FamiLee Life

Control :: Ian Curtis and Joy Division

In between my freshman and sophomore years in high school, I went to my first rock concert. It was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. They were touring as part of the "Born in the USA" tour. A year later, I found myself listening to a completely different genre of music - punk, post-punk, hardcore. It had different labels but the sounds were compelling. It was during this period in my life that I first heard Joy Division. I think my cousin Sabrina actually introduced me to them. The music instantly resonated with my teenage angst filled soul. Unfortunately, by this point (1985-86), Joy Division was no longer (as Ian Curtis committed suicide in 1980) and the remaining bandmates formed New Order.

There is now a movie on the life of Ian Curtis and Joy Division that I can't wait to see. It is called Control and early reviews are quite good. Check out the trailer here.

Some video clips courtesy of YouTube.

Rivendell Bicycle Website

Some of you may have thought I had left blogging for good after not seeing a new post from me for nearly a month. That is what can happen when one goes on vacation. A long pause or typed silence.

Such seemed to be the case with the Rivendell Bicycle website. It is a site visited often by people like me who admire these bicycles. I visit this website almost daily to see if there were new postings from Grant Petersen (the owner) or any new Riv updates. Sometimes, I go to the site to shop for some cool wool clothing or bike accessories. Yet over and over again, I would come upon a website that looked deserted or abandoned. Grant and company kept saying that a new website would be up and running, but it always remained the same.

Well, the times are a-changing! Check out the new, sexy, fully functioning Rivendell website. It's purrty and sure to win hearts.

Korean Adoption Conference Featured on NPR

I just learned that the IKAA Conference was featured on a segment of NPR's All Things Considered. Click HERE to listen to the program. Included in the broadcast was a mini-segment on the birthmother's protest against international adoption and for greater social welfare services that promote domestic adoption, foster care, and support for single mothers.

When I was at the conference, I met the NPR reporter but did not speak to him. He was seeking people to interview but I felt it was not my place (as a non-adopted person) to speak on behalf of the community given that there were 600 of them present and able to speak firsthand on the subject. One friend of mine spoke to the reporter offline to make sure he understand that there are more than 2 sides to the story - that it is not just those for and those against adoption. That those against adoption should not be portrayed as angry, ungrateful, or unhappy with their adoption and those for adoption should not be portrayed as enlightened, good, holy, etc.

I was disappointed that the segment included comments by one adopted Korean person who portrayed individuals against international adoption in Korea as "black and white" in their thinking. Such a statement reflects a straw man argument designed to simplify one position to make the other position appear stronger. GW Bush frequently (and annoyingly) applies this practice. I wish the reporter pointed out this misleading fallacy in the report.

Oh well, I wonder now if I should have spoken to him...

Korean Adoptees Examine Origins, Upbringings
by Jason Strother

All Things Considered, August 25, 2007 · Some 600 adoptees from South Korea recently attended a convention in Seoul to share experiences and to learn more about their birth country. Since the Korean War in the 1950s, more than 200,000 orphaned South Korean babies have been sent to live with Western families — over half of them to American homes. While the number of overseas adoptions from South Korea has declined, it still sends about 2,000 children abroad each year.

My Sept Goal -- The S24O

I learned about the S24O (aka, Sub-24 Overnighter) a while back and have yet to do one. Well, strike that. I have done overnight camping but by car. The S24O refers specifically to bike camping in which you depart on bike and return on bike, carrying all the essentials on the bicycle. Fortunately, I have local friends also keen on the idea. So, my goal for Sept is to finally do a S24O. I think I may try to sandwich it in between two regular weekend camping/canoeing trips.

If you want to learn more about the S24O, read this interview with Grant Petersen, founder of Rivendell Bicycles.

Minnesota State Fair

I mentioned briefly the other day about the State Fair in Minnesota. It's a major deal. How major? Well, the university never opens prior to the State Fair. It always opens the day after the State Fair ends. Yep, that's pretty major. It turns out that the large attendance at the fairgrounds requires extra parking space which comes courtesy of the university. The university is composed of three distinct campuses. In Minneapolis, we have the East Bank and West Bank which are divided (not surprisingly) by the grand old Mississippi River. In St. Paul, we have the (appropriately named) St. Paul campus. The East Bank and St Paul campuses are actually linked via a private commuter bus/bike road that "conveniently" bisects the fairgrounds. So, it all seems to work in synchrony.

