Sayonara from Tokyo

It's about 5:30am on Sunday morning, and we're just about to do the impossible---travel backwards in time! Our flight leaves at 11:10am and arrives in Washington at 10:40am on the same day. I love how that works! We'll see many of you in Pittsburgh around 1:40pm on Sunday (United flight 7559).

We hope you enjoyed following us on our Asian adventure of a lifetime! Until next year...sayonara!

It IS the happiest place on earth!

Matt and I will probably both have posts today as we each ventured out into Tokyo. We initially had a company visit scheduled this morning; however, they emailed Matt and I the day we were leaving and said that the government was restricting their ability to meet face-to-face with anyone from North America because of the swine flu. So, we ended up having a full "free" day today. Several of us met at 7 AM and faced our first challenge of dealing with the Tokyo Metro system. It is like NOTHING you've ever seen before. Even though we wrote down the stops/transfers we needed to take, the maps in the Metro station were all in Japanese. To give you an idea of what we were looking at, click here. This is the English version and it's even difficult to decypher! Of course I didn't find this map until now; might have been a big help earlier! A nice, young, Japanese businessman who spoke English (thank goodness!) stopped and asked if he could help us. We'd probably still be in the Metro station if he didn't! Props to Hilary; she did a great job navigating us through most of the way.

Before we even entered the park, we had to purchase rain gear--imagine that! Yes, it rained off and on all day, so it was worth spending the money. It also was in the low 60s, but there were still plenty of visitors. I would guess that it was their number 1 seller today! I opted for the one that makes me look like Minney.

Disneyland was great! There is something magical about being there. We enjoyed watching the children having fun and listening to them laugh. It was interesting to see the differences and similarities between Disney Tokyo and Walt Disney World. Regardless of which one you visit, you will experience the same feelings--it IS the happiest place on earth! It was also fun to watch April experience a Disney theme park for the first time. Not only was it a Disney experience, but a cultural experience as well. Five of us were the only caucasians (at least that we saw) and I think we have a different perspective on what it is like to live as a minority in the US. People have stared at us quite a bit and it does become uncomfortable at times. They are kind, however it does make you feel a little different. I'm not sure I could have taught my students or myself a better lesson in the classroom.

Mt. Foggy

Regardless of how much rain we had in Hong Kong, yesterday was probably the worst day of weather that we've had on the entire trip. Everything we tried to do didn't seem to work out. Our trip out to Mt. Fuji took about an hour more than it was supposed to because we got stuck in traffic induced by a three-car accident. Then we found out that we couldn't go up to the highest lookout because it had snowed the night before. As a result, the closest we got to Mt. Fuji was the first picture below; so at least we can say that we saw the top (kind of!).

We then drove another hour to the resort town of Hakone where we ate lunch and then took a cruise on the largest lake in the area. We were supposed to take a sky ride through the area, but of course that was closed because of the weather. They took us to this area where you're supposed to see the vapors of the hot springs come out of the ground and where they make black hard-boiled eggs in the sulfur springs. Needless to say, we didn't see anything; but we certainly smelled the sulfur!

Even if it weren't foggy, we probably wouldn't have seen anything because we were trying to deal with the 50-60 MPH winds that we faced up there as well. As you can see, we had many umbrella casualties from the wind. I'd imagine that the Sunshine City Prince Hotel will be reluctant to lend any more umbrellas to Duquesne students! On the way back to the hotel, we got stuck in more accident backup; coupled with the rush-hour Tokyo traffic, this made the trip home last about three hours!

And Now For Something Completely Different...

After about two full weeks of cultural immersion, we were back in the classroom yesterday in our joint program with Rikkyo University in Tokyo. Unlike some previous years where the presentations were more ad hoc, our students had spent some time at home preparing their 15-minute presentations. Yesterday they shared these presentations in small-group breakout sessions with their Japanese counterparts, who did the same with them. Then the two groups prepared a joint presentation to give to the entire session at large.

Some random thoughts about the presentations: It was impressive to have the Japanese students give their presentations in English. They did a great job at something that takes a lot of courage. It's one thing to have a private conversation with someone in your second language, but to give a presentation in front of a group of about 50 people is another story. We can't understate how impressed and grateful we are at their efforts. That girl standing next to Ryan, who was from Germany via New Zealand (?), was the tallest woman that we've seen so far. Ryan is on a riser, and she is on the floor! Adam looked so at home with that microphone; we're thankful that he didn't bust out into a song, although you could tell that he wanted to!

