Monday, October 29, 2007
Korea, October 21 - 28, 2007
From Champaigne, Illinois, I flew to Detroit and then to Tokyo. After a short layover, I flew on to Seoul, Korea arriving late on Monday 22nd where I was picked up by a former graduate student. I was hosted by the Korean Rural Economics Institute.
I stayed in a traditional guest house with rice paper walls and no windows, sliding doors and no furniture. I gave two lectures, and had numerous meetings with researchers. They took me on a one day tour of a valley which specialized in red
peppers. On Saturday, Dr. Choi took me on a tour of tourism and agri-tourism businesses near Seoul, including two Buddhist monasteries, and two agri-tourism villages. On Sunday I returned to Champaigne, spent the night, and then drove home on Monday.
I stayed in a traditional guest house with rice paper walls and no windows, sliding doors and no furniture. I gave two lectures, and had numerous meetings with researchers. They took me on a one day tour of a valley which specialized in red
peppers. On Saturday, Dr. Choi took me on a tour of tourism and agri-tourism businesses near Seoul, including two Buddhist monasteries, and two agri-tourism villages. On Sunday I returned to Champaigne, spent the night, and then drove home on Monday.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Urbana, October 19 - 21, 2007
On Friday, I drove up to Urbana to visit Harley, Amy and the kids.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Kansas City, Missouri, Oct 18 - 19, 2007
I drove over to Kansas City on the 18th to attend a conference on entrepreneurship. The conference was held at the beautiful Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Washington DC, October 10 - 11, 2007
I flew to DC to attend the USDA Secretary's annual Award Ceremony. Our team was honored with the Secretary's Group Award for Excellence for our work developing their benefit assessment system.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Norway, September 23 - October 3, 2007
This was another of my Multifunctionality project study area visits. I flew to Oslo arriving on Monday 24th. On Tuesday I went to the Norwegian Agricultural Economics Research Institute (NILF) where I presented a paper on US agricultural policy. Following the seminar, my friend John and I left for the west. We first drove to Skien where we stopped by the home of a possible descendant of my GGG Grandfather Morton Schwartz. Then we drove to our hotel in Seljord. In the morning (26th) I found a geocache and then drove to Bo, where my GG Grandmother attended college in t
he 1840s. John and I then continued west to Norheimsund where our meetings were. Our meetings ran from the evening of the 26th through the 28th. On Saturday 29th we went on a field trip to the study area. On the 30th, John, Karen and I sailed southwest from Norheimsund on the fjord. By evening we came to a small village on the southern shore of the fjord where we tied and spent the night. The next day we slowly s
ailed back to the marina in Norheimsund. We winterized the boat and then spent the night. The next morning we finished winterizing and then drove the northern route back to Oslo. As we crossed the divide, we came very close to glaciers. We arrived in Oslo late that evening. In the morning (3rd) I flew home.
he 1840s. John and I then continued west to Norheimsund where our meetings were. Our meetings ran from the evening of the 26th through the 28th. On Saturday 29th we went on a field trip to the study area. On the 30th, John, Karen and I sailed southwest from Norheimsund on the fjord. By evening we came to a small village on the southern shore of the fjord where we tied and spent the night. The next day we slowly s
ailed back to the marina in Norheimsund. We winterized the boat and then spent the night. The next morning we finished winterizing and then drove the northern route back to Oslo. As we crossed the divide, we came very close to glaciers. We arrived in Oslo late that evening. In the morning (3rd) I flew home. 