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EXPERIENCE > EVOLVE > EXPLORE Changes in the Air The evolution of airplanes pg

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The Melting Pot How countries are merging together due to technology pg

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Experiential Learning The adventure students take to understand the cultures around them pg

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Experience travel a whole new way.

Spring 2014

Canon Cameras: We speak Image

To capture all the best moments in life

Table of Contents

Bargaining for the Right Price

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It’s Chow Time

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Changes in the Air

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14

The Melting Pot

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From Point A to Point B

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Experiential Learning

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Letter From the Editor Dear Reader,

The world is too big to sit at home all day eating bon bons and watching Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix. Exploring the globe mountain by mountain, ocean by ocean, town-by-town and person-by-person, can seem freeing and exciting. When traveling you can also have a sense of feeling overwhelmed as you look upon the world. To help you have the most enlightening, enjoyable and entertaining travels, we’ve compiled this magazine filled to the brim with travel tips, tricks and more. You will read about riding on elephants, how to bargain with stubborn vendors, and about some delicious street food treats. We want you to open your eyes to the kind of travel that does not just consist of beach resorts and Disney Land. We want to take you through the back alleys, the off-the-beaten path cafes, and down the roads less traveled. This type of adventuring can get you not only closer to the place your traveling through, but also its people.

Sincerely,

Emily Klein

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Finlay Scanlon

Kristine Wang

Biographies

Emily Klein Emily’s favorite place that she has traveled is the Bahamas. She has a German citizenship and hopes to one day visit the town in Europe that her grandmother grew up in. Emily is an avid soccer player, windsurfer and skier. On her weekends, Emily referees soccer and assistant teaches first graders Hebrew. She is a violist in the LASA orchestra and plays violin outside of school. Emily studies Spanish at school and one day hopes to become fluent like her mother’s side of the family who lives in the Rio Grande Valley and is originally from Spain and Mexico.

Finlay Scanlon

Finlay is an avid adventurer as well as language learner. She studies Chinese and Spanish, and hopes to someday speak Hindi and Arabic.

Finlay has travelled to many nations around the world, such as China, England, Costa Rica and Tanzania. This summer, Finlay will return to China for a study abroad program based in Shanghai. Besides her interest in travel, Finlay is also a violinist in the LBJ Orchestra, as well as a swimmer for UT and LBJ. As an adult, Finlay would like to work with refugees, like the volunteer work that she does at Refugee Services of Texas.

Kristine Wang Kristine has traveled to many countries around the world including Taiwan, France, Germany and Japan. She has Taiwanese citizenship because her family lives there and would like to visit Korea to attend a Korean pop concert. Kristine has studied Spanish in middle school and is currently studying Chinese in high school, so that she can speak more fluently with her family and recognize more characters when in Taiwan. She plays the viola in the LBJ orchestra and the piano outside of school. Kristine does not participate in any sports and likes to watch Korean drama rather than exercising outside.

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Bargaining for the By: Emily Klein

There are many advantages to bargaining, commonly referred to as haggling, when shopping in foreign countries. Unlike America, in many countries bargaining is an accepted common practice. Street negotiating is an art that is not only a way to make a traveling experience cheaper but it helps shape a more cultural experience.

Bargaining provides an opportunity to get a better feel for the culture of the country one is traveling in and provides a chance to interact with the natives.

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Greet the seller: Greeting the seller is polite. In some countries such as France, it is considered rude not to greet the seller.

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How to pick shops :

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- Look for the local stores - Shop at flea markets to experience something different - Ask locals where to shop, they will be happy to help and flattered that an interest is being taken in their culture

More Tips for Bargaining : 6

Ask the price of the item: Never give the first price as you can possibly give a price higher than what the seller was hoping for.

Point out flaws, don’t criticize: There is a fine line between criticizing a flaw in a product and being rude. Pointing out flaws can potentially lower the price of an item but when done wrong can create an angry seller.

Shop late : When shopping

Don’t offend seller :

Have money on hand (literally) : It is harder for the

Be fair : Bargaining is all

late, sellers are more eager to sell all their items. Think about it, they would rather sell something then pack it up.

seller to turn down an offer when the customer has said amount of money already in hand.

Never counter with an extremely low offer because it can offend the seller. It puts off the feeling that the customer feels that their possibly handmade craft is worthless. about getting a deal that makes the customer and seller happy so never make an offer that’s outrageously expensive or cheap.

Right Price Art By: Abraham Ortelius

Silence is golden: Less is more. After making an offer, give the seller time to contemplate it. If they make a counter, stay silent.

The tension may make the seller combat their own previous counter.

