The Prison Notebooks

My first week at school is over. Thanks to the Labor Day, I only had three days of classes so far, but after running back and forth to get administrative work done, talking to professors and catching up with friends I am exhausted.

I submitted my research trip report to the Sigur Center, which gave me a summer research grant. It was about the conscription policies and related social/political debates in Taiwan and in Korea. My comparison between the two is lopsided in a weird way because of the difference in my language abilities and the lengths of stay. But I got to understand the overall picture of the current situation in each society, and even made interesting findings and great contacts there. I might and might not post a part of my report here soon.

Speaking of the Sigur Center, I was offered something called “Selective Excellence Graduate Research Assistantship” there this academic year. That means not only that I do not have to work as a TA, but also that I will help Asia scholars do interesting research and projects. As a starter, Professor McHale asked me to find out some facts regarding a guy called Kodera Kenkichi, who was one of the earliest Asian alumni of GW (or Columbian University at that time). Kodera is actually a fascinating figure in the development of pan-Asianism in the 1910s in Japan. I might be able to post more about him here.

I am taking classes on political theory (liberalism and its critics), ethnic conflict, and third year Korean. I am trying to find a balance among my coursework, research job, language study and other stuff (like posting entries here). I did not intend to get into the third year Korean class since I only had a ten-week training in Seoul this summer. We will see how it will go.

I bought a new digital camera. I was too afraid of investing a lot of money to a fancy one even though I would love to learn photographing, so I got Fuji FinePix S5200. It has a nice semi-professional look (which is important for a person like me who wander around political protests with a camera), and am learning many functions it has. This is a picture of Lilian and Colm (who now live 5 doors away from me), studying in the kitchen.

Ok. Back to reading…