신 선 영 Sun Yung Shin

Jet lag!

I have finally returned to the land of lactose tolerance, after 3.5 weeks in the land of lactose intolerance (aka Korea).

I am uploading over 1 gig of photos to Flickr and I will make them available asap.

I have not yet organized my thoughts very thoroughly, but I will just say I was so deeply happy to be in Korea and grateful to have learned much about the Korean people's movement for peaceful reunification, justice for migrant workers, irregular workers, farmers, women, sexual minorities, and other repressed and marginalized groups. American activists should be studying the movements in Korea to learn from their unity, collectivism, and radicalism.

Anyonghaseo from Seoul!

Hello! I am in the amazing city of Seoul, in the beautiful country of Seoul. I will not be blogging much, if at all, but I will post photos when I return!

Map of the Korean Peninsula + Latinoization

I am getting very excited to go to Korea. I am going to try to blog there as much as possible, although I will be off the grid (most likely) during my time with KEEP.

Here's a map of my beautiful homeland (click on it to enlarge):

While we're at it, check out this docu-blog: http://journeyacrossouramerica.blogspot.com/           

       

                      A Journey Across Our America: Observations & Reflections on the Latinoization of the U.S.                  

      

      

       

From July-December 2007 I'll be biking across the U.S. This experience will be the basis for book that follows José Martí’s 1891 call in "Our America" for a distinctively American culture, one that embraces rather than denies, the dynamic and organic relationship between place, language, and experience that shapes the American continent. In the blog I'll document the exchanges I have with people about the Latinoization of the U.S. as well as my own life experiences and thoughts.

      

   

 

Monsoon Season in Korea

CLIMATE AND WEATHER

Covering about 70% of the Earth's surface, the oceans are a fundamental component of the climatic and seasonal variations in the weather.  In East Asia, interactions between the rapidly mixing atmosphere and the slowly changing oceans are largely responsible for the monsoon season, particularly as they affect Korea, China and Japan.  In order to better understand these patterns and to better prepare for their outcome, joint collaborative projects among these countries' top meteorologists have been launched.

In its geographical features, Korea is a transitional zone between the continental landmass of northeastern Asia and the island arc rimming the western Pacific Ocean.  The western coast, which is open to continental Asia, is vulnerable to the influence of the winter monsoon.  The eastern coast, on the other hand, is sheltered from the winter monsoon by the T'aebaeksan range, the backbone mountain of the Korean Peninsula.  Although Korea has general characteristics of a temperate monsoonal climate, there are geographic diversities, particularly during the cold winter season.

The climate of Korea is characterized by four distinct seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter.  The contrast between winter and summer is striking.  Winter is bitterly cold and is influenced primarily by the Siberian air mass.  Summer is hot and humid due to the maritime pacific high.  The transitional seasons, spring and autumn are sunny and generally dry.  Temperatures of all season are somewhat lower than those at the corresponding latitudes in other continents, such as North America or Western Europe.  The temperatures in Seoul, which is in the latitude of Richmond, VA, are closer to those in New York which is located 500 kilometers (300 miles) further north from the latitude of Seoul.  The variation of annual mean temperature ranges from 10 degrees C to 16 degrees C except for the mountainous areas.  August is the hottest month with with the mean temperature ranging from 20 degrees C to 26 degrees C.  January is the coldest month with the mean temperature ranging from -5 degrees C to 5 degrees C.  Annual precipitation is about 1,500 mm in the central region.  More than a half of the total rainfall amount is concentrated in summer, while precipitation of winter is less than 10% of the total precipitation.

The prevailing winds are southeasterly in summer, and northwesterly in winter.  The winds are stronger in winter, from December to February, than those of any other season.  The land-sea breeze becomes dominant with weakened monsoon wind in the transitional months, September and October.

The relative humidity is the highest in July with 80-90% nationwide, and is the lowest in January and April with 30-50%.  It has a moderate value of about 70% in September and October.  The monsoon front approaches the Korean Peninsula from the south in late June, migrating gradually to the north.  Significant rainfall occurs when a stationary front lies over the Korean Peninsula.

The rainy season over Korea, the so-called changma season, continues for a month from late June until late July.  A short period of rainfall comes in early September when the monsoon front retreats back from the north.  This rain occurs over a period of 30-40 days in June through July at all points of South Korea, with only some lag in time at different stations, and accounts for more than 50% of annual precipitation at most stations.

Annually, about 28 typhoons occur in the western Pacific.  Generally speaking, only two or three among them approach the Korean Peninsula from June through September.

