Seoul-searching

by Matt Dela Peña

[seoulrhythm]

Living abroad can be an overwhelming experience. The influx of new sights, sounds, and smells can really stir the senses into a dizzying spiral of both awe and confusion. Yet somehow I am lovestruck with this feeling; it is my natural high. I'd love nothing more than to grow a pair of wings and take flight, and spend a few days or weeks or even months in a foreign land.

Hitting a few bumps on the road... (setbacks and culture shock) & field trip!

by Josie Losh

I can’t believe it, but it’s been a month since I’ve come to Japan. Somehow, it feels like I’ve been here longer than a month. Every day seems to stretch out inconceivably longer than a day in America, even with going to bed earlier and getting up later than I typically do at Pacific University.

La Gringa Actually Goes to School

by Devan Bey

Student's lounging by the big UEES sign.

This is a much more domestic post concerning the daily life of an exchange student (as much as my blog likes to suggest, I do not spend every moment travelling this glorious country). In fact, most of my days are spent doing relatively mundane tasks; attending class, walking back and forth from school, and wondering when I get to eat (that last one usually takes precedence).

La Gringa Visits Cuenca

by Devan Bey

Cajas National Park, Cuenca

As a visitor to Ecuador, it is impossible not to hear about Cuenca. The nation's third largest city, Cuenca has an impossibly pure reputation. The city is adored by visitors and residents alike, all of whom blast praises about it to anyone who will listen. Cuenca boasts a long history; originally founded by the Cañari indigenous group who were later defeated by the Inca warriors as they battled their way through Ecuador.

Starting Life in Japan

by Josie Losh

The temple near my apartment

It's been a week already since I left America, but it already seems like ages ago. Life has been so busy day-to-day, there's no time to think about slowing down! However, for the time being, I'm done with errands like registering my residence at the city hall and with the national government, setting up a Japanese bank account, obtaining the national health insurance, and paying my first month's rent at my apartment! Sadly, this also means that I have completely exhausted my Japanese cash! Especially after paying for groceries and household items! However, so far, I love life in Japan.

La Gringa Goes to Baños

by Devan Bey

Baños from above.

We reached Baños after a hysterically long seven and a half hour bus ride. It was one of those where trips that should last maybe six hours at the most, but then every minute after that simply increases the misery. Six other international students and myself fell off that dreaded bus, exhausted but pleased to have arrived in Baños, a town in the Sierra (in Ecuador, that refers to the mountains). We had heard of its healing powers and after a tremendously long week, we decided it was necessary to have some adventures and refresh ourselves before exams the following week.

Majestic Banff

by Matt Dela Peña

As I stood on the thirty-third floor balcony of a Downtown Calgary condo unit looking out towards the horizon, I was completely astonished by the sheer flatness of the Canadian Prairies. It really didn't depict the stereotypical image I had of the True North: no majestic, snow-capped peaks, thousand lakes, igloos, or even free-ranging moose.

The Waffle Window

by Matt Dela Peña

Portland has a treasure trove's worth of shimmering gems hidden within its ninety-five neighborhoods that even some of its own residents don’t quite know about. Because that’s just the thing about this hipster-run metropolis: the locals don’t really want you to know about them.

La Gringa Is Cleansed

by Devan Bey

Beautiful city of Otavalo at night.

Most days I don't take off my clothes in front of people. Most days I don't allow small women to spit alcohol on me and rub eggs on my hair. Most days I don't worry that I'll have to stand over a fire with additional flames being shot at me from all angles. But Wednesday, August 28th was a different kind of day. It was completely wild, new, and amazing. I experienced something new, something special. I allowed myself to take an adventurous step, which was the idea behind my trip to this beautiful country. I'm so proud of the experience and it'll be a tough one to forget.