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Thank the seller: Bargaining usually takes time, even if you don’t purchase the item, always thank the seller to be polite.

Give a counter offer: A good rule of thumb is to always counter with an offer ½ of the original price as with a seller’s counter offer, the price will naturally rise.

Have a Pocket Phrase :

‘ Hmmm ... I don’t know.‘‘ ‘ I think your rivals can do it for less.‘‘ ‘ You broke your promise.‘‘ ‘ That’s a little high, I know you can do better.‘‘ Learn how to say ‘ Just looking ‘ in the native tongue

Dress down : Sellers constantly

Be bold : Voice an opinion about

Know when to bluff : Don’t

Buy multiple items : If

Be patient : Haggling is an

Know the money exchange rate : Knowing the money

change the price of items depending on the customer. Dressing down shows that the customer is not a super wealthy westerner that can be taken advantage of. multiple items are purchased from a vendor, a discount is more likely to be given.

the item and price but be careful not to offend the seller. It’s only possible to get a discount if an initial attempt is made.

art, it takes time to get an offer that makes both the customer and seller happy.

be afraid to walk away at least once.

The seller will usually call after the customer, they don’t want to lose a potential customer.

exchange rate will allow the customer to make educated counter offer that is not too far-fetched.

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changes in the air The Future of Airplanes Story By: Kristine Wang

As she rolled her baggage through the aisle, the flight attendant directed Heather Shen to her seat. This was not her first flight; she had been on countless others before.

She sighed as she lifted her small carry-on to the top baggage compartment and flopped down on the large business class chair. Settling down, she prepared for the three hour flight to Japan. She looked out the window to see the other airplanes take off. Sitting in the business class was much more comfortable than the back with five other strangers in a row squished together with no space to stretch her legs out. Compared to being jammed together with strangers, she would have chosen the business seats, even if it was just for a few hours. The flight attendant handed her steaming hot milk tea that burned inside of her mouth, which also wouldn’t have been available in the back. Traveling has always been an exciting and fun for Shen, exploring the different types of food and hotels. She couldn’t wait until the plane left the ground.

“I have travelled to many places before like Australia, China, Japan , and others and even some places I don’t remember going because I was too young, like Africa,” Shen said.

Thousands of people wander the world by airplanes to explore the diverse cultures, but many people don’t know about how the airplane is evolving to become more efficient, comfortable and enjoyable for passengers. Aircraft engineers are always working to improve the airplane by adding new electronics and trying new ways to make the plane more efficient by changing the material of it. The changes range from the space between chairs to the whole interior and exterior of the plane changed. Some adjustments are noticeable at first sight, but there are also changes that the passengers don’t know about such as the revision of the airplane and the airport.

“The seats are smaller and the devices are better in the business. I usually sleep or watch a movie on airplanes, sometimes I will also play some games after watching a movie.

I also use the Wi-Fi now that is available on the airplane,” Shen said. “I really like it, it’s better than nothing.”

Although both classes are on the same plane, sitting in the business and class differ greatly in comfort from the other two classes. Engineers notice the changes as they work with their other colleagues on different part of the airplane.

Shen also recognizes the development in the planes after

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“I think the amount of efficiency people your age are going to see. It’s not going to be in my lifetime, but in your lifetime, you can see more probably the hypersonic aircraft might be used to very persons from one country to another.”

Photo by: Kristine Wang

Heather Shen watched the television wearing the head phones that were given to the passengers in the business class of the airplane.

Photo By: Ann Wang

The airlane prepares to take off. Ann Wang takes the picture while waiting for the airplane to take off capturing the wing of the airplane and EVA Airlines waiting for passengers to arrive.

many years of flying. Over the years, Shen said she has noticed a change in the size of the chairs and in the interior appearance of the airplane. Compared what a passenger feels about airplane comfort, the engineer compares the different types of airplanes and their comfort. Aircrafts vary from industry airplane to military aircraft.

Meherwan Boyce, an aircraft engineer, has also spent most of his life traveling. She has had over 50 years of experience in engineering and is currently professor at Texas A&M. With airplanes getting more crowded, they’re becoming

“There are always designs to make to

make the airplanes more comfortable for the customers for airplanes.”

subsequently less comfortable for the passengers. The more passengers put in a row, the smaller the seats become, and the number of gadgets and luxuries that are attached to the seat also lessen. The primary difference between the economic class and the other two classes is that it gives passengers additional space and legroom to spread out. There are also different types of sound fillings that are used to lessen the noise in the airplane and in the engines. In the ‘60s there were double-decker airplanes with two stories of seating for the passengers; which are Boyce’s favorite plane to ride the 7407 Boeing aircraft, one of these two story planes, because of its unique shape and service.

