John's Out Of This Country Experience!

WE'RE BACK!!!!

2006-06-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

Just incase anyone is still looking at my blog, Meg and I made it back safely yesterday. I'll probably post one more entry to this before I end my blog. So until next time...cheers...

Jekyll and Hyde...

2006-06-14T06:44:00.001-07:00

The best way I can think to describe Amsterdam is by comparing it to Jekyll and Hyde. On one side of Amsterdam there are beautiful canals and a rich history in the Van Gogh Museum and The Ann Frank House. On the other side there are more prostitutes and drugs than you could ever imagine! Amsterdam is really crazy. We're having a tremendous time though. I know this is a short post, but see me when I get home and I'll tell you about the night before Amsterdam in Charleroi and more about Amsterdam. We still have a lot to do, so I'm off for now. Until next time...cheers...

Jekyll and Hyde...

2006-06-14T06:44:00.000-07:00

Sweden

2006-06-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

Today Meg and I have made our way around Stockholm. I must say that Sweden is pretty tremendous. It's very beautiful here, that's for sure! We took a brief boat tour so that we could see some of the things around the canal and that was a lot of fun. However, one thing that I think needs to be mentioned that Meg and I quickly found out last night was how RyanAir doesn't really fly you to your intended destinations! For instance, when we flew out of Brussels on Monday, we really flew out of an airport about half an hour from there. And this has really been the case with every place that we've landed. So last night when we thought we were landing in Stockholm, but we really weren't! We landed and had to ride a tour bus for an hour and a half to get to Stockholm! It's because RyanAir doesn't really fly you into your intended destinations! So just for future reference, although RyanAir is cheap, they're cheap for a reason! It's so you also have to take their tour buses to get to your intended destinations! So after our hour and a half tour bus ride through Sweden, we arrived in Stockholm around 1 a.m. The sun was still setting at this time...well really the sun never goes down. This has been a trend throughout Europe! Regardless, we made it to our hostel where Meg and I quickly found out that we were on an episode of Gilligan's Island! The boat we're staying on is really cool, but there is this pull out bunk that we both laughed at and thought about Gilligan, the Skipper too, a millionaire and his wife, a movie star, the professor and Mary Ann...here on Gilligan's Island! Ok, so clearly if you're reading this, you can tell I'm very tired and out of it today! So sorry for that, but my traveling has caught up with me! Tomorrow we're heading back to Brussels and either staying there for the night or heading to Amsterdam, depending on the train schedule. By the way, I'm writing this blog in 7-11 and it's by far the nicest 7-11 of all time! It's basically like a cafe/upscale 7-11, which is altogether really nice! Ok, even I'm tired of my mindless rambling now, so I'm going. Until next time...cheers...

Just head straight for the Castle, you can't miss it...

2006-06-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

So the title of my blog is the advice we got from a local walking his dogs on how to get back to town! After hiking up to Arthur's Seat, we asked some guy if we were going the right way back to town. He just laughed and told us to head straight for the Castle and we couldn't miss it! Now how often do you hear that!?

Meg and I went to the end of the Royal Mile and hiked up to Arthur's Seat. This is one of two huge rock formations in Holyrood Park. Little did we know that we would need an oxygen mask and tank to climb this though! When we reached the top of it, we were literally in the middle of the fog that wouldn't lift! Before making the climb up to Arthur's seat, we took a tour of Edinburg Castle. It was really beautiful. After that we had to return to the hostel to put some more clothes on! Today is not a day for shorts and sandals (or kilts, if I were so inclined to wear one!), which we quickly found out! And today is really the first day that we've experienced "true" European weather. We now have a new rule that we can't talk about the weather! Meg posted things about it on her blog yesterday and I talked about it when I called home and today, it's freezing in Scotland!

So that's all I have for now! Until next time...cheers...

Protecting Our Underwater Ally...

2006-06-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

Meg and I arrived safely in Scotland this morning. We took the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh, which is where we'll stay for the remainder of our time in Scotland. I have to say that Edinburgh may be the best place we've been thus far. So thanks Dr. Brown for the heads up and suggesting we come here!

