Students Return from Business Trip to China
A DREAM COME TRUE
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“Being on top of the Great Wall of China was a life changing experience I will never forget,” says Nichols College senior Ryan Johnston, who recently returned from a 13-day May excursion to China with other Nichols students, alums, faculty and staff. Johnston says he was truly impressed by how friendly and accessible the Chinese people were, many of whom spoke English.
Libba Moore, associate dean for business, was "fascinated with artifacts from three incredibly different political regimes: emperors and dynasties, Mao's communist China, and the contemporary transition to a leading capitalist power today."
Dawn Sherman, assistant dean for special academic programs and one of two tour leaders, couldn’t believe that there were Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants on practically every corner. After suffering from a sinus infection early in the trip, Sherman was relieved to run into a group of Curry College nurses who were working at a local hospital and advised her on medication.
It was Professor Rick Hilliard’s third trip to China. He most recalled the signs he saw: “Everybody Does Every Job” and “This Is a Communist Workshop.” Assoc. V.P. for Finance Pat Hertzfeld was startled by China’s whole-hearted embrace of internationalization as evident in the use of English on signage. “And the spaces are huge,” says Hertzfeld. “Tiananmen Square holds over a million people. I couldn’t possibly show its true size by taking pictures. Americans have never seen building on this scale.”
The trip’s focus was to examine international business in Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai and Hong Kong, but it also included visits to important historic and cultural sites. The Nichols entourage enjoyed activities and visits to: the Museum of Terra-Cotta Army, the Hong Kong Stock Market, a GM automobile factory, a tea house, a rickshaw tour among the ancient city alleys called “hutongs,” Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, a Peking Duck dinner, a Kung Fu Show, the Shaanxi Provincial Museum, a silk factory, Jin Mao Tower, a “very hot” steel factory, and several boat rides. Rumor has it that someone in the tour group even tried “scorpion on a stick!”
But the trip of extremes brought some sobering insights. On Monday, May 12th, seven days before the trip started, a 7.9-magnitude earth quake killed 10,000 people in Sichuan Province. Our Nichols travelers felt at least one aftershock.
In addition, air pollution was at extreme levels. Students never saw flying birds and everyone came down with a “smoker’s cough.” It is doubtful if there will be any improvement for the August 18th opening of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with its theme: “One World, One Dream.”
Nichols next trip has been slated for May 13, 2009 and will include Italy, Greece and a Mediterranean cruise. If interested, please contact Asst. Dean Dawn Sherman (508-213-2263)