A Traveler's Library » Jessie Voigts

Meet Jessie Voigts: Culture Travel Tuesday

pen4hire — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Jessie Voigts in Scotland

Today we get to know a bit more about our Culture Travel Tuesday contributor, Dr. Jessie Voigts. Regular readers of A Traveler’s Library are familiar with Jessie, since she has been an almost monthly contributor for many moons. She has been bringing us synopses of interviews with authors from her wonderfully useful website Wandering Educators. Don’t be fooled by the title–teachers are not the only ones who can benefit from the broad array of travel advice offered at W.E. Take a look at the many categories on her site and you’ll see what I mean. But Jessie’s first love is broadening the understanding between cultures. I am very happy she accepted the assignment of bringing to readers of A Traveler’s Library ideas for travel that deepens our understanding of different cultures. You saw an example last month when she wrote about a museum and battlefield in Scotland. Now for the inside scoop on how her interests developed, and how it affects her life today and other inside secrets of Jessie.

A Traveler’s Library: In your bio you mention that you majored in International Education. Can you explain that a bit? How is that different from majoring in Education?

Jessie Voigts: My PhD is in Comparative and International Development Education from the University of Minnesota. Although I had to take classes in education (US and global) and development, my main focus was on cross-cultural adaptation and study abroad. To me, international education is about being curious about the world; exploring and learning about other cultures and places.

Jessie visiting Basel, 1994, while she was in Europe.

ATL: Have you taught abroad, or taught foreign students in the United States?

JV: Yes to all of the above! I’ve taught courses on study abroad, courses on cultural adjustment for students getting ready to study abroad, courses on culture to both US and international students, worked with international students and scholars at MSU and UMN in a variety of ways, worked in Japan, and also was the Director for Michigan State University’s Summer London Study Abroad programs one year. What I love most about international education is that it is so joyful and life-changing to promote learning about the world.

ATL: How do you think having a background in International Education has affected the way you plan your travel?

JV: Yes. I don’t care for tours or quick travel. I like to go somewhere and really learn about a place – the people, culture, events, books, music, history, etc. I also love to do my research – digging deeply into the knowledge of a place beforehand allows us to dig deeply into a culture, when we get there.

ATL: You also mention your interest in traveling with disabilities. Do you want to expand on that?

JV: I have several disabilities, including a mobility disability. Because I can’t walk much, Where we travel is extremely important. Thus far, I’ve traveled to only first-world countries, where travel for people with disabilities is a bit easier. I also make sure we have a rental car, so that I can get to places. Once you’ve experienced travel with a mobility disability, it changes your worldview. Structural barriers are everywhere – you have to decide if you have the energy and will to cope and adapt. And, you have to be willing to let your family go into ancient castles and towers where you can’t climb the tiny winding stairs (hello, Ireland!), and find something else to do on flat ground. I have realized how lucky we are in the US, where the ADA mandates accessibility.

Jessie, 4years old, at our family cottage in N. Michigan

ATL: When you were a child did your family travel a lot?

JV: Yes! Our whole extended family is comprised of international travelers and scholars. At any given time, my parents, brother, aunts, uncles, or cousins are somewhere exploring the world. My parents placed great importance on travel, sending me to Japan for a summer when I was in middle school. We also traveled all over North America, and often to our cottage up in northern Michigan. I love that you can travel to both familiar and unfamiliar places, and experience them in such different ways.

ATL: When did you take your first trip out of the U.S. and where to?

JV: Well, we were always going to Canada, since Michigan is right next door..so probably as a tiny baby! I love those Canadian Butter Tarts! My first trip outside of North America was to Japan, when I was a young teenager. We had hosted a Japanese exchange student the summer before, and that summer, I went to stay with her family. It changed my life!

ATL: What is your best suggestion for overcoming culture shock, or the fear of getting outside the comfort zone of our own culture when we travel?

JV: My best advice is to roll with it, and balance spending time with people who understand what you’re going through (expats) and locals. If you spend too much time complaining to fellow expats, you won’t be able to progress past those difficult parts of cross-cultural adjustment. As well, if you only spend time with locals, you won’t be able to get those complaints out of your system. So – roll with the changes and the difficulty, have a great support system, and try to appreciate the culture where you are. Pretty soon, you’ll laugh at being annoyed at being crammed onto trains, and just figure out your own tricks to get in the door first. Eventually, with enough time and cultures under your belt, you’ll become a cultural marginal – able to fit into any culture around the world, and knowing that each culture is important and valid in its own right. I can’t say enough about cultural relativism!

