Having instructed for about 12 years and taken hundreds of Bellevue College students abroad, Andrew Johnson is ready to go on yet another overseas adventure with his students. During the past years, Johnson has taken students to locations such as England, Ireland, France, Germany, Poland, Czech, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Spain, Morocco, and China. This year, he will be taking 14 BC students to Turkey and Greece for his Business 280 class: Advanced Studies in International Business.
Leaving on May 5 and returning on May 16, the students will compare U.S. businesses to their international counterparts. Already, students have composed their proposals regarding how they intend to conduct their research. Some of the businesses Johnson’s students plan to investigate include Coca Cola, candy and sustainable energy. They will go into stores to talk to vendors, learn government policies and the class will end with a research paper and presentation at the end of the trip.
The initial destination is Istanbul, Turkey’s most populated city as well as the only city in the world that rests on two different continents. Next, the class will have the opportunity to go sightseeing and visit the ancient Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and Grand Bazaar. There are several optional excursions students may opt in on during the trip, such as the Bosphorus Cruise and a visit to Cape Sounion.
On day four, the group will go sightseeing in the first capital of the Ottoman Empire, known as Bursa, visiting the Grand Mosque, Covered Bazaar, Green Mosque, Mausoleum and the Turkish baths. Their night will end with visiting Canakkale, a sea town.
Day five will be a visit to the well-known Troy, the city where the Trojan War took place in the 12th century B.C. and the wooden horse holding the Greeks made its way into the walls of the Trojans.
On the sixth day, students will explore Pergamon and will see the Acropolis, one of the best ancient Greek libraries. The students will sleep in the town of Kusadasi that night.
Discovering one of the Mediterranean region’s best-preserved classical city, Ephesus, Johnson’s class will look at the Temple of Hadrian, Library of Celsus, the Archaeological Museum and the House of the Virgin Mary on the sixth day.
If traveling on land isn’t fun enough, the BC students will enjoy a two-day cruise from Kusadasi, Turkey to Athens, Greece. They will travel to Patmos, Crete, and Santorini. Once in Athens, the class will see the Parthenon, Temple of Athena Nike and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. On the eleventh night, the group will enjoy Moussaka dinner.
While this class is a two hundred level business class, it is also a way for students to expand their geographical and cultural understanding.
On a final note, Johnson shared his wishes to show students that there’s a wonderful and vibrant world outside of Seattle.