This unique plane also had larger engines that would make the aircraft rise to the different heights most aircrafts fly at about 35000 feet.

According to Boyce, Engineers work hard to make the right adjustments after getting suggestions from the airlines.

While the engineers that work on the airplane change the outer appearance of the plane itself, the airline also changes it their own way. The passenger considers more about the comfort of the airplane compared to the engineer who considers the technical aspects. The perspectives of what each person thinks about the airplane are different depending on what class that they sit in.

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“There are always designs to make the airplanes more comfortable for the customers, for the airplanes that are really not an aircraft design as much as what the airlines want to have,” Boyce said.

Shen who has always sat in the business sat in the economic for the first time explains how it feels and relates back that space is the main difference between business and economic. When Shen sat in the economic class of the airplane for the first time, she didn’t have enough space for her legs or her bag. Additionally, the amount of smaller seats in the back of the airplane compared to the larger seats in the economic class surprised her. Shen no longer had the space to recline her seat all the way down without someone

“I enjoy flying, I enjoy traveling, and I enjoy going to different places and doing something different everyday. It’s not the same as going to an office and sitting at a desk at the same desk everyday in the same place you know everyday you go somewhere new and different and exciting.” kicking the chair. The seats, no longer designed for comfort, were designed to be small so as to fit the maximum amount of people.

However, comfort is not the only thing that has changed on the airplane over the years, the in-flight entertainment of the plane has also improved because many companies are always upgrading the entertainment for the passengers. As an airplane pilot that has flown for the military and commercial airlines, Douglas Moss, who has had 35 years of experience, has noticed airlines changing in several ways.

“The airlines are trying to put more entertainment on the airplanes, and maybe 10 years ago they would put a television you know systems in the airplane so people could watch a movie but, the trend now is to put the Wi-Fi or wireless on the airplane,” Moss said.

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Commercial airline pilot, Douglas Moss, has flown many aircrafts over the past 35 years and has experience as an airline pilot. He has flown for the military and commercial Airlines. Moss enjoys the freedom of traveling around the world rather than working in the same office every day. He is currently flying as a commercial pilot for United Airlines. Moss thinks airport security is enough for a safe flight because it is always improving and changing. Because the entertainment outside of the airplane is always improving and accomplishes to make the customers satisfied with the new technology, the airlines are also trying to incorporate that new technology to the airplane so that the passengers will also be entertained while on it. The latest technology that the airlines have put on their airplanes is Wi-Fi, where the passenger can bring his or her own electronic device that can access Wi-Fi and use it for other purposes. Shen had said that without Wi-Fi, onboard the plane she was unable to communicate with her friends and properly utilizes her electronic devices.

“I think airport security is enough because many thousands of people go through security every day, and there have been very few acts of violence on the airplanes,” said Moss

Besides the entertainment and the comfort on the airplane, the security of traveling on planes is something to be aware of because many things can happen in an unknown place or country. That is why the security is always improving, to make sure that nothing will happen to the passengers. Though it may seem to be enough security, the airport needs to ensure that nothing bad happens in the future.

“I think in a way it’s a little bit more pleasurable we didn’t have all these restrictions on you on having to go through these checks at the airport and all that but the aircrafts have gone much better but there are some problems that at the aircrafts is much harder to go into an aircraft,” Boyce said.

“Because of these restrictions at airports and so forth but the aircraft itself are much better.”

Photo by: Mattes

The airport security checking the passenger’s carry-on luggages at the airport.

In addition to the safety in the airport, the safety of the airplane relies on the strength of it and what the engineers do to improve the efficiency of the planes. According to Boyce, while on the airplane the main thing that causes it to not be safe is crashes. Most of the crashes occur during takeoff or landing. The airplanes are designed to be as efficient as possible because many lives may be jeopardized if the plane malfunctions.

Not only are airplanes getting faster, they are also becoming more efficient. More than ten years ago, the flights from New York to London would have taken more than ten hours stated Boyce. Currently the flight from New York to London takes around seven hours. The type of material that is used by the aircraft manufacturer is now using lighter deposit materials to build the airplane to make it more efficient. This helps bring down the amount of fuel burned since the plane is lighter therefore less fuel is burned.

There are many modes of transportation to travel by, but the most efficient and comfortable is by airplane.

Airplanes are always changing to improve in ways to make the passenger feel more enjoyable while on the airplane by adding electronic components. Aircrafts will keep on advancing and altering to fit the passenger’s ideal place for comfort. Not many changes are noticed by the passenger even though it is always changing. Aircrafts that are just out of reach in the air are not all the same, but are different in airlines over time.

