's group would be accompanied by our TV friends and they would be recorded for the documentary that was being filmed about us. Dr. Laurence's group included Carol, Matt, Andy, Charles, Laura, and myself.

One of the altars

Since I was with Dr. Laurence, we went to the altar maker first. Right from the beginning, the shop was impressive. There was a big statue on the outside of the building and some of the different altars were some of the first things you saw when you entered the store. We were told here that the altars were mostly used by families to honor their loved ones that passed away. We also learned that most families will pass their altar down for generations. This means that, in order to help themselves stay in business, the shop also offered services in repairing and cleaning altars. Personally, I could not believe the level of detail and the amount of work that was put into each altar. Every altar was its own work of art and very impressive. At the end of the tour, we were given the opportunity to try the gold coating technique they use on altars. Basically, a wooden surface is given a very thin layer of a kind of liquid, set aside to dry, and then the gold strips are put on it. It is not as easy as it sounds though. The gold strips are extremely thin, must be picked up with wooden tongs since they would be destroyed by human hands, and separated by thin strips of wax paper. Just trying to pick up one of the gold strips could prove to be extremely frustrating. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to experience this technique and I was quite pleased with how my bowl turned out in the end.

After we had a chance to buy anything from the store, we were off to the nearby Buddhist Temple. The other group was already there and waiting for us. The first thing we were taught when we arrived was how to use the water basin in order to purify ourselves, which is something you are supposed to do before entering the temple. Once inside the temple, we went straight to learning how Zazen mediation worked. Zazen mediation is supposed to be done at least twice a day and is supposed to help with stress. The proper stance is to sit cross legged on a pillow that is folded in half on the group. Both hands are placed palm-up, with the right hand on top of the left and the two thumbs meeting to form a circle. The back is supposed to be straight and the eyes are supposed to be partially closed throughout the session. Our session began after the monk hit the gong and turned off the lights and ended after the gong was hit again and the lights turned back on. We ended up doing two sessions, a fifteen minute session and an eight minute session. The first session was kind of difficult because my body was not used to just sitting in this kind of position and also because both of my legs ended up falling asleep. The second session was not as difficult and I actually found myself enjoying it. While I do not think I will be doing this twice a day, taking the time to try this mediation out at home is something I might do, especially since it was nice to just sit down and not really think about anything for a while.

Once our time at the temple was up, we split back into our groups. Our group went off to the final stop at the Okinaya Japanese Sweet Company. This business has been around for, if I remember correctly, 150 years and the owner was the 8th generation of the family that started the business. We started by learning about the traditional Japanese sweets, Wagashi, and how they were normally used in formal tea ceremonies. The Wagashi sweets themselves are basically little works of art. I was amazed by all of the different kinds of sweets and just how easy the masters made them look to make. We were given the chance to make three different kinds of sweets ourselves. The owner wold first do a full demonstration, which would sometimes be so fast that I would miss what happened, and then the owner would actually make the sweet with us. While mine really did not look at all like the owner's, I was pretty happy with how they turned out. Next, we picked one of our sweets to eat and then we all participated in the traditional tea ceremony. How this works is, everyone uses a kind of bamboo stick to cut the sweet and eat the smaller pieces. Once the sweet is gone, you drink the tea, but in order to show respect to the host, you have to find the front of the cup and then rotate it so you do not drink from the front section. Not only that, but you are supposed to take three to four sips to drink the tea and slurp the tea up on the last sip. It was all really quite a fun experience.

At the sweet shop

With all of the days activities done, we all headed back to the hotel. We all left soon after we arrived though. This was because we were all headed out for our final group dinner. We were also joined by our television crew friends, the owner of the sweet shop and his wife (who are personal friends of Dr. Laurence) and the interpreter we had at the Buddhist altar maker. The dinner was a lot of fun and I enjoyed being able to talk with everyone and see what their opinions were. Overall, everyone really enjoyed both businesses we went to and to have the chance to try out the mediation. Also, because this was our final group dinner, Dr. Peng handed out certificates to everyone at the end of the dinner. Today really was a very busy day and I was quite glad to be able to go to sleep once we were back at the hotel.

