Hello again,

I’m writing now, a month after my original post, from Warsaw, Poland, where I planned to spend the month of July. Long story short, things have not gone to plan, and my research has now taken me back to Budapest. The details of my troubles getting access to the archives would only be interesting for those sad and lonely souls* who enjoy discussions about Eastern European bureaucracy, so I’ll stay away from that as a topic.

*I am one of those sad and lonely souls who enjoy such discussions myself.

Instead, I’ll write about Trump’s visit to Poland a few days ago, which I observed first hand with a lot of interest. For transparency’s sake, I think it’s important that I say that I was part of the anti-Trump demonstration in Warsaw on the day of his speech. Poland has been one of the most pro-American countries in the world over the last century. The modern Polish state’s birth out of the ruins of European empire after World War One is tied to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson’s ideas about the right to national self-determination. Since then, Poland suffered under Nazi and Soviet occupation during World War Two, and experienced the worst that being in the Soviet Union’s Cold War sphere of influence had to offer. Even the best efforts of communist propaganda could not sway public opinion away from the US. Since the Cold War, and especially after Poland’s admission into NATO, US military presence in Poland has been a pillar of stability — the perceived threat presented by Russia makes Poland an extremely welcoming place for American troops.

“Always Close #safertogether”

Even so, the amount of support for Trump was surprising. On the days around Trump’s visit, I saw more Make America Great Again hats than I ever would have thought, and I saw multiple displays of the confederate flag. Given Trump’s history of shying away from strong statements about his commitment to NATO and how flippantly he has treated Russia (Poland is strongly anti-Russia), one would think that there might be some worry about Trump in Poland, but this was not the case.

I think this is an indication that the the main phenomenon the democracies of the world have to deal with right now is understanding and responding to the prevalence of ethnic nationalism among their constituents. Decrying ethnic nationalism as simply “racist” and not engaging with the difference in ideology, is, I think, useless. For a Polish ethnic nationalists such as those in PiS, the current ruling party, the Polish nation is defined by Catholicism and a national historical narrative that highlights only the times of Polish victory or heroic martyrdom. There’s nothing political about it.

I reckon Trumpism to be very similar. Americanism is not understood as being defined in political terms, but rather in a mercantilist, hard power-based framework. Trump has no need for soft power, which the US has historically used to promote democracy around the world, or at least pay heavy lip service to it. Enemies such as fascists, communists were defined by political terms. With Trump, the US’s enemies are not those who undo democracy such as Erdogan or Putin, but those who are viewed as living fundamentally different lives than the West. Trump and PiS share this worldview, and therefore, share a disregard for a democratic processes when their societies face existential threats. The Confederate flags and general support for Trump in Poland, then, is something beyond support for Trump himself, but rather, an celebration of alignment in world views. For a country with history of foreign control, both at the ideological and hard power level such as Poland, having the world order’s leading country support the country’s worldview is tremendously powerful. I think it’s safe to say the we’re currently in the midst of a global upswing of confidence in the idea of ethnic nationalism, and this plays right into the hands of Trumpists, while dealing true liberal democratic around the world a strong blow. 

These are just reflections and thoughts from a hostel common room; there’s a reason I’m not on the editorial board of any prominent news sources. Feel free to chime in with your own thoughts.

한국에가고싶어요…. 한국에돌아오고싶어요. 나의엄마보고싶어요. 

Translation: I want to go to Korea….I want to come back to Korea. I want to see my mom.

These three sentences are probably the most complicated sentences I can manage to string together in Korean. I can say this much as well as some basic restaurant and travel phrases. The thing is… I’m not a tourist, I’m not a Korea-enthusiast (e.g. Koreaboo), I’m not a KPOP fan, and I’m not majoring in international studies with an interest in Korea. I am Korean. I’m Korean-American; more specifically a Korean Adoptee. For my 2nd Summer Research grant, I will be living and researching in Seoul, South Korea for 30 days. I’ve returned to South Korea on 2 separate occasions but this will be the longest and most in-depth experience yet.