Rainbow on Clifford Lake where Jessie Voigts now lives.

As to the fear of getting outside your comfort zone – isn’t this WHY we travel? To challenge ourselves, to learn about ourselves and others, and to expand our world views. Yes, it is uncomfortable to look at the street food offered, and see bugs and things you would never have imagined eating. Try it – you might be pleasantly surprised – or have a great travel story to tell! It might be stressful, to be in a place where the worldview is SO different from yours – just remember that your worldview is not the only one. The best part of travel is exploring difference!

Thank you Jessie. And what an inspiring answer to the question of how we can travel outside our comfort zone. We’ll look forward to more inspiration each month as you bring us more motivations for travel.

Pictures used here were taken by Jessie Voigts, and are her property. Do not reuse without express permission. Thank you.

Would you like to share an experience you have had during travel that made you aware of the differences in worldview? Do you travel to get outside your comfort zone? Tell us about it in the comment section.

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Living History at Culloden, Scotland

pen4hire — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 08:36:47 +0000

Cultural Travel Tuesday

Boggy field, Culloden, Scotland

Destination: Scotland

Inspiration: Museum at Culloden Visitor’s Center

By Dr. Jessie Voigts

Imagine the moors of the Scottish Highlands – it’s a rainy, misty day, with a bit of a chill in the air. The sunken bogs are wreathed in fog, and human noise is eerily absent – just a raven’s caw in the air. You almost feel as if you’ve stepped back in time – maybe you have?

You’re at Culloden, the site of the battle that changed the course of Scottish, British – well, truly, world history. On April 16, 1746, the Jacobite army fought the British army, to reclaim the throne of Britain for Bonnie Prince Charlie. It was an incredibly uneven battle – the Jacobites weren’t fully prepared, were starving and cold. A surprise night attack plan failed, and in the day, the exhausted Jacobite soldiers surged to their death.

Culloden tower, Scottland

As the National Trust for Scotland web site says:

Towards one o’clock, the Jacobite artillery opened fire on government soldiers. The government responded with their own cannon, and the Battle of Culloden began.

Bombarded by cannon shot and mortar bombs, the Jacobite clans held back, waiting for the order to attack. At last they moved forwards, through hail, smoke, murderous gunfire and grapeshot. Around eighty paces from their enemy they started to fire their muskets and charged. Some fought ferociously. Others never reached their goal. The government troops had finally worked out bayonet tactics to challenge the dreaded Highland charge and broadsword. The Jacobites lost momentum, wavered, then fled.

Hardly an hour had passed between the first shots and the final flight of the Prince’s army. “Although a short battle by European standards, it was an exceptionally bloody one.

Before we headed to Scotland, I taught our daughter the history of Scotland, the political and personal struggles, the way that the conquering English (and earlier, the Vikings, Romans, Dál Riatans from Ireland) changed everything. She was fascinated, and wherever we were in Scotland, she wondered what happened in history there.

One of the best places to learn about and experience Scottish History is the Culloden Visitor Centre, located just south of Inverness, Scotland.

Opened in 2007, the Culloden Visitor Centre is run by the National Trust for Scotland. It’s a low-slung building made of local stones, and doesn’t impact the landscape as much as enhance it.

Once inside the visitor centre, we learned the small details of history – the spent and flattened bullets, found on the moors decades later; clothing; maps showing troop movements; weapons; an interactive battlefield map; costumed troops wandering the halls; voices and videos.

Leanach Cottage Scotland

And then…we went outside. We took along the personal audios available from the desk at the door. We walked into the misty rain, along clear paths through the battlefield. We saw Leanach Cottage – an original cottage, still on the battlefield hundreds of years later. I was surprised by the closeness of the sheep, grazing in the farmland nearby.

We wandered the paths, avoided slugs stretched out, listened to history, and FELT the spirit of Culloden, surrounding us. I teared up at the Clan grave markers, gazed at the wet marsh off the path (wondering HOW those soldiers were able to fight there), and honored those that had fought so hard for their country and beliefs. Our daughter stretched her time out, going back to certain parts of the long battlefield, looking off into the hills while listening hard. She did NOT want to leave. We closed the place down, the very last ones to leave – and we had a difficult time exiting. Culloden had a firm hold on our souls.