We haven't had time to do much just yet. We walked around to a few shops and checked some things our for tomorrow. But I'm not going to lie, we've got a nice little Friday planned... and I can assure you that after Home Depot, there will be no time for Bed, Bath, and Beyond! (Yes I know I've used that quote a lot, but it's still funny!) Regardless, I'll try to write more when I get the chance. But just know that this is the news report that we heard when we landed today:

"Last week, Japanese scientists explaced... placed explosive detonators at the bottom of Lake Loch Ness to blow Nessie out of the water. Sir Godfrey of the Nessie Alliance summoned the help of Scotland's local wizards to cast a protective spell over the lake and its local residents and all those who seek for the peaceful existence of our underwater ally."

For those of you who know what movie that's from, you know it's funny! And no worries, I'm one of those supporting the peaceful existence of our underwater ally! Nonetheless, I'm off for now! Until next time...cheers...

One More Thing...

2006-06-07T07:16:00.000-07:00

One quick thing I forgot to mention is that the driving in Europe is no better than the driving was in Asia!

Also, Meg's posting some pictures on her blog, so you can see some of what we're doing on there! Have a good one all!

Cheers...

Belgium/Ireland

2006-06-07T06:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I haven't written anything in a while, but we really haven't found decent internet access until today, which is our last day in Ireland. So let me go back and try to quickly recap things.

We spent a couple of days in Belgium, in which we saw a lot. We went up and walked around Brugge, which was beautiful. After that, we took the train out to Oostende and then to Antwarpen. We pretty much just took the train all over the vast majority of Belgium in one day. It was really cool to get to see as much as we did though.

We arrived in Ireland a couple of days ago and it is truly beautiful. It's the first country that we've been in that reminded me of home. I think it was the green fields and cows that reminded me of home, but there's just something about it that reminds me of southwest Virginia. One of the funniest things we've seen thus far is a "Corse" or a "How" we haven't decided yet! It was a horse that had the black and white color of a cow! It was so funny because Meg looked out the bus window and then immediately looked at me with her "Did you see what I saw!?" look and it was so funny! We've both been laughing about that for a while now!

We stayed close to the southern-most tip of Ireland the first night here. We were right next to this famous lighthouse that has been the centerpiece of many paintings. Looking at it, it's clear why. The next morning, we took a walk along the coastline trail. We walked for several miles and it was beautiful. We did see some naked guy going swimming, which was random to look down the cliffs and see that, but it was also very funny as well. We tried to rent a car, but the people at the airport told us that you had to be 25, which neither of us are. So we've been taking the bus around and still seeing a lot. However, yesterday our taxi driver, who was hilarious, found out for us that we could rent a car from Enterprise (and they'll pick you up!). She was very willing to help us though and she was so funny. She said, "Oh Lord Jesus, isn't that just ridiculous! I know if I two of my kids were in a foreign country and couldn't hire a car, I would just flip over something like that!" So clearly that line doesn't read like it's funny, but imagine it in a very strong Irish accent and it's much funnier.

Today we took the bus up to Galway and tomorrow we're headed for Scotland for a couple of days and then to Sweden, then back to Brussels, then to Amsterdam. Oh and we decided to end our trip by going to London on the 16th to see Daniel Powter and then coming back and leaving from Brussels on the 17th. We thought that it'd be pretty sweet to see Daniel Powter in London, so we're taking the train over for that! Other than that, we've had no real plan and it's been working well!

We have decided though that the first hour in any new place is just going to be a cluster! I'm not sure what it is about that first hour, but we're just openly accepting that it's going to be crazy! Regardless, I must be off for now. No worries, we're safe and having a lot of fun! Until next time (whenever that may be)...cheers...

Belgium

2006-06-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

First let me say that I will post more about what´s going on when I can get to a keyboard with keys in their normal position. For some ungodly reason, the keys on the keyboard here are different than they are in America and so I have to type this in one key at a time. And for those of you who know me, you know I don´t have the patience to deal with this.

