After 25 days and 9 different cities, it is great to finally be back on campus! 

I had a wonderful trip to Asia this year meeting with many prospective students and consultants in each city.  I was also lucky enough to meet with so many of our current student’s parents as well.  The trip began on Thursday, October 22nd  While in Tokyo, I was accompanied by Mami Ladd.  Mami is originally from Japan, and her husband Greg is the ESL level 1 teacher at STM.  They are both dorm parents on Benedict’s second floor and their sons Eric and Alex are fixtures on campus and at the dining hall.  At the fair in Tokyo, Mami and I were joined by Masato Matsumura ’88 and his family.  Between Mami, Mr. Matsumura and his family, the Tokyo fair was very successful for STM. and the first stop on the TABS Asia Fairs tour was Tokyo, Japan.

The next stop on the trip was Korea.  Upon my arrival in Seoul, I immediately went to dinner with 10 of our Korean mother’s.  Student’s mothers who were in attendance included, Jong Hoon Park, Jaw Won Goh, Seungbaum Jin, Woo Chul Jung, Jong Seo and Yoon Seo Ki, Dong Hyun Kim, Min Young Maeng, Jun Hyung Park, and Yon Kwon Park.  We had a wonderful traditional Korean buffet style dinner, and it was great to meet so many of our student’s parents.  

After Seoul, we traveled to Shanghai.  I did not meet with any parents in Shanghai, but was able to take in the beautiful city.  The fourth stop on the trip was Beijing.  While in Beijing, I unexpectedly ran into Cheng Cheng Li’s parents.  We had an excellent time, as they showed me around the snow covered city of Beijing, stopping at the Forbidden City and the silk market.  We also went out for a terrific Chinese buffet lunch.  That night, Weisu Wang’s mother and father joined me at the TABS Fair, and were instrumental in helping to market St. Thomas More to prospective students.  After the fair we went out for a delicious, authentic style Peking duck dinner.

In Taipei, I went to a vegetarian lunch with Yen Ting Lu’s father, and Hsiao Hsuan Juan’s mother.  After lunch, Mr. Lu took me to the famous Grand Hotel, and a few of the monuments in Taipei.  After Taiwan, I traveled to Hong Kong.  While in Hong Kong, I took the train across the bay to Shenzhen to have dinner with Dayang Yu, Edison Mei, and Chenxiao Yao’s parents.  We had an amazing fifteen person dinner, sharing all kinds of stories about their sons and their son’s aspirations.

The last stop on my trip where I met with one of our student’s families was in Bangkok, Thailand.  Mati Siritrakulchai’s mother, father, and sister took me out for a delicious Thai lunch.  All in all, the trip was absolutely incredible, and I want to thank all of the families I was able to meet.  Thank you for sharing your culture and cuisine with me while I visited your beautiful countries.