Clan Fraser Marker, Culloden Scotland

Jessie Voigts, of Wandering Educators, is a regular Contributor to A Traveler’s Library, bringing us cultural inspirations for travel.

All of the photos in this post are the property of Jessie Voigts. Please do not use without permission.

Note from Vera Marie: I have frequently been inspired by a museum to look more deeply into a place. For instance, when I went to Ireland, I was inspired by the Blascaod Centre in Dún Chaoin (Dunquin) on the Dingle Peninsula and learned about the people of the Blasket Islands. Have you visited a museum that enriched your travel? Please share, so we can visit, too.

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Shiny New Travel Ideas

pen4hire — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 05:00:36 +0000

Is this how traveling makes you feel? Is this the way you want to act when you discover a wonderful travel book or movie that takes you away?

We travelers who read are endlessly curious. We want to know about all the things that might make us want to travel. And when we plan our trips we want to know all about the cultures we are visiting. Most of the time we get inspired and informed by travel literature or movies–anything with a strong sense of place.

But there are other things that inspire us to wander the world, too. Music, museums, festivals, food, wine, art, shopping, challenge, photography–there is no end to the inspirations. And there are many styles of travel, from jet setting to five-star resorts to backpacking on a shoestring; from traveling solo to traveling en famille–even if someone in the family has four legs instead of two.

And because one person cannot adequately bring you tidbits about so many different ideas, I have invited some inspiring people to partner with A Traveler’s Library. Some of these people you are already familiar with. Some of them may be new to you. But all of them are specialists and fine writers. I’m jumping for joy about the fresh breeze that is wafting through the library and all the new ideas that these partners will bring in their periodic posts.

And expect surprises. We may shake up the way things have been here. And there may be new partners waiting in the wings with even more new ideas. Enough suspense?? Here’s the list of (at least) once-a-month contributors that you can look forward to reading during the first full week of each month.

Music Monday by Kerry Dexter

Culture Travel Tuesday by Dr. Jessie Voigts

Wednesday Matinee by Jane Boursaw

Pet Travel Thursday by Edie Jarolim

Family Travel Friday by Jennifer Close

To learn more about each of these new contributors, each experienced in her field (heck, we even have at least two PhDs among our partners!), click over to the Contributors’ Page. Go visit their blogs and support them on their home turf. And come back next week when they will start bringing you shiny new travel ideas.

What inspires YOUR travel?

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Guide to Lake Superior

pen4hire — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 08:00:54 +0000

Note: See my exchange article at Wandering Educators about best books to read for Nova Scotia.

Destination: Minnesota, Lake Superior

Book: A View of the Lake: Living the Dream on Lake Superior by Beryl Singleton Bissell

A GUEST POST from Jessie Voigts of Wandering Educators.com Regular partner, Jessie Voigts, has let us use a snippet from her review of this book. To read the entire review, quotations from the book and the author interview, go to Wandering Educators.

One of my very favorite authors has done it again – written a book so compelling and readable that you feel like you are right there with her, experiencing life, love, and nature on the North Shore of Lake Superior.

A View of the Lake

Beryl Singleton Bissell‘s new book, A View of the Lake: Living the Dream on Lake Superior, is one that you absolutely must have because the stories Beryl shares, of walks, hikes, bears, birds, family, and incredible people, will pull you in and take you there. You might tear through it all at once, as I did (on the porch looking out at our lake, during a rainstorm, mug of hot tea in hand), or take it slowly (well, who could do this? But I imagine someone might be able to slow themselves down and dole out the goodness).

Beryl and her husband fell in love with the North Shore, as Minnesotans call the north shore of Lake Superior, geographically north of Duluth, running up past Grand Marais to Cananda. And what did Beryl and Bill do with this great love of place? They elected to move there. While some travelers do just that (just look at the expat communities worldwide), it is unusual enough in your own state.

And what a move. From the Twin Cities, with arts and culture galore, to the tiny town of Schroeder (pop. 180). From a city to wide open spaces, where nature rules.

