Overseas Marylanders Association

Working in Japan

2026-02-03T14:15:48-05:00

After teaching here in the states for another university, my wife and I are thinking it'd be great to go back to Japan to teach business communication courses again at UMUC. Any suggestions on how to approach this?

Thanks,

Tom Wahl

Spotted While Traveling in Seoul

2026-01-10T16:03:50-05:00

Spotted while traveling in Seoul and it made me smile.

Make Thy Way Straight

2023-09-22T17:43:35-05:00

This is the true story based on original documents of Sergeant Johann Peter Samsel, my sixth generational grandfather, a German immigrant brought to Pennsylvania by his family in 1739. At the time of the American Revolution he became a member of the Pennsylvania Militia and was wounded and taken prisoner in 1777. After being imprisoned in Philadelphia he subsequently died. The text describes combat in which he participated and describes in detail the Battle of Matson's Ford. Details of the battle are based upon first hand accounts of the engagement that were recorded in the diaries of actual participants and official correspondence.
There are also chapters devoted to the Samsel family in Germany, their emigration from there to Philadelphia in 1739 and subsequent life in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. There are also chapters devoted to events that occurred after the death of Sergeant Samsel. The book is fully documented and contains an index. The text is also illustrated with color photographs and is printed on the highest quality paper. Available on Amazon in paperback and hardback.

Melanie Higgins Urgent Outreach

2023-05-22T10:31:31-05:00

Melanie worked in the European Division during the 1980s and 90s, teaching mainly in Germany. Like myself, she lived for more than a decade in Heidelberg, commuting to Frankfurt and other locations to bring education to the American community stationed overseas. I'm not totally sure, but at a minimum she taught psychology but probably other topics as well.

Melanie, like most of us, returned to her home town to continue her work in the mental health field, renewing old friendships and building new. Her extended family is nearby. (Ohio)

Melanie has encountered some rather serious health issues in the last several years. It occurred to me that there were friends and colleagues who might not be aware of her circumstances unless they get the information through the OMA.

So, if you knew Melanie, or you are in touch with others who knew her, I will be happy to provide an address for cards and letters. Knowing you are held in a community of care and support has such a positive impact on the outcomes of illness. You can reach out through GypsyScholars, or call me for information: 520-220-7979 (Arizona).

Let's get a huge smile back on her face!

Penelope Roberts

HQ Support/Computer Studies Faculty

Bill Kerr

2023-01-05T11:28:52-05:00

It is never an easy task to report on the declining health of a colleague or a close friend. The word needs to go out, though, about an exceptional individual from the European Division who has experienced one of those reversals in health. In the early autumn Bill Kerr stumbled and fell, whacked his head, and ultimately suffered a case of subdural hematoma. The resulting damage includes a shrinking of brain tissue, the destruction of nerve cells, and consequently a loss of brain power. The medical report holds that Bill was already suffering from the onset of dementia, a condition that I myself had not detected. Bill’s doctors say the hematoma has made the early dementia much worse.

After a stint at a local hospital, and then an additional month at a rehabilitation center, Bill has been transferred to the CURATA Seniorenstift Dr. Drexler, Wiesbaden GmbH

Parkstraße 8–10, 65189 Wiesbaden

Einrichtungsleitung: Nicole Mazza

Telefon: +49 611 9033 0

Telefax: +49 611 9033 100

E-Mail: wiesbaden@curata.de

Routenplaner: Google-Maps

https://www.curata.de/pflegeeinrichtung/seniorenstift-dr-drexler/

As our colleague Linda Schmitt reports, “Bill might get better in about three months but will never be able to live alone again. He remembers things from his childhood but not from recent times.“

Bill’s German doctor, Dr. Artemis, says that he can initially speak normally with Bill (in English) but that Bill then loses the thread and imagines himself in another place and talking to a different individual.

Despite the setback Bill has endured, he still enjoys chatting with visitors. His favorite armchair from his apartment has been shuttled into his new CURATA lodging, and from that seat Bill likes to converse with one or two visitors. His good friends Anni Cecil, Linda and Stefan Schmitt, Jane Treandley, and Dallmann Ross have been to see him, and you can visit him too by contacting CURATA for visiting times and regulations.

During my many Marylanding years I frequently visited or phoned Bill in order to soak up fresh doses of his dry wit along with his observations on politics, current affairs, and even his take on Im Bosseldorn office gossip. A former colleague, Deborah Griggs, once noted that Bill always had a bit of the devil in him when he presented his perspective on the world. I think his many friends reading this piece will know exactly what Deborah was talking about. I always found speaking with Bill left me with a sense of delight and a desire for more of his conversation. I know Bill has had a similar impact on many other members of our Overseas Marylanders organization.

