I recently attended (last week of Oct. 2008) a convention in Tehran Iran titled "Confrontation in the Caucasus: Roots, Dimensions, Applications." Recent developments in the Caucasus, the geopolitical region between Europe, Asia and the Middle East, have had significant impact on the first decade of the 21st century. As one of the most culturally diverse areas of the globe, the Caucasus is a scene of confrontation for diverging interests. Of particular importance is the recent military conflict between Russia and Georgia. My presentation was titled "The Russian Federation and the Republic of Georgia: A Geographic Perspective on the Conflict." I'm the one with the laptop.

Benjamin

Ben is currently a student here at Ohio Northern University. He is majoring in Sport Management with a minor in Applied Statistics, and perhaps Spanish. He really likes his statistics courses... go figure! We (ONU) have a special agreement with the US Department of Treasury to send students to study in Cuba. Ben has been accepted in the program and is going to attend the University of Havana in the Spring. Is that cool or what? (we are NOT a communist family despite my/our background!).

Josh and Homecoming

Josh was elected to the Homecoming Court at Ada High School. He is shown here walking with his "date" Amanda Archer. She was chosen as Queen shortly after this picture was taken. Josh was in the running for Homecoming King, but it went to a sentimental favorite - Trent Bass - whose brother recently died in a car crash. Even though his date was Amanda Archer, he was able to take his girlfriend, Jacks, to the dance later in the evening.

Josh and his girlfriend

Josh and his girlfriend. Jacks is from a town called Liberty Benton about 20 miles north of Ada. Josh took her to the Homecoming dance even though his "date" was from Ada.

My son Josh

Josh has a girlfriend! He is really "head over heels" for her. Her name is Jacqueline but goes by the name of "Jacks." She is really a very nice girl and we think is perfect for him.

The End

It was really an unbelieveable site to me as I gave a speech at the closing ceremonies of Hanyang University's summer school 2008. Whereas at the beginning of the summer, I noticed that students in the audience were all sitting with their respective schools/friends, by the end of the summer session, the students were all mixed up - Korean, Chinese, Japanese, American students were sitting with one another regardless of their cultural backgrounds. It was very encouraging for me to see that!

Opening ceremony

I was asked to give a speech at the opening ceremonies where I commented on the idea that we are all from different countries and backgrounds but we all have a lot of things in common, and I encouraged the students to explore those similarities over the next four weeks.

Our last day in Xi'an

By the end of our China trip everyone was exhausted. The morning of our departure, Patrick decided to take a nap on the floor of the hotel foyer. He's smiling but he's tired. His Brazilian friend gazes at him from the comfort of an armchair!

Student discussions

ONU and others on the left and Chinese university students on the right face off in a question and answer period where both get to learn more about one another and their perceptions of each other and their respective cultures. It was a fascinating discussion and very open on both sides.

New Monument to Buddha's finger!

A massive monument is being built nearby to house Buddha's finger relic

Famen Buddhist Temple

Famen Buddhist temple about 120 km west of Xi'an. It's famous for its relics of the Buddha, especially a portion of his actual finger is on display. This is a working monastary, with monks tending gardens and ticket sales etc.

Our guys on the Xi'an wall

Valerie, Chris, Adam, Beth, Elizabeth, Jenny

Xi'an Wall

Built during the Tang and Ming dynasties, a stone wall surrounds the central part of the city. This is a view of a portion of it. To the right is a guard post.

Panorama of Xi'an central business district

Our Xi'an, China hotel. Rooms very comfortable!

Arrival Beijing airport

Beijing Airport entrance - gearing up for the Olympics. We saw the New Zealand women's soccer team arrive.

Xi'an China

Tomorrow, Monday 21 July we leave early in the morning (6 am) for the airport to go to Xi'an Jiaotong University in China to begin a week long visit. Stayed tuned for more pictures and stories.

Graduation entertainment!

One of our ONU student's, Patrick Schmees, put together a very good band with his Hanyang student friends, and sang several songs for our graduation entertainment. One of the songs was Michael Buble's "Comin' Home, Baby." Helen Kim is playing bass guitar, and Semi Kim, her sister and a student of mine from my Model UN class is behind the keyboard. They were unbelieveably good!

Mr Shin's farewell speech

Mr Shin, the director of the international summer school program gives a brief farewell speech.

Hanyang Summer School Graduation

Saturday 19 July was graduation for summer school students here at Hanyang University in Seoul South Korea. This is the stage shortly before the Dean and I gave our farewell speeches.

ONU students in central Seoul

Once again, ONU sent the best students to Hanyang, they're having a great time and making a great impression! Back row: Jenny, Elizabeth, Elizabeth; front row: Adam, Nathan, Patrick, Chris.

DMZ - Civilian Control Line (South)

The Korean DMZ is bounded to the south and north by what are called Civilian Control Lines (CCLs) This is a panaroma picture of a portion of the southern CCL. The RR bridge in the center of the picture leads across the DMZ into North Korea. South Korean citizens are not allowed to go beyond the CCL which is located about 2 km from the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) which represents the actual border between the two countries. Because we had South Koreans on our trip, we couldn't go to the actual border. When we arrived at the southern CCL, we had to show our passports to the South Korean soldiers before we could enter the DMZ. The DMZ is literally covered with land mines so we had to be very careful where we walked!

