Korea Herald 20080626

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COMMUNITY

THURSDAY JUNE 26, 2008

Expat living is a page dedicated to the issues that affect expats' daily lives. It is your page, where you can share stories about your life in Korea. Send story ideas to Matthew Lamers at [email protected]

In focus: Taking care of blurry pics I have lots of problems with blurry photos. I think it’s mainly due to the fact that I can’t keep the camera still. How can I fix this problem? Anna, Daegu. By David Smeaton

This problem is commonly referred to as “camera shake,” and can be a huge problem for photographers. Often, this problem can be easily fixed by using a number of techniques or photographic tricks and by learning good habits. The best advice is to use a tripod. If your camera is heavy, it can cause camera shake. Also, shooting with longer-distance zooms can result in shaking. Mounting the camera on a tripod will take the weight off and give you a stable platform for heavy equipment or zooming. If a tripod limits your mobility too much, consider a monopod. Monopods are very easy to use. While the monopod won’t help with level shots, it will greatly reduce camera shake, which is why sports photographers use them so often. An alternative to a tripod or monopod is to use your surroundings. Rest the camera on a table, or lean on a fence or against a wall. Find something sturdy that you can put the camera on and give it some more stability. Another technique is to consider your camera settings. The general rule of thumb is that your shutter speed must be higher than your focal

length. So, if you’re shooting at a 300mm focal length, you must stay above 1/300th of a second. A slower speed will likely result in camera shake, unless you have incredibly steady hands. If you are having difficulty keeping your shutter speed high, then adjust your aperture or increase your ISO. Both of these changes will give you more freedom in shutter speed. Unfortunately, cheaper lenses are slow for this very reason (their apertures don’t allow for fast shooting), so investing in higher-quality lenses will definitely help. Nowadays, many lenses (and some cameras) come with built-in stability systems. Anti-shake and vibration-reduction technologies are advancing quickly and are surprisingly good. There are also a few ways you can try holding your camera to increase the stability. A good method is to crouch on one knee, put your elbow on your knee and use that arm to support your camera. This will enable you to use your whole body as a platform and will give you more stability. Happy shooting! Send David a message at [email protected] or visit his website (davidsmeaton.com). If you want to be a part of the weekly Photo Challenge, join the “Seoul Photo Club” group at flickr (flickr.com/groups/seoulphotoclub). — Ed.

For substantial fat loss, efficiency rules Conventional wisdom holds that slow and steady workouts are the best way to burn fat. This is why you sometimes see people on the treadmill when you first get to the gym that are still there when you leave. These same people follow the old-school maxim of high reps and low resistance when it comes to weight training. But recent research suggests there is a more efficient strategy for overall fat loss. The “slow-n-steady” strategy toward cardio certainly burns calories, but the amount of calories you burn is entirely dependent on how long you’re active. In other words, you may burn 300 calories in an hour and a half, but that’s the limit for the calories you’re going to burn for the day. By incorporating high-intensity interval training you’ll be able to burn more calories all day. How does HIIT work? It’s done by working out in intervals. You can think of this as one minute of exercising nearly as hard as you can (80-90 percent of your maximum effort) followed by one minute of “active rest” (at about 20-30 percent effort). Active rest does not mean complete rest. If your HIIT training is running, then you sprint during the hard interval, and take it down to a jog for the resting period. The good news is that you can get a full HIIT workout in less than 20 minutes. Don’t think for a moment, though, that it’s easy. Similarly, you can look to efficiency to provide an answer for your weight lifting workout. By using exercises that incorporate multiple joint movements, you’ll use more of your body’s

Steve Ward on Fitness muscles. By structuring your exercises in circuits, rather than blocks of sets, you’ll start working on a different muscle group while the previous group rests. In the meantime, you’re keeping your heart rate up. This makes a weightlifting workout as much about cardio as it is about lifting. Here’s an important tip: Don’t be afraid to go heavy. Building muscle means that you will have more lean mass to use burning more calories 24 hours a day. By building muscle, or at least maintaining what you have during fat loss, you are helping your body help itself loose that gut. In my case, my bare minimum is three lifting sessions per week, with about 48 hours in between to give the muscles time to recover (recovery time is where your muscles get bigger). I can do them over my lunch break. This is just an introduction to how you can use the latest research in fat loss to your benefit. Before embarking on a routine, you’d be well-served to see a doctor, and then go online, where you can find any number of workouts developed to maximize efficiency. A couple great places to start are the forums on MensHealth.com and Bodybuilding.com. Both places have loads of information on building a workout schedule that works for you. Steve can be reached through his blog at www.seoulsteves.com — Ed.

PHOTO CHALLENGE — Open to all entries — In Gapsan-ri, Gurye-gun, Jeollanam-do, farm workers plant rice. Having sown the field with a rice-planting tractor, these peoMario Taradan (flickr.com/photos/helje) ple then use the traditional method to fill in the spots missed by the machine.