It’s fascinating, this land she loves. Beryl has broken the book up into four seasons of learning, and then small, enticing chapters. Each chapter teaches us about something of life on the North shore. I love the chapters on people and community, where Beryl learns to fit in by giving. I love the chapters on wildlife and nature, what she sees on her walks, hikes, skiing, in storms. But I love most what she learns, from being in a new place and adapting. Life is in the small moments, and Beryl captures these exquisitely.

[NOTE: You can find several quotes from the book at Wandering Educators. Here is just one that struck A Traveler's Library.] On a night of shooting stars… Small, vulnerable and intensely alive at the moment, I gave thanks for the incredible universe that sustains and enlivens all creatures. I was no longer sipping from the cup of life, I’d become one with it.

[Please click on over to Wandering Educatorsto see what the author, Beryl Singleton Bissell has to say about her life on the lake and her book.]

Jessie Voigts

Dr. Jessie Voigts is the Publisher of WanderingEducators.com and contributes each month to A Traveler’s Library. She has a doctorate in International Education, and is passionate about intercultural learning. She and her husband are Worldschooling their daughter, and enjoying every minute of it. She is also a nature photographer and like the author of this book, lives on a lake.

My friend, Donna L Hull recently wrote about a place that spoke to her the way that Lake Superior spoke to this author. You can see her article at My Itchy Travel Feet.

The book title is linked to Amazon for your convenience. If you click through to Amazon and purchase anything at all, I get a few cents which helps support A Traveler’s Library. Thanks.

Do you have such a place in your life? Did you ever pick up and move to a place you had visited on vacation? Remember, your comments not only make you part of the conversation, but they also enter your name in our 25-Book Giveaway.

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Traveling Michigan: Author Interview

pen4hire — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 05:52:31 +0000

Michigan's Sunset Coast book cover

Destination: Michigan

Book: Traveling Michigan’s Sunset Coast: Exploring Michigan’s West Coast Beach Towns – from New Buffalo to Mackinaw City,(2007) by Julie Royce

A Guest Post by Dr. Jessie Voigts

I am particularly pleased to have Dr. Jessie Voigts of Wandering Educators bring us this book and this author, since the subject is home territory for Voigts. It always gives more credibility to a guidebook when a resident of the area approves it.

This is an incredible resource for west Michigan residents and visitors – a complete description of places to eat, stay, and visit while traveling the sunset coast. I looked up many of my favorite restaurants, and indeed, they were listed and recommended – as well as many that I had never heard of before!

The first part of the book is a resource guide, while the second half provides a history of Michigan, including ghost sightings, ship wrecks, lighthouses, sand dunes, and legends. This is a fantastic travel guide to a lovely part of the United States. Julie also has a guidebook to Michigan’s thumb region. I was able to sit down with Julie and interview her…

Wandering Educators: What led you to do these guidebooks?

Julie Royce: I took an early out retirement from the State of Michigan where I had worked as a First Assistant Attorney General in the Workers’ Compensation Division. Jennifer Granholm had been my boss for a while back when she was Attorney General. After retirement my husband and I moved to Lexington, Michigan and bought a condo just three blocks from where I was born.

During our first summer here Ms. Granholm (then governor) gave a speech at a local restaurant and I went to hear her and to have the chance to see my prior boss. Part of her pitch that day was that we really need to promote our state and she talked about all the Thumb area had to offer.

After she left that evening I was thinking about what she said and decided she was right. It is beautiful here in Lexington. I decided to write Traveling Michigan’s Thumb. It became kind of a joke among my friends as I was writing it: “After the first two pages what are you going to say?” In truth, I found plenty to write about. We have several cute little towns, lots of beautiful water, a slow pace of living and great people.

W. E.: Tell us about some of the characters you met, while doing this research…

Petoskey Lighthouse

J. R.: One of the true pleasures of writing the book was the people I met along the way. Certainly the west side of the state had its characters – that’s why I included a chapter on the famous, infamous and notorious with Lake Michigan ties. Unfortunately I did not get to meet Ernest Hemingway, Carl Sandburg, or Al Capone. I really would have loved to meet Magdelaine LaFramboise.

The people I did meet were generally just friendly people willing to tell me about their towns. I did have an interesting experience in Petoskey. I went into a gift store and a customer walked up to the register where I was talking to the owner about her shop. I moved aside so a “paying customer” could take care of business. The customer said, “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation, are you writing a book?” I told her I was and I explained I had done one earlier called Traveling Michigan’s Thumb and this was my second book. She surprised me by telling me she bought Traveling Michigan’s Thumb at the Victorian Emporium in Lexington, a few blocks from where I live. Small world!

