Just before 12 students’ monthlong journey throughout China ended, the first Category 1 typhoon to hit the country in 13 years struck, almost stranding them in Hong Kong.

Typhoon Vicente reached a Signal 10 on July 23, prompting winds beyond 130 mph.

Nicole Magac, a senior marketing major, had never been overseas.

“It was scary—trees, bridges and billboards that were all there the day before were knocked down,” she said.

Marko Grunhagen, distinguished professor of entrepreneurship, led the students on the study abroad program and said not everyone was fortunate enough to catch a flight out of the fierce weather. 2

“The typhoon hit, and we were lucky to have left Hong Kong after a one-hour delay at the airport,” he said. “There were other people that were stranded in Hong Kong for a week because of canceled flights.”

Thousands of people had flooded the airport, many resorting to sleeping on the floor, Magac added.

Exhausted and relieved some 15 hours later, Magac was back in the United States, reminiscent of her “trip of a lifetime.”

“Every day is a struggle in a different country, but we met some amazing people I never would have met before and did things I never would have been able to do,” she said.

The group spent the first two weeks in Beijing taking classes at the University of International Business and Economics where they grew close to a graduate student named Chakes, who they called Jason.

However, their time in Beijing was not limited to schoolwork.

They visited the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven.

Company visits were also a part of the agenda as they visited a beer brewery, food-processing plant and Caterpillar Inc.

“One of the interesting contrasts for the students in Beijing is that it is truly an international city,” Grunhagen said. “Most Americans, when they think of China and Beijing, they think of a place that is somewhat backwards or faraway, but Beijing is 24/7 and truly where the world meets.”

Magac said the language barrier was difficult, but she became more accustomed to alternative forms of communication, like charades.

Zach Schwulst, a senior marketing major, said he enjoyed taking in the history and culture of the sites, but he favored exploring different restaurants and experiencing new cuisines with the group.

The “terrible texture” of chicken feet did not suit his tastes, but scorpion on a stick did.

“The scorpions were still moving and pinching on the stick, and then they deep-fried them,” he said adding that it tasted like sunflower seeds.

From Beijing, the group traveled to Zhuhai and then Macau, “the Las Vegas of China,” Schwulst said.

Their last stop was Hong Kong, where they spent the last week of their trip.

Grunhagen said contrast served as an important factor of the trip.

“They got to see contrast between urban and rural China, and they were exposed to different teaching styles in one of the last communist countries in the world,” he said. “China is one of the hot, emerging markets today and for the students, this is exposure to where business happens globally so they could see how business operates.”

How the Chinese do business is all about building relationships and connections, Magac said.

“I would love to work for a company that allowed me to travel the world, and this trip gave me the confidence to make that possible,” she said.

Rachel Rodgers can be reached at 581-2812 or rjrodgers@eiu.edu.