Precipitation distribution on the Korean Peninsula is mainly affected by orography.  The southern coastal and its adjacent mountain regions have the largest amount of annual precipitation which is over 1,500 mm (60 inches).  The sheltered upper Amnokkang (Yalu) river basin in the northern region, on the other hand, experiences less than 600 mm (24 inches).  Since most of the precipitation is concentrated in the crop growing areas in the south, the water supply for agriculture is normally well met.  Even though the annual mean precipitation is more than 1,200 mm (48 inches), however, Korea often experiences drought due to the large fluctuation and variation of precipitation, making the management of water resources difficult.

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Information provided by the Korean Embassy

I Love America

Kim and I are back from the National Women's Studies Association conference in St. Charles, Illinois--nestled in "beautiful Fox River Valley." It's fun for me to be back anywhere near Chicago, even though St. Charles is really a small town with a suburban feel rather than an actual suburb.

Al Piemonte, White Hen, and other establishments that were part of the retail landscape of my childhood create a soothing environment for me, although almost all aspects of suburban sprawl frustrate and repel me.

I still love road trips and I love America--not to be confused with the US government.

We had a lot of great little Americana experiences...I'll include a few photos. We also got to view the long-awaited Grace Lee Project...which was smart, funny, and really excellent. Some highlights include a long segment on Grace Lee Boggs, one of my heroes who I also got to interview (in 2004) in her home, and a segment on a 40-something Korean adoptee Grace Lee, who is a remarkable woman--brave and insightful and inspiring. It's so great!

You can order the film for home viewing for $19.95--and it's more than worth it. It would also be a wonderful teaching tool, and it's available for institutional viewing as well.

http://www.gracelee.net/

Here are some photos from the trip, taken with my favorite robot friend these days, a Sony Cyber-Shot with a Carl Zeiss lens, 7.2 megapixels. It's dreamy and really small!

Here's Kim at the Super Target near the hotel (Pheasant Run Resort)...standing next to the LIQUOR room!

Here's Kim with "Snickers" at the Fireworks store in Wisconsin, where I bought sparklers for my children.

The Fireworks store, an amazing place...

Hurray for...the Midwest? Anyway, to summarize, the conference was fine, our panel went off smoothly and (I think) smartly, we met some nice women and made some good connections (two Korean scholars! Huzzah!), went to some good panels, bought a lot of books at the book fair, plugged Outsiders Within a bit, and laughed a lot. I loved driving the rental car, which was nothing extravagant, but so much nicer than my old beater. There was minimal exercise (zero sidewalks in suburbia) but the weather was beautiful and we are lucky to be able to do work that engages our minds and spirits. It feels like a luxury, yet is a basic human need. I will be re-reading the conference schedule and pondering the big picture of women's studies and feminism in the academy (academe?) and in the world for a while to come.

Last thought, on adoption--it's a very strange feeling to be the subject of research, and a not significant amount of academic attention, and yet know that many of the white scholars (except for adoptive parents) probably know very few actual Korean or transracial adoptees (perhaps especially those who are working on literary analysis). This is just an observation, not a conclusion from any formal data gathering. There isn't any research on this phenomenon yet, but I would be interested in some meta-analysis of this aspect of the scholarship.

Off to Chicago tomorrow

Tomorrow I'll be driving to St. Charles for the National Women's Studies Association annual conference. I'll be moderating a panel on Friday, and am very interested to see what women's studies scholars (at the conference) are thinking and talking about...

I'm involved due to my colleague Kim Park Nelson, who asked me to participate in this role. She is doing cutting-edge theoretical work and I'm very fortunate to be able to work with her in any capacity.

Here's the panel:

Asian Transnational Adoption: Gender, Race, Maternity, Loss, and Identity

This panel's participants come from departments of English,
Culture Studies, and American Studies, and use literary, ethnographic,
and historical analysis as well as theories of global reproductive
politics and the new field of adoption studies. Park Nelson applies to
transnational adoption Aihwa Ong's concept of the "family romance" as
"the collective and unconscious images of family order that underlie
public politics [that]inform the way people imagine the operations of
power between individuals and the state, between different ethnic
groups, and of course, between men and women." The literature Novy
analyzes demonstrates some of these images in practice but also
explores how adoptees negotiate their identity. Patton challenges
romantic notions of transnational adoption by exploring the life
experiences of adoptees and birth mothers, and emphasizing the power
relations regulating the immigration of children to the

US

through
adoption.