I hope those who can reach Bill’s care home in Wiesbaden will drop in for a chat with Bill.

Bruce Hull

Doris the Loris

2022-09-22T03:55:11-05:00

This is a different kind of book than I normally write. It is a children's adventure book for 7-11 year olds, about a slow loris who traverses the jungles of Angkor in Cambodia in search of a mysterious, alleged snowman. With her friend, Pik the weasel, stowed away in her knitted hat, she finds her way towards the Tonle Sap, dodging Hunaman snakes dropping from trees, throwing seaweed in the eyes of curious alligators, hitching a ride in the mouth of a pelican, tricking a rhyme making monkey who blocks her path, and, finally, reaching her destination - only to find a surprise.

Here is a link:

https://www.amazon.com/Doris-Loris-Thomas-K-Murphy/dp/B0CWLFM7W1/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3IQEE41CERZYO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8inkfP5o-OS1TkRYprILy_aqbSVqtVq3rG0IX4KOH2bGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.bnC6g9USjbJA1XNHYZfBXOlcx8RZYGVokWhGsZFa5Ho&dib_tag=se&keywords=doris+the+loris+and+murphy&qid=1709380126&s=books&sprefix=doris+the+loris+and+murphy%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C143&sr=1-1

West 1/8 Mile Line Road

2022-06-09T14:51:07-05:00

The following review appeared in The US Review of Books:
West 1/8 Mile Line Road
by Patrick R. O'Donnell
Prentiss Publications
Book review by Jordana Landsman

This rhythmic collection of rhyming poetry evokes moods and memories from a post-World War II middle America of veterans, nature, and simple pleasures. These lyrical, syllable-rich poems beg to be read aloud, where the beats and rests move the words from static groupings on the page to near-musical verses. The poetic format holds up through both cheer and mourning, an elastic style that lends itself as much to the whimsy of remembering childhood moments as to the tragedy of reflecting upon loss and injustice. In the former, the poems have an upbeat singsong quality. In the latter, they function as dirge or elegy.

While the romanticism of looking back often suggests nostalgia for happier, simpler times, this collection is hardly a nod to innocence. On the contrary, the memories here are thick with death and loss, from mourning veterans and other deceased to reflecting on loves and opportunities lost. The blended perspective in many of the poems offers an intriguing approach to loss that documents not just the fact of death but also the curious experience for witnesses seeking to act and react in line with society's conventions, even when life and feelings are anything but conventional.

Other themes recur through amalgams of eccentric characters and across rites of passage like learning to hunt, attending church, and facing fear at the dentist. Nature poems mark the landscape, too, with local views and accessible, familiar objects, as in the selections "Nightsky" and "Apple Tree." Still, the dominant takeaway is of loss and what-ifs, as though one is in the latter phases of a well-lived life when much of the suspense is long gone, and the storyline is known. The possibilities to consider are those of the past, of what might have been, and of which roads diverged and might have led elsewhere.

Available at Amazon in paperback or Kindle.

Just watch me!! Critical reflections on growing up in Encinitas, California and a career in military education

2021-12-28T20:41:38-05:00

During Covid Quarantine in 2020,I finished my memoirs.

GO NOW!

2021-07-18T04:31:36-05:00

Faraway places with strange sounding names

Greetings fellow UMUC veterans!

From reading our OMA memoirs, it's clear that we all have wonderful stories to tell. If you've enjoyed reading my memoirs, you'll love the book.I've just published about the wild and crazy adventures that happened before, during and after my UMUC deployments. The book contains about 30 stories in all -- some hilarious, some nail-biting -- and more than 100 color photos.

The book is titled GO NOW! It's available as an eBook on Amazon.com -- free for Kindle Unlimited readers. It'll also be ready as a paperback within a week. Follow the link below to order your copy:

https://www.amazon.com/Go-Now-Adventures-advice-entirely-ebook/dp/B099J5P5Y9

I guarantee you'll enjoy this book. Please email me any questions or comments.

Seoul and Chemulpo Railroad

2021-07-01T17:58:45-05:00

Published on March 17, 2021. Reviewed by author Robert Neff in the Korea Times: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2021/06/721_310362.html

An article based on material in the book was also published in the Korea Times:https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2021/06/721_311134.html

The book is available at Amazon.com - 340 pages illustrated with around 200 photographs.

