"You have the tenacity of a Jamaican"

Andrew saw me carrying my corn chip bag full of pee on the bus, took one look at it, and then me, and then said, "you did not!" He's from Kingston, Jamaica, and funny enough, I found a museum pic of Port Royal, the Jamaican city devastated by a huge 1692 earthquake, at the maritime museum in Mokpo. Here he is working on his cup at the celadon museum in Gangjin, one of the famous kiln areas in Korea.

This was my cup from the celadon museum. But I likely will never see it again since I'm leaving next week and it won't get shipped to me in NY (plus I incised my Korean name, which almost no one knows, in Chinese characters on the bottom, lightly, even though we were told NOT to use the bottom of the cup). It was fun, regardless, and a nice break from being on the bus, stuffing our faces w/amazing food, and going from place to place on about 3.5 hours of sleep.

The day before, we had visited a center in Namwon for traditional music and pansori (Korean "opera" - a vocal form with percussion accompaniment that is a UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity). The grounds were gorgeous, even though they stank of manure since they were smack in the middle of farmland. These containers for fermenting were on the path towards the museum and indoor concert area.

Our last stop yesterday was at the maritime museum in Mokpo, a port city. It was fascinating to learn about all these artifacts that had been found in sea excavations - tons of boats sank along the western coast of Korea b/c the current is super strong and the shore is rocky. There was lots of ceramic wares found since they were transported from the famous southern kiln sites north to Seoul.

After all the difficult travel and peeing on the bus drama, we arrived in Seoul at about 8:30 and I then had to trek to my weaving teacher's place to meet him, his wife, my hanji teacher, and his wife and children for our final party - we went out to dinner at a local place and then I took my lacquered and dyed pieces and caught a cab home.

Today I made two trips to say goodbye to my dyeing teacher and his family, bought calligraphy supplies (which are crazy heavy b/c of the inkstone for grinding ink), sat for a while in the bird cafe to recover, took a tiny nap at my dyeing teacher's studio, met the woman from a publishing house and her colleagues who are working on creating souvenirs for tourists using traditional Korean craft forms, saw an exhibit of some intangible property holders, and saw half of my cousins that live in Seoul and their families for a yummy Chinese dinner. I've cleaned up some of the mess on my desk and did laundry. Hopefully I will get enough sleep to tackle the four major appts slated for tomorrow.

Even fun is nonstop

That was a whirlwind trip, and I have so many crazy stories. But I am SO TIRED that I can't fully recap, esp now that I have SO few days left and they are completely and utterly packed. No way around it. It was nice to get away, but it was too much sitting on the bus. I loved getting to spend so much time w/Esther, though (isn't she the cutest??), and our adventures started from the moment we left for the trip to the very end.

The best story is from today's 4-hour ride home from the southwest: I peed into an empty bag of corn chips on the bus. I was driven to the heights of desperation and not interested in a bladder infection, so when the bus kept passing rest stops, and "we'll be there in 20 minutes" turned out to be empty promises, I was super sad I didn't have my chamber pot but made the best of whatever I could find around me.

The rest comes after I get some sleep.

Trying to be conscientious

My contribution to the Portable Library Project will be on display in Vancouver from July 4 - 31 at the Regional Assembly of Text.

More more more

[Patterns on the Sejong Center for Performing Arts.] I realize that there are so many things that I am taking in and trying to keep track of that all I do is forget the important things and spit back the silly, cranky, and trivial things. This is what happens when I don't have enough time in between things to properly process. No wonder this year in Korea will take 20 years to process, since I've crammed so much in, with no down time. I was riding the bus for the fifth time today, thinking about how I am looking forward to not riding a bus for weeks, not being in traffic, not being blasted by construction noise and debris, not being in the urban hustle. Ben made a joke today about me not being 29 anymore, but it's not even that: I've never been built for super intense urban life. I can hack it, but it takes a serious toll.

This was the spoon cover from last night's dinner, which I loved, b/c it has those little patterns that I had just been looking at in the Korean art history book. One of the women I take calligraphy just had her book published and we saw it today - it's about Korean design. Very exciting, esp since I've been meeting all these people interested in it but not aware of the research that has already been done on it. The general misconception is that you have to leave Korea and study abroad to learn about Korean design history.