Today Meg and I took the train all over Belgium. We spent a most of the day walking around Brugges. After that we went to Oostende. We briefly saw the coast and then went somewhere else.

Ok I´m done messing with this damn keyboard. I´ll update this tomorrow in Ireland. Meg´s driving and we have to drive on the left. So for those of you reading this, say a prayer for us!

Until next time...cheers...

For more on what´s going on, look at Meg´s blog...she has more patience than I do!

The adventure has begun...

2006-06-03T04:30:00.000-07:00

Hello all...Meg and I arrived safely in Brussels today. After not knowing whether or not we had gone through customs and walking around the airport for a while, we got everything worked out! And yes, there is more of a story behind this, so ask me about it when I get home! We made it to our hostel and then had lunch by the Grand´ Place. It became very apparent to me today that I should have paid a lot more attention in French class! Regardless, all is well and the adventure has only started! I will say that it is much cooler here, which is not a bad thing. However, Belgium is beautiful and very different from Asia! Ok I´m off for now. Until next time...cheers...

You say goodbye and I say hello...

2006-06-02T01:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we visited Bangkok University. It was a really good experience. It seemed as though they were as eager to learn from us as we were from them. We met with the dean of the department of communication there, as well as other faculty members. At first we had an introduction video that outlined their program and what they had to offer. After that we basically had an open forum where we asked questions and found out more about their program and facilities. Following the forum, we took a tour of the communication department. They spent some $800 million baht on this facility and it was really nice. From my calculations, that's about $22,857,142 U.S. dollars. (Yes I know that was very Type A of me to calculate that, but it's what I do! And if it's wrong, then my excuse is that I work with words, not numbers!) They have their own news room and their own radio station. When we went into the news room and looked down at the anchordesk, I couldn't help but think to myself "Good evening San Diego, I'm Ron Burgungy!" Had we gotten the opportunity to go down and sit at the desk, that's so what I would have said! After we got a tour of their department, they served us lunch, which was excellent. After lunch, the group dispersed and we all did our own things.

Last night after a drink with everyone and saying our final goodbyes, most of the group had dinner together at Cabbages and Condoms. The proceeds from this restaurant go towards find a cure for AIDS. So we all had a great dinner there and at the end of the meal, we all received a free condom! It was a really funny dinner though and we all had fun!

I would like to take a second to reflect on the first part of my trip. I want to thank Dr. Kennan for allowing me the opportunity of a lifetime. Thank you sir (I know you love it when I call you that!) for a great trip and one hell of an adventure. It may not have always been smooth, but it was always an adventure, which is what you promised. I feel that Dr. Kennan and I have a new bond with one another after sharing a room for the past two weeks. But I'm ready to give him back to Betty and I wish her the best of luck! I will say that I've learned more in the last three weeks than I could have in a lifetime of reading books. This has been a tremendous opportunity for me and I'm glad that I got to come along for this experience.

So as I'm leaving Asia, I will say that although I do like it hot, I won't miss the heat and the instant sweating when you step outside. I'll be ok if I don't eat rice again for the next few years. And whatever that ungodly smell that Meg and I always run into on the street (which I'm aware could be her! And if I smell it in Europe, I'm leaving here there!) is not something that I will miss abut Asia!

In the famous lyrics of The Beatles (and also what Keith Urban takes the stage to) "As I say goodbye, you say hello." So as I say goodbye to Asia, I say hello to Europe! And I'm well aware that Europe may never be the same once Meg and I leave there. (And don't tell Scotty cause Scotty doesn't know!)

Until next time...cheers...

Ogilvy Public Relations

2006-05-31T02:43:00.000-07:00

Last night Meg and I got back from PhuKet. It was truly beautiful. The sunset was great and the water was a very beautiful emerald green. And since I love the beach in general, I had a tremendous time.

