Monday, May 25th

This morning we headed to the airport very early. We had mastered the subway and did an excellent job with our luggage. 15 hours later and two hours earlier time wise we landed in Dallas so close to home.

Sunday, May 24th

Today we did not have to meet the group until around 1 in the afternoon. We headed over to the ex-pat district where we visited Navin Gupta of HSBC and his wife's apartment/condo. I believe that today was the most beneficial day business wise for me. I learned so much in the two hours that we spent with that family. He taught us about having confidence, competence, and chandour. Besides all of the great knowledge that we obtained we also got to see what a highly ranked ex-pat lives like which seemed to be pretty comfortable. The view from the 48th floor was incredible. After leaving their place, we all headed back to the hotel to change and go out for one last Japanese meal. We came in early to pack and get some rest because we had to be in the lobby ready to leave at 5:30 am. Our plane was leaving Narita airport at 11:30.

Saturday, May 23rd

Today was our free day in Tokyo. We headed to LaQua and Tokyo Dome City around 11. Tokyo Dome City is an amusement park with rollercoasters and thrill rides that run in the middle of the city around all of the skyscrapers. We spent most of the day there and had Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for supper. We took the subway home and showered to get ready to go to one of the enormous clubs that Tokyo was known for. After a snack a Himalaya Curry (again) we took the subway to Shibuya and met Miki to go to Womb. The club was huge and we paid $40 just to get in and the club did not close until 5 am. We celebrated our last night out in Tokyo accordingly and everyone made it home safely.

Friday, May 22nd

Today we visited Harley Davidson of Japan. The representatives gave us a very good presentation and also let us keep some gifts. We learned a lot about how Harley tries to keep its image consistent even with the variation in the American and Japanese cultures. Afterward, we went to the Sony district where I had my first experience of Dean and Deluca which was really delicious. Next, we visited Sony where we got to see so much new technology. We also got to see/touch the real Spiderman costume and the camera used to film Star Wars Episodes 2 and 3. That night we visited the red light district of Tokyo and experienced Shibuya and the most traversed intersection in the world. It was incredible.

Thursday, May 21st

The first event of today was a classroom meeting to discuss our last few days. After, we took the subway to an area where one of the professors owned a cute kimono shop. There was also a shopping mall in the area that had the 525 yen stores where I bought some really cute dresses. I also found some really cute jewelry in the mall. We had McDonald's for lunch...another consistent meal. After, we went to the Edo Museum before the Sumo Wrestling tournament. The sumo tournament was not at all what I had expected. It moved slower than golf but, when the guys were fighting it was quite entertaining. We took the subway home on our own and went out to Shinjuku that night to a pub. We paid $13 for a beer and left unhappily after just one.

Wednesday, May 20th

Today we woke up very early to head way across Tokyo to Asakusa. The little village was not what I had expected at all. It was over-crowded with people and filled with bakeries and little shops that contained nothing but do-dad souvenirs. Very much a tourist trap. I found a lot of cool buys though. Afterward, Tara, Megan, and I went back to the hotel after the others, had Himalaya Curry for lunch and went to Yoyogi park where we spent the rest of the afternoon. It was one of the most relaxing and best days we had had so far. We also learned a lot about the Japanese while in the park. We learned that they are more accepting of Americans when we are not acting like tourists and we also learned that they are quite fascinated with some of our behaviors. We met a few people while we were there which was also really cool. That night, we went out to eat in Roppongi at Outback for a familiar meal. Excellent.

Tuesday, May 19th

Today we got up and took the subway straight to the all girls' school. We were allowed to only observe a calligraphy class and a tea ceremony class to avoid too much human contact, a prevention mechanism used by the Japanese for the swine flu. After lunch, Dr. Fox instructed a business class in which we took a survey on motivation to see the difference between American boys, American girls, and Japanese girls. After the girls' school we headed across town to the Ernst and Young office where we had a meeting with Tom Brown and then he took us out to eat. We had the best meal yet in the restaurant where a fight scene in Kill Bill was filmed. Then he and Jessie took us to a bar in Roppongi where we had a lot of fun. We took a taxi home and I had my first experience with the automatic opening and closing doors. Way cool.