“I think the amount of efficiency people your age are going to see. It’s not going to be in my lifetime, but in your lifetime you can see more probably the hypersonic aircraft might be used to very persons from one country to another,” Boyce said.

Photo By: Andrew Currie

The chair of the first class for Singpore Airlines has a lot more space for the legs.

Photo By: Meherwan Boyce

Engineers work on the airplane, as Meherwan takes a picture from the upper level.

Photo By: Douglas Moss

The plane turns to rest at the gate to have the passenger aborad the plane. Douglas Moss watches for the airplane to park at the gate to aboard the plane.

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Explore the world

, it s chow time By: Kristine Wang While traveling in another country, there are many ways to find authentic food to experience the culture of the country’s food. Street food is the cheapest and freshest authentic food to-go. Street food varies from simple crepes inFrance to noodles inJapan. It’s not easy exploring a new country with an empty stomach, here are some of the most famous street foods around the world.

Photo by:sbonnie

Russia- Pirozhki The Piroshki is an traditional Russian food in St. Petersburg and around Russia. The word Piroshki translates to “little pirog” or ‘“full-sized pie.” The outside of the Piroshki is usually baked golden shaped like a football or triangle. It is a bread that is filled with minced meat, chicken, potatoes, mushrooms or with added something to make it sweeter like cherries. This is also popular in other countries with different versions of the Piroshki with different types of fillings.

This homemade Piroshiki is filled with potatoes.

Photo by: Rusrus

These crêpes are made for dessert filled with fruits.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-meyers/the-8-tastiest-streetfoo_b_714856.html

France- Crêpe The crêpe, a very thin pancake with some kind of filling in it, is a very popular street food dessert around the world. There are a lot of different types of fillings that are put on top of the crêpe with simple sugar, whip cream and some sort of sweet sauce. The crêpes don’t always have to be a sweet dessert, it can also be served during lunch or dinner with ham, cheese and eggs.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-meyers/the-8-tastiest-streetfoo_b_714856.html

Photo b;: Esef Ong

Malaysia- Penang Assam Laksa Penang Assam Laksa is so closely related to the city, Penang laksa, it’s sometimes called by the city’s name.

The Penang Assam Laksa is a soups made with fishy mackerel, sour tamarind and fiery chili served with chewy white noodles and garnished with fresh mint, shallots, cilantro, cucumbers and sweet pineapple. Assam laksa can be found outside of Penang, of course, but it’s never as sour and certainly never as delicious.

The Penang Assam Laksa is an colorful and soulful dish.

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Source: http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/eat/asia-street-food-cities-612721

Photo by: Colleen

Taiwan- Chou doufu The specialty of the Taipei night market is the Chou doufu or “stinky tofu”, often mistaken for it’s odor that smells worse than its tates. Fermentation gives the tofu its distinctive odor and delicious taste. It’s served deep-fried or grilled and topped with pickled vegetables.Those who are new to the dish often find that deep-fried chou doufu is less intimidating and stinky.

The Chou doufu can be put on sticks or plates, flavorings can be put on top like soysauce or spicy sauce.

Photo by: Hyosun Ro

Source: http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/eat/asia-street-food-cities-612721

Korea-Tteokbokki Tteokbokki or spicy rice cake that is dipped in spicy red pepper sauce. The glutinous rice cakes are cooked with spicy red pepper paste and fish cakes to create this seriously chewy, seriously satisfying dish. The bright red color may look intimidating, but this is a dish that must be tried when traveling to Korea that is equally loved by both children and adults.

Served in small bowls, the Tteokbokki is a popular dish in Korea.

Photo by: Herr J.

Source: http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/eat/asia-street-food-cities-612721

Germany- Currywurst Currywurst is a fast food dish from Germany with steamed and fried pork sausage seasoned with ketchup mixed with curry powder served with french fries on the side. The Currywurst is named for it’s curry-ketchup sauce and wurst translates to “pork sausage.”It is a cheap but filling snack that became popular with the workers working on the buildings of Berlin, and is now popular throughout Germany.

The Currywurst is served with a side of fries and ketchup.

Source: http://www.fodors.com/news/12-musttry-street-foods-around-theworld-7119.html

Photo by: Deborah Schneider

Mexico- Seafood Tostada The seafood tostada is a gorgeous union of fresh squid, scallop and crab with crackly, thin tostada bread, complemented by citrusy salsa and avocado.

The flat fried tortilla, gives it crunchy texture on the outside and seafood wraped inside.