Dr. Jessie Voigts

You can read more of the interview, in the book review section of Wandering Educators. Dr. Jessie Voigts is the Publisher of WanderingEducators.com and contributes each month to A Traveler’s Library. She has a doctorate in International Education, and is passionate about intercultural learning. She and her husband are Worldschooling their daughter, and enjoying every minute of it. She is also a nature photographer and lives on a lake.

Thanks Jessie, for bringing us a book so appropriate for our road trip. Look for a stop in Michigan later this year. And, dear reader, if you would like to read more here about Michigan here are three suggestions.

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Laugh-a-Minute Book About Traveling the Caribbean Islands

pen4hire — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:00:40 +0000

Caribbean Sunset

Destination: The Caribbean

Book: A Rotten Person Travels the Caribbean: A Grump in Paradise Discovers that Any Place it’s Legal to Carry a Machete is Comedy Just Waiting to Happen, by Gary Buslik

A Guest Post by Jessie Voigts of Wandering Educators

I am happy to share with you today a book that just made me laugh, and laugh – and learn about Caribbean cultures. Gary Buslik has written one of the funniest books I’ve ever read, A Rotten Person Travels the Caribbean (Travelers’ Tales).

When I first opened the book, the VERY FIRST chapter made me laugh (The Time I Accidentally Urinated on Idi Amin). It gets even funnier from there – Gary explores different cultures, ethics, philosophy, race, religion, and more – all the while making the reader laugh, with his wry sense of humor.

Gary explores different places in the Caribbean, the various people he meets as he travels, and of course the ever-present dilemma of intercultural differences. This book truly is a gem, in that it humorously explores some of the cultural differences the traveler experiences while in the Caribbean. I’ve only been to the Bahamas in the Caribbean (YET!), but I could still relate to the book – nodding my head yes at certain aspects of travel in the Caribbean, and making notes NOT to go to certain places (cockfighting). He certainly brings a great sense of place to his book – you feel like you are there, with him.

Here is an excerpt from our interview with Gary – you can read the rest at Wandering Educators .

WE: What is your favorite thing about the Caribbean? Least favorite?

Caribbean Drummers

GB: A lot of newbie travelers rave about gorgeous sunsets and sugary sand and exotic cuisine, but my favorites are the small things. I love meeting stray dogs you see on almost every beach, giving them a good scratch on their bellies, and telling the locals to shut up and mind their own business when they try to shoo the dogs away. Last December I found a sweet cat on the beach in St. Maarten, and every morning we had breakfast together in the hotel lobby café, with me sitting in front of one plate, she another, her dirty little butt on a placemat. It drove the manager stark raving nuts, so it was a double pleasure. I also enjoy stepping on the flip-flops of margarita-slurping tourists walking in front of me.

My least favorite thing about the Caribbean are mosquito nets. Any membrane that gets between my bladder and the bathroom at two in the morning—and I include pajamas here—is never my friend. If you turn on a light in the middle of the night, your “mosquito” net—a misnomer if there ever was one; they should be called “large-furry-things-with-buck-teeth” net—resembles a Night of the Living Dead reunion. The result being that while trying to make a mad dash from under the elastic, I get more tangled up in netting than a drunken groom in a garter belt, and my wife comes to my rescue by spraying my face with something that smells suspiciously like nuclear waste.

My other least favorite thing is steel drum music. West Indian bands never take breaks. I was not alive when they built the Panama Canal, but in hearing “Yellow Bird” for the zillionth time, my eardrums can imagine what the isthmus must have felt like when that huge, hardened-steel, saw-toothed gnawing wheel ground its way from one ocean to the other.

Dr. Jessie Voigts

Dr. Jessie Voigts is the Publisher of WanderingEducators.com and will be contributing each month to A Traveler’s Library. She has a doctorate in International Education, and is passionate about intercultural learning. She and her husband are Worldschooling their daughter, and enjoying every minute of it. She is also a nature photographer and lives on a lake.

Thanks Jessie–even the subtitle has me rolling on the floor. Readers–any humor books about travel that you would like to share?