This voyage began in the small town of Otavalo, a charming and historical city northeast of Quito. The city is known for its indigenous market place, which boasts a mass of stalls and colorful people and objects. Several dozen vendors convene in the Plaza de los Ponchos to sell (usually) handcrafted wares; alpaca clothing, dolls, belts, jewelry, textiles, and much, much more. The city offers the buyer a variety of items and the chance to bargain for them (a skill which I admittedly lack. I was able to talk a lady down on a pair of earrings by $2.00.)

A Very Asian Non-Asian

by Josie Losh

An aerial view of Saga University (picture obviously not mine). [INTERCOH]

In a little less than a month, I'll be studying abroad Pacific University's only science-based exchange university in Japan: Saga University （佐賀大学）located on Kyushu. I have been studying the Japanese language and culture for 6 years and I just recently made the decision to make Japanese my second major (my first being Biology).

La Gringa Makes (International) Friends

by Devan Bey

Wow, that's a lot of people. Credit to UEES Abroad Facebook page.

After more than a week in Ecuador, I've got some serious reporting to do. I'll start somewhat lightly. On the first night, after 20 or so hours of traveling, I arrived to the Quito to greet my new (only) best friends in the nation, the estudiantes de intercambio (exchange students). Exhausted and reeling from the altitude and the trip, I stumbled into the Hotel Tambo Real, a modern outfit located conveniently across the street from the local McDonald's and KFC.

Doing business at SEU

by Matt Dela Peña

BA-355: Doing Business in China was more a spontaneous endeavor for me than a well-thought-out decision. The moment I heard that there was going to be a contingent of students from my school going to China over the summer, I needed to be a part of it. Ultimately, I managed to convince my parents that this trip was highly pivotal for my major, and I was able to go.^^ So here's a broad description of what we did.

La Gringa Goes Far from Home

by Devan Bey

Heading out of Oregon, feelin' sentimental.

Ecuador is so far away. I'm realizing that every moment as I wait for a speaker to invite me onto an airplane that will take me out of my country and even further out of my comfort zone. If it seems like I'm being dramatic... well I might be. As a first time international traveler, I don't know exactly how to feel. It's a strange feeling to crave the past while waiting impatiently for the future. Yup, I'm floating in a jar of what they call "mixed emotions," not sure if I'm up or down, about to faint or dance.

After an emotionally intense goodbye to my mom and boyfriend, I'm still a little dazed. The good news is that I'm about to undertake the biggest adventure of my life. In many ways, this trip is a personal test. As an aspiring anthropologist, it is an opportunity to grow close to people, ways of life, ideas, and places that have never crossed my mind. How could I not benefit from visiting somewhere new? What do I stand to lose? Even if I get robbed or lost in a jungle, I'm going to come out of that situation with a brand new perspective and a whole lot of stories to tell when I get home. Maybe I'll even find a second home, or a third.

南京路 photolog

by Matt Dela Peña

南京路, or Nanjing Road, is Shanghai's busiest shopping area. Adorned with European colonial architecture and LED lights, it's a shop-a-holic's paradise.

American tourists in Shanghai

by Matt Dela Peña

Stop #1: Jade Buddha Temple (No, that's not the Jade Buddha)

Our second day in Shanghai consisted of a lot of sightseeing. After starting the day with the most underwhelming "breakfast buffet" ever served, we made our way down to the lobby to meet our tour guide of the day, Sophie Lee.

Now, we've met a pretty monotonous set of local tour guides throughout the course of our trip. Sophie, however, wasn't the typical one we've come to know from our frequent outings. For one, she had an eccentric personality; two, she didn't demonstrate a particular liking to her job. More on that later.

Let's start with Crater Lake

by Matt Dela Peña

Hike up Garfield Peak. You'll be glad you did ;)

I have a belief that we, regardless of where we're from, tend to take for granted the beauty that is in our very own backyard. Well, that's the case for me anyway.

