A group shot of this semester's exchange students at the University of Macau during a tour of the city, in front of a Buddhist temple. Note the multinational character of the group - and our students' experience.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Exchange Students
A group shot of this semester's exchange students at the University of Macau during a tour of the city, in front of a Buddhist temple. Note the multinational character of the group - and our students' experience.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Differences
We anticipated that this semester in Macau would entail a lot of exposure to difference, and are pleased to report on some we’ve encountered so far.
The first is the wonderful variety of nationalities among the exchange students, who hail from, in addition to mainland China, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, France, Germany, Holland, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Thailand, and the U.S. As a result, our Susquehanna students are getting an exposure to diversity that ranges far beyond Macau and China. At last night’s orientation dinner the karaoke was quite the mix of styles and languages!
The second is the variety of food. On the first night of orientation, the University of Macau administrator who oversees exchange students deliberately took the group to a restaurant that serves, er, unusual foods. It reminded me of a coffee mug I had years ago, with the inscription: “Eat a live toad first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you all day.” The administrator, Grace Chau, told us that after this meal nothing else we encountered the entire semester would be so different. We hope she was right; our meal included cuttlefish, pig brain, chicken feet, snake, frog, sand worm, field worm, and the piece de resistance, silk worm larvae. I’m not kidding. Nobody died, and nobody even got sick. It convinced Elaine and me that under extreme situations, we were capable of ingesting protein we never imagined eating. And, the next night, at a Portuguese restaurant, we dived right in to oxtail soup, beef tongue, and fried pig neck as though they were no challenge at all!
The third is captured just a bit in the photos we took over the past few days:
The first is the wonderful variety of nationalities among the exchange students, who hail from, in addition to mainland China, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, France, Germany, Holland, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Thailand, and the U.S. As a result, our Susquehanna students are getting an exposure to diversity that ranges far beyond Macau and China. At last night’s orientation dinner the karaoke was quite the mix of styles and languages!
The second is the variety of food. On the first night of orientation, the University of Macau administrator who oversees exchange students deliberately took the group to a restaurant that serves, er, unusual foods. It reminded me of a coffee mug I had years ago, with the inscription: “Eat a live toad first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you all day.” The administrator, Grace Chau, told us that after this meal nothing else we encountered the entire semester would be so different. We hope she was right; our meal included cuttlefish, pig brain, chicken feet, snake, frog, sand worm, field worm, and the piece de resistance, silk worm larvae. I’m not kidding. Nobody died, and nobody even got sick. It convinced Elaine and me that under extreme situations, we were capable of ingesting protein we never imagined eating. And, the next night, at a Portuguese restaurant, we dived right in to oxtail soup, beef tongue, and fried pig neck as though they were no challenge at all!
The third is captured just a bit in the photos we took over the past few days:
Here is a “neighborhood” of high-rise apartments about a kilometer from the campus. Interestingly, it was shot from a beautiful nature trail that winds around and to the top of a wooded and uninhabited hill nearby.
We strolled through a section of “old” Macau, which is full of narrow streets with laundry hanging from windows and motor scooters everywhere.
One of the many charming churches, this one in Coloane Village at the southern end of Macau.
And those who want a glimpse of the ultra-modern Macau are invited to Google “venetian macau” to see the newest – and world’s largest – casino/entertainment/shopping complex.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Macau: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
In the mid 1500s, the Ming Dynasty allowed Portuguese traders to use a small, remote and all but forgotten peninsula in Southeast China. The most distant outpost of European influence, Macau enjoyed a heyday for over 100 years as the only permanent Western access point to the region. European traders at Canton were not allowed to stay beyond the trading season and maintained permanent homes in Macau. Macau-based traders took silk from India to eager buyers in Japan. The Portuguese navy maintained a strong presence based at Macau. Jesuits and other Catholic orders used Macau as “base camp” in futile hopes of bringing Christianity to the Chinese.
Then, over a short span in the mid-17th century, the Dutch began competing with Portugal for maritime control, and Japan closed its borders to all outsiders. Left stranded by receding European colonial interests on the one hand, and all but forgotten by China on the other, Macau receded into a more minor role as a diverse scene of languid decadence that attracted pirates, gamblers, artists, and people from all over the world escaping oppression, arrest and their former lives.
Macau’s role was further diminished by the founding nearby of Hong Kong in the 1840s, a concession by China to the British as an outcome of the Opium Wars. Unlike Macau, Hong Kong offered a sheltered deep-water port, and quickly grew to dominate trade activity between China and the rest of the world. Macau slipped further into obscurity.
Long administered as a Portuguese colony, Macau was “returned” to the People’s Republic of China in 1999, much as Hong Kong had been handed over by the British in 1997. Both are maintained as Special Administrative Regions (SARs) of the People’s Republic, a promise to leave their political and economic systems in place for 50 years.