To Nagoya

After leaving Osaka early in the morning, we headed by the bullet train to our next hotel in Gifu to drop off our luggage. After that, we went back to the train station and went to Nagoya University. The campus itself was really pretty. It kind of reminded me of Ann Arbor in that the campus seemed to be settled right into the city. After a bit of walking, we reached the building where we would have a kind of information session about Nagoya University. The room we were lead to almost looked like a kind of board room with its longer tables and project screen. There were already faculty and students from Nagoya waiting for us when we arrived. We had a short information session in which we learned that Nagoya is one of the top Universities in Japan, who some of their university partners are worldwide (UofM is not one of them), and other impressive facts. Right after this presentation though, it was time to head to their cafeteria to get lunch.

The lunch was really good and there were many different options of what to eat (I had ramen and it was delicious). After lunch, we were given a short tour of the campus itself. Like I said before, the campus was quite pretty. Even though this university seemed more like it was a part of a city then the other universities we have been to, it still seemed pretty calm and relaxed. Our tour also brought us to their library which was very impressive. They had a large collection of books, lots of areas for individual and group study, and even televisions that would broadcast shows from around the world. We also saw one of their buildings that honors the four Nobel Peace Prize winners from Nagoya University.

Building with Nobel Prize Winners

Once the tour was over and we were back in the room we started in, it was time to actually talk to the Nagoya University students. I realized pretty quickly that most, if not all, of the students there were going for their masters. We started by listening to two presentations by two of their students. One was a Japanese student, while the other was a foreign exchange student from China. Both of them told us about their daily lives and the expectations from Nagoya University. After that, we were all given time to ask the individual students we were sitting near some questions about their lives at Nagoya University. One fact that I quickly noticed was that not many of them work while going to college and, for the ones that do, they work smaller part time jobs. Next, it was our turn. Each of our groups had a turn to stand up and speak about our experiences as a student at UofM - Flint. Following that, the Nagoya students had a chance to ask us questions. Once we all had a chance to talk for a while, we were told that we had some free time before dinner. Most of us took this opportunity to head over to the campus store and see what they had for sale there. While the store was small, there was quite a bit of food, school supplies, and Nagoya University apparel there. Once our time was up, it was off to dinner.

The dinner was amazing. It was the kind of restaurant where course after course of food was brought out. Every time I thought that the food was done, more was brought out and each one was really good. It was really nice to be able to take this time and just relax and unwind. One of the more interesting parts was that, while we were eating, a large group of students arrived and sat down at the section that was right by us. About ten minutes after they arrived, a professor arrived. It turns out that the group were all engineering majors and one of their professors. They were all joking, drinking, laughing, and just having a good time. The  main reason I found it interesting is that you really never hear about this happening back home. I asked some of the professors from Nagoya that were with us if this was normal and they said it was. Apparently, it is not uncommon in Japan for professors to get dinner or drinks with groups of their students. If anything, this probably helps a bond form and grow, which is useful when the students and professors are going to be seeing each other for the next four years or so. It was actually something I wish could/would happen more back home.

Following dinner, it was time to head back to our hotel. While the day had been really enjoyable, I was definitely ready to go to bed. I was bummed though because, from here on out, there would be no more trips to universities, but I enjoyed each and every one we had been to, both in Taiwan and in Japan.

Mazda and Itsukushima

After getting up in the morning, making sure I was all packed up since we would be leaving for a different hotel that night, and eating breakfast, it was time to head to Mazda for our next business visit. When we first arrived at Mazda, we were able to look around their lobby and at some of their new cars. We also found out we would be taking the tour (since it was a public tour) with students from another university and also with a a man and his wife and son. Once the bus had arrived to take us to the museum and factory, we all boarded and left. While driving, the tour guide informed us that we would be allowed to take pictures in the museum, but not on the bus or in the factory itself.

Mazda's museum was not overly impressive for me personally. It basically just kind of showed the different cars Mazda had made over the years and the innovations that have tried to make with each new release of their cars. However, I really enjoyed the factory. We walked on a catwalk overlooking the end-process of the factory line. I will admit to not have an overly large amount of knowledge when it comes to this process, but I walked with Ryan who works in the factories for GM, so he was able to give me a lot of insight as to what was going on at each station. What I really enjoyed though was when we would hit sections of the factory would Ryan would know what the workers were doing, but he was surprised by the process because of how different it was from what he was used to. Following the factory we were led back into the museum. At least in this part we got to see some of their concept cars, which were actually pretty cool and rather interesting. The final part of the Mazda tour had us watch a short video presentation and then ride bus back to the main office where we started.

