ON THE ROAD AGAIN

PiA alumni on the move in Asia (can’t let the current Fellows have all the fun!)

Brent Scharschmidt (Thailand ’05) recently spent a few weeks hiking across Mongolia. Not only did he meet the famed eagle huntress Aisholpan (of the acclaimed 2016 film, The Eagle Huntress), but he also managed to score a dinner date with the PiA Fellows in Ulaanbaatar! Only one person came down with food poisoning after the dinner, which Brent considered a major success.

Dr. Eric Han (Japan ’96) returned to Kurashiki last year to conduct research for his upcoming book. He met with PiA Fellows Gill Ober, AJ Koikoi and PiA Partner Mark Blanton. He reports, “Much has remained the same in the town. The school looks nearly as it did 20 years ago. Many of the same teachers are still there, and they gave me a warm welcome. It was good to see that many of the local businesses were still in operation. I was happy to show [Gill, AJ, and Mark] a local yakitori restaurant that was still run by the same folks as twenty years ago. A few days later, AJ joined me on a trip to Naoshima, a small island made famous by a number of art museums. It was a wonderful fall day, and we had a good time sampling the local cuisine (udon) and beer as well as the famous art of the island.”

Esteban Aguel (Cambodia ’13) and Daniel Kelley (Cambodia ’13) visited their old stomping ground of Phnom Penh before Esteban moved across the country to San Francisco. They took the opportunity to catch up with the current PiA Fellows in the city and eat a traditional Khmer meal of…..burritos.

Noah Lerner (China ’17), Matt DeButts (China ’14), Kai Hsu (China ’14) and Collin Smith (China ’14, not pictured) took a reunion trip to Yunnan over Spring Festival. No PiA 4 Lyfe tattoos yet, but they are definitely keeping the spirit alive.

Stephanie Siaw (Thailand ’11), Natalia Rodrigues (Hong Kong ’13), and friend snorkel off the shore of Anak Krakatau in Indonesia. Stephanie recently relocated from Singapore to London, and her PiA family in the Little Red Dot misses her dearly!

Colin Emerson (Singapore ’08) married Fon Aparat this summer in Bangkok with the support of his many groomsmen, including PiA Trustee Kurt Kuehne (Singapore ’08). After his wedding, Colin left his adopted home in Singapore to start graduate school at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. Congratulations and best wishes to Colin and Fon!