Peru: Trip of a Lifetime!

Highlights of Peru

Many students asked me to write about some of my travel experiences on the blog. As you know, one of my favorite trips was to Peru, so I wrote some more info about what was so good about this country.


1) MOUNTAIN LOVER'S PARADISE

As an avid hiker, my favorite countries tend to be those with big and beautiful mountains. Therefore, Peru was obviously a suitable country for me. Although I had seen my share of beautiful mountains, it was amazing to see the majestic Andes. Everywhere I went, I was surrounded by 5,000 meter peaks, which made for a fantastic landscape.

2) DIVERSITY OF THE LANDSCAPE

In addition to the awesome mountains, the fascinating thing about Peru was the geographical diversity. Within a 3-week stay in the country, I was able to climb mountains, hike deep into a canyon--Colca Canyon-- that dwarfs the Grand Canyon, visit the highest navigable lake in the world (Lake Titicaca), and visit the jungle. One week I was freezing in my tent on the Inca Trail and the next week I was sweating hard trekking through the jungle. Again, Peru had amazing diversity, but the one thing all the geographical features had in common was that they were equally breathtaking.

3) CROSS ONE OFF THE LIST

Since I first saw a picture of the mysterious Machu Picchu, it has been high on my list of "things to see" in life. Visiting Peru finally gave me the chance to cross it off my list. Additionally, hiking the 4-day Inca Trail to get to Machu Picchu made it even more rewarding. A lot of famous sites are a complete letdown when you finally see them, but Machu Picchu did not disappoint. I wanted to just lie in the grass all day and admire one of the most awe-inspiring sights on the planet.

4) NO PAIN, NO GAIN

Maybe Peru was such a wonderful and rewarding trip because I went through so much pain to appreciate it. My first problem was with altitude sickness. I made the mistake of taking the bus straight from Lima down to Arequipa and then into Colca Canyon. To get to Colca Canyon involved taking a bus up to over 4,500 meters, which left me with a pounding headache and hardly any energy as I tried to carry my 10-kg backpack for 3 days. Then, after finally arriving at the highlight of my trip--the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu--I was stricken with a horrible stomach virus from some bad food I ate on my trip. I spent the second and third days of the hike clutching my stomach in pain. These problems, again, made the trip more rewarding. It made every amazing sight just seem all that more beautiful. On the flight home, I was completely drained. But it was a good feeling of exhaustion, knowing that I had had an unforgettable adventure.


Although I have never visited a country which I did not enjoy and appreciate, Peru was definitely one of the best trips of my life. It is also one of those rare places that when I was flying out of the country, I said to myself, "I will be back..."

Today's Plan

Today in class we will do the following:

1. Finish the internet travel search with your group. These are just some basic questions to help get you started using the internet in English.
2. Read my story ""My Cross-Cultural Misunderstanding." Make sure you understand the main parts of the story as we will discuss it next class.
3. If you finish, you can a) start searching for some information for your group project OR b) finish searching for an article for your first reading project. Remember that it's due on Friday.
* Class will finish at 10:15 today, but you can stay here with your group if you need to work more.
** Remember that Monday will be a preparation day, so bring some materials to class to start planning your group trip.

Questions from Students

One of the proposals for this project was for students to have lunch with me and interview me, then give a report about the interview. This was an interesting idea, but it didn't receive the most votes. I would like to use the blog as an opportunity for you to ask me some questions. I don't want to talk about my own experiences TOO much in class, as we have many other topics to focus on. But, I will collect some questions from you and about once a week I'll post an entry one of the themes. This gives you a chance to get some extra reading and learn more about me and my culture. You can ask about anything you want, i.e. college life, music, sports, food, travel, etc. Fire away!

My Cross-Cultural Misunderstanding

1. Although I have had a wonderful time living in Japan, as a foreigner here of course things have not always gone smoothly. All foreigners will have some cultural misunderstandings due to the ways in which people from different cultures communicate. I'm going to tell you about one misunderstanding I had.

2. This story happened when I was quite new to Japan and working at an English school in Sapporo. At this school, we taught students of all ages. I enjoyed teaching children, but teaching adults was much more natural for me. I am not good with kids and sometimes I struggled to teach children. This school had a lot of satellite schools around Sapporo and we would sometimes go to the schools in the suburbs to team-teach children with a Japanese teacher. I had to do this a couple days a week.