Now, here is the important thing -- if you plan to go to the State Fair, seriously, seriously consider The Auto-Ethnographic Guide Service which is led by my artist-friend, Peter Haakon Thompson. How good is this guide service? Well, good enough to be promoted by Minnesota Public Radio! Click here to listen to Peter's multi-podcast on how he conceived of the service, what is auto-ethnography (with a credit to me), and what to bring. Plus, you can follow along with him as he gives an audio-tour of the fairgrounds. It's pretty neat stuff.

And, if you must know, I plan to bike to the fairgrounds this year. I hear you get a discount on the admission if you bicycle over. Maybe I will see you all there tomorrow.

For previous posts on the State Fair - click here, here, and here.

Random Notes

A few observations and thoughts from today....

1) Jetlag stinks. I have been back from Korea for 9 days (including 4 days in San Francisco) but my jetlag is still horrible. I slept 12 hours (from midnight to noon) two nights ago, but slept 0 (ZERO!) hours last night. Ugh.
2) Riding a bicycle to work with 0 hours of sleep is surreal. I am alert but there are moments of zen bliss riding. Must be careful. Caffeine helps.
3) Alton Brown on the Food Network is both annoying and irresistible to watch. I've been watching a lot of Food Network to manage jet lag.
4) I have discovered a new television channel called VS which seems to be a competition only channel that features hours and hours of mixed martial arts. Not as good as UFC but still entertaining.
5) I am jones-ing (sp?) to go camping before summer ends. I think HW and I will go at the end of September. Paul has gotten the ball rolling for planning a BWCA trip for next summer. That will be most excellent.
6) Owning a home means always fixing something. I can see now how my parents' home slowly fell into disrepair. Short on time and short on cash means lots of things get left unfixed or not maintained. I need to do a better job with my lovely home. First on the list -- fix the leaks in the basement. Second on the list -- tuckpoint the chimney and exterior brickwork. Third on the list -- replace the front door.
7) My laptop hard drive died yesterday. Fortunately, I had backed up all my photographs from my recent trip to Korea the day before (phew!). Also, I had 20 days left on the Dell warranty so the hard drive will be replaced for free. Double phew. Downside is that I will be computer-less at home for a week. Hm...this might be an upside.
8) School is almost starting!!!! Egad!

In the News :: International Adoptions in Canada

A while back, I was interviewed by Adriana Barton for the Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto. I just learned that the article was finally published. You can find it here.

Here is what was quoted from the interview.

The experiences of today's adult international adoptees are distinct from those of voluntary immigrants and domestic adoptees, according to Richard Lee, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota who studies how Korean adoptees form their identities.

Nevertheless, most international adoptees grow up to be well-adjusted adults, he adds.

What I Do for Fun

Before I left for Korea, I had the chance to help out my good friend, Peter Haakon Thompson, with his ArtCar entry - The A Project. Other people, including Peter, were on rollerskates and skateboards to distribute small A posters to the public and to encourage them to post them in their windows at home to show their support for art. As I was without these small wheels, I mounted the A to spread the love.

In the coming weeks, another Minnesota event will be upon us - The State Fair. For those overwhelmed by the immensity of it (it's huge) or simply want a novel way to experience the fair, check out Peter's other project - The Auto-Ethnographic Fair Guide Service. Experience the fair as Peter has experienced it for over 30 years!

Korean Orphanages :: Fieldwork Notes

I am now back in Minnesota after spending 20 days in South Korea to attend the IKAA conference and to conduct fieldwork on orphanages and domestic adoption and then another 4 days in San Francisco to attend conventions for the Asian American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Association. It is good to be back to familiar territory, despite the jet lag.

The most memorable part of the trip for me was the opportunity to visit the orphanages, meet children, speak with the directors, and to learn more about the social welfare system in South Korea. I am thankful to staff and volunteers at InKAS and GOA'L, and to my university colleagues in South Korea (Drs. Kim and Sung) who took time to answer my questions.

For the past couple of years, I have been working with my graduate student and Dr. Sung in South Korea to compare the behavioral development of Korean children adopted internationally and Korean children reared domestically in orphanages. Until this trip, I had to rely upon the firsthand knowledge of my two collaborators to understand orphanage care in South Korea.

