Without Geography.....you'd be nowhere

A city that is divided by a river of the same name was the imperial capital of Vietnam for more than a century. Name this city, which is still an important cultural center.

That was the final question in this year's National Geographic Society's geography bee. The reason I thought about blogging about Geography is because I love everything about it. When I was a child, I spent a lot of time reading atlases and looking at airline route maps. One of my earliest memories is sitting and memorizing my dad's National Geographic Atlas so that I could learn all of the countries, capitals, highest points, lowest points, etc. When my dad realized I was memorizing everything, he confessed that I had been memorizing his atlas which was dated around 1964....."Son, there is no more Rhodesia and East Pakistan" (bonus points for those people who can comment on what the modern names of those countries are - and NO WIKIPEDIA help).

The history of maps is very interesting and I even suggest reading a true crime book suggested to me by my cousin Ron in Rochester -- "The Island of Lost Maps" by Harvey Miles. It is a book that parallels a true map theif that preyed on university libraries in North America and the role of maps throughout history. One of my favorite things about my current job is I get to join my love of maps with my love of airline route maps. I have always enjoyed connecting the dots in the back of airline schedules and now I get paid to put them in presentations.

So why is geography so important to everyones life? Here are some reasons I would like to suggest:

• Conversational skills. When you trying to talk to someone either from the U.S. or another country, being able to converse about their hometown or the places around them will help you in the long run. Karyn knows as soon as I get into a cab, I love to ask where the driver is from. People absolutely love talking about the city they are from (i.e. in cab with someone from Pakistan, they tell me the name of their city - "Oh, is that in the Indus River Valley, I have heard that is quite nice".) Then of course, I always talk about airlines in some way. Even by knowing where U.S. universities are can go a long way in conversation - "Hey, you went to Oklahoma, what is Stillwater like?"
  
• Directional skills. They can help when you are stuck in traffic but have a good sense of what is north, south, etc and which diversionary road may lead you to your final destination.
  
• Passing the time. Karyn often is surprised when we are flying together because I point out rivers, cities, airports, moutain ranges, etc. This makes any daytime flight more enjoyable. And who doesn't love the maps on the airplane TV Screens?
  
• Real World Understanding The best way to undersand some of the events in the world right now relates to looking at the geography of the situation. This could include India-Pakistan border issues, Chechenya, Sudan, etc. Sometimes, since the U.S. is so big and isolated in many ways, we can tend to bypass a need to expand our geographical knowledge.

So I ask all of you to become more geographically inclined.... It is a skill that will provide you with many benefits throughout your life.

Oh, and the answer to the above question is Hue. (pronounced H'whey) And you know I love a good side note: Hue is the place where the Spicy beef pho noodle soup is from (Bun Bo Hue)- which my brother in law Justin introduced me too.