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!