UM student tells of world travels

A Big Mac-sized bundle of mud in a shoebox on the streets of Hong Kong wasn’t the most promising of souvenirs.
“I just wanted to buy it to see what it was,” said Mandela van Eeden, a senior in marketing at UM.
Van Eeden’s curiosity was well rewarded. Encased in the mud was a silver bracelet from the 9th century—one she still wears—and the first step in an unlikely series of travels. Seeking the piece’s origins would lead van Eeden to centipede-teeming tunnels in the highlands of central Vietnam and now, three years later, to McGill Hall.
As part of the outdoor program’s adventure lecture series, van Eeden will be recounting tales from her travels to all interested this Thursday at 7 p.m. in McGill Hall. Her free presentation, “Crawling Under Asia,” will use slideshows and stories to detail her experiences traveling around — and underneath — Vietnam and South Korea. 

Covering two separate trips, the talk will tell of black markets, heritage theft and dynamite-lined tunnels beneath the demilitarized zone on the South Korean border, among other topics, van Eeden said.
One thing tends to lead to another on her travels, van Eeden said, evidenced by her pursuit of her ancient armband’s origins. “I don’t plan my trips,” she said, “I like to break the rules when I travel.”
The host of KBGA radio’s travel show “The Mandela Experience,” van Eeden is no stranger to public recounts of her far-flung travels. She estimates she’s given 10 or so talks over the last few years to audiences about a variety of experiences and subjects ranging from African wildlife to Australian instruments.
“Most of the time it has to do with aboriginal culture because they’re so interested in didgeridoo,” said van Eeden, who also is president of the didgeridoo club at the university.
Thursday’s talk will be van Eeden’s second at UM. Last year she spoke about a trip she made to northern Patagonia to work on a dinosaur excavation with her godfather.
Natalie Hiller, the special program coordinator at Campus Recreation, said she was glad to be able to sponsor van Eeden’s talk through the Outdoor Program. Hiller said the program brings a variety of events to campus each year for students and community members.
“This is the first time I know of that we’ve had a current student give a presentation,” she said.
william.freihofer@umontana.edu