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