Today we met with Ogilvy Public Relations. In the famous words of Ron Burgundy, "They're kind of a big deal!" We learned about some of the types of jobs that they handle there, including event planning and they briefly mentioned crisis management. One point that was made today that I think is important in the field of public relations is that you have to always be prepared for any and everything to happen. We heard some stories from having trouble launching a new laundry detergent to dealing with Michael Jackson. However, it was all very interesting and educational. After the presentation, we took a quick tour around their office. They have two very interesting rooms there. One is a "Think Room." In this round room, there is a seat that runs around the wall. They also have adjustable ties hanging from every part of the room. They said that when they can't think of an idea or need somewhere to go and think, they come to that room until their ideas come to them. They also had another room with swings in it. We were told that they often go in there when projects are done or when they need some time to think and swing on the swings in there. The employees at Ogilvy were very warm and welcoming to us. One other point of interest today was that we got some insight as to how much the Thai people value their King. It became very clear to me today that their King is a very humble man and that the people really do follow him as their leader. It was interesting to get this insight into the Thai people. Ok, I'm off to take care of some things for now. Until next time...cheers...

Historical Bangkok

2006-05-28T04:23:00.000-07:00

Today Dr. Kennan, Meg, Nikki, Melissa and I took a river ferry to the Grand Palace. It was really amazing. The Grand Palace was originally built for King Rama I in 1782. While there we also got to see Wat Pho, which is the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand. Meg took video of this and I’ll have to show this to all of you when we get back. It was this huge golden statue of Buddha laying down and it literally took up and entire building! I couldn’t believe how big this statue was! It was really awesome though. We also were blessed by a Buddhist monk. He blessed us with holy water and also gave us a bracelet, but I’m not sure what it symbolizes. On a side note about bracelets. I’ve noticed that in Thailand there are a lot of people wearing orange bracelets very similar to my Team United bracelet. However, I had my doubts that an entire Asian country likes Frank Beamer and the Hokies as much as I do! Regardless, yesterday on the sky tram I noticed theirs said, “Long Live the King.” Thus they’re clearly supporting their King rather than Frank and the United Way! I also then wondered if they would be offended if they knew mine said “Beamerball” and not what theirs said. So if I’m missing my left hand when I come home, you’ll all know that it was removed due to my love for Frank and the Hokies! It’s been a great day so far and we’re about to head to dinner. Until next time…cheers…

Catching Up...

2006-05-27T01:25:00.000-07:00

I already typed this blog once and for some dumb reason, it didn't save. So I'm not retyping the eight pages that I wrote earlier. For the full version of this, see me when I get home! Nonetheless, Taman Negara was awesome! We took a three hour boat ride in and it was really fun to see the jungle like that. After dinner that night, we went and walked in the jungle for a while. The next day we went on a canopy walk through the jungle. It was awesome to see the jungle from 120 meters in the air. After lunch we went rapid shooting and actually went swimming in the Tembling River. I know that my usual Type A self would not go swimming in the middle of a Malaysian jungle, but I didn't think I'd get an opportunity like this again, so I jumped in. It was a lot of fun though. After that we visited this little village. These people were the most primitive thus far on our trip. They were the closest thing to "Survivor" that we have seen. I got to shoot a blowdart gun there and it was pretty cool. Of course I didn't hit the target either time I tried, but I wasn't the one having to gather food for dinner, so that was good. The next day we took a boat back out of Taman Negara. I will say that the place we stayed in Taman Negara was really nice. It's pretty ironic that the nicest place we have stayed thus far was in the middle of the Malaysian jungle.

After we got out of Taman Negara, that's when the "real adventure" began! We took a jungle train to Kota Baru, thinking that it would put us closer to Bangkok. Really it did put us closer to it proximity-wise, but it didn't help us get there! The jungle train was some of the hottest nine hours I've ever spent! Aside from the roaches, other various bugs and the unmerciful heat, it was ok! Once we arrived in Kota Baru, we stayed at The Renaissance Hotel! That's definitely where I parked my car! Yesterday we got up and tried to find a way to Bangkok. We ended up taking taxi's to the Thailand border. Once there we tried waiting for a ride over the border, but we grew impatient and just walked. We did find our ride on the other side though and had to make some time to the airport. Meg put it best when she said that we were like the family in Home Alone trying to make our flight at the airport. I will say that on the ride to the airport, I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets ever. On one side of the van the sun was setting over the mountains and on the other side, it was setting over the sea. It was truly amazing. We made our flight, which was also interesting. We boarded the plane at 9:20. About five minutes after we sat down, we backed up from the terminal, and I think that some Nascar driver was really driving our plane. We literally backed up and started speeding down towards our run way. We were taking turns faster than I've ever seen any plane take. And once we were at the final runway, we shot down it and off we went! The landing was very similar to the takeoff. It was kind of like being on a roller coaster. After almost dying last night in the taxi, we made it to our hostel.

