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LSA NewsNo. 45, December 2002How was your trip???We asked a few staff members to write about their not-so-recent trips to different places. Heather Ward, Reference Librarian writes about her trip to France in May of 2002. Andrew Nicholson, Map/GIS Librarian tells us about his working trip to Hawaii to attend a meeting of the Western Association of Map Libraries. FranceDreaming of Franceby Heather WardAfter years of dreaming about it and months of reading and preparation, I got to spend four weeks in France last May. My first three weeks were spent in Tours in the Loire Valley staying with a local family and taking intensive French classes at the Centre Linguistique pour Étrangers. It was a great opportunity to brush up my French and there's nothing more effective than immersion. My French family filled me with wonderful food and drink--asparagus with dijon vinaigrette, foie gras and local red wine. We even had "Mexican" food one night. I also visited several of the Renaissance chateaux that the valley is famous for. Reading about French culture beforehand was a great help in understanding how they might interpret typical American behavior and in interpreting their customs. I highly recommend Culture Shock! France, And God Created the French, and French or Foe, and reading papers like Le Monde or the Journal Français to brush up on current events. It was exciting to see the presidential election and the last-minute protests and marches in preparation for it. For the final week, I met my friend Sarah in Paris and we took the TGV--the high- speed train--to Avignon in Provence. I'd never been to the south before and it was beautiful! We rented a car so we would have more flexibility--driving wasn't as terrifying as I thought it would be. Of the places we visited, my favorites were the 12th-century Cistercian Abbé de Sénanque, Roussillon with its varying shades of ochre and Arles with its Greek and Roman ruins. Oh, and L’Épicerie, a wonderful restaurant in Avignon. Here's how I described it in my web log: It was the perfect French dining experience. It was cooler, so there was only indoor seating that evening. There were ten little tables at the most. Old French jazz was playing in the background and smoke drifted up against the backdrop of the red walls. The food was beautifully arranged and represented traditional provençale cuisine. We couldn't have asked for a better meal. Now I just need to figure out when I can go back. Canadian in HawaiiAloha, eh?by Andrew Nicholson"How was your vacation?" asked one of my student employees.Although I wanted to reply that I had several relaxing days on the beach in the hot sun, I must confess that my trip to Hawaii was actually work...well it was mostly about work. Having been elected as secretary of the Western Association of Map Libraries (WAML) in June, I had responsibilities for minute taking at the Executive meeting, the reading of these minutes at the Business meeting, and then the minute taking of the Business meeting. Of course, being in Hawaii, a working trip cannot be just about work. Fortunately, I did manage at least one day of sightseeing, driving around to see much of the island of Oahu before flying back to a rainy Eugene. Having never visited the tropics before, I packed my suitcase very carefully. Being Canadian, choosing clothes for a trip is never a simple task. Despite 18 months in Oregon I find myself still either over or under dressing for the temperate climate. Having been long acclimatized to adding a second layer of clothing on November 1, it was really going against the grain as I placed sunglasses, shorts, sandals, and other summer accoutrements in my suitcase. On the flight to Hawaii, I could not help but think of the stereotypical Hawaii scene. Massive waves, surfers, sun…a tropical paradise. Would I be disappointed? Stepping off the plane to a sunny 84 degree Honolulu afternoon seemed like landing on another planet. It was really hot. Even more jarring was the fact that the airport terminal did not even have any doors! This was certainly not Canada. Even more striking was that everyone was incredibly friendly and relaxed even in the rush hour traffic that soon found myself in as I navigated the Honolulu streets to my hotel. Located near Waikiki, the Ala Mauna Hotel stands above the largest shopping center on the islands and is next to one of the best beaches. The WAML early bird picnic on the Ala Mauna Beach was my first exposure to Hawaiian food...we were given a "Bento", a boxed assortment of rice, vegetables, and fish. Interestingly, the sun set at approximately the same time as in Oregon for November. It seemed odd for the sun to set at 6:30 on a warm evening. The next two days were preoccupied with conference activities including meetings, minute taking, and transcribing, and program sessions. We spent the warm evenings exploring Waikiki, buying Hawaiian T-shirts at the International Marketplace. With the Conference now over, I was left with only one day to see Oahu. Almost everyone from the conference was leaving for the mainland that morning or was going over to Kona for the two day field trip. As I needed to get back early, I elected to spend my last day exploring Oahu before heading back on Saturday. Anyway, I needed to use every minute of time that I had to see