The book is focused on the construction of the Seoul & Chemulpo Railroad (1897-1900) and its relation to the murder of Queen Min and its place in the history of Korean-American relations. Biographical material of people from the era is also included.

The Mark Twain Center for Transatlantic Relations

2021-06-05T01:08:46-05:00

The Mark Twain Center for Transatlantic Relations

https://www.heidelberg.de/MTC/home.html

One of the most exciting urban development projects in Heidelberg is the conversion of formerly US properties into uses for local citizens and businesses. The US Mark Twain Village housing area is being reconstructed into a new residential/commercial neighborhood, retaining the name to highlight the neighborhood's importance in the postwar period. The project is huge -- both in physical size and outreach. It is a critical step for the history of Heidelberg, as well as for the history, both public and personal, of the post-WWII American military and civilian presence in Europe.

The city planners’ goal is to develop this once alienating complex (whether occupied by the Nazis or the Americans) into a welcoming cultural, residential, commercial and recreational center for Heidelberg. The Mark Twain Center is a pivotal part of that plan.

Located in the former Keyes building that first housed the Nazi officers’ mess and later, greatly enlarged, became the U.S. military command center, “The Mark Twain Center for Transatlantic Relations” is already hosting exhibits and guided tours. In the future, it plans to host a variety of local, regional and international events.

OMA’s Ron Rasch has already been collaborating from the Army’s standpoint with the Center and Larry Arnoldy has been representing OMA as a liaison. Dr. Uwe Wenzel is very open to UMGC’s involvement in the center and of course there are already plans afoot to supply the MTC with materials, artifacts, photos and contacts to help tell the story that was a part of so many of our lives. You’ll be hearing a lot about this in the future.

By dint of some level of higher intervention, UMGC’s new president Dr. Gregory Fowler’s dissertation “Mark Twain, A Muse for Generation X” fits right into the discussion.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

2020-12-06T13:55:32-05:00

What do you want to discuss or comment on regarding the recent OMA Zoom Gathering?

FEEDBACK

2020-12-06T13:50:57-05:00

This was the first OMA virtual gathering. Around 85 OMA members participated. Please provide feedback to help make the next virtual gathering better.

A Global Nomad with a Mission Asia part 1

2020-05-25T21:32:38-05:00

Attached and below is part 1 of my story about the Asian Division. Pictures and more to come. Best, Lucia

A Global Nomad with a Mission – Asia part 1.

By Lucia Worthington –requests for permission for additional publications should be directed to the author at: success@lworthington.com

Teaching by candle light to students wearing full battle gear including gas masks during the First Gulf War blackouts on Osan Airbase set the stage for my UMUC overseas career. Screaming fighter jet engines on their daily practice flights invigorated me on afternoon runs. MWR recreational outings included challenges such as grasping bamboo branches while struggling to the top of Mt Songri. These were the beginnings of my rich kaleidoscope of memories as a professor for UMUC. In time I would teach on over 25 U.S. military bases while moving from place to place around the world.

Free to be me: The time was right for me to become a traveling professor with the University of Maryland University College in 1990. My daughters were grown and independent. I was single again, healthy, and ready to indulge my curiosity for places yet unknown.

A year after my first application to UMUC I was invited to interview at their Maryland headquarters in the Adelphi - Marriot compound in April, 1990. Grits for breakfast and fresh biscuits for lunch set the stage for a new cultural experience that would expand over many years. After a day of interviews with many kind people I got the offer to teach in their Asian division. It was a great fit. My adventure was to start in the fall.

By August my U.S. life and obligations were put on hold. I left with two suitcases. A small 40 pound crate of books was shipped to Asia courtesy of the U.S. military. My mission to expand knowledge and disseminate it began. Our newbie faculty group’s first orientation gathered in Oakland, California. Faculty came from many places around the U.S. to start our trip to Asia.

UMUC administrators and staff knew how to organize efficiently and with pizzas. They welcomed us warmly setting the stage for humanely integrating the new – a wonderful, much appreciated trait of the global culture of UMUC at the time. My colleagues varied in age, background and discipline. We had some Fulbright scholars, a married couple, a few adventure seekers on sabbatical, and people like me looking for meaningful teaching experiences in new places. Camaraderie expanded fast and easy with good food, reams of sheets of information and our shared excitement for what lay ahead. It was a comfort zone that stayed with me for many years while at UMUC.