I practiced lots of circles today in calligraphy class, which was hard but I like doing this kind of thing much better than practicing characters. Maybe it's b/c I'm paying so much attention to patterns lately. In general, I've been leaning more and more towards visual art that eschews text (very unlike me). This started two weeks before I left for Korea last year, so I wonder how it will end up showing up in my work. It was good to talk to Phoebe yesterday about how for her, her research and her artwork are two very different activities. I am really itching to get back to the studio side of things. It's kind of heartbreaking to have all these tiny things half started on my desk, knowing I can't really delve into anything for a little while. But I have to at least get a few pieces done before I leave to deliver for the show I'll be in at the end of the month.

I rushed from calligraphy class to Gallery Jinsun for Ohm Jung Ho's exhibit, called The Joys and Sorrows of Life. He's been working on really tiny pieces and is quite content to work small lately. He had a buffet catered at the cafe next door, and it was lovely to sit outside and do my final goodbyes to Professor Yim, Jung Ho, Young Jin, and Hyejin. I only stayed for a tiny bit b/c I was itching to get home and take care of loose ends before Kelsey and I go to exercise.

[They make the loveliest cakes in Korea.] I have been trying to keep next week, the three days I have of it, clear for myself, but it's already being invaded. There's no way around it! Goals: finish last weaving piece by Friday night, finish art pieces for show by the end of the weekend, deliver an art piece next week, meet w/Professor Kim next week, meet Beau next week and pick up more hanji, buy calligraphy supplies on Saturday, do a quick "drive-by" goodbye to my dyeing teacher and his family, shop for final practical things w/Julie at the market, shop for unpractical things at the dept store...uhoh. Now I'm worried. Writing out that list makes me realize it's TOO MUCH! Since I also want to visit the bathhouse, hairdresser, massage therapist, and national museum! Oh, and pack/ship. AND have a farewell dinner.

I guess I just need to chip away at it and try to enjoy myself for the next two days: I'll be out of town visiting southwestern areas. Let's see how much I can get done tonight!

Overload or gluttony?

Agh! So many people to meet, to see, to talk to...I'm forgetting so much b/c I'm cramming so much into the little bitty bit of time I have left here.

1. The hanji dept at Jeonju University is being shut down after being around for only four years. Lots of reasons for its failure; sad but inevitable to some.

2. I met w/a friend of Michael's who is about to leave a publishing house to start her own project; I'll get to see one of the meetings this weekend (meaning I have to ditch my family for a bit).

3. Some part of my back went into spasm this morning for no apparent reason. NOT FUN.

4. Having my time chopped up into tiny pieces makes me insane. I need bigger chunks than 1.5-2 hours to get anything done! But shabu shabu today for lunch was lovely. I'm going to attempt a 5-min power nap before calligraphy class.

Periods

Over the weekend, I had been talking to my sister while looking at the NYT coverage of Wimbledon. I was surprised to see an article referring to a woman bleeding (actually, kind of shocked, given how much men freak out about it - and a man, Christopher Clarey, had written it):

Jankovic, a 24-year-old extrovert whose matches are routinely eventful, had problems of her own on this sunny, relatively humid day. After saving four set points and winning the first set, she complained of feeling faint and was treated on court by the medical staff.

“I felt really dizzy, and I thought that I was just going to end up in the hospital,” she said.

Jankovic, who said the problem might have been linked to the fact she was menstruating, said she considered retiring from the match. She began crying as she had her blood pressure checked on court. But she ultimately decided to continue and said she experienced no other extreme symptoms except sluggishness (and the disappointment of defeat).

“It’s not easy being a woman sometimes,” Jankovic said. “All these things happen, and what can I do? I tried my best.”

I told my sister, and she wanted to see it, but the article had already been changed by the time I sent her the link. We talked about The Frailty Myth (which she wasn't a fan of) and the story about a woman who won the Boston Marathon but had gotten her period during, which had run down her legs the entire time. But the media apparently made no reference at all to it.

The crunch

Phoebe pointed out this display on the way to lunch - I visited her new space since she's moved her office south of the river to shift gears w/Andante. Her curator was there, and she called a photog friend over who had gone to my alma mater in Chicago in the 90s. Phoebe was talking about how as she gets older, her ideas and passion to execute them has ramped up, but her physical self can't keep up w/that energy. We had a good talk about being a female artist, about the labor (she calls it deep-blue collar work), and how we are super good at some things but then total idiots in other regards (in ways that other people can't even fathom).

