The delicious food

Dr. Jih in America told us that we would get a tummy ache because the food was so good. He was not lieing everthing is delicious. We went for breakfast with him to get our first real experience of Taiwanese food. I had no idea what to expect. When we first walked up I wasn't sure how good it would be because it was a lot of big dumplings and look very different than what I am used to, but the food was really good. We had some pork pot sticker type things, and even had a cabage dumpling. I am not a big cabagae fan at all but how they made it tasted great.

For lunch yesterday I ate with Dr. Chin. He is the professor here in Taiwan that has setup the trip. He took us to a noodle place and I had a beef noodle soup type dish. It again was way better than I thought. The best part is that the food is extremely cheap, so hopefully I will not eat to much. The beef noodle bowl in the picture only cost around $2.50 and it was way more then I could finish. I can't wait to keep trying more new things. So far I have had the noodle soup, cabage dumpling, pork pot stickers, green onion dumplings, and a few other things that I have no idea what they were. At this point I am willing to try everything I can to get the most full experience possible. Ha well maybe not everything but I do like to eat.

Adjusting to Jet Lag

After three flights we finally made into Taipei, Taiwan. I was pretty tired from all the travel. The flight from Houston to Tokyo was really long, but I spent most of my time watching movies instead of sleeping. So once we finally landed I was excited to be here but still really tired. On the flight I fell asleep probably two or three times, and unfortunately every time I fell asleep it was after I had watched a whole movie and there was only like 20 minutes left. Pretty funny because I have been known to do that through many movies especially Lord of the Rings. I think I slept through it probably 5 times before I finally finished it.

Once we arrived and unpacked it was really late around midnight, but we woke up early around 5 am to go running before it got too hot. So after the full day of touring Rick (my roommate) and I were both exhausted. We ended up going to bed around 6 pm and slept til around 2 am. I woke up with much more energy and feel much better now that I have got sleep and adjusted to jet lag.

Schedule once in Taiwan

7/7: Depart for Taiwan
Nashville to Houston 8:15 am - 10:12 am (663 mi., 1 hr 57 mn)
Houston to Tokyo 10:50 am - 2:20 pm +1 day (6,658 mi., 13 hr 30 mn)
7/8: Tokyo to Taipei 6:05 pm - 8:45 pm (1,330 mi., 3 hr 40 mn)
Arrive in Taipei, Taiwan
7/9: Tour of Chung-Yuan Christian University and orientation
Rest and adjust for jet lag
7/10: Reading and group building
Short touring trip of city
Continue to rest
7/11: Rest and explore city
7/12: Opening Ceremony and Lunch Banquet
Class - Building competitive adantage in
the globalized knowledge economy
7/13: Visit - Taipei Rapid Transit Company
Taipei City Traffic Control Center
Visit - Tamshui Old Street Fisherman's Wharf
7/14: Class - Web-enabled tools for collaborative learning
Visit - Hsinchu Science Park (Taiwan's Silicon Valley)
7/15: Class - Innovative business models and case study
Field Trip - TBD
7/16: Class - Economic and Industrial Development in Taiwan
Short Touring trip or rest
7/17: Visit - National Palace Museum, Taipei Confucius Temple,
Taipei 101
7/18: Rest
7/19: Class - Taiwan's external trade relations
Field Trip - TBD
7/20: Lecture - Issues related to business ethics
7/21: Lecture - Topic TBD
Field Trip - Formosa TV station
7/22: Visit - Kingcar Company, SanHo Paper and Carton Company
7/23: Class - Topic TBD
7/24: Short tour and Rest
7/25: Trip to La La Mountain National Park (overnight)
7/26: Return from La La Mountain
7/27: Class - Presentations
Closing Ceremony and Farwell Diner
7/28: Return to Tennessee
Taipei to Tokyo 8:55 am - 1:05 pm (1,330 mi., 3 hr 10 mn)
Tokyo to Newark 4:35 pm - 4:30 pm (6,737 mi., 12 hr 55 mn)
Newark to Nashville 6:00 pm - 7:33 pm (758 mi., 2 hr 33 mn)

Taipei 101

This is a picture of the Taipei 101. It is currently the 2nd largest building in the world. On the trip we are going to this building, and I hope to get a picture in front of it once there. It is located in the capital city Taipei.

Time to meet Me.

Attention Attention Attention

Its my first post, on my first blog which is meant to document my travels to Taiwan. I have never created a blog before, and I am curious to see how I will enjoy it.

I have created this blog for my study abroad class. The trip leaves July 7, 2010. That is currently 15 days away. I am traveling with Dr. Jih and 6 other students from MTSU. I am very excited about the trip and the opportunites to learn and travel to different businesses. At this point I have the iteniary but no real idea of what lays ahead.

Here is a little information on myself. I am currently enrolled at MTSU studying for my MBA, and I am set to graduate in December of 2010. I received my undergraduate from Maryville College. At Maryville I was a student-athlete, studying business and organziational management and playing soccer. After graduating I began working for Farm Bureau as a Customer Represenative in the Knoxville, TN region.

I enjoy most physical activity and have played sports my whole life. This also has its costs as I have torn my knees and had four total surgeries. I mostly play soccer and golf now. I also helped coach Providence Christain Middle School this past season.

I am sure I have left a bunch out, but there will be more posts to come.