Mazda's concept car

After arriving back at the train station and eating lunch, we set off for our next destination of the Itsukushima Shrine. The shrine itself is actually quite interesting. The main attraction to the shrine is the floating gate in the water outside the shrine. The gate is extremely old and it was definitely a very impressive structure. We were all given free time to explore the shine and the surrounding area. Most of us walked out to the shrine in order to get closer pictures and to just inspect it closer. We were able to do this thanks to the low tide. Walking around the shrine itself was actually pretty quick. It reminded me a lot of the other Shinto shrines we saw when we visited the Shinto Shrines and Buddhist Temples in Kamakura. I still really liked the architecture of the entire place, but the gate was by far one of the most interesting pieces there. However, we were on a time crunch to make our next bullet train for Osaka (where we would be spending the night), so we had to make sure we made the ferry back to the mainland in order to catch all our trains. While today did include a lot of walking, it was nice to have the rest of the time be a bit more relaxed. Especially since we all knew that  the next day was going to be a very busy day.

The gate at Itsukushima Shrine

Hiroshima

Today began a bit more hectic then previous days. We had to get up in the morning and catch the Shinkansen (the high speed train) to Hiroshima. Even after riding on the high speed trains a few different times, I'm still amazed just how fast they go. Seeing the landscape fly by is so entertaining and the you do not feel it at all when you're in the actual train. Anyways, so after reaching Hiroshima, we stopped by our hotel so that we could drop off our luggage before heading out to our major stop for the day; the Atomic Bomb Museum and Peace Park.

A-bomb Dome

This turned out to one of the most amazing, information, and almost depressing trip so far. First we walked around the Peace Park. There were some groups singing by the lake (quite talented singers at that), a few areas that looked like you could write wishes for peace, and a few different personal accounts about the A-bomb. One of the most interesting things to look at out there was the A-bomb dome. This was one of the few buildings that survived the A-bomb and also one that Hiroshima decided to preserve in order to remember the devastation from the day the bomb was dropped. It was amazing to see such a solid looking building so destroyed, but still standing. It was hard to stop from looking at it, especially the closer you got. Right outside the dome was one of the more descriptive personal accounts from a man who lost both his parents when the A-bomb was dropped. The story of how his family managed to survive the blast but died later from the horrible effects of the radiation was heart-wrenching.

A-bomb Dome

After everyone had time to explore the park a bit, we all met back up and headed to the Atomic Bomb Museum. The building you enter in starts off by telling the history of Hiroshima and Japan as a whole, all the way back to their founding. I really enjoyed learning about the entire history of Hiroshima. However, there were also some parts that explained just the basics of the A-bomb and about nuclear weapons in general. What I found extremely interesting in here was that they said that, since 1968, the mayors of Hiroshima have been sending letters of protest to any country that does nuclear testing. They even had a copy of all the letters, including the last eight or so, all from the year 2012-2013, that have been sent to President Obama. Some of the letters to countries that have repeatedly ignored the mayors cries for nuclear disarment have been getting harsher and harsher.

After looking through three floors of all this information, I thought the museum had finally reached the end. Then I found out that this was just the warm up. After reaching the end of the third floor, you had to walk across a sky-walk to the second part of the museum. While this part was all just one floor, it was by far the most intense part. This was the part of the museum that actually had demonstrations about just what damage the A-bomb did. Both to the buildings and to people. The damage done to buildings was astounding. They had displays that let you feel the difference from a section of tile from Hiroshima that was not damaged by the blast to a section of the same tile that was damaged by the blast (mostly by the intense heat created). The displays about the people though were the most gruesome. They had some displays that depicted people with their skin literally melting off of their bodies and they even had pictures of some of the victims that had all sorts of boils and injuries from the blast. Some of the worst parts though were the stories. One story told of a boy whose injuries from the blast were so bad that, when he got too thirsty and could not go on anymore, he tried to drink the pus from his boils in order to slake his thirst. There was just so much there that I cannot even begin to really describe just how horrifying the effects of the A-bomb were for some of the civilians. One thing for sure was that when I was finished with the museum, I was glad the exit went directly outdoors, because I really wanted to be in fresh air.

This was pretty much the end of the day. We all met up after the museum, had a group discussion, and then were given the option to head back to the hotel and find dinner there, or to find dinner in here. I ended up finding a pizza place with Laura, Dani, Charles, Ryan, and Andy nearby. From there, we explored more of this section of Hiroshima and then went back to our hotel to sleep.

