Friday, May 22, 2009

hey hey hey
ohiyoo gozaimus! its the final days in Japan and i am sad to leave everything behind. we went to the Toyota plant today and learned about their philosophy on management, inventory and overall process. after we returned to JCMU we went to west hikone to eat some sushi and wow did we eat alot, plates were staking up left and right. the night was still young so the students of UM Flint and the ones that we met at JCMU went bowling/arcade place. it was fun just hanging out and talking. after then we headed back and hung out in the lobby.

sayonara!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

japan


hey guys
is fatima here
today was packed with stuff. my personal favorite was the golden temple. it was absolutely amazing. pics will be up soon. we learned about how the temple was constructed. for example when we walked on the floor they were squeaking we assumed that it was old and built incorrectly,however to our surprise it was purposefully done so that the people could hear if there were any intruders! (first security system to date ;D ) also they had very thin rice paper (i believe) walls so that they could see the shadow of any intruders.
also we went to a puppet/geisha show- they picked volunteers for the tea ceremony and yours truly got chosen. it was fun we went up and had tea with THE geisha and thats were i meet gustav- he is from mexico! we both were kinda scared considering the audience was starring at us and we had to do things in a specific order... thank God they gave us a cheat sheet for all the steps
a little funny story- i bought some souvenirs at the temples and then for dinner , me and some of the other participants went to this restaurant, because we were on a time crunch we were eating while paying and leaving ;) so of course i ran out without anything in my hand. when we got to the bus station i noticed that i had nothing in my hand and it was soo late to go back. i was mad at first but realized cant do anything now. we went to the puppet/geisha show and we were going back to that place. me and monzir ran to the restaurant and it was there... thank god. we ran back trying to meet the other students and we kinda got lost. i was freaking out because if we miss this one we will have to wait for another 30 minutes and essentially holding up all the other students. we finally found them and had 2 minutes to get to the platform and get onto the train. we ran--- like bob said-- we felt like we were in the movie home alone-- we ran down the stairs and made it. i got on a seat and passed out! the night still was not done. we had to take our bikes back to the JCMU. it was like 1030pm and in Hikone there are no street lights. my light on my bike wasnt working so i had to make sure i was by someone who had there's on. it was soo scary and i felt like any second i would flip off. ;D fortunately i didnt
also our trip to osaka is cancelled due to a outbreak of the swine flu!
(thanks gustav!)
alright bye for now!!
also my japanese is improving ..........

