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.