On March 9th, when I marched up the steps of Jones Hall to pass my application on to the powers that be, I paused for just a moment outside the building. March 9th also happened to be my 21st birthday. I paused for a moment to think about what it would mean to receive the Summer Research Grant in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences from the University. I paused to think about my mother and whether or not she was thinking of me on my birthday. I paused to think about all of my potential subjects and their stories. My summer research is an Oral History project of Korean Adoptees who have returned (indefinitely) to South Korea. I’m recording narratives of return and hoping to map the diverse journies from birthland to adopted land and back again. My goal is to record a community’s history and find out how the phenomenon began in 1998/1999-2007, when almost no Korean social worker ever believed adoptees would even come back to visit. I know that some of them will be stories of joy, found families, and amazing personal growth. However, I also know that many stories will be stories of pain, rejection, and failed adoption. So, I paused outside of Jones, and for just a second, I considered turning back and foregoing my application. I was worried I would find things about adoption that I wouldn’t be able to emotionally handle, I was worried that living alone in Korea for 30 days would be too taxing, and I was worried that my motivations for doing this research were far too personal and not academic in any way.

Here’s the question: Am I truly doing this research for the pursuit of knowledge and justice for the advancement of understanding human history? Or am I using University dollars to go on a 30-day personal journey to find more closure in my birthland where I had always dreamed of moving since my first visit in 2009? Am I doing this to scope out if returning would be a good option for me? I struggled with these questions while I wrote my application, when I handed it in, and when I received my notification of acceptance. When I received my notification of acceptance, I went to a friend and confidant of mine. I asked them, “Am I doing the right thing? Is this okay? Am I actually doing real research or am I just going on some sort of self-discovery?” They looked at me and simply replied “Why can’t it be both?” In that moment I remembered something really crucial about what it means to be a scholar of Art, Humanities, and Social Sciences. In fact, I had no idea how I could have forgotten because it is my favorite aspect of these disciplines. In the arts, humanities, and social sciences students often pursue scholarship that allows them to self-explore, feel their emotions, and share their experiences with those around them.

So again…

한국에가고싶어요…. 한국에돌아오고싶어요. 나의엄마보고싶어요. I want to go to Korea…I want to come back to Korea. I want to see my mom. While it is unlikely that I will ever find my mother (less than 10% of Korean Adoptees do), I hope that by living and learning in Korea with other adoptees for 30-days, I will come away with not only historical knowledge of the history of adoptees but also with a found-family of my own.

I hope you stay tuned.

-김 재우

Me, June 2016 at Eastern Social Welfare Services in Seoul

About a week and a half ago, I was lucky enough to actually go into the field and start doing research. Which meant, of course, that I got to rest my butt about 60 feet up an Acer macrophyllum tree for the first time.

It. Was. Spectacular.

The day was beautiful to begin with – it was sunny, the birds were chirping, the mosquitoes were biting – and it just got better when I was far above the solid ground. I looked around and saw nothing but sun-specked green for as far as I could see. Plus, the mosquitoes go away once you get far enough off the ground, so that also helped.

Needless to say, being so high in the canopy changed my perspective. But it didn’t do so in the typical “I saw the world from above” sense, as rock climbing has given me that sensation far too many times. But I’ve never been so far above the ground on another living thing, surrounded by thousands of living things. Before climbing the tree, I knew that research on these trees was important, but I didn’t really know why. Afterwards, however, the meaning behind what I’m doing became clear: these trees are beautiful, complex, and full of life. I want to do all that I can to have other people understand that, as well.

We return to the field in 4 days, and, needless to say, I can’t wait to get high again.

The research team, listed from left to right:
Dr. Carrie Woods, Kimmy Ortmann, McKinley Nevins, Eric Hartel, and myself (Micaela Seaver)

STOKED TO BE IN A TREE!

Well the business visa went through! I can now travel in and out of the Russian Federation until the end of November 2017. I got to the Heathrow Airport a tad bit too early today so I’m sitting at a restaurant nursing a Guinness as I write this. I stayed at my sister’s place in Cambridge this past week, and we had a great time. It was wonderful to be able to catch up with her, my other sister Nikola, and my nieces and nephews. Also shout out to my brother-in-law Andy for keeping Guinness stocked in the fridge this week: team player.

[I was going to put more cool pictures of London/ Cambridge here, but apparently my camera too took large of pictures :/ ]

I took the train from Cambridge today around mid-day, and was to report to the Russian Embassy in London by 16.00 to collect my passport. I was a bit nervous this past week that it wouldn’t go through because of some careless error on the application. I took the tube and lugged my luggage not only to the embassy, but also to Heathrow. To all you students out there it cost roughly £6.00 in total for transport throughout London to get to the embassy and then to the airport. I think a London cab or Uber would have run me about £50.00 today when all was said and done.