Hiroshima before the A-bomb

Hiroshima after the A-bomb

A day at the Temples

Giant Buddha Statue

Today was going to be a day full of cultural visits at Kamakura. Kamakura is home to many Buddhist Temples and shrines. Our first train couldn't take us all the way to Kamakura, so we had to transfer to a smaller train that would take us the rest of the way there. Our first stop would be the Great Buddha Statue, which lived up to its name. The statue was about 121 tonnes and 13.35 meters tall (which is about 270,000 pounds and 43.8 feet). The statue is hollow and you could even go inside of it. Getting inside was kind of cramped at first and the staircase was barely big enough for two people to walk up, but it opened up once you got inside. It was really interesting to see the inside of the statue and there was even an informational tablet that explained that, because of the size of the statue, it was built in
different layers and then was put together at the end. While the statue itself was amazing, the outside was also quite beautiful. The landscape was really well taken care of and everything was very peaceful.

Once everyone had time to look around, we all met back up and left the statue. The plan from here was to walk from Kamakura to Kita-Kamakura, while stopping at a shrine and three different temples along the way. The first temple was close by the statue and was absolutely beautiful. The temples themselves had impressive statues inside and were getting a lot of visitors, many of who would pray and then donate some money. Like the landscape at the statue, the outside of the temple was well taken care of. The paths were made by flat stones, the flowers were blooming nicely, and everything was just so calming and peaceful. The next temple was similar to the first, but had many steps that led up to a bigger temple. This temple also had a gift shop where you could purchase trinkets that would give luck in business or even ones that were supposed to make giving birth easier. The view here was spectacular and you were able to get a good look at a nearby bay. The shrine would be our next visit. The shrine itself had many visitors and was impressive, but I think the most interesting part was there was actually a wedding happening while we were there. We noticed the bride and groom getting their pictures taken when we first arrived, but did not realize that the wedding ceremony would actually be taking place soon. The ceremony started as we were all meeting up to leave the shrine, so we stayed and watched it for a while. Unfortunately, since it was all in Japanese, we could not understand what was being said, but it was very interesting to be able to witness something like this, especially since I doubt any of us would have the chance to see a wedding like this back in the United States. Following the shrine was our last temple visit. This temple had a lot less visitors, but this was partially because of how late in the day it was by this point. Also, this temple had a house you could walk through that had a garden in the back. This was not the kind of garden I was expecting though. There was not a bunch of flowers or anything like that, just grass, some trees, and water. However, it all fit together perfectly and sitting at some of the benches and just looking out at this garden was really enjoyable. Sadly, time grew late and it we had to be off to the station to head back to the hotel.

Once we arrived back at the hotel, it was time for our first group discussion in Japan. Most of the discussion was about our initial impressions of Japan and how it compared to Taiwan. Everyone noticed there was some differences, but everyone had really enjoyed themselves since our arrival in Japan. After such a long day though, everyone was really tired and the discussion ended after about thirty minutes. At this point, we had the option to either find dinner by our hotel or go with Dr. Laurence to Shibuya. Shibuya is home to the world's busiest intersection and most of the group decided to go see it. While the day had a lot of walking, being able to see so many famous cultural sites was an experience that none of us regret.

Group Picture

Hitting the ground running in Japan

Edo-Tokyo Museum

Today's activities started off quick. After having breakfast and getting our rail passes from Dr. Laurence, it was off to the train station and to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. The museum itself was amazing. There was just so much information and artifacts throughout the entire thing. I really enjoyed how some of the things were hands on. Like, there was an old-styled classroom you could sit in, an old fashioned house you could walk in (but you had to remove your shoes), and even a rickshaw you could sit in. Seeing so much of this history and just the design of the museum itself was truly an experience I was happy I could have.

Arriving sumo wrestlers

After the museum, it was time for everyone to go off and find lunch. I ended up eating with Dr. Laurence, Dani, Chris, Ray, and Laura. We found a small little restaurant nearby and decided to try it out. We all ended up getting the fried chicken which came with rice, a soup, a salad, and a drink. The lunch was refreshing and ended with enough time for us to go to a store close by called Family Mart in order to grab some drinks before going to the sumo tournament. The sumo tournament was something everyone had been waiting for and it truly did not disappoint. We arrived just as the lower class sumo wrestlers were finishing, which means we got to watch the entrance of the higher class. They came in two groups and the ceremony was quite fun to watch. The matches were short, but the energy in the entire arena from the preparation, through the fight, and all the way to the end of each match made everything extremely enjoyable. Unfortunately, we did not get to see the top two wrestlers (both which had 11-0 records for the tournament) wrestler, but we did see each of them win their own match. The size and power of a lot of the wrestlers was intimidating, one of them even had legs that looked like little tree trunks. After going to this day in the tournament, I could really see why people get into this.