You might also want to read related posts about other islands: Hawaii, Indonesia, the Caribbean by Patrick Leigh Fermor, not to mention beaucoup about Greek Islands (search for Greece).

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Wanderer Dr. Jessie Voigts Interviews Author McCrum

pen4hire — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:01:19 +0000

Destination: The World

Book: Going Dutch In Beijing by Mark McCrum

I am excited to welcome a regular columnist to A Traveler’s Library. The last week of every month, Dr. Jessie Voigts will be sharing some favorite book and/or author information from her web site, Wandering Educators, an eclectic travel site for global educators and other wanderers. Jessie says, “If you love to learn and explore the world, come join us! “ Welcome aboard, Jessie.

Books from a Wanderer

Dr. Jessie Voigts

by Dr. Jessie Voigts

One of the most influential books in my personal traveler’s library is [amazonify]0805086765::text::::Going Dutch in Beijing: How to Behave Properly When Far Away from Home[/amazonify]. Written by Mark McCrum, this book re-emphasizes what we all have learned the hard way – that behaving correctly in another culture is a learning experience! Signs, nonverbal communication, behaviors, and the phrases we use all have cultural connotations, whether we are aware of it or not.

I remember when I lived in Japan, I was always conscious of being different – both physically and culturally. Many times, my Japanese friends had talked of several important Japanese concepts – saving face, and the phrase “the nail that sticks out will get hammered down.” The Japanese concept of saving face, in which you never show a person in a bad light, was brought to life for me one time quite clearly.

I had gone out for sushi with one of my host fathers and a group of his friends, and he was so proud of me that he ordered a very expensive live anemone for me to eat. I did not want to eat this wiggling, wriggling creature, but to save face for him, I choked it down. The look on his face was two-fold – pride that I had done this, and relief that I had not shamed him in front of his cronies.

The fact that I didn’t want to eat it was secondary – I realized that I needed to eat it, in order for him to save face in front of his friends. So I did (to my great dismay!), and I realized that THIS, this saving face, was real, personal, and yes, an important aspect of Japanese culture. From then on, it was like a window had opened for me – a true glimpse into Japanese culture and mores. It was priceless, and a life-lesson that has stood me well since then.

So, if you aren’t in a Japanese neighborhood and downing live anemones, you might want to peruse Going Dutch in Beijing – it is much easier, and a great deal more fun.

McCrum’s book is an invaluable tool for world travelers – or for those who work with people from different cultures. A little intercultural sensitivity can go a long way toward smooth interactions. This intercultural sensitivity can come from learning the hard way, or learning from others (easily done, reading this book!). We were lucky enough at Wandering Educators to interview Mark about his book. Here’s some of what he had to say…

WE: Tell us a little bit about Going Dutch in Beijing.

MM: It’s a guide to the huge variety of manners and customs around the world. Here you will find why you should never make the thumbs-up sign in the Middle East, or offer to ‘go Dutch’ when out for a meal in China. The book is organized by themes, from first greetings to last rites, so there are lots of fun comparisons in different kinds of behavior.

For example, while it’s never done to be even a minute late for dinner in Germany, in Argentina it’s expected. Indeed, to turn up on time, might imply that you’re greedy. I’ve taken a reasonably lighthearted tone throughout the book, but it does also cover more serious issues, such as attitudes to women in the Middle East and gay rights (or the lack of them) around the world.

WE: What led you to write this book?

MM: I’ve traveled widely around the world during twenty years as a professional travel writer, writing books and articles for UK newspapers and magazines. I realized that though there are plenty of hefty guides to intercultural differences for business people, there was no simple little guide like this, organized by behavior rather than country. I’m fascinated by etiquette in any case, which may seem trivial but is often hugely important, even (in fact particularly) to those who wouldn’t on the face of it seem to care about manners at all.

Think about road rage, for example. Or queues, the barging of which can lead to people screaming at each other, if not to blows. But though essential here in the UK and in many other places, queuing is not universal, by any means.

To read the rest of this fascinating interview, please see Wandering Educators for our Book Review: Going Dutch In Beijing . For a look at Mark as an artist, see our feature in Artisans of the Month . I truly enjoyed both reading the book (several times), and talking with Mark. He’s very knowledgeable about intercultural sensitivity, and this made me so happy to share his work.

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