This year's class of Holland Fellows is ending its time in China. They have been there for two weeks. P.A. Rowe is among the group. A rising senior and president of the SGA, he blogged about their time in the Far East at his blog, A Chinese Adventure.

Here's what they were doing last week, when they bumped into a fellow Mountaineer.

Our first day in Qingdao we visited began with a company visit to a joint venture between Coca-Cola and Cofco. It was surprising when we entered the facility to see an American as our host. I soon found out that she was a fairly recent Appalachian graduate who had been working in China for about eight months. We were able to tour and learn about the facilities along with her time spent in China. This was great for being able gain perspective about working abroad in a truly global sense.

After we finished touring, we went and shared lunch in the company cafeteria on site. It was a nice meal and after it was done we departed for our next stop. Our next visit was a hilltop in the city that overlooked a portion of the shoreline and the surrounding area. It provided a perspective about how large of a city Qingdao is exactly.

Rowe has also mentioned what the Holland Fellows experiences means to himself and the group.

The depth of the relationships that we now share between all the Fudan students and partners, along with our fellow ASU Holland Fellows, was evident throughout. Witnessing hearing what was said, it was hard to imagine many other programs that can build cross-cultural relationships that have the richness of what we share. It really is a feeling that is hard to put into words, but we are all thankful to share it. Being able to travel to each others' countries, host our partners, learn about one another, share new experiences, and collaborate on an in depth research project together, allowed us to fulfill the motto of the program by becoming "friends forever" (it is corny we know, but once you experience the program nothing is more true).

Many of the Fellows will return to China to begin internships there. Rowe recently mentioned what he will be doing.

Today we began our activities by doing a company visit at China.org.cn The company is a government partially sponsered news website that specializes in sharing Chinese news in foreign languages. After we finish in Hong Kong in early June, I will return to Beijing with one other Holland Fellow to intern at the website. After our visit, I am extremely excited about being able to have this opportunity later in summer for two months. It was a very impressive visit, the company has a very nice headquarters and operates with many young and eager staff members.

The Hickory Daily Record has a regular feature called "Neighboring Notable," which spotlights a person in the community. Today the subject is P.A. Rowe, a Walker College student and president of the Student Government Association. Rowe, who is studying international business finance and banking, discusses his involvement with the Holland Fellows and the UNC Board of Governors, among other topics.

A cooperative venture between ASU and Fudan University gives Holland Fellows real-world international experience.

"We partner up, 12 students from each school, and take on issues vital to international finance and relations," Rowe said.

The Chinese students come to ASU in the spring, and the Americans visit China in the summer. They don't just talk, they work.

Rowe's group is evaluating the state of the media. The students will make a joint presentation of their findings at a major forum in China.

"We had the media divided traditionally between print and electronic," Rowe said, "and we added emerging media. We found we could not separate them. Everything is integrated, and emerging (digital) media is the focus of the future." ...

After the forum presentation, Rowe will work in China as a news intern. ...

One wonders when Rowe rests. He likes the outdoors — he was an Eagle Scout, and "I'm involved in a lot of activities." Seemingly, most of them are all business.

He's also one of ASU's Walker Fellows, a business organization. Rowe has helped with freshman orientation.

He's looking forward to participating this fall in the Bowden Investment Group. It's a class with its own pool of assets.

"We manage around $78,000 in assets," he said. "That's exciting."

Walker College is now accepting applications for the 2010 Holland Fellows for Business Study in Asia. Entering its 14th year, the program partners a group of Appalachian State students with peers from Fudan University for a 10-day program highlighting the opportunities and challenges of doing business in China.

Students not only hit the books, but they try new foods and take in the local culture.

Students will participate in lectures given by professors in Fudan's School of Management, as well as visit the vibrant cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. They will gain an understanding of international business by visiting state-owned enterprises and foreign joint ventures in China and by meeting Hong Kong businesspersons.

Both Appalachian and Fudan student groups will also present research to a panel of Appalachian and Fudan professors, and Chinese and American business persons.

Students visit state-owned enterprises and foreign joint ventures, such as Beijing McDonald's, BaoSteel, Shanghai Bell, Shanghai Stock Exchange, Coca-Cola (Shanghai), Texas Instruments (Hong Kong).

You can download the application online [DOC], or pick one up in the Dean's Office located on fourth floor of Raley Hall. The deadline for applications is September 30 at 5 p.m. All applicants must be admitted to Walker College by Spring '10.

The Appalachian Today website has a package online promoting Walker College's long-running William R. Holland Fellows for Business Study in Asia. A jewel within the many international offerings of the college, the Holland Fellows Program offers a unique study abroad experience for both students of Appalachian State and Fudan universities.

Both schools select a group of highly motivated and academically strong students, which each spend up to two weeks playing host their peers on their respective campuses.

During the visit to each nation, students participate in lectures given by the host university's faculty, visit major businesses and cultural attractions, and meet with business leaders. They also tour the major cities of New York, Washington, D.C., Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

"Our program's motto is 'Friends Forever.' These students are going to be leaders in both countries—either civic, business or political—so to have each other's acquaintance is very positive for both groups," says Dr. Lyle Schoenfeldt, Appalachian's L.M. Baker Jr. Partners in Excellence Professor in the Department of Management.

"The Holland Fellows Program distinguishes Appalachian from other universities because of the program's focus on undergraduates," says Dr. Unal Boya, professor of marketing.

Michael McSwain was a member of a recent Holland Fellows class. He accepted an internship with a company in China, where he is now living and blogging about his time there. Entitled tales.from.china, Michael's blog reflects on specific examples of culture clash and his sheer joy in exploring the country. For instance, he shares his perspective on a Chinease holiday and a trip to the North Tomb.

Following lunch Davis and I went into the tomb. I still get frustrated with some of the small cultural differences and yesterday I got mad. Davis says that the price to go into the tomb is normally 5 yuan (around 70cents), but yesterday they were charging 50 yuan (around 7 dollars). Well he was mad and all worked up and decided that he would buy just me a ticket to go in. Well I explained to him I would buy my own ticket and he could buy his ticket and we could go in together. I turn around a minute later and there he is standing with two tickets. I then told him why I was frustrated and he told me that since I was his American son he would buy antyhing for me. I told him I was happy about that, but he had just 3 minutes ago complained about the price of the ticket. Well following that he insisted I do everything in the park that cost money. They have these stands all over China where you dress up like old school Chinese folks and stand in front of things in your emperor wear. Well he was just dying for me to do that, and couldn't handle the fact that I was not going to get in some emperor garb and stand infront of a tomb for him to take a picture. He then sent me into this muesem of basically all Chinese words that I of course could not follow. He had to make it up to me by spending all sorts of money on silly things. Needless to say the tomb was beautiful.