Start of the higher ranked sumo wrestlers

After the tournament, it was off to Akihabara. Akihabara is known as pretty much the best electronic district in Japan. There was an entire stretch that was just lit up by all of the buildings and there was literally everything here. There were arcades, themed cafe's, huge department stores, restaurants, pretty much anything you could ask for. Dani, Ray, Chris, and I explored pretty much all of the main stretch  and a few of the stores, but ended up spending quite a bit of time in an arcade called Club Sega. The arcade was six stories high, with the first three floors being just a bunch of the claw games. From the fourth floor up though, that's when it truly became an arcade. Ray and I played a few games and they were a lot of fun, but I was really enjoying just exploring and checking out the building. Some of the really surprising things were the people at the arcade. I was expecting to see students and younger people, but there was actually a lot of older businessmen, most who were still wearing their suits! They were getting really into the games too. You could tell they were concentrating just as hard, if not harder, then some of the younger kids at their games. I probably could have spent an entire day just exploring this area, so I was a bit bummed when it was time to head back to the hotel. I definitely would like to come back here though, especially if I knew how to read Japanese so that I could understand what some of the places were a little more.

Akihabara

Arriving in Japan

Interviews

The day started early. We had to leave the hotel at 5am in order to make sure we arrived at the airport on time to leave for Japan. The flight itself was uneventful. Thankfully it was only about 3 hours and I spent most of that time watching Wreck-It Ralph and listening to music. Once everyone arrived, it was time to head to the hotel. On the way, I noticed we were being followed by three people. A man, a women, and a guy with a camera. I asked about it and it turns out that, when the last group arrived, there was this camera crew there and they interviewed some of the students and the professors. Apparently, they were doing some sort of documentary and they felt like they hit some sort of jackpot finding us. So, while we were waiting to check into our hotel, they interviewed us outside. They even followed us to dinner after we got settled in at the hotel. They left after that, but I found out later they are going to be coming with us when we go to the sweet-shop and at one other visit to. So this would not be the last time I see them.

Anyways, a large group of us got dinner at an Italian place not far from out hotel. The atmosphere was really nice and, since everyone was done working for the day, there were large groups of men in suits all eating together. Everyone was really friendly and this table of businessmen near our table even came over and cheered us and gave us high fives as we were leaving. After just a little bit of exploration, it was nice to just be able to relax at the hotel for the rest of the night. My first impression of Japan: Busy, but it's going to be a heck of a lot of fun!

By the train station near our hotel

Bottlemate, CL Saxophone Factory, and the last night in Taiwan

At the Bottlemate Factory

Today would be the final day in Taiwan. Tomorrow morning would be when we would fly to Japan to begin the second part of the study abroad. However, we still had a busy day ahead of us. The first stop of the day was at the Bottlemate Factory. While Bottlemate does do perfume, the factory we had just made the bottles that the perfume and other products would be put in. Honestly, the presentation had a rough start. I'm not sure if the company knew that we did not speak Mandarin or not, but the one who started going over the PowerPoint slide show was talking in Mandarin. Thankfully, Dr. Peng got a microphone and translated for us. From then on, the rest of the presentation went quite smoothly. After hearing about the background of the company, we split into two groups. One group was only guys and the other was only girls. The guys left for the tour first, while the girls stayed behind and sampled some of their products. I was actually very impressed by the factory, especially with just how precise the products had to be. Not only were each of the workers checking each product as it passed them, but there were line-end checkers that would go over the finished product one final time. Some of the products that were marked as "defective" only had the slightest of scratches (most of which had to be pointed out) or some other very minor defect, but ones that they noticed. Bottlemate proved to be a company that has very high standards and will do anything they can in order to meet their standards.

Part of the factory at Bottlemate

My favorite saxophone at CL

After leaving Bottlemate and grabbing lunch at a huge mall/department store, it was time to go to CL Saxophone. They started off the tour in a very entertaining way. First, they showed us a video of the history of CL Saxophone, which included a part showing that the original owner's four granddaughters all play the saxophone and have even been featured in commercials and have been asked to perform for prestigious people. After the video, our attention was brought over to the three saxophones out on stage. They then let us try playing them. The saxophones themselves were very beautiful and well crafted. Matt and I went first and then a few other students tried playing them as well. After everyone who wanted to had a chance to play, the tour began. The factory itself really was more of a museum then a factory. The tour we had showed us the history of the company and also a variety of the different kinds of saxophones they produce. At one point, were were even able to make a design on a valve piece of a saxophone that we all got to keep as a souvenir. While the tour was entertaining and the saxophones we were able to see were very beautiful, I wish we could have seen a bit more into the process of  making the saxophones. Especially the beautiful etchings in the saxophones themselves.