Monday, May 18th

I woke up today still feeling a little sick but wanted to participate. We had a class for orientation to the Tokyo subway system and then tried our hand at it by traveling to the Meiju Shrine which was beautiful. After killing some time in that area we headed over to the Gekushuin Womens' College. We had curry for lunch...again. But, other than the curry we got to hang out with one of the students named Chiemi. She was super sweet and taught us a lot about the Japanese culture. After observing a few of the classes we returned to the hotel to go to dinner with a different group of Japanese students. We wound up having a lot in common with all of them and making great friends. We went to the Hub English Pub bar after a huge meal and hung out with Sachiko, Cosse, and Yutaka all night. We took the subway home by ourselves...sucessfully.

Sunday, May 17th

Today we traveled. We got an early start to the airport for the three hour flight to Tokyo. I slept almost the entire flight. When we arrived at the Narita airport outside of Tokyo, we took the 1 and 1/2 train ride into the city and then transferred to a ground train that led us to our stop (Sangubashi) in Yoyogi. After we were settled in the Olympic Center rooms we explored Yoyogi and had supper at Himalaya Curry which would also turn out to be one of our favorite places to eat in Tokyo. All of us were tired from traveling so we turned in early for a busy day on Monday.

Saturday, May 16th

Today is our last day in Taiwan. I woke up sick from dehydration all morning which really ruined some plans for a free morning. Finally, once I was feeling better Jenna and I walked around the area of Hotel Flowers shopping for a suitcase to pack all of our souvenirs. Afterward, we caught a cab across town for our two hour Thai massage which was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. Although painful at times, I was much more relaxed after it was over. Then we went to our farewell party at an all you can eat buffet that was huge. The food was amazing. We also visited the night market again at Shilin which was a terrible idea on a Saturday night at 9 o'clock. There were more people there than I think I have ever seen. We returned late to pack for an early start to the airport for Tokyo in the morning.

Friday, May 15th

Today would turn out to be one of my favorite days of the trip. We visited AGV Beverage Co. a place that makes all of the green teas and barley drinks. Afterward, we visited Chung Cheng University where I finally met my pen pals, Julie and Melody who turned out to be so much fun. We did some arts and crafts for a festival that was coming up and had some great food. Later, we toured the university and got to see what their campus was like. After a long three hour bus ride home the group went out to Barcode and Bar Bados.

Thursday, May 14th

Today we visited Joy Enterprise which is a company spread around Taiwan and China that teaches English to school kids. It was an incredible experience to learn everything that was involved with running their organization. We even found out about some opportunities for returning to Taiwan to be a native English speaking teacher. After leaving Joy, we headed to the National Taiwan University where we teamed up with Trey to discuss the business case with other Taiwanese students. They also held a calligraphy class for us where we got to try and draw our own Chinese characters with brush and ink. That night we went over to Taipei 101 and finally went to the top which was incredible.

Wednesday, May 13th

Today we visited the Presidential office in Taiwan. The tour seemed quite long but I learned a lot. Afterward, the group met to discuss the OLPC case analysis in order to be prepared for the next day. Then we went to Party World and got a karaoke room which wound up being a lot more fun than anyone thought it would be. Later, we explored around that area of Taipei and found another night market which was much smaller than the one at the Shilin stop on the MRT. After exploring we were all very tired so we came home to rest and ordered Pizza Hut.