fatima

Sunday, May 17, 2009

:0

because of the lack of internet we had in taiwan
here are some of the blogs i wrote :)
May 14, 2009
Wow these past few days have just been incredible. I mean to actually be there here and seeing everything is great. We have visited a lot of universities and meet some of the nicest people. Actually we are going to the zoo with the people we met. Yesterday we arrived in the eastern part of Taiwan and we didn’t waste any time. We went to national Taipei park; it was so beautiful. Me, Levi, Robert and Brain went literally above and beyond. We climbed some stairs to a shrine, saw some stairs behind the garden and decided that we should just see where it leads. We were in the clouds (hahah not really but close) I could barely breath, but nonetheless a great experience. After that we went to the beach where we finally took our jumping picture ☺ it turned out pretty awesome. Then after a long day of traveling and site seeing we went to the hotel, checked in and left for dinner. To get to the restaurant we had to take a cab. At the end of ride we start taking out money however it was no what he wanted. He went back and forth and at the end he was like get out. We were laughing so hard in the streets and were so lost and actually didn’t know if we ended up in the right place. Fortunately Ting had already paid him and was trying to relay that to us. ☺ dinner was great. After that we ended to the hotel and just hung out. The next day we went rafting aka team building according to Dr. Peng . That was great, many laughs and smiles were present. That took us around 3 hours. It was truly a group effort. getting through some of the spots was pretty difficult but hey thats the fun of it. at the end I was pretty dry, but one of the guides didnt "like" that and as i was getting out of the boat he came with his boat and splashed me with a wave of water. I thanked him with a death stare and made my way to the bus.... happy, wet, and slightly irritated ;). We dried off and headed to another part of Taiwan. It was a good two hour drive and the resort and surrounding area was beautiful. We checked in and headed for a bike ride. I am pumped up and ready to go. that enthusiam didnt last for long. Wow at the 1km mark I was done for I kept going til 2.5 km and could not take it anymore. Thank god I wasn’t the only one. Me, ting and suyash headed back down and it was amazing. I mean the town was filed with greenery, nature, and wildlife. We went to dinner and just hung out. Me and Mee went to the herbal spa and it was great so relaxing. Because I didn’t finish the bike trail yesterday me and ting decided we would finish it in the morning at 630am that may seem early but we seem to still have a little jet lag. We are all waking up at 6am with no alarm. So ting and I rented a bike and went for one of the best bike rides in my life. The scenery and the views were breathtaking. The trail only took us 45 minutes. We returned and headed to the bus.
May 16, 2009
Yesterday we went to the aborigines spot. We walked in just in time to see them singing and dancing. the main lady voice was out of this world. i have never heard anyone sing with such power. we walked around the place, feed the fish in the pond, and hung out by the cafe. After that we walked around and headed for lunch where we had some good local food. From there we went to two other sites that had great views and good food. our last stop was quite interesting; it was a museum and grocery shop all in one. At the grocery store there was tasting testing. I was a little hesitant to try but figured I should; when in Taiwan try things:). I started with familar items and worked my way around the store. as i am finishing my round i stop at a booth and try a cookie. The lady at the counter started talking to me in Chinese. Me and Ellina just stood there, smiling. not really knowing what to do, so we figured we should stand there. She kept pointing to me and then to my scarf and kept on saying the same thing over and over again. I honestly had no idea what was going on. Finally Levi shows up and translates what the lady was saying. The lady was trying to warn me not to eat what was there because it contained pork and she knew that I dont eat pork. I thanked her and was impressed by the attempt to warn me. Too bad I ate the cookie and actually enjoyed it. I went and watched my mouth out and laughed it off . After that we headed to the train station that would take us back to Taipei. The train ride was a blur considering I pasted out the whole way back. When we arrived we gathered our stuff and headed to another night market. We went to a Buddhist temple and shopped around.
arigato!
we are in japan
yesterday was crazy we went site seeing in taipei, then got on the bus, then on the airplane, then filled out 1000 forms-- it was soo annoying then a train ride after all that we finally arrived at JCMU!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

we have done soo much stuff in the past 4 days ;)
the best thing is getting to know participants on this trip
hey
sorry guys.. we didnt have internet for a couple of days so i wrote these earlier
So the journey begins. We left Detroit metro at 820 and arrived in Chicago one hour later. We were super confused as to where to go considering we had to go to a different terminal and the signs were very confusing. We managed to find the way thanks to the TSA officer that escorted us there. We were in Detroit for about 3 hours we ate and all of us were beyond excited to walk into the plane that would lead us towards Japan. We got all with smiles but those didn’t last long. Seeing the seats those smiles turned into worried looks. What went through my mind was “how am I going to seat here for 13 hours!” out of all the students enrolled I was the only one that wasn’t paired up with someone to seat with it. Fortunately the person next to be was super nice and we bonded instantly. I figured the movies would keep me entertained. It did I guess in the beginning but after watching “Bride Wars” four time in a row was getting quite irritating. So I attempted to sleep which was a fail for the most part. I got up several times just to stretch and look around. For me the food was a let down. Thank God I brought some snack with me. Right now I am at the Tokyo Airport waiting for the connecting flight to Taipei, Taiwan. We have all been awake for more then 25 hours and we haven’t seen the sun set. Hahha it is super weird when you think about it. Anyways we board in about 30 minutes. I will check in later
Written May 9, 2009 at 5:35am