Today we're off for a day-long trip to Mt. Fuji. We're not really sure what the itinerary is for the day, so stay tuned!

Ready to Take a Chance Again

No jolts, no surprises. We spent the whole day on Monday visiting Hong Kong's sister-former-European-colony, Macau. (Okay, that's probably not how they refer to it, but you get what I mean.) While Macau is currently known for its casino business that more than doubles the total amount of money gambled in Las Vegas, our day-long tour consisted mostly of the Portuguese colonial relics that are still in the city. We did, of course, make a few "deposits" at the Wynn casino before we left. I mean, it's all about the cultural immersion, right?


When we got back to Hong Kong, four of us visited Peter the Tailor (I'm envisioning that name to come across like Russian emperor Peter the Great.) to have the final fitting of the suits that we purchased. I was even able to get my card displayed among the other esteemed customers. Take that, CEO of 3M!

Now we're in Tokyo for the last leg of our trip. We're off to our program with Rikkyo University this afternoon, so stay tuned for some more pics from that.

Singing in the Rain (maybe not singing...)

As Matt mentioned, we've been wet rats since we've arrived in Hong Kong. As you can see in our most recent group photo (below), we are not without the umbrellas. To catch us up, there are also additional group photos from the past week or so since we were not able to post any when on the Mainland. Matt will enlighten you further on our trip to Macau. Just know that no one can quit their day jobs (bummer!).



Terra-cotta warriors factory tour in Xi'an.



Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an.



After biking 9 miles on top of the city wall in Xi'an.



On the boat after our Dim Sum (or should I say Dim Yum!) lunch in Hong Kong.

All Around Hong Kong

Today we had our whirlwind tour of Hong Kong in the rain. Even though it did basically rain all day, it didn't put too much of a damper (get it? damp-er?) on the tour. Highlights of the tour included a visit to Victoria's Peak, shopping at the Stanley Market, a dim sum lunch on the floating Jumbo Dinner Boat, and a two-hour cruise through the port. We rounded the day off with one of the best dinners that any of us has ever had at the Peninsula Hotel, one of the most famous hotels in Hong Kong.

Today we're off to Macau for the day, so we should all come back as millionaires after visiting the casinos!

Panda-monium*

Yesterday was another highlight of the trip as we visited the panda breeding center before we left Chengdu. After hearing the story of the panda and its lifestyle, it's amazing that it's still around after 8 million years on the Earth. The center had two types of pandas: the giant panda with which we are all familiar and the red panda. We probably learned (and saw) more about pandas breeding and giving birth than any human needs to. Nature can be so disgust.....er, beautiful sometimes!

After the panda breeding center, we flew to Hong Kong where we were greeted with rain, rain, and more rain. According to the forecast, it unfortunately looks like most of our time here is going to be a washout. Hopefully we can get a few dry spells, especially while we're visiting Victoria's Peak and taking our harbor cruise today. Stay tuned for some more foggy pictures... Oh, and I'm able to post again; the evil web of censorship does not extend here!

*Faithful readers of the study abroad blogs will recall that I've recycled this pun from a few years ago. It is my hope that you'll excuse this lack of creativity, but that's such a good pun that I couldn't resist using it again!

Giant Buddha

Yesterday we ventured out into the Sichuan Province countryside to the city of Leshan, home of the world's largest Buddha statue. As you can likely see from the pictures, I'm inclined to believe their claim. 

Interestingly enough, Leshan lies on three rivers and looks a lot like Pittsburgh.

Today we're off to the panda preserve in the morning where I believe that several people will be paying a pretty penny to hold a baby panda. Then we fly to Hong Kong in the afternoon. Thankfully, I should be able to make the posts myself from there! 

Chengdu Becomes ChengDUQ

We arrived in Chengdu around noon today after a slight delay in exiting the plane. Someone a few rows up (not from our group, thankfully) had (gasp!) a fever, so the authorities had to come on to check him out before we all could leave the plane. After lunch we visited the site of the home of Dufu, one of China's two great national poets. 

This one lived in the eighth century during the Tang Dynasty (mmmm.....Tang---I've been dying to use that joke), and it

 turns out that his home has been turned into a lovely garden. Unfortunately, the stone pathway across the pond bested Ryan, who received an unexpected dip in Dufu's waters.