Today we went to this market were there were acres of any and everything you could imagine! I think that we're getting ready to go out and explore some more now. This is a very abbreviated version, so see me when I get back and I'll fill you in on all the details. Also, if this weren't the second time I'm typing this, there would be a lot more! Regardless, I'll write more later. Until next time...cheers...

Last Day in KL...

2006-05-22T00:20:00.000-07:00

Today we met with a local PR firm called TQPR, Top Quality Public Relations. Guy Chaplin and Angela Tan started this independent firm and have a different setup than we've seen thus far. Both had worked for big firms in the past and have had a great deal of experience in public relations. Their presentation on public relations in Malaysia was really informative. They talked about how they are "specialized generalists." Which pretty much means that they do all types of PR, the only stipulation is that they get paid. They do everything from event planning to crisis management. They talked a lot about crisis management and the program that they have designed to prepare organizations for crises. They said that in order to help an organization prepare for a crisis, they will actually run through a mock-crisis with them. They both agreed that this was the best way for an organization to see their weaknesses in preparation and get them ready for when the real thing happens. They talked about how saving face is such a big issue in Malaysia. Therefore in order to show a CEO how the organization is not prepared to deal with a crisis, they will stick a microphone in their face and start asking questions. It's a good idea that allows organizations to prepare ahead of time and also helps them to save face when actual crises occur. This PR firm has a number of different clients, all in various fields. Guy and Angela had set the organizational structure up where everybody works on every case. They talked about how in bigger organizations partners would essentially sell the pitch and then let the entry-level employees work on the cases. However, in their firm, everybody works on the cases, which seems to be working well for them. Another interesting thing that they talked about was how they have to cater to several audiences here, even with just one press release. Since Malaysia is comprised of many different cultures, they at least have to send out three different press releases, in three different languages, to reach all publics. I thought their presentation was one of the best that we had seen and I thought that it was very informative.

After our meeting, Meg and I had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. (yes I know it's very native!) However, we sat right next to an autographed picture of Elvis. So mom, I was thinking about you today and about how you would've like to have seen the Elvis memorabilia they had there.

So this could be our last day in KL. We may be headed out to Taman Negara tomorrow. If so, I may not be able to post something for a few days. I don't know if they'll have internet access in the middle of a Malaysian jungle. I will say that one thing I will miss here is are the cheap massages. You can't beat a foot massage for $7 and a back massage for $9. They're pretty tremendous! That's all I have for now. I miss everyone back home and I can't wait to get back and tell you guys all about my trip. Until next time...Cheers...

