Tuesday, October 1 was Teachers’ Day, a national holiday in Uzbekistan. It was nice to have a day off in the week. I took advantage of the perfect weather and went for a long bicycle ride followed by a walk with Obi. I walked along the Seoul MUN development along the canal. It is almost complete and an example of the incredible business growth in the city. When I was here five years ago, it was a deep ravine with grassy clay soils on both sides and kind of an abandoned part of the city. There was a trail about halfway down the cliff and remember running on it as it was too soft to ride a bike. It is a massive project with three floors of retail shops on both sides of the ravine, a hotel, several apartment complexes and bridges with walking trails. It is in a nice part of the city and would be a good place to have an apartment, although they have to work out the traffic flow with the access roads on both sides of the canal.
In the evening I attended the grand opening of the American University of Technology – Arizona State University campus. The Uzbek government is courting international investment and supporting this venture. Many universities are opening in Uzbekistan due to the demographic bubble here of many young people coming of age. Arizona State is the largest public university in the USA and they have partnered with 12 universities globally similar to what they are doing here. Students can attend AUT for 3 years and 1 year at ASU and earn a ASU degree. They also have dual programs with Masters degrees. They are starting this year with 50 students on scholarship and two programs (computer engineering, international business). They are adding a bunch of programs next year as the program grows.
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