 

In the evening we had another group dinner, where Jen met a new friend as pictured below, and then went to a traditional show. 

The best description I have for the show is a kind of Chinese Vaudeville with a bunch of different, seemingly unrelated acts. The only thing that was missing was the bawdy humor, but I guess there could have been some in the songs that we couldn't understand. The two highlights of the show were a shadow puppet performance---that was very cute until a shadow fox killed, dismembered, and swallowed a shadow bunny!---and a "face changing" show. I was initially expecting to see Nicolas Cage and John Travolta reprising their roles from Face/Off, but it actually consisted of some dancers changing their masks impossibly fast with a couple fire breathers thrown in for good measure.

 

Tomorrow we've got an early morning because we hit the road for a few hours to see the Giant Buddha in Leshan. Now I know that you've probably seen some big buddhas in your local Chinese restaurant, but this is apparently the largest one in the world. It dates back to---you guessed it---the Tang Dynasty! See how I artfully tied that post together? 

In Chengdu

Here we are in Chengdu, everyone accounted for and all in one piece.

Tea for Eighteen

Today we had a relatively light day on the schedule. It started with a visit to the Shaanxi Province Historical Museum where we learned more about the main dynasties (Qin, Han, and Tang) that called the Xi'an area their capital. 

Afterwards we had a traditional Chinese tea ceremony where we tried five different varieties of tea including several Oolong teas, which of course have to be brewed an Oolong time. (An old joke but a classic!) 

The afternoon was free time, and many of us walked around the Muslim quarter and market located near the drum tower.

Thus ends our tour of Xi'an, the ancient capital of China for over 1100 years. Tomorrow morning we're off to Chengdu, where we'll be until early Saturday afternoon. We'll sign on from there, and we hope you're enjoying our newly posted pictures thanks to Laura's husband.

Thanks again for your help!
--Matt

Yes, Even Though it has an X in It, You Pronounce It "She On!"

Greetings from the second stop on our journey, the ancient Chinese capital of Xi'an. We arrived this morning after what amounted to many of our first overnight train ride. As you might imagine, three or four people crammed into sleeper cabs no more than six and a half feet wide aren't able to get a whole lot of sleep; but it was a whole lot of fun.

On our last free day in Beijing on Sunday, most of us took the new high-speed train to Tianjin, the port city closest to Beijing. Thank goodness we had Jeff, one of the terrific Chinese host students, with us because it was next to impossible for us to communicate with anyone there. We all can't understand why, when locals tell them where to go, the cab drivers in every city still don't seem to have any idea where to go. Isn't that part of their job, to know where tourist attractions are? It can make it maddening to travel somewhere in the city. 

Today we took a spin around the 9-mile city wall in Xi'an on rented bikes. The distance wasn't close to the toughest part of the trip. That is reserved for the cobblestone paving on top of the wall, complete with thoughtfully-placed, impossible-to-miss potholes.  

It was such a clear day with little or no visible pollution. That's even more rare than a Beijing driver who doesn't beep the horn every 10 seconds. Tomorrow we've got a full day starting with a visit to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda followed by the Terra Cotta Warriors and a dinner show.

Warriors, Geese, and Dumplings, Oh My

Today we visited the so-called Eighth Wonder of the World that is the Terra Cotta Army of warriors. It seems as if there are at least a half a dozen places in the world with the same title, but this is China's iteration. The army was built to guard the first emperor of unified China's tomb in the afterlife. The sight of 6,000 or so clay soldiers, ranging from 5'8" to 6'5", in the largest of the three pits is truly a wonder to behold. If only you could behold it as well via a posted picture. Alas, Laura's husband has offered to come to our rescue and post some pictures for us. We'll get it all straightened out in a day or so. Take that, Chinese censors!

Before we ventured out to the Terra Cotta museum, we made a stop at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, which should not be confused with the Little Wild Goose Pagoda located across town. Shame on you if you mistake the two! What were you thinking? 

For dinner we had a dimpling banquet of something like 18 different kinds of dumplings. Fear not, those of you who think we're not eating. The waitresses at dinner would yell at us until each of the baskets was finished when they tried to give us the next round. They would explain what was in each kind of dumpling when they set them down. We were usually able to understand them, but it was with some trepidation that we ate "spoiled dumplings" (boiled) and "baby Smurf dumplings" (?). Dinner concluded with a show that transported us back to the Tang Dynasty period with music, dancing, costumes, and a guy who could make trumpet sounds with his mouth. Oh, to have lived in the Middle Ages... 