I was lucky to visit two distinct types of orphanages - one in Seoul and the other in Mokpo. There were many similarities but also key differences between these two orphanages. Both orphanages were supported by government aid and public donation. The ratio of aid/donation ranged from 60/40 to 80/20. By one estimate, it cost about $200/month to provide basic care for a child (food, accommodation, clothing, etc). Education is separate and covered wholly by the government. Some orphanages have dormitory living arrangements and others have apartment style homes. Some orphanages have more resources for computers, tv, playgrounds, etc and others have less. Some orphanages are explicitly Christian in mission and other orphanages are more secular with stronger governmental ties. All orphanages had around 60-75 children of varying ages (infant to over 18 years old), numerous volunteers and paid staff, a strong group bond/affiliation among children, and children who expressed a range of emotion, personality, and interests. Kids were healthy and seemingly happy, though (of course) what was revealed to me is only what they chose to reveal. All but a few of the children in these orphanages had living parents who placed the in orphanage care, but had not relinquished parental rights.

I also had a chance via the IKAA conference and Korean university colleagues to learn more about the politics behind social welfare policy and public awareness in South Korea. As with all such cross-cultural exchanges, there is much lost in translation and also much learned by how things are said and what things are not said. Having grown up in a Korean family/culture, I was able to pick up some of these nuances in my interactions. I suspect other foreigners (scholars, adoptive parents and other visitors) may not catch these nonverbal cues and thus wholly accept what is being explicitly told to them.

Public attitudes and social welfare policies are changing ever so slowly. The idea of paternal responsibility has changed drastically in the last decade. In the past, following divorce, fathers and the paternal family had custody of the children. These days, mothers retain custody but many eventually place children in orphanage care because the system does not provide adequate support for single mothers. Fathers are not held at all responsible. Domestic adoption is on the rise and now constitutes about 40% of all adoptions (the remaining are intercountry). Foster care only exists for children awaiting adoption and is run through the adoption agency. Children are not eligible for international adoption until after 6 months to encourage domestic adoption. The government will now pay for the fees for domestic adoption, including adoption by single parents.

In addition to orphanages, I also visited a social welfare agency that facilitated adoption and provided temporary care for infants and young children. The facilities are spacious, clean, well resourced, and amply staffed. Staff are friendly and well trained with most having a social work degree. Still, it was tough to see so many infants in one room alone. But it was hopeful to see how well they were cared by the staff. Infants in these homes are there on a temporary basis because birth family (i.e., mothers) are overwhelmed, struggling financially, or contemplating placement for adoption. Interestingly, staff never mentioned domestic violence or abuse as a reason for temporary care, but government reports suggest that a sizable portion of children are placed in orphanage/agency care because of violence/abuse.

This young, 6-month old boy has epilepsy and was being temporarily cared for at the adoption agency. According to an agency worker, 50% of the children return to the birth family, 20% are transferred to orphanages, and 30% are adopted.

These infants were contently sleeping. The caregiver was preparing their next meal. The caregiver/child ratio is about 1 to 7 at this agency.

The fieldwork was very eye opening in so many ways. It is a difficult issue to change public attitudes and social policy. It seems money is the root of much of the problem. Families dissolve over financial strain; birth mothers cannot care for a child without support from fathers and government; agencies must rely on donations because the government aid is insufficient; foster care is limited and pay for foster families is embarrassingly low (some estimate only $50/month/child); Korean adoption agencies receive more money to facilitate international adoption than domestic adoption; foreign agencies likewise make more money to facilitate international adoption than domestic adoption via foster care. Lost in the mix is the welfare of the children; yet everyone claims to have the best interest of the children. Oftentimes, I seriously wonder and struggle to know what is the best interest?

What I do believe is that change begins through the empowerment of the people and, at the same time, from radical change from the top of the hierarchy. Government officials kept saying at the IKAA Conference that Korean adoption began because of poverty following the war and then in the next breath would say that South Korea is now the 12th or 11th or 13th largest economy in the world. The rhetoric is always the same and always seriously flawed in its logic. Not ever said is what the government is doing today to improve the social welfare of children.

Change is now.

Korea Updates

South Korea prides itself on being the most wired country in the world and Seoul in particular is crazy for all things internet. Heck, it says something about a country when you have at least two television stations dedicated to video gaming and no other programming. That said, for some unknown reason, our hotel in Seoul - Sofitel Ambassador - was very nicely accommodated in all aspects BUT the internet. Our room was newly renovated but without internet hookup. We could get wireless for a small fee of 20,000 won (equal to about $24) per day. Ouch! Instead, HW and I opted to go to the plethora of PC bangs (rooms) in the neighborhood to check email once/day. However, the poorly air conditioned PC bangs filled with smoke and young kids chatting away while they played video games left me uninspired to blog. So, hence the month long silence on FamiLee Life.