You see, I've spent the majority of my life thus far as a resident of the state of Oregon, despite at first being a Filipino immigrant to California, and this September marks my 9th year living here—roughly half my current lifetime. So, I truly consider myself an Oregonian despite what anyone else might say.

Shanghai-bound

by Matt Dela Peña

Pudong skyline

Shanghai—the world's most populous city and busiest container port; the PRC's principal financial center and Alpha+ global city; a rising hub of commerce, culture, finance, media, fashion, technology, and transport.^[1] The list goes on and on. With so many accolades to its name, I was dying to go.

Cars look like ants...

by Matt Dela Peña

... from the observation deck of the Shanghai World Financial Center. At 474 m, it is the world's highest public viewing deck. The building, currently Shanghai's tallest at 492 m, will soon be dwarfed by the Shanghai Tower (632 m) which is due for completion in 2014—its lot is visible on the lower left corner of this picture.

Zhouzhuang

by Matt Dela Peña

Cultural preservation seems to be the norm in China these days perhaps to serve as a reminder for how much of a terrible idea the Cultural Revolution really was (way to go, Mao). It seriously feels like every street corner in every Chinese city is adorned with either a temple, museum, or cultural center, just to ballyhoo to unknowing passersby the complete and utter badassery that is Chinese history.

But just when you think you've exceeded your fair share of culture for one day, you suddenly find yourself in a town that is in and of itself an entire cultural exhibit. Welcome to Zhouzhuang.

Suzhou, China's paradise on Earth

by Matt Dela Peña

Not a lot of Portlandians (myself included) know that the city of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province is one of the nine sister cities of Portland (as listed by the ever so factful Wikipedia). Heck, why would we? We are, after all, Americans. We quiver at the sight of a map.

Yet, Portlandians would be pleased to know that the city they share some sort of citified sorority with is actually the fastest growing industrial center in the fastest growing province in all of China. Talk about having connections.

Surviving China: Money

by Matt Dela Peña

PRC currency has two names: yuan (¥) (元) and Renminbi (RMB). HOWEVER, if you purchase anything anywhere, the shopkeeper will always refer to it as "kuài". One kuài is like one "dollar". One kuài is divided into 10 máo (毛) (kind of like our cents). There are two máo coins: 1 máo (10 "cents") and 5 máo (50 "cents"). So, when the shopkeeper says "shí wǔ kuài sān," she is asking for 15.30 元. Got it? Great!

Nanjing Massacre Museum

by Matt Dela Peña

Just in case the message wasn't clear...

Among all of the places we visited in our first week, none struck me more than The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders. For all intensive purposes, I prefer to call it the Nanjing Massacre Museum. But for a city whose wounds are still raw from a long and catastrophic war, it's understandable why a generic, three-letter name simply does not suffice.

Nanjing City Wall

by Matt Dela Peña

In order to consolidate his authority shortly after the proclamation of the Great Ming Dynasty (大明), in 1368, the Hongwu Emperor transferred the imperial capital to the mountainous region of Nanjing (南: "south", 京: "capital") and commissioned what would 600 years later be one of the best preserved city walls ever built.

Surviving China: Counting to 1000

by Matt Dela Peña

After you have zero to ten memorize, the rest of the numbers are fairly easy and straightforward.

Chinese college life

by Matt Dela Peña

东南大学

Last Friday, Southeast University threw us a welcome banquet! We were pretty stoked since it was the first meal we would be having outside of the canteen which, by that point, some of us were already dreading. Interestingly, the university also assigned a handful of their own students to attend the dinner in an attempt to facilitate an interaction between us and our direct Chinese counterparts, something I personally was looking forward to when I decided to take this course.

Surviving China: Basic numbers

by Matt Dela Peña

How to count in Chinese is probably the most important thing you need know when you go to China. Paying by card and getting receipts back are, in fact, not very common. So first, here's a cute girl who shows you how to count with your hands in China. Yes, it is very useful.

