Jun 20, 2005 by Naomi.

Embracing the earth, theme of the 9th International Interdisciplinary Congress on Women, is shown on the program cover as a stylized person with wings stretching diagonally up and across the page. The concept became stunning action on stage behind a gauzy curtain at the opening ceremony as a white gowned figure stretched and beckoned to the rhythym and words of the theme song. How wonderfully our imaginations take to the concept of flight!

After the keynote speaker, Gertrude Mongella, received a final ovation for her hopeful and helpful outlook on women embracing the world, I looked down the many steep steps mindful of Chichzen Itza in the Yucatan in 1989 - not so steep, but a serious decline nevertheless. I headed toward Management Hall to place my poster but my thoughts and imagination flitted elsewhere. Farther down and across the distance I saw buildings pressed together with shorter ones seeming to stretch forward as if Ewha University could offer learned understanding and hope.

In the air there were no gulls darting about to admonish the pedistrians for not trashing a leftover sandwich. At my feet there were no sparrows twittering at the seeds and insects in the sand. In the bushes there were no starlings swooping up the live and dead organic material to maintain their excessive body heat.

And my heart sank.

Is this what over population comes to? Do we give up part of the natural world so we can exist? The trees and bushes supply oxygen to the planet but what of animal species filling niches among and beyond that? When Chris and I walked from the Senate building in Washington D.C. to the Museum of the American Indian in February, 2005, we counted ten species of birds - ten species, not just ten individuals - in the air, trees, shrubs, and water. True there was open land but when population demands, how long will it take to cover every foot of soil with concrete, or whatever, for housing and offices?

If we do not prevent this from happening our species will disappear, become extinct. I don’t want that to happen. I am just egotistical enough to believe we can, with this marvelous brain matter folded so haphazardly inside our skull, find solutions to let us soar among the developed plant and animal life as if we were butterflies emerging from a self imposed chryalis. To hunt for solutions as if our very sustainence depended upon it is the reason I came to Seoul in the Republic of Korea, June 2005.

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Jun 20, 2005 by Naomi.

My elegant poster is up among hundreds of others - at least there is the possibility of hundreds. I was told that only a small percentage of the promised posters actually materialize. Those that are already up for viewing are crammed with information, one has fifty 3 x 5 cards filled with typing which I briefly scanned. The panels are indeed 2.5 meters high which may allow the top parts to be read over the heads of others. I will have to see just how easy it is to get up to the panel and view in a crowd. My location is in a corner that allows me space to stand for questions without obstructing another poster. My laminated pieces are very attractive and will bring the viewers into it for further reading. If mine is photographed the words will be readible and used for further thought.

The panels are white painted wood so my velcro idea could not work. Double sticky back foam tape was furnished, however, and the panels went up easily. The top section which was supposed to have been furnished by the Secretariat with title and source was not forthcoming so I made a handwritten not matching the wonderful graphic pieces I brought. I did arrange my separate panels more closely together than planned because otherwise the bottom panel would require a squat for a proper reading.

A short walk around was pleasant for a look at the landscaping which seemed to be spontaneous growth rather than meticulous plantings, nothing exotic but much noxious weeds by Mid-Columbia standards. Many leaves reminded me of familiar bushes and trees but not quite accurately enough for positive identification.

The plants hid the terrain which were really steep inclines 45 degrees where retaining walls were not in place. Not that the hills were in a neat ripples for orderly development. The streets wound around in tight loops where oncoming drivers backed up to accommodate the shuttle bus in the narrow spaces allowed. I have not yet made the 10 minute walk from the dormitory to the main hall as claimed in the information I received a month ago. The sightseeing shuttle bus route took more than half hour so I may not ever make the walk - time and feet considered. Still I think my choice of the Ewah Hanwoori dormitory over an offsite location was a good one.

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