Today, Macau is booming. Since 1960 the population has grown from 160,000 to over 500,000 today. The long-time gambling monopoly held by the Ho family was lifted in 2002. Now, ever bigger casinos are being constructed throughout Macau, particularly on what until recently were mud flats between the islands of Taipa and Coloane. Known as the Cotai Strip, it is home to the world’s largest casino (the Venetian, opened in August 2007) and an even larger GalaxyWorld Resort is under construction nearby. With several enormous casinos already, Macau has now overtaken Las Vegas in gambling revenues. Throngs of tourists from Hong Kong and mainland China visit daily. Macau also hopes to build its reputation as a destination resort with broader appeal – as a family-friendly place for relaxing, shopping and enjoying outstanding cuisine.
Macau is also a great vantage point from which to witness the rapid development of China and the Asia Pacific Rim. Over 200 years ago, Napoleon is alleged to have said: “Let China sleep, for when China awakes the world will tremble.” It is waking, the world is trembling, and the nine Susquehanna University students who are studying at the University of Macau this semester have box seats to view the rapid emergence of the region as a new world power.
Then, over a short span in the mid-17th century, the Dutch began competing with Portugal for maritime control, and Japan closed its borders to all outsiders. Left stranded by receding European colonial interests on the one hand, and all but forgotten by China on the other, Macau receded into a more minor role as a diverse scene of languid decadence that attracted pirates, gamblers, artists, and people from all over the world escaping oppression, arrest and their former lives.
Macau’s role was further diminished by the founding nearby of Hong Kong in the 1840s, a concession by China to the British as an outcome of the Opium Wars. Unlike Macau, Hong Kong offered a sheltered deep-water port, and quickly grew to dominate trade activity between China and the rest of the world. Macau slipped further into obscurity.
Long administered as a Portuguese colony, Macau was “returned” to the People’s Republic of China in 1999, much as Hong Kong had been handed over by the British in 1997. Both are maintained as Special Administrative Regions (SARs) of the People’s Republic, a promise to leave their political and economic systems in place for 50 years.
Today, Macau is booming. Since 1960 the population has grown from 160,000 to over 500,000 today. The long-time gambling monopoly held by the Ho family was lifted in 2002. Now, ever bigger casinos are being constructed throughout Macau, particularly on what until recently were mud flats between the islands of Taipa and Coloane. Known as the Cotai Strip, it is home to the world’s largest casino (the Venetian, opened in August 2007) and an even larger GalaxyWorld Resort is under construction nearby. With several enormous casinos already, Macau has now overtaken Las Vegas in gambling revenues. Throngs of tourists from Hong Kong and mainland China visit daily. Macau also hopes to build its reputation as a destination resort with broader appeal – as a family-friendly place for relaxing, shopping and enjoying outstanding cuisine.
Macau is also a great vantage point from which to witness the rapid development of China and the Asia Pacific Rim. Over 200 years ago, Napoleon is alleged to have said: “Let China sleep, for when China awakes the world will tremble.” It is waking, the world is trembling, and the nine Susquehanna University students who are studying at the University of Macau this semester have box seats to view the rapid emergence of the region as a new world power.
Monday, January 14, 2008
The Adventure Ahead
One February several years ago, a colleague learned that he’d be traveling to Japan in June. He promptly set about to study Japanese culture, history, phrases, etc. in order to learn as much as he could before actually arriving. He told me later that he learned more about Japan on the bus ride from the airport to his hotel than he had in all of his studies over the previous five months.
His remark has had a lasting influence on me, and it has been borne out in virtually all of my international travel. There’s something about being there – seeing it firsthand, smelling it, hearing it, and being disconnected from one’s familiar home environment – that accelerates and intensifies the learning process.
One thing I’ve asked our nine Macau-bound Susquehanna students to do is write their impressions of Southeast Asia before getting on the plane this Thursday. It will be interesting to compare these thoughts with what they come to learn over the course of the coming semester.
Everyone’s very excited about the adventure ahead, I no less than the other students. There’s also a bit of nervousness and apprehension, which is probably a good thing given distances, language barriers, cultural differences, and all of the uncertainties that need to be managed in the moment. All of are also extremely grateful for this opportunity!
My next post will be from “on the ground” in Macau!
His remark has had a lasting influence on me, and it has been borne out in virtually all of my international travel. There’s something about being there – seeing it firsthand, smelling it, hearing it, and being disconnected from one’s familiar home environment – that accelerates and intensifies the learning process.
One thing I’ve asked our nine Macau-bound Susquehanna students to do is write their impressions of Southeast Asia before getting on the plane this Thursday. It will be interesting to compare these thoughts with what they come to learn over the course of the coming semester.
Everyone’s very excited about the adventure ahead, I no less than the other students. There’s also a bit of nervousness and apprehension, which is probably a good thing given distances, language barriers, cultural differences, and all of the uncertainties that need to be managed in the moment. All of are also extremely grateful for this opportunity!
My next post will be from “on the ground” in Macau!
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