Then I headed over to my Korean tutor's school to say goodbye. It was so nice to sit down and tell her about my latest exploits and get some good advice from her. She really was the anchor for me during my research year, and the best teacher ever. I can tell how the fruits of her labor, and mine, will take years to unfold. Which is nice; that kind of delayed gratification is the best.

I then rode 3 subway lines to get to a huge downtown bookstore where I browsed for gifts, supplies, and finally found a non-shrink-wrapped version of this gorgeous book on Korean art (scroll down for pic of cover and author Kang Woo Bang). He has done AMAZING research on this whole idea of how "gi" (chi, spirit, etc.) was depicted throughout Korean history in its artwork - paintings, ceramics, metalwork, architecture, religious objects, etc. - through specific iconography that many historians overlooked. If it wasn't so HUGE, I would have bought it. After that delicious sit-down-w/a-book time, I found a bench and did some weaving.

A couple hours later, I met Bo Kyung so that she could finally introduce me to Professor Kim at Koomin University who has been leading a project supported by the Ministry of Culture to visit all the remaining hanji mills, get a sense of what is being produced, making standards, and hopefully opening a place in Seoul that is accessible for the lay person to come and experience making it while learning about its history and such. It was SO GREAT to meet, b/c he's right on about what needs to be done, and has the energy and resources to do it. I'll end up helping w/English things and possibly coming back to help out if the facility really happens. I think that anyone who really has a sense of what the state of hanji is now knows exactly what needs to be done to keep it alive in a sustainable way. So it's just a matter of getting the team assembled.

We had more amazing raw fish, though I couldn't believe I was having 회 two days in a row, after having it once last week as well. Ben didn't help when he said maybe I'm feeling super out of it lately b/c of high mercury levels. But I'm actually almost too tired to worry!

The last full week

And it's packed. Today was phone calls, shipping another 10 kilos home, a faboo massage, doing my formal goodbyes in the Fulbright office, quickie lemon sorbet w/Esther, dinner w/Julie and her parents (more raw, still-moving octopus! and other marine life), walking around Hongdae totally cranky from humidity, bumping into an artist whose opening I will attend on Wed, an ice/ice cream/red bean/etc. dessert, and a nightly walk w/Kelsey.

This makes me SO EXCITED for a shower, even though I will simply start to sweat as soon as I get out of it. This is the week where I have 2-3 scheduled appts and a zillion extras each day, plus a two-day trip down south. The weekend will be all family since I was stupid enough to leave my weaving trimmers at my aunt's home in the burbs, so I have to GO TO CHURCH on Sunday to pick them up. I suppose it bookends my year in Korea well: my very first and last Sundays I go to church (tho never on any other Sunday). I wonder if it would be rude to weave in the pews...

Processing

I think this is the best MJ article thus far.

Tricky times

AGH. Today was the big family gathering in the burbs to commemorate my grandmother's death anniversary, 17 years ago. Four little ones, aunts, uncles, cousins, spouses. I was the useless female family member since I'm no good at knowing when and how to help as a dutiful apron-clad bearer of food, cooker of food, setting of places, wiping of tables, clearing of dishes, washing of pots, replenishing of plates, and so on. I did cut some fruit, though. I did some weaving and undoing and re-weaving and undoing again; my aunts are very good at these things and kept advising me on it and that was a little stressful, but helpful. One aunt was in town from the US, which was a surprise to me, so I got the shake down: when am I leaving, how long have I been here, have I accomplished all of my goals, what's next, when am I getting married? Good times, as always.

The unpleasant part is that now I have to add a few more farewells into my schedule. Very unwillingly. I have to change the date of my final group dinner, which is okay since I haven't actually invited anyone yet. And I have to visit a teacher that I don't want to see b/c she wants me to make a piece for her so she can claim it as her own, keep it, photograph it, and put it into shows as her work. I had planned on NOT doing that. But my aunt insists on saying goodbye b/c it's the respectful thing to do. This also means I have to get the hanji back from another family friend and just give it back to the teacher, and say I never got the piece made. All quite unpleasant even if I had abundant time. Especially unfun now that I have so little of it left here and I'd rather not lose hours to such tasks.

But at least I get to see my cousins one more time next weekend. And I suppose I can chalk it all up to abundance.