So things I am excited for this summer: my internship, blini, banya, borscht, continuing to improve my Russian conversation, and of course all the other wonders that Russia has to offer. This summer won’t be all fun and games, but I hope to get in as much enjoyment during my last few months in the motherland as I can. I know in earlier blog posts I made a checklist of sorts regarding things I wanted to do during my time in Russia. I’ve checked off that whole list, except for the Transsiberian Railroad. After my experience during an 8-hour train ride in a Russian train, I thought that I had discounted this checklist item forever. Over the past couple months, however, I’ve had a bit more free time and as such have been planning what I want to accomplish with my remaining time abroad. I am in the process of convincing two or three of my friends from study abroad this past year to do the railway from Moscow to Vladivostok with me. It would be really awesome for them to come, but if they don’t I’m pretty sure I will still do it. It would be anywhere from a week to two weeks depending upon how long I spend at the various stops throughout Russia. I’ll post a route map below. Follow the dark blue route below that doesn’t veer off into Mongolia. The preliminary plan right now would be to stay in Russia to avoid the hassle of procuring another visa for China, but we’ll see what happens. I would start the trip at the beginning of August, giving me roughly two weeks before I need to fly back to the US to start my final semester at UPS.

Trans-Siberian-map

On that note, I am also really excited to finish my final semester at UPS. Of course, sad that I will be graduating and leaving that wonderful university, but happy that I haven’t squandered my time there. I feel like I have learned so much, and in such a wide variety of subjects. All of my professors have been top-notch, and I’ve loved the small class sizes. I could go on, but I won’t)

Anyway, I am going to head off to my gate to start the always wonderful security screening process, so bye for now.

-Andrew

My last…

• Drink at E9
• Tofu soup at Cho Dang’s
• Ice cream at ice cream social
• Time at the library
• Time in the research lab
• Pizza at the Cellar
• Duke at Oppenheimer/Diversions
• Bio and Chem picnic
• Time listening to Pops on the Lawn
• Time stepping foot on campus… Haha just kidding, I’ll probably be back. You haven’t seen the last of me.

Thank you for everything. Congrats to the class of 2017! Once a logger, always a logger.

SENIOR

If you haven’t read part I (sophomore year) or part II (junior year), click the links and read all about it.

BIO 332- Tissue Culture

This was a half-semester long lab, where we placed plant stem pieces onto media with different hormone ratios to observe for callus growth and the development of roots and shoots. After a course of several weeks, we tried transplanting one of the stems that grew a shoot into media containing hormones that would induce root growth.

BIO 350 – Siderophore

For this lab, our job was a collect a sample from any water source. My lab partner and I chose to collect a sample from Ruston Way. The actual lab consisted of taking our water samples and plating them onto different medias to see what microorganisms grew/lived in the water. After a week of letting them grow, we discovered a microorganism that secreted siderophores, aka it fluoresced under UV light. It was such a cool discovery, we ended up using it for our independent project later in the semester.

BIO 404 – PHYA

This was approximately a half-semester long project in lab, where we tried to understand the role of the phyA gene at the molecular level in tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum). This was lab was really fun because we were really able to build this project from the ground up. For instance we used several programs and online sources to analyze RNA sequences from our mutant and wild-type tomato samples to select for a candidate gene we were interested in, and create primers to be used for qPCR. But the coolest thing by far, was that we were all able to design and use CRISPR/Cas9 for our candidate gene.

CHEM 251 – Unknown Aldol Condensation

For this lab we performed a double aldol condensation between an unknown aldehyde and unknown ketone, which was then purified using recrystallization. With our purified product we obtained their melting points and H-NMR spectra to help identify our unknown aldehyde and ketone. One of the things that made this lab so memorable was that my “unknown” product looked like this shiny film of gold.

*And if you were curious, I identified that my aldol condensation was between cinnamaldehyde and cyclohexanone.

BIO 490 – Research

For all of my senior year, I have been working on a research project with my advisor. In my research, which is genetics based, we looked at changes in apoptosis/cell death in response to exposure to BPA using zebradish (since we can’t use human subjects, darn). From this experience I was able to learn a new lab technique, qPCR, which would help other biology labs (some would had a lab section dedicated to using qPCR). Additionally, I loved being able to dedicated a large amount of time into exploring and answering to a specific topic of interest. I’m so glad that I chose to do research over another biology elective.

Honorable Mentions

• Synthesis projects in CHEM 251