Traveling to North Korea aka DPRK

Dear All Please find in this mail an update regarding tours to DPRK (North Korea) for US citizens later this year. As you will be aware already DPRK does not usually issue visas for US citizens so this will be one of only a handful of opportunities you have had for going in the last few years (last few windows of opportunity were short periods in 1995, 2002, 2005, and earlier this year). US citizens are never admitted to the country unless there is a Mass Games performance going on and this fall there has been an event scheduled to run from August 1st until October 10th, we have been informed that it is highly likely that US citizens will be permitted entry at that time. However there are several important points to be aware of, this situation is very complicated and as is normal in DPRK not everything is quite clear, there are unknowns and confusing elements which we have done our best here to clear up, please see the information below and if you are interested in making a trip, or have already booked one with us, then please read very carefully as all information here is important and it is crucial that all is understood. If anything remains unclear then please get in touch with us as soon as possible and we’ll be more than happy to clarify and explain. Please understand that we have no control or influence over DPRK tourism policy, they are not motivated by factors that other industries are such as money, the desire for higher tourist numbers, etc so we just have to go by the information that we are given. Please do be aware though that we have been the only specialists in this field since 1993 and we do know what we’re doing! We aren’t in the business of promising things that we are not sure that we can deliver and have laid out all the information below entirely honestly without misrepresenting anything. I hope the information contained here is of interest and hope we can take you on the trip of a lifetime to North Korea soon, we guarantee you have never been anywhere like it, don’t miss out on the most unique holiday that it is possible to take! Please pass on this email and our website details to anyone you know who may be interested in this opportunity.   Best regards and hope to hear from you   Simon Cockerell (Koryo Group)     As      mentioned above the Mass Games is scheduled to run from August 1st to October 10th      so any tours that are in DPRK during that time will be able to attend the      performance, however there is a chance that the numbers of US tourists will be limited and as we expect      these tours to be popular we only have US tours listed up until Sept 8th      – 11th at this time as we are not fully confident that we      will be able to run tours for Americans after that date. If you cannot      make one of the earlier tours and are only available to travel in the      second half of September or in October then please let us know and we can      inform you as soon as we have a better idea of the likelihood of tours at      that time going ahead. We      are adding one more tour      during this time, it will be on our website at the beginning of next week      and will be for the dates Sept 1st      – 4th this is the last tour we will add until      we hear whether Americans will be accepted after Sept 8th. If      you are interested in this departure please let us know so we can hold a      space for you, tours are selling out now so book early to avoid      disappointment. Please see the very foot of this mail for our updated tour      list. In      all past opportunities for US citizens to visit DPRK, tours have been      limited to 3 night stays      only, and with flight in and out from China being the only transport      option; this time round this is highly likely to be the case again but      there is a chance that tours may be      extended by a night and that a train ride back to Beijing at      the end of the tour may be possible. As you will see from our webpage of      US tours available at http://www.koryogroup.com/tours/index-us.html      all tours are currently from Sat – Tues, if it becomes possible we      will offer extensions to Sat – Wed and hopefully exiting the country      by train on the Wednesday which would mean you arrive back in Beijing on      the Thursday morning. As a result of this we ask that you have maximum flexibility in the booking of      onward flights after the tour so that you can take advantage of the      opportunity for a longer stay if it becomes available. We will update as      soon as we know anything more about this but please be aware that it may      be as late as early August (when the first tour is underway) that we know      more. This is far from ideal of course but we don’t want to make any      claims that are not accurate and the truth is that it is speculative at      the moment. We have our fingers crossed and our friends and colleagues in Pyongyang are working      on obtaining permission for extended tours. When you sign up for one of      the tours please let us know if you are      interested in an extension should the possibility arise In      the case that longer tours are permitted then obviously the price will      rise somewhat. As you’ll see on our website the standard price for      US regular tours is EUR 1590, and for VIP tours EUR 2290. If the tour is      extended to 4 night stays with the train out then the price will rise to EUR 1840 for regular tours and EUR 2590 for VIP      tours. As always we offer discounts of 10% for students, 5% off      if 3-4 people sign up together, 10% if 5 or more people join as a group      and 10% off for people who have previously traveled with us. Group      sizes are limited to 16 people for VIP      groups and 25 people for regular tours, we expect all these      groups to be popular and indeed one tour is sold out already and others      are getting full so we encourage you to sign up as early as possible.      