A Final Thought

The time that I spent in Taiwan has been the most fruitful and rewarding experiences that I have ever undertaken. I have not had the opportunity to travel and experience other cultures and after spending my time there, it has made me even more excited to travel in life.

After returning home I have had emptiness feeling that has stayed with me. Taiwan has so much to offer and the friendships and bonds that were forged are important to me and are a major source of my “Taiwan withdrawals’”.

Professor Peng and his staff spent a tremendous amount of time and effort preplanning and re-planning this trip to ensure that it was a success. This trip was not only a success, it was an absolute smash. I feel my life is much richer having been apart of this lucky group. I would recommend this program to any student who has any aspirations to learn and grow as a student and a person.

Meining Workshop

Meining workshop is the birthplace of the Barbie legacy. Barbie Dolls entered the homes of more than 100 million girls worldwide throughout its long history.

In their town, the people have done a marvelous job of transforming its identity from being a dependent Mei Ling workshop without a vision of its own. To where they are now, a place where barbie continues to surge after divorcing Mattel at their long and fruitful marriage.

I feel empowered after seeing the people move on and remain positve without carrying any negative emotions.I the people of Flint can learn from Mei ling’s resilience in how to rebound and transition into new town.

The Joy's of Papermaking.....who knew?

The science of making paper dates back to the 2nd centery BC. Papermaking is considered one of the Four Great Inventions of Ancient China. The science of papermaking is not only one of the greatest inventions known to man, it is in my opionion one of the most beautiful artforms.

In Taiwan we had the opportunity to visit the Pi-Li Paper Plant. There we were given a tour of the factory and a short history of the art of papermaking. Later, We created our own paper through the thousand year old process. The process wasn't as difficult as I would have expected, but it is nothing short of genious to create something so benficial to man.

Its safe to say that we really enjoyed our time and the people here at Pi-Li. Very greatful for the memories and opportunity.

How to catch a goat?

How to catch a goat was the theme of the speaker today. Memphis Han told us a detailed story of yachting with friends and what it means to yacht.

I have never had an inside view of the fascinating world yachting until today. “Why does someone chase the cheese”? What is it that drives an already wealthy person to become wealthier? How does one man take a company to create 10 million dollars in profit and taking the money and cashing out; and what makes a man create that same 10 million and in turn sow his earnings back into the company to make more with for him and those others involved.

The answer to this riddle can be summed up in this brief story of goat catching. One afternoon, three men who came to a small island anchored their yacht and decided to camp in this small town of only 15 townspeople. These three men, as darkness was setting, managed to set up camp for the night to sleep so they would be well rested for the day of exploring at sunrise.

Their day had begun with an early hike to awaken the mind and body. When returning to camp, the men agreed that they were hungry and needed much food. While coming to port the previous day, one gentleman remarked that it should be their plan to catch goats and to make a bbq for the entire town. So on this day as planned, the three men agreed that they would catch the go to prepare for the evenings feast.

In this small town their were many goats to catch, even though being a small town with wild goats; these three men felt it best to secure permission from the owner of these goats, knowing that these goats have not always been wild goats.

There inquires led them to a small man who gave them the permission they were seeking, and offered his luck, and saying that these are wild goats and will act as wild goats do.

So setting off into the afternoon, off and away to were these goats graze, these three men realized that there were so many goats, and so few of them. They must strategize and come up with a working plan to capture these wild goats. After a few moments of thought, they concluded that they would corner the goats, and once corned, they would cast the nets about their goat and voila!

This plan was of no avail, the three men failed after many attempts to seize the wild goats. In every direction the goats would scatter until they were too far out of reach to be netted.

The idea behind chasing goats and money isn’t in the actual catching the goal, the reward lies in the chase. The gain and satisfaction is truly enjoyed and appreciated through the challenge of the hunt.

Back in the states

Giant Size Life

My childhood was filled with tons of memories of me riding bikes. In fact, I can still remember how ecstatic I was when I brought my first bike home from the store. This banana seat bike, I did ride the entire day until I had mastered the capricious art of pedaling and steering.

On our visit to Giant bike, I was transcended back to childhood when I spent my summer days traveling up and down the streets soaking up as much sun and fun as humanly possible. Although Giant bikes provide you with as much fun as you would like, it is much more than just bike company; Giant bike’s goal is to build a cycling lifestyle for Taiwan and for the world. The benefit of a cycling lifestyle offers you and healthy and fit future.