This Seafood tostada shown above is filled with avacados, onion and octopus.

Source: http://www.fodors.com/news/12-musttry-street-foods-aroundthe-world-7119.html

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Photo Cred: Room to Read Blog

The melting pot In this new age of technology and communication, cultural diffusion is happening more than ever

Chopsticks clanged on half full noodle bowls.

The dinner table filled the entire dining room, which was necessary to fit the twelve person Luong family. This scene was similar to the family dinners back in Vietnam, except for a few things. If you walked outside their no-shoesallowed household, you would end up in downtown Austin, a bustling neighborhood unlike their small rice village near Ho Chi Minh City. The grandkids of the Luong’s were primarily learning English, although they spoke Chinese and Vietnamese at home. Thea Luong, who moved to the US with her parents as a kid, is now raising her fully American kids in this very traditional household. But her life has changed drastically, and its hard sometimes seeing her kids miss out on some of her best childhood traditions.

“I remember when I was a kid in Vietnam, my town would celebrate the Lunar/Harvest festival.

Laterns were lit and food was offered to all sorts of deities. Here in the US, we continue to celebrate the same festivals just on a very different magnitude.

I do believe that people understand other’s foreign traditions, because people are very open minded and accepting of other cultures,” Luong said.

Thea’s life, a mixture of her Vietnamese background and her American citizenship, is an example of what is called cultural diffusion.

Cultural diffusion is the process through which the ideas of a particular cultural are spread through an area beyond the culture who came up with the ideas. Cultural diffusion is happening more rapidly than ever.

Technology is changing the way humans communicate all over the world, in ways that were never thought possible. International corporations are globalizing every inch of the undeveloped world. The way people live, talk and act are all changing, and the discussion behind this change is loud and vigorous.

Kousuke Tetebe and Shinji Sano are two Japanese stu-

Photo Cred: A. Lakey Muslim immigrants from Syria are now accustomed to their new way of life in suburban Chicago.

dents living in the United States for the year, studying English and experiencing the culture. Their lives home in Tokyo are quite similar to their lives here; they live in a small apartment, go to daily classes, chat with friends in person and online, and eat delicious meals at nearby restaurants and cafes. Back in Japan, they said they felt

Americanized, wearing western clothing and living in their enormous, modern city. But now that they are here in the United States, they notice items and daily traditions that have moved from the United States to Japan and visa versa. “[There are] Many American things in Japan,” Tetebe said. “McDonalds,

Photo Cred: Wikipedia Chinatown in central Manhatten mixes traditional Chinese culture with the American city.

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Hip hop, a dance style started in the US, has moved to the streets of Mumbai, India.

Photo Cred: Khoj Association

Nirvana, Mickey Mouse.

Many foods and businesses.”

Currently, there are 3,096 McDonalds operating in Japan, according to the Guardian newspaper. The cities are being taken over by western culture, with Japanese and English now reading side by side. But is Japanese culture also spilling into the United States?

“But there are also Japanese things in the US,” Sano said. “You know Japanese music? I’ve seen people who listen to our music here in the US.They call it J-pop. Which is a funny name, J-pop.”

This “stuff” that goes from place to place, spreading ideas and cultural materials from place of origin to unsuspecting receivers, is, as stated earlier, an example of cultural diffusion.

But how does this stuff travel? How do McDon-

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alds end up in Kenya and India from it’s opening store in Oak Brook, Illinois? How do the chopsticks that were originally only eaten with in Asia, end up in every Panda Express across America?

anywhere in the world.”

“Technology connects people because now people from different countries can be friends and share ideas and interests through

and travel and with them, they bring such a sense of their culture, and their way of life,” Luong said. “I mean, just look at McDonald’s, which is on every street corner in Taipei.

They didn’t just bring their oily hamburgers; they also brought English, the American format of consumer service and the drive through.”

“The LINE app is very popular in Japan. It is a free texting app,” Shinji said. “My friend has a cousin who studies in the United States, and he is able to text her for free, even though they live in different country.”

“[Technology] leads to a greater awareness and respect for other cultures.”

At an International School in central Costa Rica, students Nicholas Sucre and Daniela Boock have seen cultural diffusion in action. The students call themselves “ticos” or Costa Ricans, but at school, they learn English and talk with people from countries all around the world.

“With technology, people can get very easily connected,” Sucre said. “It’s not that people weren’t connected before, now its just easier. I mean, you can send a message in one second to

things like social media,” Boock said. “This leads to a greater awareness and respect for other cultures.

Through media you can talk to people and learn other peoples points of view.”

“International businesses are definitely the number one reason that cultural diffusion is happening.