With all the business visits out of the way, it was time for our last group meal in Taiwan. We went to a restaurant on Tunghai University's campus. Dr. Chen-Jui Huang and one other faculty of Tunghai University joined us on our goodbye/thank you dinner. The dinner itself was huge. It had everything from shrimp, to fish, to pork, to rice, to ice cream! We all sat around a round table and the food was placed on a spinning tray in the middle. This way, the food was more of a community grab, meaning everyone could just grab what food they wanted and how much of it they wanted. It was really nice to sit down and just talk about everything we had experienced so far in Taiwan. By this point, all of us have become good friends and we all enjoyed sitting and having the chance to just talk about whatever we wanted. I would have to say this was a perfect way to end our trip in Taiwan and I really look forward to seeing what new experiences Japan will bring.

A pharmaceutical company, Giant Bicycle, and another night market

Some dolls at Yung Shin Pharmaceutical

Today began with a visit to Yung Shin Pharmaceutical. This was a rather interesting company visit. The manager of the factory was the first one to talk with us, but he could not speak English. So, he had a translator who would also be the one who would do most of the explanation for the rest of our time there. After watching two short videos that gave a little explanation about the company history, it was time for the tour of the factory. Because of the company wanting to minimize the amount of human contact with the machines and the drugs (which makes sense) we actually did not really go into any of the rooms with the machines. Instead, we walked in the hallways outside the machines and looked through windows into the rooms. There were information about each machine on the outside of the door though. I was impressed the capacity for each machine. Some of them could go through like 30,000 pills per hour! One of the things I liked was the technology of the company. There were even self-driven machines that would transfer boxes of products. I understand why we could not go in and actually inspect the different machines more closely, but I still wish we could have been able to.

Chris Lai from Giant Bicycle

After leaving Yung Shin Pharamaceutical and eating a quick lunch at McDonalds, we headed to the next visit at Giant Bicycles. Chris Lai was the representative that would give us the initial presentation and the tour of the factory. The presentation was very informative and really showed that Giant is a company that is pushing for people to get a more healthy lifestyle through biking. In fact, their CEO at about 72 years old did a bike trip all the way around Taiwan and still bikes to work everyday. Giant even has a company retreat biking event where managers and employees from all over come to Taiwan and do the bike trip around Taiwan. It takes about 8 days or so, but all of the employees love doing it. After the presentation is when we went on the actual tour of the factory. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures here. The assembly line was about how I would expect it to be. Everyone had a specific job for each part of the bike, and the bikes constantly moved down the line until they were completed. There were goals set up around the factory, like how much product should be completed or the maximum amount of downtime any line should have for each day. When we were there, they were pretty much matching or beating all of their goals. Overall, I was extremely impressed by the friendless of the company, the willingness to listen to new ideas (in fact they asked us what we believed they should be doing more of), and the efficiency at which they were completing their product.

In the entrance of Giant Bicycle

With both of the business visits done, it was time to head to the new night market. This one was the Feng Jia night market. Dr. Peng told us that this one was the entrepreneur night market. Basically, this was where people would bring their new products and, if it sold well here, then it would come to night markets all over Taiwan. Since I was not overly familiar with a lot of the products, I'm not sure what was new and what was not. However, I did try some of the chicken's feet that Dr. Laurence bought, but I did not think they were tasty at all. The night market was a neat experience and still a lot different then the one at Shih-Lin, but I still really enjoyed myself there and it was a good way to relax at the end of another great day in Taiwan.