Leaving our home country, we landed briefly in Alaska which was in the midnight sun. After a sleepy Trans-Pacific flight we emerged in Tokyo to be greeted by humidity and incremental rains. I soon learned that the little umbrella in my room was practical and necessary. It became part of my outside wardrobe to keep dry from the unpredictable daily rain. The camera that I wore as an attachment around my neck now fogged up as soon as I stepped outside. It was my introduction to tepid weather and sticky clothes that became the norm all summer long.

Our orientation at Yokota Airbase in Tokyo introduced us to the military side of our teaching roles, the university culture, the academic responsibilities and how to enjoy and adjust to our multi-cultural environment. Staff and administrators understood about adaptation and flexibility and how to minimize stressful transitions. They explained with bits of good humor options about – housing, transportation, supplies, etc. The agenda was exhaustingly full. A great buffer to fatigue was the fun stuff tucked into each day made pleasant with the upbeat attitudes of all who attended.

The First Gulf War started during our orientation in Japan. Some faculty old timers had somber looks – they heard it in the engines of planes leaving. Soon there would be no C 141s as cargo planes left the airbase for the Middle East. They would return only when the war was over the following February. We learned to adapt to war conditions in many ways during that time. Months later at another meeting at Yokota AB, Julian Jones our Asian division director announced the war “must be over”. His fine-tuned ears to plane engines heard the distinct engine noise of a cargo aircraft approach and land. I was impressed. He listened and then announced to us all “the war must be over, the planes are coming back”. Wow! He was correct.

I wanted to understand more about military operations and soon would. The U.S. Pacific Theater was vast – I had no idea of these facts before that time. UMUC had most of the education contracts at the military bases that included: many parts of Japan – estimated 25,000 U.S. military personnel, South Korea, with 30,000 U.S. military personnel. Many more were scattered in places in Guam, Australia, South Sea Islands and the Philippines which the U.S vacated soon after I arrived. It is estimated over half a million personnel including contractors and foreign nationals in the Pacific Theater were on the U.S. military payroll in the 1990s. My undergraduate degree in history did not cover our military and foreign policy in such detail. My curiosity was in high gear as I learned much.

I had grown up in Occupied Germany after the war and had a fondness for the U.S. military because of the kindness I experienced from them as a child. It was now a high privilege to teach U.S. military students in Asia and contribute to them in appreciation for their generosity of food given to me as a child – the oranges and peanut butter I remember to this day. It was good to give back in my new role as an educator.

One of the highlights of the Tokyo orientation was the grand welcome celebration at the Black Tea House - a converted grist mill outside of Tokyo. It was an amazing place and an unforgettable evening of a smorgasbord of Japanese delicacies and boisterous social fun. We were greeted by a group of beautiful young kimonoed Japanese women – bowing in unison - who gave us slippers to wear as we donned our shoes to enter. The happy “sake atmosphere” was laced with integrating culture stories of Asia and UMUC. One of the foods presented with great ceremony were tiny bite size crabs in their shell. Julian said they tasted crunchy like popcorn and encouraged us to try them. At the end of the evening, he asked who had eaten them whole. Some of us, including me, raised our hands. Julian smiled and told us that those who tried eating them whole had the adventurous spirt to meet the challenges of teaching in the Asian Division. I passed the test. It was true for me.

I was in my element observing the newness of the place every day. The Japanese food kiosk on base made delicious fresh lunches with crunchy vegetables and savory meats. Outside – in front of the base, demonstrations commemorating the bombing of Nagasaki 45 years earlier were in progress. Local citizens distributed pamphlets written in English and Japanese about the bombings 45 years earlier. The young demonstrators were polite but determined and persistent in confronting the many Americans who walked outside of the airbase. This was one of many anti-American demonstrations I would see while working on U.S. military bases around the world. A “Ring around Yokota” demonstration took place in the spring of 1991 when over 5,000 Japanese–mostly women and children demonstrators formed a human ring around Yokota Airbase chanting for Americans to leave Japan.

Traffic jams were common in Tokyo. Long lines of trucks barely moved for hours outside our hotel. The trucks were smaller than the ones I was used to along the I5 corridor on the U.S. west coast. Idle traffic generated impromptu “tire toilets” as drivers would relieve themselves against the tires – with their backs modestly to the public - while waiting for traffic to move again. In those days public urination was common in Korea too as I would learn weeks later. There were many surprises with much to learn even before I started my main purpose – to teach.

My first assignment was South Korea. A small group lead by our Korea area director Larry Hepinstall left Japan to land at Osan Airbase a few days later. South Korea was in high military alert when we arrived.