Cycling and the Han River

What The Book’s English bestsellers Fiction Bestsellers

By Edward Stern

SEONGNAM — In October it is still mild enough to find bikers on paths along the Han River. It was on such an October day my wife and I, two Israeli’s living in Seongnam, met Yoon Jae-guk. Little did we know at the time the wonderful path that this meeting would open up for us. I have moved past my 60th year and have been a serious biker for over 40 years. Over the years I have cycled through China, Korea, Canada, Israel and the United States. If at the age of 60 a man should begin to understand the threads that have weaved his life together, for me, biking is certainly one of them. Needless to say, when my wife, Etty, and I arrived in Korea in the late summer of 2006, one of the first things we did was to purchase two new Black-cat bikes. For us, the discovery of Han River bike paths was analogous to Christopher Columbus discovering America. It opened up a new world. Indeed, as we rode the streets of Seongnam and discovered the city, we gradually became aware of various ways of reaching the Han River though the streets of Seongnam. Koreans dressed to the hilt in complete biking uniforms zipping along the Han on fabulously expensive bikes. We saw jog-

A letter from Seongnam gers, dog walkers, families with young children, bird watchers, and they all part of the constituency that populate the bike paths. We discovered people at play — very different from the hard working, serious people we had come in contact with at work. It was at one of the many resting spots that the man who we come to know as Mr. Yoon introduced himself. Yoon asked us in near perfect English if Etty and I wanted to join the Han Gang Cycle club. I did join, but because of the approaching winter, Etty decided to put her rides on hold. The Han Gang Cycle Club is a biking club of Koreans and a smattering of non-Koreans that formed in 2002. It has about 165 members, ranging from their late 40s to late 80s. One of the most notable members is Lee Whan-soon, still an active rider at the age of 89. The club’s motto is “nagaja,” or “go ahead, for the country, for the family and the love of biking.” As Etty and I were to discover, this motto was regularly chanted upon the consumption of a class of soju or a bowl of makgeolli. I rode with the club once a

week through the dead of winter with the hardiest members of the club. Each ride was along the Han River and though its connecting towns. The rides were between 50 and 75 kilometers. Every ride was broken by a wonderful lunch at a restaurant that a member was familiar with; and of course soju was a part of those lunches. I slowly learned about Korean geography and food. More importantly, I began to learn of the wonderful spirit and generosity of the club members. A flat tire along the route for one member was a flat tire for all. No one moved until the flat was fixed. Riding was always done with consideration for the weakest riders. Stops were frequent, with this in mind. Saturdays and Sundays became special days for me. As special as these weekend rides were for me, they were balanced by the fact that my wife was left at home. The evolution of my wife in to a Han Gang rider is something that she and the club can take great pride in. As winter turned into spring, more members of the club participated in the Saturday and Sunday rides. My wife was among the new participants. At first riding with a pillow on her seat, my wife slowly but surely increased her endurance and speed with the encouragement and protection of the club

members. Never left alone in her struggles to ride, club members continually encouraged her and offered up helpful hints. Although I kept an eye on her early struggles, the club was always careful to see that a member rode behind her. As weeks past, she became a stronger and more confident rider. The pillow was soon discarded as weekend rides began to exert their magical hold on her. After each ride it was inevitable that Yoon would come up to my wife and say, “Etty, your riding has really improved.” Indeed Yoon was right about Etty’s riding. It really did improve. In May and June we went with the club on two overnight trips. The first was to Ganghwa Island, which was a 220 km ride. The second was to Chuncheon, about 250 km. When Etty would arrive at rest spots, members would applaud, turn their thumbs up and give her congratulations. What spirit. What wonderful people. Etty really now sat with the club. She raised her glass and roared “Han Gang nagaja!” The people and the spirit of the Han Gang Cycle Club is something that will live with us forever. If you are interested in riding, learning about Korea and Korean culture call Yoon at 018217-1701. ([email protected])

1. The Kite Runner (1) Khaled Hosseini Trade paper $15.00 2. The Shack (4) William P. Young Trade paper $14.99 3. The Other Boleyn Girl (2) Philippa Gregory Trade paper $16.00 4. Water for Elephants (5) Sara Gruen Trade paper $13.95 5. Nineteen Minutes (3) Jodi Picoult Trade paper $15.00 6. The Gathering (6) Anne Enright Trade paper $14.00 7. In the Woods (7) Tana French Trade paper $14.00 8. Snuff (10) Chuck Palahniuk Hard cover $24.95 9. The Friday Night Knitting Club (8) Kate Jacobs Trade paper $14.00 10. A Thousand Splendid Suns (9) Khaled Hosseini Hard cover $25.95

Nonfiction Bestsellers 1. Eat, Pray, Love (1) Elizabeth Gilbert Trade paper $15.00 2. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace (2) Greg Mortenson Trade paper $15.00 3. The Last Lecture (3) Randy Pausch Hard cover $21.95 4. Brother One Cell: An American Coming of Age in South Korea’s Prisons (4) Cullen Thomas Trade paper $15.00 5. New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose (5) Eckhart Tolle Trade paper $14.00 6. The God Delusion (7) Richard Dawkins Trade paper $15.95 7. When You Are Engulfed in Flames (6) David Sedaris Hard cover $25.99 8. Bringing Down the House (8) Ben Mezrich Trade paper $15.00 9. Into the Wild (10) Jon Krakauer

CD RELEASE PARTY — At Club Freebird in Hongdae, The Forty Days, a popular expat band, will launch their second full-length album “The Legend of The Forty Days” on Saturday, June 28. The 10,000 won cover charge gets you entrance into the venue and a copy of the album. To get to the show, which is also supported by The Spiritual Hustlers, go to Sangsu Station (Line 6, Exit No. 1). For exact directions, go to www.clubfreebird.com. The show starts at 10:30 p.m. For more information on The Forty Days, see their website (www.myspace.com/thefortydays). They are also playing at Stompers in Itaewon on Friday (10 p.m.) and The Rocky Mountain Tavern on Sunday (6 p.m.) for Canada Day.

10. What Happened: Inside the Bush White House (9) Scott McClellan What The Book ships anywhere in Korea. See its website at www.whatthebook.com

“The International Hub of Podcasting” — SeoulPodcast, sponsored by Expat Living — See SeoulPodcast.com