A day at Tunghai University

This day reminded me of a normal school day. I got up in the morning, had some breakfast, and then went to a class. In order to get a better understand of the financial markets in Taiwan, we had a special lecture with Dr. Chen-Jui Huang, a professor from Tunghai University. While I originally thought this was going to be a boring lecture, I was pleasantly surprised. Dr. Huang was a very interesting man and very knowledgeable. He was able to present a lot of information about the financial markets in a way that kept everyone engaged and enjoying themselves at the same time. Some of the main facts that I was very surprised to learn about though was information like Taiwan has had unemployment around 4%, but has also been as low as 2-3%. I was more interested in the "hot topic" in Taiwan right now. This topic is offshore markets in China. For investment purposes (like stock markets), there is one type of stock called an "A share" in China, which is only allowed to be used by the Chinese. However, a decision is trying to be made if the Taiwan people should be able to invest in these "A shares". If this does happen, they will be the first foreigners who are allowed to invest in the market. This is something that is still up for debate though.

Tunghai University

Following the lecture, it was time for lunch. Lunch was at a nice coffee shop right on the campus. The food was actually pretty good and the coffee was delicious. The lunch was followed by a tour of the campus. I had been looking forward to this because of everything Dr. Peng had told us. Dr. Peng got his undergrad from Tunghai University and he would always tell us that Tunghai had the most beautiful campus in the world. I had also heard from my friend Peggy (from Tamkang University) that the campus was very pretty as well. The campus did not disappoint either. The scenery was very pretty and I really liked the buildings. I was surprised how big the campus was too. Out of all the universities we'd been to so far, this is the one that reminded me of a campus like MSU from home. Overall, I loved just how peaceful the entire campus was.

One of the buildings at Tunghai

After the tour and a group discussion about the trip thus far, we met some students from Tunghai. There was about four or five grad students and the rest were undergrads. Each of us told the students our experiences as a college student at UofM - Flint. In turn, one of the grad students and one of their undergrad students told us about what it is like being a student at Tunghai. While there were definitely a few differences, there were not as many differences as I would have expected. We then got a chance to mingle and talk with the students while eating our dinner. The food was really good and I enjoyed getting a chance to talk with the students in a more relaxed setting. 

After eating and talking with the students, we were given the rest of the night to ourselves. I ended up going into the nearby night market with Dr. Peng, Dani, Chris, Ray, Laura, and Thersea. This market was not as big as the Shih-Lin one, but it still had some really good stuff. Specifically, the squid balls and the fried dumplings were absolutely delicious. After spending a good portion of time at the night market, it was time to head back to the hotel and just relax for the rest of the night.

The chapel at Tunghai

Free Day!

I think it can be pretty obvious that one of the main things we were all looking forward to for today was the chance to sleep in. Since checkout was not until noon, we could all take our time in getting up and packing (since we would be moving to Taichung that night). It was nice to be able to have a morning where there was absolutely no rush.

Chang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

Once everyone was up and packed though, this is where we split up. There were three main groups. The first was going to the zoo and a movie, the second was going to the movies and Taipei 101, and the last group (which I was in) was going to visit the Chang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall and then just planned on relaxing. My group consisted of Dani, Chris, Andy, Ray, and Dr. Laurence. We decided to meet up with one of the girls from NTNU named Anne as well. Since none of us wanted to move too much today, we decided to stay at the hotel until we had to check out and then go to the memorial. This got us to the memorial at about 12:30ish. After meeting up with Anne, it was time to do some exploring. The outside of the memorial was very pretty. The building was impressive and the landscape itself was well taken care of. At the center of what seemed to be like a courtyard, you could see an archway, two buildings, and the building that had the memorial to Chang Kai-Shek himself. This was what we decided to visit first. This turned out to be a good idea because we pretty much walked in right when they were starting the changing of the guards. The entire thing took probably about 10 minutes and was pretty intense. It was impressive to see the guards do all the rifle flips and steps and never once move their heads or look anywhere but straight ahead. I watched one guard for quite awhile and I'm pretty sure I never saw him blink either. So far, being able to see this was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Changing of the guards

After the changing of the guard, we headed downstairs and looked at some historical objects of Chang Kai-Shek's. They had a lot of medals, pictures, books, and even two of his cars that were open to the public. Reading some of the inscriptions and reading the history was actually quite interesting. However, once we got done looking around, it was definitely time for lunch. Anne led us to a nice little restaurant nearby. The food there was quite tasty, but I found out there I'm not a fan of bubble tea. During lunch I commented that, if we passed an electronics store, I wanted to stop in because my headphones had broke and I wanted to replace them. Anne told us about this street and mall-type building that is literally dedicated to electronics. Everyone was okay with seeing this so we set that as our next destination.