After such a full day, most of us were exhausted upon our return to the hotel. Tomorrow we're spending our last day in Xi'an, and then it's off to Chengdu on Thursday.

Warriors, Geese, and Dumplings, Oh My

Today we visited the so-called Eighth Wonder of the World that is the Terra Cotta Army of warriors. It seems as if there are at least a half a dozen places in the world with the same title, but this is China's iteration. The army was built to guard the first emperor of unified China's tomb in the afterlife. The sight of 6,000 or so clay soldiers, ranging from 5'8" to 6'5", in the largest of the three pits is truly a wonder to behold. If only you could behold it as well via a posted picture. Alas, Laura's husband has offered to come to our rescue and post some pictures for us. We'll get it all straightened out in a day or so. Take that, Chinese censors!

Before we ventured out to the Terra Cotta museum, we made a stop at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, which should not be confused with the Little Wild Goose Pagoda located across town. Shame on you if you mistake the two! What were you thinking?

For dinner we had a dimpling banquet of something like 18 different kinds of dumplings. Fear not, those of you who think we're not eating. The waitresses at dinner would yell at us until each of the baskets was finished when they tried to give us the next round. They would explain what was in each kind of dumpling when they set them down. We were usually able to understand them, but it was with some trepidation that we ate "spoiled dumplings" (boiled) and "baby Smurf dumplings" (?). Dinner concluded with a show that transported us back to the Tang Dynasty period with music, dancing, costumes, and a guy who could make trumpet sounds with his mouth. Oh, to have lived in the Middle Ages...

After such a full day, most of us were exhausted upon our return to the hotel. Tomorrow we're spending our last day in Xi'an, and then it's off to Chengdu on Thursday.

Yes, Even Though It Has an X in It, You Pronounce It As "She On!"

Greetings from the second stop on out journey, the ancient Chinese capital of Xi'an. We arrived this morning after what amounted to many of our first overnight train ride. As you might imagine, three or four people crammed into sleeper cabs no more than six and a half feet wide aren't able to get a whole lot of sleep; but it was a whole lot of fun.

On our last free day in Beijing on Sunday, most of us took the new high-speed train to Tianjin, the port city closest to Beijing. Thank goodness we had Jeff, one of the terrific Chinese host students, with us because it was next to impossible for us to communicate with anyone there. We all can't understand why, when locals tell them where to go, the cab drivers in every city still don't seem to have any idea where to go. Isn't that part of their job, to know where tourist attractions are? It can make it maddening to travel somewhere in the city.

Today we took a spin around the 9-mile city wall in Xi'an on rented bikes. The distance wasn't close to the toughest part of the trip. That is reserved for the cobblestone paving on top of the wall, complete with thoughtfully-placed, impossible-to-miss potholes. If I could post pictures (I guess they'll have to wait until Hong Kong on Saturday), you'd be able to see that it was such a clear day with little or no visible pollution. That's even more rare than a Beijing driver who doesn't beep the horn every 10 seconds. Tomorrow we've got a full day starting with a visit to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda followed by the Terra Cotta Warriors and a dinner show.

Beijing Shopping Spree

Yesterday we started the day with a visit to the Olympic Park where many of us toured the Bird's Nest Stadium from last year's olympics. After that we headed to the shopping mecca that is the Silk Street Market, a six-story labyrinth of stalls selling almost anything you can imagine. This is definitely the place where you've overpaid if you can't get at least a 40% discount off of the initial price. I think Sam got the best deal, buying some alligator shoes priced at 3480RMB for 680RMB. He's planning to wear them in Macau, so when you see them you will surely agree that they're something to behold!

Today is our last day in Beijing. A lot of us are taking the high-speed train to Tianjin for the day, while the rest are going back for round two at Silk Street. We'll be taking the overnight train to Xian tonight, so I'll sign on again there. Hopefully the censorship net hasn't been cast that far!

This Post Is Censored Courtesy of Your Friends, the Chinese Government

It seems as if the subversive nature of our blog has drawn the ire of the Chinese government because we can no longer access the blog or the site used to make posts from a computer. Thus, I am relegated to posting from my phone until further notice. Unfortunately that means I can't add any pictures. Hopefully we regain access soon, but the problem could last until Hong Kong.