My Dedication Blog

2006-05-21T00:49:00.000-07:00

I dedicate this entry to my brother Mark, my friend Chris, Meg who shared this experience with me and to all the other Seinfeld lovers out there! I know you will all enjoy this! The running joke while I've been abroad involves "sweating it out" and I thought that would be the Seinfeld highlight of my trip. However, what happened today takes the cake! As Meg and I were walking around Times Square shopping mall, which is a gigantic mall with ten floors of fun-filled shopping, I had a tremendous experience. We were trying to find lunch and we went to the 10th floor, which was the food court. Of course the food court here is not like a food court in America where you have various chain restaurants to choose from, here you have different cuisine styles to choose from. So since we didn't want Thai, Chinese, Russian or any other type of food there, we decided to leave the mall. However, on the way down, we found the best restaurant I've eaten at thus far...Kenny Rogers Roasters! When I turned the corner and saw it, I died laughing. All I could think about the whole time was the famous Kenny Rogers Roasters sign and Kramer eating the chicken. When we walked in the restaurant, literally every employee said, "Welcome!!!" to us, it was kind of overwhelming! I had the quarter chicken meal and I have to say that I fully agree with Kosmo Kramer...it's the wood that makes it good. It was just an unbelievably tremendous lunch today! Of course one other funny side note was that the waitress told me they had three types of muffins to choose from and so the first thing I did was ask if they had a corn muffin not listed on the menu. Clearly I was not paying attention when she said they only had three and so Meg proceeded to point out the obvious to me after my comment. So then the waitress reiterated that they only had three kinds of muffins to choose from and so I made my selection from the three. I just want to say though that if we were in America, Kenny would have had a corn muffin on that menu! Regardless, Kenny Rogers Roasters was by far one of the funniest things that I have experienced thus far on this trip. I thought I would share this with you all and I know that those of you who like Seinfeld will thoroughly enjoy this. So for now I'm off to explore Malaysia some more, who knows what I'll find next! I'll leave you with the final thought that, "Kenny never hurt anybody!" Cheers all...

Other Blogs of Interest

2006-05-20T19:32:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I thought that I would post the website to both Meg and Dr. Kennan's blogs. They contain pictures so that you can see some of the things we're doing. They're listed below. Enjoy! See ya...

Dr. Kennan's blog - http://billseasia2006.blogspot.com/

Meg's blog - http://only-theworldiknow.blogspot.com

Pocket Problems

2006-05-20T18:45:00.000-07:00

Malaysia is very different from Singapore. One of the first notable differences is that the white lines that divide the lanes in the streets are mere courtesy lines. What I mean is that nobody can drive here! If the drivers feel like staying inside those lines they do, if they don't, they just go wherever they want, they're all over the road...it's a little crazy!

Yesterday was kind of a big deal! Several of us got up early and went to Petronas Towers. That's where part of the film "Entrapment" was filmed. Currently they are the two tallest buildings in the world. We got to go up to the sky bridge on the 41st floor. The view was tremendous. However, before getting in the elevator, that literally went up a floor per second, we had to go through security checks. Well when I went through, I set the alarm off. For those of you who know me, you know that I carry my life in my pockets. When the alarm went off I immediately thought about day one of this trip when Meg and I were boarding our plane and she was laughing at how much stuff I had in my pockets. Regardless, it turns out that my fingernail clippers set the alarm off. Again, for those of you who know me, you know why this is funny. So for the rest of this trip I'm going to try to minimize the stuff that is in my pockets to avoid setting off alarms and having to pull a million things out of my pockets at security checks. Since you're reading this, you have the internet, so you should look up these towers if you don't know which ones I'm referring to. After we visited Petronas Towers, we had some breakfast and then went to Batu Caves. This is a place where various Hindu Gods are worshiped. They were huge. We had to climb a ton of stairs to get to the main cave. On the way up, we saw this monkey steal a bag that a little kid had sit down. He got inside and ate a coconut that was in the bag. Well on the way back down, a monkey spotted Dave's water bottle and came up and just took it from him! Needless to say, it was hilarious....it was priceless! Following our trip to the caves, Meg, Alex, Dave and I went to this Irish Pub and had lunch. After that Meg and I went to KL Tower. We went to the top of the 276 meter towers where there is an observation deck. Again, the view was just amazing. Following that Meg and I did some shopping at the mall in Petronas Towers. We then met up with Dr. Kennan and took a taxi to an Indian night market. It was very interesting to see how the people gather there each week and all the things you could buy. We ate dinner afterwards and then Dr. Kennan and myself went and got a foot massage. It was, by far, the best $8 that I've spent so far. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I went back later and got a back massage. And I enjoyed that so much that I intend on going back later tonight and getting a full body massage. After carrying my 500lbs bag, the massage was tremendous. I'm not sure what's in store for today, but I'm sure it'll be a great day. We're going to Taman Negara in a couple of days and I think that will be one of the highlights of our trip. I miss everyone back home and I'll be in touch soon! But for now, I'm off to explore more of Malaysia! So in the famous words of Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that...

