Saturday, March 14, 2009

Forced bed rest

[Hanhee Ham, a leading anthropologist and professor who teaches at Chonbuk University, Lee Dong Hee, director general of the Jeonju Historical Museum, me, and Michael Reinschmidt, a visiting professor in museum studies at Chonbuk, and also an anthropologist.] I got back last night from a FANTASTIC research trip to Jeonju. It was all great until we were about 20 minutes away from Seoul on the bus ride back and I got sick. I'm not sure what it is about Korea that makes me vomit so much in moving vehicles, and I wish it would stop. I also am not sure how I got myself home from the bus terminal and then started my laundry, but my body was having none of my attempts to work through the food poisoning after a while.

I had to cancel all of my appts today and likely will have to clear tomorrow since I haven't really eaten anything but a handful of crackers today and was barely able to take water in the morning. Thank goodness for Kelsey who lives upstairs, b/c she brought me more fluids and things to eat. My cousin called to see what I was up to and I was sad that I couldn't come out to play but he said to just make rice gruel and take care of myself. I have no intention of making anything since it requires getting out of bed.

But this all takes away from how amazing my trip was. In particular, Professor Ham was very knowledgeable and generous, plus she took care of the bulk of my transportation, food, and lodging during my stay. I met a ton of people who are all doing amazing work and got everything done on my list save meet one professor. But I'll definitely make another trip before I leave, so I'll meet her then. My last stop was the opening of a hanji exhibit at the museum pictured above, where Michael and I were asked to participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony, which was hilarious. Appropriate that my first one is in the name of hanji.

Pictures:
1. The hanji museum
2. A local papermill
3. An intangible property holder in hanji screen making (you can't make hanji without the bamboo screens that come out of his studio), and
4. A hanji exhibit at the Jeonju Historical Museum.

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