Yesterday we had a great day at the Summer Palace, my favorite place in Beijing. (You were dying to know which was my favorite, right?) Adam put on a show by turning the tables on the street vendors and trying to sell his walking stick to unwitting passersby. In the evening we had a final dinner with the Chinese students at a revolving rooftop restaurant. Today we're headed to the Olympic Park in the morning and then to the Silk Street Market, where we're planning to negotiate some prices that would make Monty Hall blush. (Would our students understand that reference? Ugh, sometimes I feel so old!)

Goodness, Gracious, the Great Wall and More!

On Thursday we visited two of the most famous sites in China and in the world, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China. We left the hotel at 8:30 in the morning and didn't return until 6:30 at night, so everyone was certainly exhausted after the day. This was my third visit to both of these sites, and it never gets old. I've always wondered why they needed a defense wall in such a treacherous mountain range; I guess you can never underestimate those Mongols!


It was amazing that we actually had any time to see these sites, though, because Chinese tourists spent the whole day asking to take pictures with us. The guy in the white shirt on the very left in the back row above is an example.

Mmmmmm, Duck!

Yesterday we had a slight change of plans. We didn't go to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Instead, we had to move one of our lectures that was originally scheduled for this morning to Wednesday afternoon. That means that today is the Best of Beijing Sightseeing Tour, as we are going to the Forbidden City in the morning and the Great Wall in the afternoon. We'll see if everyone makes it downstairs at 8:30 because I heard some of them come in at about 3am this morning. That's right; you guys can't pull anything over on me!In the morning yesterday we had a tour of campus with several of the Chinese students who will be with us through Sunday. Several of them are planning to study for a semester in the US this fall, but unfortunately one apparently got terrible advice because she is headed to Ohio (Miami U.) instead of PA. It's really a shame that she is so misguided. During our walk some of us were invited to join in the Phys Ed classes that were going on, so as you can see below, Adam took on all challengers on the basketball court, and Laura held her own in badminton. I was even able to show the students that I have some semblance of athletic ability by successfully playing catch with some of the BJTU baseball players.

In the evening we had one of the signature dinners of the entire trip, the Beijing, "Don't Call it 'Peking,' Duck dinner. This was most of our first experience of a full, authentic Chinese meal, and I think most of us would agree that it's significantly different from the Chinese food that we're all used to in the US.

Just Ducky Tours

Our first full day was fun-filled and action-packed. Most of us slept like rocks (considering the beds are rocks) after our previous day of travel, and were ready to experience the culture. We began our day with breakfast at the hotel. Wait, let me clarify that...we attempted to begin our day with breakfast at the hotel. Definitely not what we're used to and once I saw there was no coffee, I passed. Actually I couldn't tolerate the odor coming from the food (I think it was too early!). I was proud of some of the students who gave it the old college try.

After meeting 4 Northern Jiaotong University (NJU) students, they took us for a campus tour. There are about 10,000 students; the same as Duquesne. The student guides were very nice, and Matt and I were proud of our students for engaging in conversation with them. Some students played sports with other Chinese students. Matt was playing catch (baseball), Laura played a little badminton, and Adam shot some hoops. The campus has a couple gardens that were serene.

We then ventured out to have our first Chinese lunch and went to a noodle place. It was interesting to eat them with plastic chopsticks -- actually it's a cruel joke since the Chinese have a difficult time doing so. Everyone seems to enjoy it and all manners were out the window!

After lunch, we had our first lecture on how to begin a business in China. It was a slight change in the schedule as the professor's availability had changed. It was very interesting to see how foreign firms can be successful and our students seemed to enjoy it.

Finally, dinner was held at one of the Peking duck restaurants and Rai (our professor contact at NJU) along with one of his colleagues treated us to an amazing experience. We tried many local dishes including lamb, beef, pork, snails, duck liver, tofu, duck soup, local vegetables, and of course, the world-famous Peking duck. Some students were a little more brave than others. The service was spectacular and our hosts were honored that we were so willing to embrace their culture. Most of us used chopsticks and were pretty good with it (no slippery noodles this time!). The huge lazy Susan in the middle of the table was fun as well.

Many of us hit the wall (pun intended) and are exhausted after our busy day. The old people (at least this one!) fell asleep as soon as we arrived back to the hotel. On Thursday, we'll visit the great Wall and the Forbidden City. Both of which will be exciting for all!