We are now finishing up our trip on Jeju-do island in the southwestern tip of Korea. It's like the Hawaii of Korea and it's quite beautiful. A perfect relaxing conclusion to our trip to the motherland. Plus, as a bonus, they have free internet in the rooms! Hence, the latest spate of blog entries. It's my weak effort to catch up on what's been happening.

So, here are some of our first pics of the trip in somewhat chronological order (left to right, top to bottom)

1. Waiting for our flight from Chicago to Seoul/Incheon. Flying Korean Air is the way to go (don't fly a US airline to Korea!)
2. We arrived at the hotel and decided to wander around the 'hood to get a feel of things. HW got an iced green tea drink and tried to figure out our rented cell phone. We had to ask the coffeegirl for assistance.
3. The Dongguk University neighborhood/district
4. Meeting up with some of the other Minnesota folks who made the trip out (SY, JR, Lucy, John, Tate, HW). We went on to have dinner with a Korean repatriate (Jane) at (of all places) a Korean-style Chinese restaurant down the street for some yummy jja-jang-myun (homemade noodles with black bean sauce). Our first meal in Seoul.
5. Day 2 - Exploring Sinchon district with Kim.
6. Doing what we do best in Seoul -- Eating some bar food in Sinchon. Duk-boki is spicy rice cake.
7. Eating duk-boki is best with some homemade makkoli - a Korean rice wine that is unfiltered. It's sweet and sour, reflecting the soul of South Korea. Mmmm good. Later in the trip, I received an email from Kurt and Mike asking me to bring home some nu-ruk which is a yeast enzyme in the shape of a hamburger patty to make homemade Makkoli. I did find some of this stuff on Jeju-do at a farmer's market. Watch out Minnesota!

Eating Live Octopus

When I purchased my plane ticket to Korea, I made one important decision -- I would eat some live octopus, which is considered a Korean delicacy of sorts, particularly among people who have been drinking late into the evening. So, I announced this goal to my friends who were living in Seoul and others who like me were in Korea for the IKAA conference (and for vacation). On one of the first nights in the city, we made our way to different parts of the city, eating every few hours. By late evening, we migrated toward Sinchon district to expressly find a San Nak Ji restaurant (aka live octopus). Eventually, we found one. Actually, we found a whole street of restaurants serving it, as Sinchon is a collegetown and there are hence lots of these seafood shops. So, here is what it looks like, all chopped up but still squirming around. You dip it in a hot chili pepper sauce that is spicy, sweet, and tangy (yum) and then chew, chew, chew. I was told that you had to chew vigorously, but it was not so difficult. Just a few chomps and it was ready to swallow. Very tasty, especially with a swig of cold soju to wash it all down. Truth be told, I was a tad disappointed because I was hoping to eat small, whole octopus which is far more challenging. Still, it was well worth it. As noted in my previous entry, I subsequently ate live sea cucumber and other shellfish while vacationing in Jeju Island. Yum again.

Here are some pictures of my friends and me eating the lovely San Nak Ji. Pictured alongside me are John and Hee Won. Katie and Jae Ran also had some too!

p.s. If you look in the background of the photo of me eating the octopus, you will see a bottle of soju in a custom soju cozee (sp?) to keep the soju nice and chilly. I have been looking around to buy some for friends, but to no avail...

Korean Food :: Yummy

I have been MIA lately because I am currently traveling in South Korea. I arrived on July 26th and have traveled through Seoul, Mokpo, Gwangju, and now Jeju-do. Throughout the trip, I have tried to eat as many different meals as possible. In between, I have presented at a Korean adoption research symposium, attended a Korean adoptee conference, given a talk at Ewha Womans University, visited orphanages in Seoul and Mokpo, visited adoption agencies in Seoul and Gwangju, and sang karaoke in Seoul, Gwangju, and Jeju-do. It's been a great trip. Here are some photos of my gastronomical tour of South Korea. Enjoy and let your mouth water....

from left to right (and top to bottom)

kongbiji (fresh ground tofu soup) ||| fried chicken (korean style!)
potato pancake ||| raw picked crab in soy sauce
sujebi (handmade flour dumpling soup) ||| fresh chicken stir fry (I mean FRESH!)
boiled whole chicken ||| spicy har-tail fish soup
barley rice with veggies ||| live sea cucumber