China: Shocks of culture

by Matt Dela Peña

I call myself a 'wanderer-in-training' simply because I really haven't been to that many places throughout the world. I want to be a certified wanderer, but I haven't had the means or drive to do it. And although I was born in the Philippines and lived in different parts of the West Coast, I can't really say that I've experienced what you would call a real "culture shock". That is, until I went to China.

Aloha wau ia Hawai'i: My top 5 O'ahu experiences

by Matt Dela Peña

One of the perks of going to university is that the students you attend it with tend to hail from different parts of the world. In the case of my school, a lot of these folks come from the state of Hawaii. Before I met my college friends, the extent of my knowledge of the 50th state was just that—it was the 50th state (and I guess Lilo & Stitch).

San Francisco: A mini photolog

by Matt Dela Peña

Let's see. I haven't been to the Bay Area in five years. I decided to take the trip down with a couple of strangers when I realized I would have nothing to do at home over spring break. Is that a little crazy?

Couchsurfing and traveling

by Matt Dela Peña

Slowly, but surely!

Last year, I discovered an online community dedicated to penny-pinching backpackers who can request to be hosted by their fellow travelers—for free—in the cities they're going to visit. It's called Couchsurfing.

Oly and the Emerald City pt. 2

by Matt Dela Peña

We spent our third and final day together as a group in Olympia. In the morning, we hiked around a nearby forest which had a muddy trail that led to a rocky beach perched on the coast of Puget Sound. I can't remember the name of the park but it was nice.

Oly and the Emerald City pt. 1

by Matt Dela Peña

For this year's spring break, the gang had originally planned to go to Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho, but the idea ultimately failed when we found out that the park wasn't even going to be open during that week. As a result, we each ended up making separate plans. However, most of us did manage to agree upon a group trip to Washington, and spend the first weekend of spring break at Josie's house in good ol' rural Olympia.

When I root, I root for the Timbers!

by Matt Dela Peña

Everyone, minus Devan :[

The world gives us a ton of crap for being the only country in the world that doesn't embrace soccer. However, it's pretty likely that these, for the lack of a better word, arrogant European soccer fans haven't been to Portland, Oregon. Well, Portland is home to the MLS team Portland Timbers, whose fan base, the so-called Timbers Army, can rival that of any team in the Champions League.

Honey Toast Cafe

by Matt Dela Peña

If you're looking to settle a sweet tooth craving and experience one of the more hip, metropolitan-Euro-Asian fusion parts of Portland at the same time, then look no further than in Beaverton, a town just west of downtown.

Voodoo and Phở

by Matt Dela Peña

Ever since Spring semester started, I've been stuck in the metro area with pretty much nothing to do. During such occasions, I always go to Portland with some friends just to walk around and find new places to eat. In a tradition that dates back to high school, I now pretty much know most of the downtown area like the back of my hand.

My first snowboarding experience

by Matt Dela Peña

Blurry iPhone pic. Because iPhone.

Since moving to Oregon nearly eight years ago, I have never been to the Cascades. My family has a chronic fear of driving in snow. Thus, it has been quite embarrassing to know that so many of my friends from places like Hawaii have already managed to visit that part of my own state. So yesterday, I went snowboarding for the first time.

It's more delicious in Pampanga

by Matt Dela Peña

If there's one thing I'm proud of for being Kapampangan, it's the food. Lutung Kapampangan, or Kapampangan cuisine, is widely considered to be the best and most refined cuisine among its regional counterparts in the country. (Even though my favorite food is laing from Bicol.) The saying goes: if you're Kapampangan, you know how to cook! (Not true.)

Not just on The Strip

by Matt Dela Peña

Most people go to Las Vegas for The Strip. Facts unchecked, it is probably where 100% of the city's tourism revenue comes from. As an Oregon hipster, I wanted my Sin City experience to be less mainstream, so I sought after a local who knew more things to do in the city than just hop around the hotels that surround Las Vegas Boulevard.