Saturday, July 08, 2006
Hi: Here is a short journal of my time with Semester at Sea this summer (two weeks, from Honolulu to Taipei). Most of it was created on the ship, in the middle of the Pacific, as we sailed from Hawaii to Taiwan.
With blogs, you must read FROM THE BOTTOM UP (that is, the first postings are at the bottom) in order to read it chronologically.
Comments? Write to me. DTG
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July 6: Last full day in Taipei before my flight home. The morning included the Chinese Opera Company, a training school for the acrobats, actors, singers, and behind-the-scenes people who perform in the Chinese operas; we got a full explanation and tour, visit to the museum, demonstration by the acrobats, and an hour-long performance of one of the classical operas.
Following the opera, I taxied to my hotel to drop my bags, and then accompanied (rather, was accompanied by) two of the professors from S@S, a Chinese-American musicologist and a specialist in Asian art. Jing Jing took us to a first-rate Chinese restaurant for lunch (we passed on the [no kidding] "Chicken testicles with bean curd") then we went over to the National Palace Museum, the largest collection of Chinese art in the world. The museum's contents came out of the Forbidden City (Bejing) in the early 1930s for safekeeping (fleeing the Japanese), and were consequently kept there after the Communists got hold of China. The collection is so large --14,000 crates traveled 5,000 miles, arriving in Taiwan in 1948-- that it could be rotated every six months for 30 years without ever repeating an object.
Nancy's explanations and Jing Jing's native perspective enriched the visit enormously. From there, off to buy some Chinese silks (again, thanks only to Jing Jing's command of the language) and home through the hustle and bustle of modern Taipei to the hotel for a shower.
The students will stay in Taiwan for another two days, then head for Singapore. They were an able mix of students from smaller colleges (Reed, Rowan, Rollins) and major research universities (Hopkins, Yale, La Jolla, UCLA, USC, Colorado, Michigan, Miami, Florida, Duke, Penn State, Oregon, Columbia). Most of them were serious students, eager to combine the academic classroom work with the special "in field" experience that Semester at Sea provides; a few were typical college jerks set on "hanging out" and "having a good time" exclusively. We will eventually weed those types out in order to insure the academic integrity of this program.
Dinner at the Shanghai Café at the hotel included a tasting menu of extraordinary items, many of them unidentifiable or put together in unfamiliar combinations; one was a delicious shark fin soup with enoki and oyster mushrooms with rice noodles.
Looooooooooong trip home (27 hours total), but the whole experience was worth it. I'm very much looking forward to "my" voyage next summer, up and down the Pacific Coast of Central and South America, from Mexico to Chile.
With blogs, you must read FROM THE BOTTOM UP (that is, the first postings are at the bottom) in order to read it chronologically.
Comments? Write to me. DTG
**********************
July 6: Last full day in Taipei before my flight home. The morning included the Chinese Opera Company, a training school for the acrobats, actors, singers, and behind-the-scenes people who perform in the Chinese operas; we got a full explanation and tour, visit to the museum, demonstration by the acrobats, and an hour-long performance of one of the classical operas.
Following the opera, I taxied to my hotel to drop my bags, and then accompanied (rather, was accompanied by) two of the professors from S@S, a Chinese-American musicologist and a specialist in Asian art. Jing Jing took us to a first-rate Chinese restaurant for lunch (we passed on the [no kidding] "Chicken testicles with bean curd") then we went over to the National Palace Museum, the largest collection of Chinese art in the world. The museum's contents came out of the Forbidden City (Bejing) in the early 1930s for safekeeping (fleeing the Japanese), and were consequently kept there after the Communists got hold of China. The collection is so large --14,000 crates traveled 5,000 miles, arriving in Taiwan in 1948-- that it could be rotated every six months for 30 years without ever repeating an object.
Nancy's explanations and Jing Jing's native perspective enriched the visit enormously. From there, off to buy some Chinese silks (again, thanks only to Jing Jing's command of the language) and home through the hustle and bustle of modern Taipei to the hotel for a shower.
The students will stay in Taiwan for another two days, then head for Singapore. They were an able mix of students from smaller colleges (Reed, Rowan, Rollins) and major research universities (Hopkins, Yale, La Jolla, UCLA, USC, Colorado, Michigan, Miami, Florida, Duke, Penn State, Oregon, Columbia). Most of them were serious students, eager to combine the academic classroom work with the special "in field" experience that Semester at Sea provides; a few were typical college jerks set on "hanging out" and "having a good time" exclusively. We will eventually weed those types out in order to insure the academic integrity of this program.
