MIST5780 Globalization and IT - China

The First Day of Class

2008-05-14T22:16:00.010-04:00

To continue the night of the 12th, we had an absolutely delicious dinner at Dr. Calbos' house. We also had a great time getting to know each other!

On Tuesday, May 13th, we had our first day of class. Overall we were punctual with a couple of slackers, (who will remain nameless :) Class was a general overview of the course and what to expect in China. We went over the course objectives and goals.

The most interesting part of class was the PBS special we saw about Power and the People of China. It showed us more about how the government works and also more about the Chinese everyday culture. They spoke a little bit about democracy but not really as we define it. One of the women said their election was democratic because they all go to vote...but all the elected officials must be approved by the communist party in China.

Our group has great chemistry and I think we will all have an eye-opening and exciting experience in China!

Hello - Ni Hao - 你好

2008-05-13T14:18:00.009-04:00

As the first author of the Maymester 2008 program, I just want to welcome all the parents, friends, and visitors to our blog.

Monday the 13th marked the first time when all 13 of us really had a chance to meet each other.
We all met at the back of the intramural parking lot in a casual circle with casual conversation while we were waiting for our low ropes instructors to arrive.

Our goal for the day was to meet each other, establish unity and trust, and have a sense of belonging to the group. There could not have been a better way to achive these goals than by completion of the low ropes course.

The course consisted of mental and physical challenges designed to engage communication and enhance teamwork to solve a problem. The first few games centered around leaning the names of everyone on the trip and trusting them to guide you through a game of dodgeball blindfolded.

From there the activities became more acrobatic in nature. Most of them centered around getting on half of the group across a series of cables while the other half was starting at the opposite side.

The final obstacle centered around our entire group getting over a 20 foot wall. After one person had successfully made it over the wall, they were no longer able to physically help the rest of their team mates make it over. So the real challenge came when there was only one person remaining. This lone solider had to self propel his/ her way up half the wall to the hands of his/her teammates' who were waiting atop the wall.
It took us several tries to accomplish the final mission, but once we did the bond of our team was truly strengthened.

Mission: Get to know each other, build teamwork
Outcome: Astonishing Success

Initial comments/post for Maymester 2008

2008-04-16T21:20:00.004-04:00

This is the initial post to a blog for UGA students and others associated with the MIST5780 Globalization and IT study abroad course in China this May-June 2008. The blog's purpose is to serve as a public communication medium for families and friends as the class progresses. This photo (click on the picture to enlarge) is of the Neusoft Institute campus, at which we will be living and studying May 19-30.

Students will post and comment to the blog as a learning experience -- each student will be assigned at least one posting as the class progresses.

In addition to reading the blog postings, visit links that are included in the right hand column - feel free to suggest the addition of links that may be of value to the class. The photo is the Dalian coast -- which is truly beautiful.

Dalian Day 19 (6/3/07 Last post of 07 class)

2007-06-03T23:00:00.001-04:00

After Ally's birthday on Saturday, everyone was feeling tired and slept in on Sunday. Groups went different places for lunch. Alli, Ally, Josh, John, and Chris went to the Sushi restaurant again for lunch. Others went to The Box, where they had pizza and other dishes (Al, Taariq, Jodi, Daniel, Carolynn, Chris Li), this group shopped at Trustmart and then went to the Castle near XingHai Square where they climbed the steps and took some pictures. After lunch another group went shopping again at Victory plaza and the markets including the Russian one. A few of went back to the dorm and took a nap, others watched Forrest Gump. At 7:30 a large group met again at the Spanish Tapas Restaurant to eat dinner. This restaurant is assumed by most of us to be the best restaurant we visited in Dalian, good enough for most of us to go twice. The dinner cost about twenty dollars per person with good wine and is some of the best food most of us had in a long time including the US. This time people ordered their favorites again which for people visiting Dalian in the future we would recommend a few items:

Garlic Potatoes- amazing and they come out first everytime
Garlic and Chicken Toast- just try it
Salads- very fresh we tried Argentinean and Mediterranean and both were fresh and great
Scallops- a little spicy but served with caviar
Coconut King Prawn Skewer- comes with great sauce
Meat platter- a sampling of meats served with fries stacked like logs

The deserts are good too, basically you can't go wrong with anything on the menu. Subodh had the chicken and mushroom entree which was also good and the steaks were well prepared. After dinner, Pablo spoke to the chef who was from Cuba and complemented him on the meal, while trying to convince him to come to Athens. At dinner a few of the students mentioned they got in a wreck in the taxi cabs which was no big surprise, but just further proof of the crazy driving going on.
The students that went to Tapas were Jon, Subodh, Chris, Josh, Ally, Pablo, Alli and Drew. Another group went to a restaurant called the Hot Pot (Al, Taariq, Jodi, Daniel, Carolynn, and Chris Li). This Chinese restaurant is sort of similar to the restaurant that some of us went to with the boiling hot bowl of water, except there is only one bowl in the middle. Basically the water is really hot and they throw raw meats and vegetables into the bowl and they cook in the water. The group that ate at Tapas followed dinner up with a trip to the Paulaner Pub. There we met the entire band who wanted to meet all of us and take lots of pictures. They commented on the fact that Josh looks like a Backstreet Boy, Alli look like Jennifer Lopez, and Ally like Jennifer Anniston. They really wanted pictures of us all. After meeting us they went on stage and introduced us all to the pub. Later we went to a Cuban cigar shop and bought some things from the pubs store including t-shirts and mugs. After leaving the Paulaner a few of us went to the Box to play some pool and cards before heading back to the dorms for the night.

Miscellaneous Photos around Dalian

2007-05-27T15:05:00.000-04:00

Golden Pebble Beach

Morning Haircut

All our students do is study, study, study

Bicyclist in front of IBM Building

Windmill near Tiger Park on the coast

Street vendor

Cindy and our tour guide for Golden Pebble Beach