Back from Mexican 'ciber'space

The eagle has landed, amidst the afterglow of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
I was doing my own triple axles down in Mexico looking for Internet Cafes with people who spend time in virtual worlds though, spanning several cities including sprawling Guadalajara, colonial Guanajuato, coastal San Patricio/Barra de Navidad, and quaint Colima. The Internet cafes are often referred to as "cibers."
The Mexican context presented its own particularities and challenges, because unlike Korea, digital gaming is viewed as a juvenile and/or geeky antisocial activity. Still grappling with accessibility issues (one of the lowest in the OECD), the Internet cafe facilities are caught at various 'moments in time,' that may or may not enable participation in virtual worlds. Another factor is the battle between console and PC gaming. Furthermore, in the ample public spaces I previously blogged about, there are numerous 'free' and 'offline' activities.
That's just a glimpse of how I spent my "Olympic Break." Suffice it to say, "This will be in my report!"

In Guadalajara

It's been a busy while preparing for this latest stint of fieldwork...

I'm currently at the Universidad de Guadalajara, CUCEA, where I'll be affiliated as a researcher for the next two weeks. With my compadres from the institute here, along with the concurrent SFU field school, I'll be looking at the online gaming culture/Internet cafe scene in the Mexican context through my involvement in the VERUS project.

First impressions, I'm in awe of the sheer amount of collective public space and its influence on the communication ecologies here.

With amazing timing, I witnessed a large scale act of civil disobedience--a rally in support of same-sex marriage (right now it's only legal in Mexico City). We were in the state quarter, with government affiliates who were against the rally ringing cathedral bells (shown above) to drown out the protest. It felt very powerful to be in the middle of it all.

The tip of the iceberg, for now.

"I thought you'd blog more in the field..."

Was what one of my friends quipped to me over lunch last week. This was regarding the level of blogging whilst doing my dissertation fieldwork in Korea. Believe you me, I was at times somewhat disconcerted that I wasn't revealing something interesting every day, or that I wasn't one of those journalistic sites for the 'latest and greatest from Korea' as it were.

Then I thought to myself, well that's not what I have been using this blog for, even before I left for the field. These issues have been bandied about by those in my circle but I will rehash them here: that the blog has transformed for its -purpose- in one's media ecology in light of recent innovations such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. The latter two I use more for stream-of-consciousness type-things... and those of you who followed me while I was actually there know that. Both require membership/authorization to some degree, while the blog is a very public site. This is going to change the dynamics of my use, and it did. So, that was the medium question.

As for other reasons, as anthropologists commonly talk about, "anthropologists were notoriously private when it came to talking about their field experience." Here is a great post, complete with lots of yummy links attesting to that from Rex at Savage Minds. I would add my own story to the entry, in that when you're in the field:

• There is simply too much going on in your head, the field, others, etc to really blog anything of worth. Certainly not every day. After all, is what you're observing in the culture really what you make of it? Enough to be confident in your re-presentation (that same day)? Probably not.
  
• The field is an emotional roller coaster. You are not at -home-, nor are you anywhere you can really escape so whatever is blogged would likely be pretty ugly or something you regret later. Honestly, there are moments of levity, and there are some dark, dark times. Ask anyone who has done this type of physically/intellectually/emotionally (not to mention financially!) invested ethnographic fieldwork. Things not fit for public consumption on a blog on the fly, imho. Perhaps twitter/fb where one is relatively sure of who may be reading it and relatively confident about context.
  
• Confidentiality concerns. There tends to be so much one does off the record that it takes time to form coherent narratives that do not violate the trust of one's informants. That is (and was) a high priority for me. So yes, the gems are being excavated... and they must be analyzed and polished to be anything one is proud of.

Anyboos, my surface parcel of worldly possessions just arrived for me in the mail from Korea. 4 weeks from Seoul to Vancouver. Not bad eh?

DVR, RIP

My digital voice recorder died today. A hacking, wheezing, gurgling, rather ungraceful death. I am tempted to give it a Norse send-off once I return to Vancouver at the end of the month.

I'm going around Seoul continuing to talk to as many people as possible before leaving. Hard to believe my fieldwork here is almost up. Need to get another DVR asap. The last thing I want to do right now is shop for this device... good grief.

It's a dull roar kind of busy right now... but I'm in the zone and rather enjoying that. At this point it's more important to savour the moment because I absolutely know that come March it will be time to process it all.

Official announcement of competition results

At last, I am pleased to announce that I am the grantee of a Korean Government Scholarship offered by the National Institute for International Education (NIIED) through the Foreign Government Awards program, jointly administered by the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE), on behalf of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT).

The KG Scholarship, along with a Graduate International Scholarship from the SFU Dean of Graduate Studies will directly support my dissertation field research in Korea for the duration of 6-months.

I'm headed there at the end of this week, with my truckload of official documents in hand. Stay tuned for the ride that will commence shortly!

Almost there: Pre-fieldwork particulars

It's been a hectic little while...

In less than 3 weeks, I'll be heading to South Korea for 6 months of ethnographic fieldwork on the intergenerational use of information communication technologies (games, wireless, etc), and the changing social dynamics in the nation amidst the impacts of transnationality.

The Department of Communication at Seoul National University has invited me to commence a stay with them as a Visiting Researcher during that time. I'll be working with Professor Myungkoo Kang, who is a leading authority on the concept of East Asian Modernity and the study of media and culture.

In addition to the scholastic rigours that come with such an endeavour, I've also been distracted (to put it mildly) with the bureaucratic rigours as well. More than usual. It wouldn't be a blog entry without some inanity, so the laundry list of the last 3 weeks includes:

• Phone calls with governmental organizations, with paperwork follow-up
• Health exams: chest x-rays, vaccinations, blood, (and yes everything else!). I'm in "excellent" health, by the way--the paper says so now.
• Administration: ordering documentation, booking flights, accomodation, registration, scanning, emailing... unsubscribing to this, subscribing to that, it's all stuff that needs to be done.
• Purchasing research materials--books, equipment, favourite face cream. (ok, that's not research... or is it...:)

The problem, as many know... is that many of these things rely upon the schedule of others. So if there's not enough time to crank the wheels, there's simply nothing one can do. Wait in the cue. Have a good book. Get really practiced at saying, "it's alright" to people at the counter just doing their jobs.

Fieldwork is a full-bodied effort. It's the virtue and vice of being an ethnographer. You have to be 'there,' and take everything that comes with getting there, being there, and leaving there. In addition to that, there's the administration that comes with being here, leaving here, and coming back here..... nevermind securing the funding and support to carry those plans out.

So, I've been yammering about this trip for four years since my last fieldwork stint in Korea four years ago, applying for this and that grant, asking for reference letters, signatures, coffee talk, sanity checks. The time has finally come, and I bet everyone else is relieved along with me. Fortunately, I've encountered very helpful, kind, and positive people who are on my side when it comes to getting these things done (in all stages of the aforementioned tasks). There has also been some great news regarding getting this research funded, for which I'm just waiting on the official announcement of before letting the cat out of the bag here.