3. One day, my schedule was suddenly changed. Instead of teaching children at one school, they asked me to go to a different school. They scheduled my friend and co-worker Claude to go to the first school instead of me. I asked my Japanese boss, Mr. Yamada, the reason for the change. He abruptly answered with a smile: "There's no reason. Just please go to the new school."

4. I thought this was strange, so I asked my friend Claude if he knew the reason. Claude explained, "Oh yeah, that day we are having a model lesson. Some mothers are bringing their children to watch the lesson. So they want me to do the lesson instead of you." I completely understood the reason. Claude was more experienced than me and he was also a natural at teaching kids. Of course kids liked him more than me.

5. I wasn't angry at all, because I knew Claude was better at teaching kids. What made me angry, though, is that I thought Mr. Yamada lied to me. Because I was angry, I decided to ask him again. I directly said to him, "Sorry to ask again, but please tell me why the schedule was changed." When he said "no reason" again, I said to him, "but there MUST be SOME reason! It doesn't make sense." He paused, smiled at me, and finally said, "You should talk to the other boss, Mr. Goto. Maybe he knows the reason.

6. After this incident, I stayed angry at Mr. Yamada for a long time. I held a grudge at him for communicating with me so indirectly. I didn't understand the Japanese way of communicating at that time. I had thought he was a coward who was afraid to say the truth. In fact, however, it seems that he just didn't tell me the truth because he didn't want to hurt my feelings. Neither way is correct. It just depends on your cultural background and way of communicating.

7. I learned a valuable lesson from this experience. It's very simple advice, but we often say "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." I have been in Japan a long time and like living here, so I need to accept and understand the Japanese way of communicating. Remember that when you travel or live in another country, you sometimes have to change your way of doing things.

Summarize the story with the following clues...
1. One day, John was surprised because...
2. He asked Mr. Yamada about this, but Mr. Yamada...
3. He then asked his friend Claude, who told him that...
4. John felt...at Mr. Yamada because...
5. Eventually, however, John learned that...

Discussion Questions
1. Do you think John was stupid for getting angry at Mr. Yamada? Why or why not? (Don't be afraid to give your TRUE opinion)
2. Do you usually communicate directly or indirectly with others? Or does it depend on the person and the situation? Explain your style and why you prefer it.
3. Do you completely agree with "When in Rome, do as the Romans do"? Can you think of any situations when it isn't the best idea?
4. Do you think foreigners who work in Japan should be required to learn Japanese fluently and do everything the "Japanese way"? Or is it better to mix the Japanese and foreign styles?

Today's Assignment: Internet Travel Search

Today we will practice using different internet sites to get travel information. With your group, search and answer the questions below. For each question, USE the web site which is in (parentheses) at the end of the question. Do the questions in random order so that we aren't all trying to access the same sites at the same time. Good luck!

1. Click on Asia on the destinations map. Now click on Singapore. Skim the intro (at a glance) section for Singapore. Singapore has a mix of traditions from what THREE countries/cultures? (Lonely Planet)

2. Now go to the same page for Jamaica. In the "at a glance" section for Jamaica, what is the "Feature Attraction"? (Lonely Planet)

3. Go to the destinations map and find Brazil. Look for the section which says "deals and news." How much does it cost for a package tour of five nights to Brazil? (Frommers)

4. On the destinations map, find Finland. When did Finland gain independence/become a country? (Rough Guide)

5. You want to go to John's hometown of Syracuse, New York. You will stay there from September 1st until September 15th. Enter those dates and a round-trip ticket from Kansai (KIX) to Syracuse (SYR). How much is the cheapest ticket? Where do you have to transfer? (united.com)

6. Your hotel in Spain costs 100 euro. How much is that in yen? Use the quick converter and check the price. (oanda.com)

7. Do a search for your teacher's name. What is the first article about? (abroadview)

Welcome to the IM blog!

Hey everyone, welcome to the IM blog I created for this class. I created this blog so that I could put some links for you to easily check out some English web sites. The internet is of course a great tool for your English, so you should try to use it. Today we'll look at some sites that may help you get travel information for your group travel projects. If we have time, we'll look at some other interesting sites as well.

Remember this blog address. Write it down! I will continue to put interesting articles or links here throughout the term.

In addition, you should also think about creating your own blog. It's a piece of cake. Just go to blogger.com and follow the instructions from there.