Visit to DMZ

Today we visited the De-Militarized Zone between South and North Korea. The image to the right is a map of the DMZ (actually a large billboard map) located just inside of the DMZ. The thick tan line on the map in the upper left hand corner represents the actual border between the two countries (DMZ) and everything to the south and west are locations along the border in South Korea, with pictures of those sites along the left and right edges.

Korea's Model UN

As you all know, I am teaching a Model UN course here at Hanyang University in Seoul, South Korea, this summer. I have a student in my class, Bongwu Han, who is participating in South Korea's version of its national Model UN program. Last week, after class, he told me that he is representing Pakistan, and the issue that he is assigned is "alternative energy in Pakistan." He was VERY nervous because he told me he doesn't know anything about the country or the issue. Well, we met for a long time after class last week so that I could give him advice on Pakistan and alternative energy. Well, I tried to give him advice on how the UN worked in general, on Pakistan, and on what I know about alternative energy, so that he could do the best he could at South Korea's national Model UN meeting. I just found out that he won an award for being one of the top four (out of 300) delegates at the conference and he thanked me for my help. He is now able to go on to a regional Model UN program in the Philippines, and hopefully on to New York City. I am SO proud of him! He worked so hard and I hope I helped him at least a little bit. As teachers, there are a very few times when we feel we have done something to help others, and this really feels good to me!

More news from Seoul

Tomorrow (Thursday, 10 July) ONU students and I are going to visit the South Korean/North Korean de-militarized zone (DMZ). I am excited about it because last year when I was here we did the same trip but it rained so hard and it was so foggy we couldn't see anything. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and 90 degrees F and 90% humidity so it'll be nice but bad at the same time! South Korean citizens are not allowed inside the DMZ itself and we have some South Korean students coming with us - so we will see how much we can see. ONU students here are the best we could have sent and I am very proud of them! Time is going so fast and we are almost done with classes. We go to Xian, China on 21 July. Afterwards (28 July) I am going to Hong Kong to see a UN friend for about a week. More with pictures are coming soon!

News from Seoul

Nothing much to report for the last couple of days. My UN class continues to be a joy to teach. Students actually ask questions about the UN and I have one student who is participating in South Korea's national Model UN program. We met for several hours Friday to talk about strategy. He represents Pakistan and the issue is about alternative energy and economic development. South Korea's Model UN national meeting is four days long here in the capital and ends this coming Monday. I hope he does well and that I could have helped him in any small way. The students here have several Korean students assigned to help them with seeing the sites etc. This year Hanyang has not hired any foreign professors except myself so I have been on my own; taking the subway and buses to see the sites around town. I am getting to know my way around Seoul and am learning Korean out of necessity; can't buy anything in the stores without knowing some of the language!

Model United Nations classes

Since 23 June I have been teaching a course called Model UN here at Hanyang University, located on the north bank of the Han River here in Seoul. I have the second largest enrollment of students attending the summer school here http://iss.hanyang.ac.kr/ with about 25 students. The largest enrollment this summer is in the Business Statistics class, which is probably understandable. Last year my UN class had by far the largest enrollment probably due to the interest generated by the new Korean Secretary General Ban ki-mun. This year Korean students are understandably more interested in building their skills in international business - "money talks, !@#$% walks!

Food Shopping and Prices

When I first arrived here in Seoul, I found a grocery store to go to... The products in the picture are sitting on top of my refrigerator and are, from left to right with there approximate prices here in Seoul: strawberry jelly ($2), Thousand Island salad dressing ($2), four pack of Spam with a roll of paper towels ($6), milk ($4), 2 1/2 lbs of sugar (90 cents), soju (Korean "firewater!") ($1.20), and Korean raspberry wine ($7). So you can see that prices vary quite bit depending on the product. Also, not shown is a liter of Fanta soft drink ($1), a can of tuna ($2.25), a small loaf of bread ($2.50), two 100w light bulbs ($1.50), and they charge for plastic bags (no paper) (50 cents).

Main Living Area

As you walk in to the door to may "apartment" here at Hanyang University's Guest House," you first see the living area, which, for a single person, consists of a Large "dance floor" area and a TV. The TV is tuned to the Armed Forces Network here in South Korea and is showing my favorite show: Law and Order.

Bedroom

A bit of a panoramic view of my bedroom. Hanyang has provided me with a three room apartment. This bedroom, a living area and a kitchen. My two bed bedroom also has a computer with Internet-access provided and bookshelves: although I did not bring very many books with me!

Bathroom

When I arrived, I was shown my room and a bathroom without a bathtub!

Like in other Asian countries, there's no bathtub: you use the shower that sprays directly on the floor - most squat down and use the the large "bowl" shown under the sink.

To the left and out of sight in the bathroom is a rather large washing machine with at least a dozen buttons labeled in Korean. I have had to learn the Korean alphabet to do my wash!

Kitchen

Not bad for a kitchen, now I have to learn how to use chopsticks

Arrival in Korea

Eating a Korea lunch, Bibimbpap restaurant near campus, Great food.

These are a line of small "Mom and "Pop" restaurants near campus.

Setting up my first blog

Well, it's about a week before I go to Korea so I thought I would set up a blog to let you all know what's happening while I am in Korea. I will be teaching a class called "Model UN" at Hanyang University in Seoul and then will visit Xian Jiaotong University in central China from 21-28 July. Stay tuned!