Independent tours (information can be found at http://www.koryogroup.com/tours/independent-us.html)      operate on the same principles as group trips and can be run over any of      the weekends available, please contact Hannah at Hannah@koryogroup.com if you are      interested in reserving one of these, we are taking bookings for these      tours now also – please note the same conditions apply as with the      group tours It      may be possible to obtain visas for Korean-Americans (on US passports) but      this isn’t yet certain, we would ask if this refers to you that you      apply as early as possible, ROK passport holders cannot be taken, neither      can journalists or professional photographers, we ask you not to apply for      tours if this covers you Why      travel with Koryo Tours? -      North Korea has the smallest tourism market of any country in the world,      less than 2000 westerners visit annually, and the total amount of      Americans that have been there as tourists is almost certainly lower than      750. People there are not used to dealing with Americans and have a very      bad view of the US, as a result they err on the side of caution at all      times (they rarely allow Americans in, the length of stay is restricted,      they charge a higher price for tours, etc) so please be aware that it is a      very different country. However, travel broadens the minds of both the      travelers and the people being visited, increasing US tourists serves to      expose the people of DPRK to Americans who don’t fit their      stereotypical view, this is of great benefit in the long run. It is very      worthwhile traveling there and we try to maximize contact with the local      population at all times and have had great success in doing so. As in all      cases this requires maximum flexibility while on the tour, not all things are possible at all times      and the laws must be obeyed      but the guides are as relaxed as they can be and will facilitate as much      as possible as long as the group has sustained their trust. It is a      destination like no other and we know more about it than anyone else. We      were the first to get American visitors into the Mausoleum of Kim Il Sung      which had previously been off limits to US tourists and we have taken      about 75% of all US      tourists who have ever been to North Korea. In addition to      offering the best value for money by far we also offer unquestioned      expertise and we personally accompany each US group. No other company can      offer this level of service or price, shop around and do the necessary due      diligence; we’re confident you’ll come back to us. We      don’t believe in hiding any of the costs of our tours so we charge all inclusive from Beijing to DPRK and back, the      only extra fees that you will need to be concerned about are listed below: Ø Mass Games ticket – these cost between 50 and 300 Euros (the 50 Euro ticket is perfectly good) and are bought on the spot in Pyongyang Ø Airport Tax – if departing Pyongyang by plane a tax of 10 Euros is applied, this is payable in DPRK. No tax payable if leaving by train and tax departing from Beijing is included in the price already Ø Visa fee – the DPRK visa costs 40 Euros for US citizens, we ask that this be paid to us in cash at the meeting we have for all tourists the day before the tour Ø Single room supplement – this is 40 Euros per person per night for US citizens (cost price, not marked up), we don’t force you to pay this just for traveling alone, if you would rather share then we will find someone in the group for you to share with, you only have to pay the fee if you specifically request a single room     So I hope this information has been useful to you. As I mentioned above, if anything is unclear please drop us an email or call and we’ll be happy to clarify to the best of our abilities. As soon as any more up to date information becomes available we will sent it right out to you. We really hope you can make it with us this year to see the world’s most unusual country and the most spectacular display on Earth; the Mass Games. It is not known when the next opportunity for US citizens to travel will be so grab this chance and travel with us, we guarantee a remarkable and unforgettable experience, I look forward to hearing from you!   With warmest regards from all of us at Koryo Tours.       2007 US citizens tour list     August 4 – 7 US Tour 7 Sat (plane) – Tues (plane) Flight in and out, 3 nights in DPRK Price: 1590 Euros + Mass Games ticket   August 11 – 14 US Tour 8 Sat (plane) – Tues (plane) Flight in and out, 3 nights in DPRK Price: 1590 Euros + Mass Games ticket   August 18 – 21 US Tour 9 (VIP TOUR)  Sat (plane) – Tues (plane) Flight in and out, 3 nights in DPRK Price: 2290 Euros + Mass Games ticket   August 18– 21 US Tour 10 Sat (plane) – Tues (plane) Flight in and out, 3 nights in DPRK Price: 1590 Euros + Mass Games ticket   August 25 – 28 US Tour 11 Sat (plane) – Tues (plane) Flight in and out, 3 nights in DPRK Price: 1590 Euros + Mass Games ticket September 1 - 4 US Tour 12.1 NEW TOUR Sat (plane) – Tues (plane) Flight in and out, 3 nights in DPRK Price: 1590 Euros + Mass Games ticket NEW TOUR September 1 - 4 US Tour 12 (VIP TOUR) Sat (plane) – Tues (plane) Flight in and out, 3 nights in DPRK Price: 2290 Euros + Mass Games ticket September 8– 11 US Tour 13 (VIP TOUR) FULLY BOOKED Sat (plane) – Tues (plane) Flight in and out, 3 nights in DPRK Price: 2290 Euros + Mass Games ticket FULLY BOOKED   September 8 – 11 US Tour 14 FULLY BOOKED Sat (plane) – Tues (plane) Flight in and out, 3 nights in DPRK Price: 1590 Euros + Mass Games ticket FULLY BOOKED