Tuesday, May 12th

Today we loaded the bus at 9 to travel south to Giant Bicycles Co. We had McDonald's for breakfast while traveling since we left early. After about a two hour drive we arrived to take our factory tour. It was amazing to see how efficiently the assembly lines were run to produce a mass amount of bicycles per day. It was also really cool to see how the engineers had made so many different bicycles customized for all demographics. There are bicycles made for women, for mountain biking, for street cycling, and for the elderly which includes a little motor. After we finished the tour of Giant we went to a very nice but also interesting lunch where five courses were served on a lazy susan in the middle of a big round table for us. The food was quite different but I tried as much of it as I could. Next, we visited a Saxophone which was run by the family of the man who made the first saxophone in Taiwan. We also got to hear one of the girls play which was unbelievable. Then, we went to a local winery where we took a tour and also had got to taste all the different wines made there. After the winery and visiting a beautiful orchid greenhouse, it was off to the "love motel." Our suite consisted of a huge bed, an indoor pool, a massage table with massaging showerheads above it, a jacuzzi tub, little fish ponds, a massaging recliner, and several couch beds. There was a 45 minute bus ride back to the hotel following our three hour party but afterwards we all planned on going to the bars around the Taipei 101 area. We took the MRT to the bars and not realizing that almost everywhere had a certain dresscode restricting sandals and shorts, we were turned away by two bars and finally wound up at Bar Bados.

Monday May 11th

This morning we had to be on the bus at 10 to go to a town that specializes in pottery. First, we were allowed to shop and buy souvenirs and later we made pottery ourselves. Later, we went to "Great Roots" a mountainside spa with natural springs. After a very relaxing experience, we had to return to Lishe to pick out our favorite of the photo shoot pictures. When we returned to the hotel a group of us walked to buy me a camera because I lost mine and then we went to Patagonia and afterwards explored the department store which was a bore. We finished with an all American meal from Subway which was delicious.

Sunday May 10th

This morning we boarded our private bus at 9am. An hour later we arrived at a mountainside village with a market. It had the most horrendous smell I had ever experienced. Another hour long bus ride later we arrived at the north side coast beach known as Fulong Beach. There we ate a "Chinese lunchbox" which was different. When arriving on the beach we learned from a former App student who is getting his MBA here that they import all the sand to make the beaches. It was beautiful. While on the beach we all got drunk and went swimming then took a nap on the way home. We stopped at a convenience station where I experienced my first Asian toilet AKA a hole in the floor. We took a three hour nap when we got home and planned to go out to the bars afterward but were just too tired so we walked to McDonald's to get food instead.

Saturday May 9th

Jenna and I were left behind right to start for breakfast which was not comforting at all for our first day in a very foreign country. After breakfast we took the MRT (subway) to a shop called Lishe to get our make-up done and dress in Kimonos for pictures. Throughout the day we saw about three Americans all of which may or may not have been European. After getting pictures we visited a temple and gardens in the area. The weather here is incredibly hot and always sunny. We had our first real Chinese meal which was very delicious. After lunch we had mango ice cream which was a very interesting experience. We later traveled to Shilin to visit a museum. We found out that no English is available outside out the city epicenter so we had to rely soley on Dr. Chen to get us there and back home. We also found out while using the public transportation system the Taiwanese children are fascinated with Americans. Every time we pass them they act as if they have seen a ghost. After the museum we went to the famous night market. It seems as if all 4 million people in Taiwan visit this same night market at the same time. On our way home from the market we met a Taiwanese lady who helped us with the subway and also spoke perfect English. She was incredibly nice and made us feel very welcome in the country.

Friday May 8th

Today we departed from Charlotte very early in the morning. After a layover in Dallas we took the 14 hour flight to Tokyo's Narita Airport. Because of the swine flu, all the passengers had to be examined by airport officials and scanned with a thermal camera before getting off the plane. We also had to fill out a health form with all of our travel plans and our health information. Most of the group was cleared to go inside but the other part were forced to remain on the plane because a passenger reported having a cough and a fever recently. We then boarded a JAL plane for Taipei but were held on the runway because of bad weather. We arrived in Taiwan three hours later only for me to get pulled aside by an official examined up and down and have my temperature taken. Quarantine is not where I wanted to be for three days. An hour and a half later we made it to the hotel to find that the rooms were quite nice. Not nearly like American hotel rooms but still nice. However, we are not allowed to drink the water here so we had to brush our teeth with boiling water from a tea machine in our room. The bed feels like a piece of plywood but its perfect after such a long day.

Pre-travel

So...in approximately 24 hours we will be loading a plane in Dallas for the long flight to Tokyo. I'm very excited about the trip even though I know it's going to be incredibly long.