Dinner at the Shanghai Café at the hotel included a tasting menu of extraordinary items, many of them unidentifiable or put together in unfamiliar combinations; one was a delicious shark fin soup with enoki and oyster mushrooms with rice noodles.
Looooooooooong trip home (27 hours total), but the whole experience was worth it. I'm very much looking forward to "my" voyage next summer, up and down the Pacific Coast of Central and South America, from Mexico to Chile.
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July 5: Keelung-Taipei
Yesterday filled us with sights and sounds and smells, all of them a rich combination of the very old and the very new. Keelung, a port city, displays all of the energy, crowding, and bustle of most port cities.
Off we went on an organized excursion to Taipei (prounounced Tay-bay in Chinese), slightly less than an hour from Keelung. We began the trip with a visit to Taipei 101, the world's tallest building (cost: $1.7 billion). From the observation tower one gets a dizzying view of the whole city, crammed with modern constructions, temples, traffic and lovely parks.
Taipei city, while "old" in general terms, is really a creation of the 1970s, when a building boom brought it fully into the late twentieth century. One sees Starbucks, McDonalds, Chiles, and other symbols of western globalization. The mall at Taipei 101 could be on Columbus Circle or in Westchester, full of stores like Bulgari, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, etc. I saw a stunning purple jade necklace for a mere $50,000.
From there we visited the Chaing Kai Shek Memorial, an in-your-face statement of the US's support of anti-communist China (it was a "gift" from the US government, who supported CKS against Mao. On to dinner at a Mongolian Barbecue, followed by a visit to the tri-religion Wan Wa Long Shen Temple, a moving cultural experience where people from three faiths --Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism-- came to worship. Intense aromas of incense and fresh food (offerings), beautiful music, much movement as people prayed. The students in the world religion class were particularly impresssed, since they had been studying these very religions in class. The building itself is dazzling, and it's not even one of the most beautiful of the Taiwanese temples, according to the guide books.
The infamous night market --with Snake Alley, where several students "enjoyed" fresh snake blood drinks (the snake is killed and drained before your eyes) -- is a collection of tourist junk and authentic shops, crowded with Taiwanese, full of the hustle-bustle of this city. In this picture you can see the cobra and the glasses of blood in the background; it's a revolting spectacle, of course.
July 5: Keelung-Taipei
Yesterday filled us with sights and sounds and smells, all of them a rich combination of the very old and the very new. Keelung, a port city, displays all of the energy, crowding, and bustle of most port cities.
Off we went on an organized excursion to Taipei (prounounced Tay-bay in Chinese), slightly less than an hour from Keelung. We began the trip with a visit to Taipei 101, the world's tallest building (cost: $1.7 billion). From the observation tower one gets a dizzying view of the whole city, crammed with modern constructions, temples, traffic and lovely parks.
Taipei city, while "old" in general terms, is really a creation of the 1970s, when a building boom brought it fully into the late twentieth century. One sees Starbucks, McDonalds, Chiles, and other symbols of western globalization. The mall at Taipei 101 could be on Columbus Circle or in Westchester, full of stores like Bulgari, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, etc. I saw a stunning purple jade necklace for a mere $50,000.
From there we visited the Chaing Kai Shek Memorial, an in-your-face statement of the US's support of anti-communist China (it was a "gift" from the US government, who supported CKS against Mao. On to dinner at a Mongolian Barbecue, followed by a visit to the tri-religion Wan Wa Long Shen Temple, a moving cultural experience where people from three faiths --Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism-- came to worship. Intense aromas of incense and fresh food (offerings), beautiful music, much movement as people prayed. The students in the world religion class were particularly impresssed, since they had been studying these very religions in class. The building itself is dazzling, and it's not even one of the most beautiful of the Taiwanese temples, according to the guide books.
The infamous night market --with Snake Alley, where several students "enjoyed" fresh snake blood drinks (the snake is killed and drained before your eyes) -- is a collection of tourist junk and authentic shops, crowded with Taiwanese, full of the hustle-bustle of this city. In this picture you can see the cobra and the glasses of blood in the background; it's a revolting spectacle, of course.
Monday, July 03, 2006
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July 4: Land!! We just sailed past Okinawa (starbord) on our way into Taiwan; we'll dock tomorrow at 8:00 am.
The weekend has been full of activity. The students are studying madly for their exams, both in their individual classes and in Global Studies.