as much of Oahu as I could. Fortunately I had a car, thanks to the package deal I received with my flight. I awoke at the crack of dawn and saw the sun rise over Waikiki Beach. I then headed to Pearl Harbor to see the Arizona before the long lineups formed. I then moved on and out of the city into the countryside. I stopped at Haleiwa (aka Surf City) on the North Shore, watched some surfers and bought some T-shirts. I then carried on along the coast stopping at Sunset Beach and Laie, home of the Polynesian Cultural Center. I stopped for lunch at Hauula, which had the most amazing, unspoiled, unpopulated beach I had ever seen. I moved down the east side of the island, which became more and more urbanized as I went along. Road closures on the Kalanianaole Highway at the southern tip prevented me from doing the full circle around the island. I turned back and took the Pali Highway back into Honolulu. I then made a left and went to the famous Hanuama Bay where I finished the day and the trip with a swim in the ocean. Less than a day later, it was all a distant memory as I landed back in Eugene's traditional weekend shower. The trip seemed like a dream then and even more so now as it gets colder. One day I will go back and see more of the islands. Diversity DoingsOn August 16th author and journalist Katy Robinson spoke at the Law School about her recently published book, A Single Square Picture: a Korean Adoptee's Search for Her Roots. Ms. Robinson had been adopted as a seven-year-old into a Catholic family in Salt Lake City. She was raised by her Korean mother and grandmother and was bewildered to be whisked away to this strange family in a foreign country. Like many other adoptees, she did not have a clear understanding of the reason she was given up for adoption. As a child and a teenager, having adapted to her American life, she identified strongly with the white, middle class culture surrounding her and gave little thought to a Korean or Korean-American identity until college.During her talk, Ms. Robinson read a selection from her book recounting her experience returning to Korea as an adult and her efforts to find her family. She described the emotional turmoil she went through once she found her father, alternately trying to please him by fitting the mould of the ideal Korean daughter and trying to extract information from him regarding the fate of her mother. Ms. Robinson gave a lively and well-spoken presentation and afterward invited questions. The make-up of the audience contributed to a more intimate tone of conversation than one might find at another author talk. With a mix of, among others, Korean adoptees, Korean-Americans and representatives of Holt International--our local pioneer in international adoptions, many of the questions were obviously of personal importance to the people who asked them. Audience members asked the author about her experience, delving into the feeling of being in limbo between American and Korean culture and into issues of nature versus nurture. We were intrigued by her total loss of the Korean language and the challenges she faced studying it as an adult. She was very open to connecting with other adoptees and acted to put those new to the area in touch with a local network of other adoptees with similar experiences. After the talk, I bought a copy of the book and read it within a couple of days. Ms. Robinson's observational skills, honed as a journalist, allowed her to transcribe conversations verbatim and to describe her own emotions precisely so that I felt I knew just what she had experienced. I grew up with a neighbor who was a Korean adoptee, adopted at about the same age and I wonder, having lost touch with her, how she would respond to Ms. Robinson's tale. A Single Square Picture is a fascinating and very personal story, written with a skill that draws the reader in and makes it easy to relate to. The author is a brave, honest and lovely person and I highly recommend her book. ---submitted by Heather Ward
FROM THE FACT FILEThe Winning NumbersIn our last issue, we asked you to come up with the numbers. Each pair of clues referred to a number, and you were to determine the number that we had in mind, and for "extra credit," the full title, word or phrase corresponding to each clue. Several of you successfully called the numbers, and a few of you went the distance and named all of the titles to which we made reference. By random drawing, Colleen Bell was selected as the winner, and she will be receiving a gift certificate worth $5.00 toward purchases at the University of Oregon bookstore. Congratulations, Colleen. Other Library staffers who proved numerically literate include (* indicates they discovered the sources of all 12 clues) Ted Smith, Carol Lenocker*, Tom Stave, Stacy DeHart*, Jean Murphy, Susan Stumpf*, Rick Peterson*, Rosella D. Thomas, Debi Baker, David Landazuri*, and Susan Mincks. A twenty-one keystroke salute to all of you. You may revisit the clues by reading Fact File in the August issue of LSA News.
The answers:
1. 6 (Six Degrees of Separation/Motel 6)
Library MusicalLibrary Musical This was found by Karen Munro and we thought everyone would enjoy it. Been to an interesting conference?Send us a brief report for publication in the next newsletter. Thanks! Welcome:
Goodbyes
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