Ideas and people move

Lets look a little closer at this “stuff.” It turns out, these items of cultural exchange change when they reach other countries.

Kousuke explains that in Japan, 7/11, an American

gas station, is not a gas station in Japan.

“It is a convenient store, selling Western items like comic books, gum, soda, and even clothing,” Kousuke said. “That is a big difference that I see when I come to US. That the American company changes when it gets to Japan.”

Luong explains that places, not just things, change due to diffusion.

“The last time I went back to Vietnam was in 1996. I noticed a lot of changes that had happened there, but than I realized that perhaps I’d changed more than the city had changed.”

Obachan (grandmother) lives in rice country and she has a dish for TV. She is now able to watch her favorite soap opera!”

“I think cultural diffusion is a good thing,”

sighs, looks up to the ceiling, and finally turns back to answer the question.

“I lived in Vietnam until I was nine years old, and then I moved to Taiwan, where I lived until I was eleven years old. Vietnam was very walkable, urban and tropical.

Many street vendors sold fresh, prepared food and markets were filled with local meat and produce. We left Vietnam because we wanted to live in a free country. South Vietnam (capitalist) lost the war in 1975 to North Vietnam (communist). So we moved to Taiwan.

Academically, I remember Taiwan being very intense and demanding, even for a fourth grader!

We left Taiwan for the United States for economic opportunities as well as greater security. I have felt very welcomed here in

“My Obachan (grandmother) lives in rice country and she has a dish for TV. She is now able to watch her favorite soap opera!”

“In Japan, we are Buddhist. In America, you are Christian,” Kousuke said. “But because there are so many American traditions in Japan, during December, people will hang Santa Claus posters in their window, even though we are Buddhist. It is something not easy to understand.

Very strange.”

Sometimes the change can be overwhelming, even confusing to people who are having their cultures changed.

But cultural diffusion also has a lot of positive aspects.

Boock said. “People can compare ideas and notice the other people and cultures in the world. And all this ability to communicate leads to more peace and positivity, which is definite progress, and this progress is just because of the spread of ideas.”

the US, both from our extended family, our friends and our teachers. I had very loving and nurturing teachers in my grade school. I feel welcomed.”

This article was written by Finlay Scanlon. Thank you to Thea Luong, Nicholas Sucre, Daniela Boock, Shinji Sano and Kousuke Tetebe for their interviews.

Luong sets down her noodle bowl, which she’s been politely eating from during the interview.

She

“I think it (cultural diffusion) is a very positive thing,” Shinji said. “My

19 4 Photo Cred: Smoloney

From point a Animal

By Finlay Scanlon

Boat

Cost to Use: From $15 to $100 (depending on species and time of year) How to explore with an animal: Riding animals, such as elephants and camels, can give a unique point of view on a country. The guides who usually come along with the animal can also give extra insight into the sights and sounds of the destination.

Best countries to ride in: India (Asian Elephant), Kenya (African Elephant), Egypt (Camel), Norway (Reindeer), and Peru (Llama).

Unique trip: Sri Lankan Elephant Adventure (Ride through the jungles of Sri Lanka on the back of an elephant. A local guide will show the way, as well as discuss the history behind the ancient temples hidden in the forrest.)

Cost to Use: Ferries are usually just a few dollars for a one-way ticket.

How to explore with a boat: Traveling through canals, across lakes or rivers can give a more well-rounded view of a city. Many residential areas are along bodies of water, so you can get a glimpse of everyday life.

Best countries to boat in: Italy (Venice Canals), USA (Staten Island Ferry and Sausalito Ferry), China (Star Ferry in Hong Kong), Australia (Brisbane CityCat), Turkey (Bosphorous Ferry), and England (Mersey Ferry).

Unique trip: Venice Canals (you can go on a tour or go by yourself, the canals can be a means of transportation to other important sites of the historic city. The trip is described as beutiful and serene, with a night ride being one of the most popular by tourists. Stopping at local eateries can also enhance the adventure).

Bike

Cost to Use: From $1 to $15 a day How to explore with a bike: Bikes can go where cars and buses can’t, so take a bike down the alleyways and backstreets of the city. Try to go to a few street vendors and observe the daily lives of the people in residential areas.

Best countries to bike in: China, Belgium, Switzerland, Japan, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Brazil, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands (These countries have the most bicycles per capita, so they have well developed bike trails, bike lanes, bike rental shops, etc).

Unique trip: Ruta Austral, Chile (Route that runs for more than 800 miles along beautiful landscapes, many ferry transfers across lakes and bits of ocean.)