It was a queasy introduction to Korea. Sitting on the lawn while waiting for our bus that would take us to Seoul for our Korean orientation, the lawn came alive with crawling caterpillars. Lesson # 1. Caterpillars thrive in humidity. They were everywhere, crawling on buildings making walls appear to have moving black spots. I learned to stay off the grass and use an umbrella like the Korean women when walking under trees because caterpillars dropped freely and in great quantities from trees.

Arriving at the Eighth Army headquarters that housed our UMUC offices we saw the compound surrounded by members of the Korean military in battle gear. A scary sight. The extra security was anticipating a potential attack by North Korea. To me, it was a visible confirmation of the symbiotic relationship between U.S. forces and South Korea forces. I got used to it, learning much in the next year about Cold War tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

End of part one Asia Division. Next: Teaching in Korea and integrating into multiple cultures.

Lucia Worthington

Philurius College Blues - Debut Novel

2020-03-30T11:03:22-05:00

Philurius College Blues

Dr. Vic Sawyer, the newly appointed director of Academic Affairs for the Philurius College Programs for the Military in Europe, encounters a nemesis of the highest order in the persona of his dean, retired Lieutenant Colonel Gio Malfatto. Aided by his alluring and ambitious Assistant Dean Doris Kink, Malfatto intends to make Vic’s life miserable. Unfortunately for these top administrators, Vic joins the fray with abandon, and the normally staid college is embroiled in the ensuing battle. This fosters a clash of cultures between an American academic subculture and a US military environment in Germany and throws in some true love and indiscriminate erotic intrigue to boot. Especially for those whose lives have touched this educational system, both military students and faculty, this satirical tale will bring both laughter and some head shaking, and perhaps a tear or two. Anyone who has enjoyed the college satires of Richard Russo, David Lodge, Kingsley Amis and Jane Smiley, will find in Philurius College Blues a kindred spirit but with a slightly different twist.

Available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Hugendubel, etc.

New Podcast on Trans-Atlanticist!

2018-10-25T07:33:49-05:00

Here is a recent podcast that I did with Andy Sola, supporting my new book on the late communist period in Czechoslovakia. Enjoy!

Tom Murphy

https://www.amerikazentrum.de/index.php/podcast

RE: July 11-29 2016 - Teach English in China! (One Spot Still Open!)

2018-05-16T01:47:00-05:00

All I remember is that she taught biology and was married to an officer. I think they were stationed in Korea.

RE: July 11-29 2016 - Teach English in China! (One Spot Still Open!)

2018-05-15T08:02:47-05:00

Thanks, Renee, for filling in one more blank in the puzzle of who taught during the early days of the program. When I created my list the only thing I had to go on were the summaries written by visiting faculty members describing their experiences. Not every instructor wrote a summary, or if they did, their summaries were lost to posterity, leaving many gaps in my list. Thanks for filling in one. And by the way, the first name of the fourth person who taught with you was Ann. (No last name found.)

RE: July 11-29 2016 - Teach English in China!

2018-05-15T01:41:47-05:00

Hi Josh, I was interested in finding out more about the Teaching in China summer stint you posted in Jan 2018, so looked up this previous post of yours. Lo and behold, it’s the old Asian Division program that I participated in during the summer of 1992 with Gary Laugel and Debra Rosenthal. I saw your timeline of the program and see them listed but not my full name, so for the record, it’s Renee Kilmer, and I was teaching in Japan at the time (Misawa). I can’t recall the name of our fourth member, never saw her after that, but had worked with both Gary and Debra before. So now you can fill in the blank with one more name on the roster of previous teachers in the program. It was such a great trip.

NEW RUSSIAN / SIBERIAN COOKBOOK

2018-04-30T19:29:41-05:00

Tom Hudgins and I are pleased to announce the publication of our new book, T-BONE WHACKS AND CAVIAR SNACKS: COOKING WITH TWO TEXANS IN SIBERIA AND THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST, the first cookbook in the US to focus on the foods of the Asian side of Russia. Part narrative and part food history, with 140 recipes and 75 photos taken on location, the book features many stories and photos from our time with UMUC's Russia Program in Vladivostok and Irkutsk. Other chapters cover our culinary adventures on expedition ships to the Russian Far East and along thousands of miles of the Trans-Siberian Railroad route. If you'll contact me directly by email (sharon@sharonhudgins.com), I'll send you the publisher's flyer telling more about the book, including a coupon for a 30% discount off the price. (University of North Texas Press, 420 pages, 75 photos, index, and bibliography)