Last night there was an extremely interesting and entertaining Cultural Pre-port session, information designed to help us "survive" in Taiwan and get the most of the four days the ship will be in port. The ship docks in Keelung, about an hour outside of Taipei by bus or train. I will do two of the excursions --a city tour, including a visit to Taipei 101, Chinese dinner with the group, Chaing Kai Shek Memorial, etc. on the 5th; Chinese Opera Company and School on the 6th-- then check into a hotel to position myself for my flight out on the 7th.
July 4: Land!! We just sailed past Okinawa (starbord) on our way into Taiwan; we'll dock tomorrow at 8:00 am.
The weekend has been full of activity. The students are studying madly for their exams, both in their individual classes and in Global Studies.
Last night there was an extremely interesting and entertaining Cultural Pre-port session, information designed to help us "survive" in Taiwan and get the most of the four days the ship will be in port. The ship docks in Keelung, about an hour outside of Taipei by bus or train. I will do two of the excursions --a city tour, including a visit to Taipei 101, Chinese dinner with the group, Chaing Kai Shek Memorial, etc. on the 5th; Chinese Opera Company and School on the 6th-- then check into a hotel to position myself for my flight out on the 7th.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
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July 1: Another pleasant surprise here is that there has been none of the drinking and carousing that I heard had happened on past voyages. S@S and the ship's crew have really buckled down on this (safety) issue; consequently there have been very few disciplinary incidents related to alcohol. The Executive Dean and the Academic Dean, working with a great team of Residence Life people, have instituted policies that control inappropriate behavior. For example, for mixers and socials students are permitted a set number of drinks, tickets for which they must purchase the day before. For the first mixer, some 800 tickets were sold; for the last two, a TOTAL of 100; the students are "getting it," choosing to understand the safety issue and to act responsibly. They still come to the socials and mixers, but are content with a beer or glass of wine (rather than 10 or more!). The Deans have been clear about their policies, and the Security Officer implements them. The Security Officer's wife tells me that this voyage is very different from her previous experience because the students are more serious, more self-controlled, and more interested in integrating the academic part of the trip with the experiential, in-country part. What a relief.
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July 2: Sunday, "Sea Olympics." Today all the ship's participants --students, faculty, administrators, Teachers at Sea, the senior passengers-- will be involved in a series of goofy competitions (trivia contest, whistling with crackers, passing an orange, etc.), followed by a long study session and review session for the upcoming test in Global Studies.
"Real World" did a lot of damage to Semester at Sea's reputation that is only now starting to right itself. UVa's insistence on added work and more serious academics have already paid off in significant ways, and I only see it getting better. Faculty who have sailed with Semester at Sea before have been commenting on the difference; I don't think UVa can take credit for this, since improvements have been seeping into Semester at Sea's activities for the last few years. I've been reading past faculty and Dean reports, and I'm impressed with how suggestions have been incorporated into the program. In truth, it sounded pretty scary (party! drink!) before.
July 1: Another pleasant surprise here is that there has been none of the drinking and carousing that I heard had happened on past voyages. S@S and the ship's crew have really buckled down on this (safety) issue; consequently there have been very few disciplinary incidents related to alcohol. The Executive Dean and the Academic Dean, working with a great team of Residence Life people, have instituted policies that control inappropriate behavior. For example, for mixers and socials students are permitted a set number of drinks, tickets for which they must purchase the day before. For the first mixer, some 800 tickets were sold; for the last two, a TOTAL of 100; the students are "getting it," choosing to understand the safety issue and to act responsibly. They still come to the socials and mixers, but are content with a beer or glass of wine (rather than 10 or more!). The Deans have been clear about their policies, and the Security Officer implements them. The Security Officer's wife tells me that this voyage is very different from her previous experience because the students are more serious, more self-controlled, and more interested in integrating the academic part of the trip with the experiential, in-country part. What a relief.
**********
July 2: Sunday, "Sea Olympics." Today all the ship's participants --students, faculty, administrators, Teachers at Sea, the senior passengers-- will be involved in a series of goofy competitions (trivia contest, whistling with crackers, passing an orange, etc.), followed by a long study session and review session for the upcoming test in Global Studies.
"Real World" did a lot of damage to Semester at Sea's reputation that is only now starting to right itself. UVa's insistence on added work and more serious academics have already paid off in significant ways, and I only see it getting better. Faculty who have sailed with Semester at Sea before have been commenting on the difference; I don't think UVa can take credit for this, since improvements have been seeping into Semester at Sea's activities for the last few years. I've been reading past faculty and Dean reports, and I'm impressed with how suggestions have been incorporated into the program. In truth, it sounded pretty scary (party! drink!) before.