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to point b Train

Cost to Use: From a few dollars to about $50 depending on length How to explore with train: In areas where many countries are closely packed together, take a cross-continent train trip! Connect a few cities of interest and take the train in a little loop in between.

Best countries to train in: Italy (Venice Simpleton-Orient Express), Cross-Europe (Thalys), Japan, China, India Unique trip: Indian Railway Trip (Take a trip from Dehli to Varanasi and see lots of great culture and landscape between. These trains are used by locals and are great for experiencing Indians everyday lives).

Subway Rickshaw

Cost to Use: About $1 to $5 How to explore with a rickshaw: Rickshaws are kind of like taxis, so use them as a mode of transportation from point A to point B. But be prepared for a ride that doesn’t abide by the traffic laws and breaks all sorts of speed limits. Rickshaw drivers take their jobs very seriously.

Best Countries to rickshaw/tuk tuk in: India, Nepal, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Bhutan Unique trip: Vientiane via Tuk Tuk (The capital of Laos with hundreds of historic temples and sites can be overwhelming, but by Tuk Tuk, you can see the city quickly and cheaply!)

Cost to Use: About 50 cents to 1 per ride, or more for a day/week pass How to explore with a subway: Taking the subway to see attractions in the city is always cheap, fast and efficient. But even better, just sitting on the subway will give you a great sense of the city culture. Subways are the favorite pick of transportation for locals in most cities, so it makes for great people watching! Enjoy the ride!

Best countries to subway in: USA (San Francisco, New York City, Chicago), UK (London), France (Paris), South Korea (Seoul), China (Hong Kong), and Japan (Tokyo) Unique trip: The London Tube (world’s first underground metro opened in 1863, relatively cheap and great way to experience london culture).

Bus

Cost to Use: About 50 cents to 1 per ride, or more for a day/week pass How to explore with a bus: Take a bus map and pick a few stops. Then, make a list of a few attractions to see per stop. Find the timing of the buses and explore the city for only a few dollars a day!

Best countries to bus in: Most countries have bus systems, but some of the best and wellworking systems are in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, England, France, Spain, the United States, South Africa, and Japan.

Unique trip: Bus around South Africa (South Africa has hundreds of buses that commute around cities and cross-country, and are great if you want to road trip across South Africa on very little money. Gives great experience if you want to be a part of daily life).

London Bus Co. Establised 1922

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Learning through The experience the benefits of international travel for students

Art By: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen

By: Emily Klein Most kids grow up in the privacy of a classroom, playing with blocks, finger painting and having spelling tests. Henry Coppolillo, a son of an ecologist, who spent most of his childhood in Africa and traveling, grew up in Tanzania, Africa, observing wild animals, eating ugali (a Tanzanian staple food consisting of cornmeal and water) and absorbing a foreign culture.

“If there was a dead hyena in the middle of the road, we could go and pick it up and watch the vets cut it open,” Coppolillo said. “There were a lot more experiences and I got to learn a lot more varied things than most kids in regular school.”

The benefits of travel and experience can go well beyond just having fun. Travel can provide an invaluable extension of the classroom for learning important concepts in a wide range of lessons from science to gaining an individual cultural perspective. According to Kolb’s theory, traveling abroad, students are able to establish their own opinions, build appreciation of cultural values, and develop powerful skills beyond what a traditional classroom could provide. “[The students] come back with a lot more confidence in themselves and in their abilities,” Jill Harding, a biology teacher at James Bowie High School in Austin, Texas said. “All this

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A herd of elephants grazing in a field in Serengeti National Park located in Tanzania, Africa

results in students growth through the experience.”

Harding helped lead a trip with fellow teacher, Jeff Schwartz, a biology teacher at Anderson High School in Austin, Texas. The trip takes a group of 40-60 students to Hawaii in the summer for school credit. The students participated in many activities such as snorkeling, sea side canoeing and hiking. On the trip the students keep a lab manual in which they would write about the places they visited that day and how it related to biology, geology and the human impact.

“We were visiting a place that was remarkable and we were

looking at it through the lens of those three ideas [biology, geology, human impact],” Harding said.

“The lab manual was more specific about looking at the fish when they were snorkeling, what were the corals there [in Hawaii] and how are they are different from the previous places.”

The lab manual helps the students to develop opinions and viewpoints. What one person sees and values is very different from another so the first-hand experiences requires the student to observe, process and make conclusions. The lab manual helps the students gather

all their thoughts and put them on paper to internalize them. Harding and Schwartz believe that the journaling also enhances and personalizes the trip for each student.

