India (4 of 7)
Neeta Singh represented India at the show. Neeta is a former student of mine who I think is back at SOU getting a master’s degree in a different subject.
Ashland Daily Photo - A picture a day from beautiful Ashland, Southern Oregon USA in the Rogue Valley
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Posts tagged Southern Oregon University
Saudi Arabia (3 of 7)
I could be wrong, but I think we have more international students from Saudi Arabia now than any other country. At the end of their performance, when they unfurled Saudi and US flags side by side, the noise from the crowd was absolutely deafening.
Mexico (2 of 7)
The subplot of the show was Carmen San Diego. The audience, through the MCs, chased her around the world while enjoying performances along the way. Mexico was the first stop.
We were about 10 or 12 rows from the stage. The lighting for these kinds of performances is never good for photography. The lighting is low, artificial, and not flash based. Also, my camera doesn’t have much of a zoom lens so I wasn’t expecting great results. I tried lots of different camera settings on my Panasonic DMC-LX3 as an experiment. I used IA (automatic adjustment by the camera’s software), night portrait, night scenery, party, candle light, and high sensitivity modes. The only mode that turned out presentable images was IA.
SOU’s International Show Week (1 of 7)
Every year the International Students Association at Southern Oregon University in Ashland puts on a show. The performances are always top notch, the crowd is crazy loud, and people are turned away at the door because the demand for seats (all free) is so high. This was actually the first year I made it in since four years ago. The prior two years we didn’t get to the Music Recital Hall early enough to get one of the 440 seats. This year one of my students made sure we got in. (Thanks Ixel!)
For the next week I’ll show you some photos from the event.
After being welcomed to the show by about a dozen students in a dozen different languages, the first performance was a Native American drum circle, occasionally flanked by dozens of international students in their home country’s traditional dress.
Grizzly Peak from the SOU campus
I took today’s photograph from the Computing Services building on the Southern Oregon University campus early last month. This is my view as I walk to class (from Central Hall to Taylor Hall) most days.
SOU Plunkett Center
Southern Oregon University’s Plunkett Center sits on the corner of Mountain and Siskiyou. The building serves as the home of the foundation and alumni relations. A beautiful building in any season, my favorite is April when one of the two trees in front of it is always in bloom. The tree on the right of the building (center of this photograph) had yet to bloom when I took this picture in early April.
Ashland’s Sister City – Guanajuato, Mexico
Many cities have a sister city, or two, or more. Your town probably has one too. Chances are you don’t even know what other places form such a partnership with yours. For instance, I lived in San Jose, California for more than six years but I didn’t know San Jose had eight sister cities, let alone what those eight were.
That isn’t the case with Ashland. We have perhaps the best sister city relationship on the planet. It is with Guanajuato, Mexico near Leon. Not only would more than 9 out of 10 people in Ashland be able to identify Guanajuato as Ashland’s sister city, but a significant portion of the population has participated in some way with that relationship. For instance, my kids had people from Guanajuato visit their school classes this past week. I’ve even been to Guanajuato–not once but three times thanks to the Ashland-Guanajuato partnership.
This week we are celebrating the 40 years of ongoing and ever-growing partnerships between Ashland and Guanajuato. As part of the celebrations the town’s main street of Siskiyou Boulevard has been lined with American and Mexican flags.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day
Someone decided to dress up the rock art on the SOU campus.
Central SOU campus
I’m not sure what this grassy part of campus is called, if it even has a name. I took this picture from Central Hall (where I work). The building on the far left is Computing Services; to the right of it you can see a small piece of Taylor Hall; and in the distance is the Stevenson Union building–home of the SOU Bookstore. I’ll try to remember to take this same picture in Spring, Fall, and on a snowy day in Winter so you can get a feel for the seasons on campus.
SOU and Grizzly Peak
Any current or former SOU student will recognize this setting. A few feet forward and you are standing under the Southern Oregon University entry arch. Walk across the street (being careful not to get hit by a car), and you will have survived the trip to Mihama’s (Case Coffee, 7-Eleven, the Electric Beach, etc.). In the distance a freshly powdered Grizzly Peak overlooks the town.
I’m frequently asked if I own Case Coffee Co. (being that my last name is Case). The answer is “no.” It turns out there are several Cases in town. The owners aren’t closely related that I know of. They seem to do a great business though. The location has been a revolving door of businesses over the years, none of them doing much business until Case Coffee Co. took things over. Now the place always seems busy. I haven’t done business there since it turned into a coffee shop though. I can’t stand the stuff. Just the smell turns my stomach. Actually drinking coffee to me would be like drinking bad breath. No thanks.
I was kind of hoping that the old Island Juice (which wasn’t very good) at this location would turn into a Jamba Juice. Alas, we are still left without a single Jamba Juice in Southern Oregon.