Part of the outside of Chang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

Turns out, Anne was not exaggerating. The name of the area was the "Digital District" and it lived up to its name. Every store had all sorts of electronics. The mall itself was five floors of a bunch of different stores that had everything from amps, to video games, to computer parts, all the way to  DVDs. This area literally had everyone you could think of. It did not take me that long at all to find a good pair of headphones (reasonably priced as well), but I really enjoyed exploring the area. Once we had pretty much seen everything though, we decided to go to this little coffee place by the train station called Barista Coffee. We knew this would be our last stop before it was time to head back to the hotel to meet with the rest of the group, but we wanted a chance to just sit down and relax. This part actually turned out quite fun since we all just started sharing a bunch of different stories from our childhood and our thoughts on the trip so far. Sadly though, the time got later and we had to say goodbye to Anne and head back to the hotel for the last time.

The rest of the day became as hectic as the rest of the trip has been. After meeting everyone back at the hotel, we all grabbed our luggage, went to the train station, and rode it to Taipei Main Station. This is where we had to get off to get onto the High Speed Rail (or HSR). The HSR was actually quite a bit of fun. The ride was so smooth, the only way I could tell that we were even moving that fast was when we would pass another HSR train going in the opposite direction. It would literally be like a second and the other train would just flash by. Thankfully, once we got to the station at Taichung, the rest of the trip was easy. All we had to do, was go out front, grab a taxi, and head to the next hotel. This hotel is in Tunghai University. The rooms are not as nice as the last hotel, but everything is still very comfortable and, worst comes to worst, we'd only be here until the 23rd (which is when we fly to Japan). While there is a night market close by our hotel, everyone was pretty tired and we all decided to head to bed to prepare for whatever the following day would bring us.

Tours and the sky lanterns

The next day (day seven for those keeping track), was going to be a day full of tours. After breakfast we went outside our hotel and got on a charter bus with some students from NTNU. We also met our tour guide who was a very energetic girl named Jenny. Our first stop was the gold ecological park and museum. Besides the heat, this was actually a pretty cool stop. Part of the stop included an old Japanese house that was meant for a prince (this was back when Japan occupied Taiwan). For reasons unknown, the prince never made it to Taiwan though so the house was never used. Either way, the house was really nice to look at. This part of the tour also had us go through an old gold mining tunnel. The tunnel itself was quite cool and damp, thankfully we had the helmets that blocked most of the water and made accidently hitting the ceiling of the tunnel not quite so painful. Towards the end of the tour we got to see and feel big chunk of solid gold too. I think the only thing that would have made this more enjoyable is if the humidity was not as heavy as it was.

The prince's house from the back

At the gold ecological park

After the gold park, we headed to an old town named Jiufen. This was probably the most crowded place I've been to yet. A lot of the areas we walked through were very small alleyways. Combine that with a lot of people and people trying to drive their mopeds through the alley and there was barely any room to move. However, I could see why it was so busy. There were many small shops set up on both sides of the alley and a lot of them either had some interesting items or tasty looking food for sale. Once we got out of the alley, we found a nice restaurant for a group lunch. After lunch, we had about an hour or so of free time. Because of how crowded the alley was, a few of us decided to just sit in the restaurant, rest our feet, and just talk. Two girls from NTNU named Julie and June stayed with us. I really enjoyed learning about some of the different kinds of music, movies, and activities they like to do in Taiwan. Surprisingly, it seems like karaoke is the major thing a lot of the college kids like to do in Taiwan. Once our time was up, the entire group met up again, got on the charter bus, and headed to our last stop.

Sky Lanterns

Our final stop was the town of Shifen. Here, we would get to experience the sky lanterns. All of us were allowed to chose our own sky lantern and write whatever we wanted on them. There were many different colors to chose from and each color represented something different. I chose yellow which represents wealth. After painting on all four sides of the sky lantern and letting it dry, it was time to set it off. With the assistance of one of the workers there, we got the sky lantern lit and I released it into the sky. While it might be such a simple thing, actually holding it as it starts filling with hot air and then seeing how quickly it floats in the sky when you let it go made the entire experience really cool. The other interesting thing about Shifen is that it is one of the few towns left that actually has a train running through the center of the town. The only warning that the train is coming is the whistle from the train and the whistles from some of the workers to warn everyone of the approaching train. While it was fun to explore Shifen, the day itself had been a long one and I was okay with returning to the bus and returning home for the night. Especially since I knew that tomorrow would not only be the first full free day we would have, but it was also going to be the day I'd get to ride the high speed rail as well, which is something I had been looking forward to the entire trip! So, until then, it was nice to just take the rest of my night and just relax.