“On the trips between the islands I would sit next to the kids and watch them journal because they would always be trying to catch up,” Harding said. “Some of them had a lot of artwork where they would be drawing detailed pictures of the animals that they saw, showing how the animals compare and contrast from other animals they had seen earlier in the trip.”

After the trip, the journals are graded and given back to the students. There are incentives for the students to learn in Hawaii since they are receiving high school credit.

Not only did the journals help the students draw conclusions between differences and similarities between each of the islands they had visited, but it also widened their worldly individual perspective. This increased perspective is a common theme gained from experiential learning.

“I really enjoyed connecting

the differences with Ecuador and various parts of Africa that I have been to,” Coppolillo said. “When comparing the two countries, there are a lot of similarities, mainly in terms of rural poverty and that type of thing. There are also some big differences in the larger cities in Ecuador because they were very developed.

You have a McDonalds and a Starbucks on every corner [in Ecuador] and you wouldn’t see that in Tanzania.”

“We would do activities with the local school kids, we taught them English and they taught us Spanish.”

Art By: Eli Duke

A group of students hiking through the Kilauea Iki Crater in Oahu, Hawaii.

Art By: Geoff Livingston

A birds eye view of Waikiki, a beach side neighborhood in Honolulu.

According to Harding, traveling in an educational setting allows a student to absorb the culture first hand instead of having a teacher tell them about it in a classroom.

The students gain their own, unbiased opinion and the culture exposure that comes with being in a foreign country.

It allows the students to compare and contrast past experiences to the culture in front of them.

“The village in Ecuador was a collection of homes and farms that were on this hillside...

There were a hundred people or so that lived within a six mile

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Art By: Andrew Dunn

Students visit one of colleges of the many colleges at Cambridge University in Cambridge, England.

radius and called this whole area a town,” Coppolillo said. “In the daytime we would do activities with the local school kids, we taught them English and they taught us Spanish…We would also do community service with them in their school garden.”

Coppolillo and his classmates harvested around 600 pounds of tomatoes and potatoes in the week span that they were in Ecuador. The local kids picked up a bit of English by interacting while harvesting and Coppolillo improved his Spanish more in the course of a week than he did in a semester in a classroom “You can experience photos and slides in a classroom but

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“There is nothing like being able to experience a picture on a cathedral wall or a sculpture in a museum ... It really makes it come alive.”

there is nothing like being able to experience a picture on a cathedral wall or a sculpture in a museum. It really makes it come alive,” Kelly Anderson, the director of the Study Abroad Program at University of Texas in Arlington said. “Studying abroad with an international experience allows for that to happen outside the classroom and for the student to gain a unique cultural perspective.”

According to Anderson, international traveling enhances the quality of learning because the students are experiencing hands on. The kids also develop new skills because they are in a new cultural environment than

what they are used to at home which allows the students to bring home some of the skills that they learned abroad to better their own community.

“Here in Arlington we have very limited public transportation. Students that are studying in London or Paris are going to have subways and buses which may lead to them picking up some new skills regarding transportation,” Anderson said.

“These are all things that through international travel they are able to put into practice when they are back on campus, entering the workforce or attending graduate school.”

Anderson believes that traveling internationally leads to growth in students’ leadership, communication and money management skills. Harding believes that traveling pushes student’s limits, enhances their worldly perspective, develops a greater appreciation for the environment and gains more confidence in themselves and in their abilities.Traveling not only enriches the learning experience, but results in the students’ growth through foreign

adventure.

“It [traveling] makes the kids more passionate about the environment and caring for our planet,” Harding said. “It really makes them look at it with a new vision. There is no other way than to just get out there

“It [traveling] really makes them [the students] look at it with a new vision.

There is just no other way than to just get out there and just do it.”

and just do it.”

According to Harding, Anderson and Coppolillo, students gain a first-hand experience by traveling which can’t be taught in a classroom.

This first hand experience allows students to establish their own opinion and view of a particular place. These new experiences allow students to develop skills that their home and school may not require them to develop.

While developing lifelong skills, traveling is a fun and interactive way to learn that makes students want to learn while making them more considerate and aware of other cultures. Beyond all this, traveling can give students a broader education and more humane view of the world.

“First-hand experience is actually more valuable [than classroom learning], knowing exactly what is what,” Coppolillo said. “I don’t mean to criticize classrooms, but that’s not something that you can pick up in school. The teacher can’t just tell you that this is what it feels like to live in Africa. You have to experience it for yourself.”

Art By: David Adam Kess

People walk through a flee market in Ecuador observing the various beads, clothing and pottery for sale.

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Reach for the skies

Think Big, Move Fast

Hike in comfort and ease