Every fall in China there is a weeklong national vacation called Golden Week. Some of the other students and I decided to spend out 10 days traveling to and around Tibet. We left for Shanghai last Thursday (September 25), spent the night there and flew from Shanghai to Chengdu Friday morning. At Chengdu we were supposed to switch planes to fly to Lhasa in Tibet but the travel agency we were working with sent us a copy of our entrance permit not the original and we were denied entry. We spent the night in Chengdu while we waited for someone from the travel company to fly from Lhasa and bring the permit. We flew out Saturday morning and got to Lhasa Saturday afternoon. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been living in Nanjing where the ... read more

Thursday, August 22, we left for our class bonding trip in China's Shandong Province. It's a six hour bus ride from Nanjing. We arrived to Tai'an city on Thursday. On Friday we visited Dai Miao, the temple of the god of Mount Tai. After lunch we climbed Mount Tai (泰山: Tài Shān) It was a hard walk up the steps but beautiful at the top. On Saturday we woke up at 5AM to watch the sunrise at the top of the moutain which was beautiful but crowded (as is everything in China). Then we moved onto Qufu, another city in the province and home of Confucius. We visited the temple of Confucius (Kong Miao) and the cemetary of Confucius, where his is buried and any of his decendants are allowed to be buried. When I mentioned ... read more

Indonesian History Monas We spent the last couple of days touring Jakarta. We visited Monas, the national monument, but decided not to wait in line for two hours in the hot Indonesian sun to go to the top. Instead we visited the museum underneath the monument that gives a brief history of Indonesia. I find the history interesting because any Asian history I’ve learned has been from the European prospective. Colonialism takes on a different meaning when you hear about it from the people whose country was invaded. Being here really humanizes the effects of colonization on a people. The other point I found striking was the political history. People here don’t really trust the government, (not that everyone at home does either, but we have elections where the losers concede) and it’s not hard to ... read more

Last night we got back from our 5 day stay in Bali. I honeslty didn't think Bali would live up to it's beautiful reputation but it actually exceeded it. I don't want to write forever but I'll give the highlights of my favorite places. Pura Besakih On our first day in Bali we visited the largest and oldest temple on the island called Besakih. Patty likened it to Bali's cathedral. People continue to worship there today and we had to use sarongs to cover our knees. The Balinese people have historically been and are predominantly today Hindu. They have their own set of religous beliefs referred to as Balinese Hindu. They tend to focus on rituals and ceremonies, a of which we go to witness while visiing the temple. When they pray they leave little plates ... read more