While touring the production facility in Taichung our group was allowed to take a look of how the Giant bikes are created. The production style resembles that of the “the new kid on the block” Toyota Motor company. At Giant, the employee’s on the production line work skillfully with help from their neighbor. The machines reminded me of Willie Wonka the way each one ticked and tocked and led each component to a further station nearer to completion.

In the presentation our speaker talked about the three revolutions that Giant faced throughout their climb to one of the leading bike manufactures’; In the early eighties they faced their most detrimental scare when Schwinn, the leader in bike sales, decided to spread their manufacturing base across industry. This put Giant in a position where they had an option to fold em or step up and evolve; they chose the latter.

Giant is a solid company that has a clear direction, and has a solid footing in the cycling community for years to come.

Falon Dofa

Falon Dofa

Wall Street

Is greed good? A timeless question posed from one of Hollywood’s most infamous capitalist. Atop the 101 building, Inside of KPMG Taiwan I felt as if we were thrust inside the world of one Gordon Gecko, A major player in the 80’s film Wall Street, who accumulated an immense fortune while brokering massive mergers and Leveraged Buyouts.

Inside of the swanky suite we sat discussing challenges and global trends that we face in business today and of tremendous opportunities that lie on this small island. Sitting there, I could not help from fading in and out of fantasy land; picturing myself seated at that very table, reviewing earnings for the year’s end and probing staff to see if we have met our years projections. Snapping me back to reality was a noisy helicopter passing swiftly below our 68 floor suite.

The question of whether or not is greed good seemed to become less and less relevant. From the amenities like personal yoga lessons and back massages which are offered to KPMG employees. These benefits allow you to shed the stresses of work and city living almost instantly. Without greed could all this be possible? How soon before I am able to enjoy such lavish living?

Preparing for our descent, we were herded and packed tightly into one of the 45 computer operated elevators, inside the second largest building in the world.

Day 3 Part 2

Day 3 Part 2

This afternoon we had a guided tour of the Confucian temple in Taipei, which was so enlightening. Scott, who was our English speaking guide, led us through the history of what only grazed the surface of Confucianism and what it means to be Taiwanese.

Seemingly everything in Taiwanese culture is rooted in some type of meaning; each temple is constructed with a purposeful and guided direction. The sculptures that bordered the outside of the temples were especially appealing in how they told detailed stories of former humble kings and patient brothers.

When you hear the stories and the meaning behind the stories it affords you the opportunity to understand of the actions of this culture. By yielding yourself to the Taiwanese way of life, it is an absolute certainty that you will gain so much more in return.

Day 3 Part 1

Day 3 Part 1

I’m riding on the bus on our way to the museum, I can’t seem to ignore the fact that there are seriously like a 7/11 store on every street. I think they may be like the speedways back home. I mean, yea there are tons of people packed onto a tiny island but really, how many slurpee’’ do you need?

Were staying at the chaiting youth center, and I must say the campus is really beautiful. Since we arrived to check in yesterday afternoon I’ve seen the grounds staff tirelessly working to trip hedges or sweep the walkways.

Day 2 Part 1

My day started off with a very early a.m. run with Gannon and Arianna, which helped to kick start my day.  It is really astonishing to see how much America culture has an effect on the people of Taiwan; the people were so excited to see us, they blew their horns at us and waved while they passed speedily on their scooters and in their cars.

Spending time jumping from bus to train and back and forth has afforded me the opportunity to come into contact of with the people and has given me the chance to practice some of broken mandarin hahaha. It was a thrill trying to master some new phrases and doing it with the correct enunciation.

Day 1

Made it into Taiwan today after a loooong united airlines flight. I managed to knock down  two chapters in my new read ("How I found freedom in a Unfree World"), a couple in flight movies, not to mention ALL the free food I could get my hands on.We experienced some delays flying in, which wasn't a big deal for us; However we are stilling missing four other group members. Not to worry, they should arrive by morning from Tokyo. I'm loving it so far, no signs of jet lag!

Special Thanks!!!

I would like to again thank all my friends and family that have donated their time, money and effort to make this trip possible! It is greatly appriciated, many thanks

Boarding to Narita, Tokyo!!!!

Not looking foward to this 23 hour flight.

Almost time to go

Leaving out Shortly, and I'm Narrowing down my decison of what to pack!....not an easy task