P.S. Brian, if you're reading this, you'll be happy to know that when we got in the cab to go to Batu Caves yesterday "The Gambler" was playing on the radio and I immediately thought of you! So feel special and know that I still hate that song!

Malaysia

2006-05-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

We're in Malaysia now. It's a much different landscape here. The drive up here yesterday was long, but it was cool because of all the different things we got to see. Last night Dr. Kennan, Dave, Alex and I ate at a Hawker stall, which was pretty good. It doesn't seem to be as hot here, which is tremendous! Maybe I won't lose five pounds of sweat now! Ok, we're off to see the towers and go exploring for the day. I'll write more later. Cheers...

Thursday

2006-05-17T23:36:00.000-07:00

Today we met with the President of IPRS. We met her at the Rendezvous Hotel, which was very nice. She talked about public relations in Asia and how it has evolved over the past few decades. She talked about how IPRS came up with an accreditation certificate so that individuals who were practicing PR here would have some way to become "legitimate." People who want this certificate have to pass a test and also be interviewed so see if they know enough about public relations to be certified. She talked about how organizations here are starting to see public relations as a more key element to their survival and are starting to treat it as a more important part of their organizations. One thing that she has mentioned that has also been mentioned along the way is how everyone thinks that public relations is this glamorous job where you entertain a lot of people, etc. However, I think that in the U.S. or at least from my perspective, that's not what we're taught that public relations is. I see it as being much more about getting the proper message out to the proper publics. In fact, I really hadn't thought about this "glamorous" side of PR until it was brought to my attention by those here in Asia. Granted this could be because I'm too serious all the time and now maybe I have something "fun" to look forward to, as far as entertaining people goes. The President of IPRS also talked about how more organizations are putting more into their crisis planning post 9/11. She said that most of the big organizations used to think that the government would take care of them if something went wrong. However, she said that now more organizations are not counting on the government and are planning for more crises on their own. Overall, I thought that it was a very informative meeting and I felt that we gained even more insight into public relations in Asia.

Edelman

2006-05-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Edelman Public Relations. It was very very interesting to learn about international public relations from them. They prepared a very indepth presentation on public relations in Asia. I felt that we got a great insight into how public relations works all throughout Asia. One interesting comment was that John Kerr really emphasized having an international background and working in other countries. He said that it was very easy for individuals to transfer out of the United States to broaden their boundaries and learn about international public relations. He said that it was harder for people to transfer into the U.S. to learn about public relations from us, than for us to transfer out and learn from them. He also said that if we could transfer out of the country and learn somewhere else for a couple of years that when we returned to the U.S., we could possibly have a higher position in the organization due to our experience. I thought the meeting was very informative and I felt we learned a lot of interesting facts about international public relations.

Tuesday

2006-05-16T17:55:00.000-07:00

Meg and I visited Sultan Mosque. This mosque is right beside our hostel and since we have been woken up by the call to prayer everyday at 4:40am, we felt it only appropriate to see this. Of course we had to remove our shoes before going in, but it was very interesting to see the mosque and how different cultures worshiped their religions. Following our visit to the mosque, we headed out to Sentosa Island. There was a sign warning of snakes on the island, however Meg and I proceeded around the walking path to the beach. But not too far into our journey Meg thought I was grimacing at the sight of a snake and jumped back when she almost stepped on a white water hose. We both had a good laugh at this, but then when I turned back around, there really was a snake crossing the path just in front of us. Those of you who know me know that I am deathly afraid of snakes, so I immediately turned around and grabbed Meg to pick her up and run with her. I basically squeezed about 10 pounds out of her. However, when I turned back around the snake was gone and we continued on to the beach. Of course, we did see some sort of dragon on this island off from the beach, so needless to say it was a fun-filled lizard day! The beach was very relaxing though and I enjoyed it.

