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May 24 – Home Again

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After some 30 hours of bus and air travel, with many hours spent waiting in terminals, we arrived back in Bangor to be greeted by family and friends.  I can’t wait to see a sample of the thousands of photographs taken and reading the required journals the students penned during the trip.

Kyoto Highlights

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After the intense business focus of the Tokyo phase of the trip everyone looked forward to the Kyoto portion of the trip ….. and I can say without fear of contradiction that they were not disappointed in the Kyoto experience.

The hotel was a traditional Japanese inn, the Three Sisters Annex, where students shared rooms, sleeping on tatami mats and observing other Japanese lifestyle activities.
The sites and experiences of Kyoto are a complex composite of visual, intellectual and emotional connections.
One highlight was participating in a traditional tea ceremony where students not only observed the process but were taught how to make a drink the special tea by a tea master and her assistants.
Another interesting stop was a tour of a sake brewery located in an area identified as “old Japan”.  Many may have thought they walked onto a movie set.
A final night tofu dinner offered everyone a taste of Japan not often found in Japanese restaurants outside of Japan.

May 24 – On Our Way

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The UMaine MBA trip participants are on their way back to Orono.  The students are in high spirits.  We departed Kyoto at 7AM on Sunday 5/24 (6PM Saturday 5/23 in Maine) and will not arrive in Bangor until 12:30PM 5/25 (11:30PM Sunday 5/24 in Maine) … about 30 hours of travel!

Everyone is now relaxing at the Tokyo/Narita Airport after a 2 hour bus ride to the Osaka airport and a short flight to Tokyo.  ETD for Detroit is 6:50PM Tokyo time. 

May 22-23 | Kyoto

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Too much to say with little time to say it right now.  The past two days have been filled with group and individual activities enjoying the culture and history of Japan as we toured and experienced the wonders of Kyoto.  Tomorrow we begin our journey back to Orono.

Please return to my blog on Monday as I will post my comments and some photos highlighting the Kyoto “experience”.  You will see us learning the fine art of the tea ceremony and the brewing of sake.  Shrines, temples, gardens, and the serenity of the “Philosopher’s Walk” will be among the featured elements of an intense, rewarding and memorable educational and cultural experience.
I have also posted some selected photos to the MBS MBA PhotoBucket site.  Expect to see it soon populated with hundreds of photos from the students on the trip.
From Kyoto, goodbye for now.

May 21

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On Thursday morning we concluded our stay in Tokyo and boarded the famed Japanese Shinkansen “bullet train” as we headed to Kyoto, the “soul of Japan,” with an intermediate stop in Toyota City to tour the Toyota Motor Company factory.

Both events were exciting elements and added to the value of the trip.
We arrived in Kyoto and introduced everyone to their first very traditional Japanese inn experience!  The arrival signals a shift from three very intensive days of business related activities to a more focused attention on Japanese history and culture.