Campus

Our small delegation came here to learn about service-learning, build collaboration and explore learning opportunities for our students.  One big reward that I should have expected but did not is reminders of what a university campus can look like. 

I ate delicious “Impossible” burger in a burger place which looked more like a library, near Stanford. 

There is the Mission Santa Clara de Asia on the campus of Santa Clara University, a Catholic mission church originally set up by the Franciscan Order in 1777, and later handed over to the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).  

At the quaint Bancroft Hotel near Berkeley, I found myself sleeping in a bed facing a real book shelf, and under the gaze of J. R. R. Tolkien (author of Lord of the Rings) on the wall above my bed. 

 At UCLA, we walked among elegant buildings among even more elegant trees. 

We ended the day at University of Southern California, at the JEP House.  It is a historical house which was renovated by elevating the whole house and expanding the crawl space underneath the house into a full size basement work space for the students associated with the Joint Education Project. 

In Hong Kong, the house would have been torn down and replaced by a concrete and glass high rise.  I am constantly reminded of what a campus can look like.