Yesterday we went to NUS, which is the University of Singapore. I think that we all got great insight into the lives of a Singapore student. We also got more insight into how the locals feel about the government in Singapore. It seems as though some feel like they are oppressed, but even if one of the minority parties took over, they couldn't have all of their needs met. We learned a great deal at the university and they were very nice to us. After the university we went to Bloomberg Television. We got to talk with Adrienne Kennedy, a journalist for Bloomberg. He joked about how PR is the "dark other side" of the fence. However, we learned about how we should bond with the media and how important they are for our jobs. Finally, we went to the IRPS, which publishes a business newspaper in Singapore. For the second day in a row, an organization emphasized the need for crisis communication and how there are opportunities in that field. At IRPS, a public relations official's relationship with the media was emphasized. They talked about how to develop press releases that were news worthy and not just "fluffing" some product. However, yesterday was tremendous. We learned a great deal from all three organizations. Last night, we went to the night safari and got to see a lot of great animals. It was very cool! Anyway, I'm off for the day...see ya...

Pan Pacific

2006-05-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

This morning the group met with the head of PR for Pan Pacific in Singapore. We learned a great deal about international public relations and I think we got a real insight into just how busy the real world of public relations is. She told us that she comes to work at 6:45am and doesn't leave until 8 or so every day. However, one important thing that she emphasized was finding happiness in your work and when you have that, you won't mind working as much as you have to. She also talked about all the planning ahead that she has to do in order to prepare the information that is needed for the hotel conventions. With all the competition, she said that she had to plan about three months ahead to get the proper information to the proper people. She also talked about how she was on the crisis management team. She is one of the main spokesperson for Pan Pacific in Singapore. Although she's only been working there since last August, she did have a vast knowledge of the field and of Pan Pacific. I thought it was a very good experience. I felt we could take a lot away from the meeting and she gave us things to think about for our own future. One story that she told us was that a friend of hers was the head of a PR firm and was interviewing someone for a job. She asked the individual what she thought public relations was about and the interviewee told her she thought it was all about smiling for the cameras all day. While she said that entertaining guests was an important part of her job, smiling all day was not what public relations was all about. Ok I'm off to do some exploring in Singapore, I'll write more later...

The line of the day goes to Meg when we took the wrong escalator to down to the parking deck and she says, "That's not where I parked my car!"

Sunday

2006-05-14T04:03:00.000-07:00

First and foremost...Happy Mother's Day mom! Today Dr. Kennan, Meg and I walked all over Singapore. We went down to Chinatown, where we found some very interesting things. We also went into a Hindu Temple, which was very interesting. In the afternoon we went to the Orchid Botanical Gardens. They were really pretty and we got a lot of great pictures. It was very hot today though and the heat really took it out of us. I know it doesn't look like we did all that much, but we really walked around everywhere today. I'm too tired to remember what else we did and saw. I'll write more later...

Pulau Ubin

2006-05-13T03:02:00.000-07:00

Today Dr. Kennan (also known as Money Kennan), Meg, Brandi and myself took the ferry over to Pulau Ubin. The island was very primitive and only about seven miles long. Only about 50 people live on this island and it kind of reminded me of survivor island. Of course when Meg and I saw the tandem bicycles, we knew we were getting one to ride around the island on. The "Live Strong Radford University" cyclist team did a great job maneuvering around the island. It took a little getting used to, but after we got the hang of it, Meg and I did a tremendous job of not wrecking and trekking through the island.

Long before we got up this morning, we all woke up to the call to prayer. We're staying right outside the Sultan Mosque and so we can hear the call to prayer very loudly and clearly! And incase anyone missed it today, they do this call every morning, so we will get to hear it throughout the remainder of our stay in Singapore. Ok, that's all I have for now, we're getting ready to go to dinner. I'll write more later...

P.S. The line of the day goes to Meg while on Pulau Ubin. After hearing some birds talking back and forth to one another, she says, "Even the birds are Asian!" I know, imagine something like that coming from Meg!

We Made It!

2006-05-12T10:53:00.000-07:00

We arrived safely in Singapore. I'm exhausted, so I'll write more tomorrow.

And no I didn't have to kill Meg on the plane...just so everyone knows!

Asia Test

2006-05-03T07:59:00.000-07:00

This is my blogging site while I'm abroad! Enjoy!