Korea Herald 20090901

18 COMMUNITY

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 1, 2009

Expat Living is a section dedicated to the daily living of expatriates. It is printed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. To share stories about your life abroad, send stories or story ideas to Matthew Lamers at

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Poker for a good cause? You bet By Matthew Lamers

This Wednesday will present a unique opportunity to play poker and help the community at the same time. On Sept. 5 the 7 Luck Hilton casino will hold a charity poker night with all proceeds going to Chechon Children’s Home in Jecheon, Chungcheonbuk-do. Tae Kim, head pit boss in charge of the poker room and former Torontonian, helped organize the charity night, but credited the idea to Travis Beck, who introduced him to Chechon Children’s Home. Kim said the casino is dedicated to giving back to the community through volunteer work and donations. He described a culture of charity among successful poker players. “It’s common amongst famous poker players who win tournaments to give a certain percentage to the charity they support. Barry Greenstien has given millions to charity (and) is known as the Robin Hood of Poker.” He said he expects up to 60 people to participate and is hoping to hand the orphanage a check for 5 million won. Kim said the tournament is open to all players, serious or just for fun. Referring to beginners, Kim said the 7 Luck Tournament For Kids would be a good place to meet people. But he said the tournament will also see a lot of experienced players. And for them, it’s a chance to help out the community (presumably after winning so much money). But if you’re a pretty serious poker player, he said, “poker has been good to a lot of us ... and this is one way we can give back to the community.” Jane White, the founder of Chechon Children’s Home echoed his sentiment. “Although we do get government money, anything extra goes toward programs that will make the quality of life better for the kids,” said the Wisconsin native, who has been living in Korea for over four decades. She said they run a lot of programs for the kids, and they cost quite a bit of money. “We do a lot of programs for our older kids because they are going to have to go out and live in society. We have a lot of seminars to bring people in and we always need to pay for programs.”

Most of their funding comes from the government, but some comes from missionary funds and Korean sponsors. The orphanage is currently home to 92 kids, ranging in age from a 1-year-old and up. There is a paid staff of 30, including caregivers and administrators. White came to Korea in 1962, almost a decade after the Korean War came to a halt in 1953. She first worked in an orphanage her friends had set up in 1959, but it was for older children and she said she wanted to work with the youngest kind of clientele. “I came to work in that, but it was for big boys and I’ve always loved babies and wanted to work with babies. I heard of a need for an orphanage in Jecheon,” she explained. She moved to Jecheon and lived with friends for a few months until she started the Chechon Children’s Home. “My first child was in February 1963. “I think we’re on 1,225 now. Most have been small babies, then we worked with an adoption agency and adopted children to the United States, but then that was stopped by the Korean government.” To say White has a unique perspective on Korean society would be an understatement. As one of the longest living foreignborn residents in the country, she has lived through the same dictatorships and witnessed the same economic development that most Koreans have. The 47-year Korean resident explained that when she first arrived, there wasn’t much in the way of social work, so she and her evangelical colleagues “just did the best we could.” “And now there is a lot of help — and even Koreans are adopting children now. There aren’t as many orphans, single mothers having babies and not as many abandoned as there used to be.” The 7 Luck Tournament For Kids starts at 1 p.m. on Sept. 5. The cost is 100,000 won, plus a 20,000 won buy-in. See www.cchkorea.org for more information on Chechon Children’s Home and go to www.7luckpoker.com for information on the 7 Luck Tournament For Kids. — Ed. ([email protected])

Shiba Raj Pokharel, a Nepali, enjoys a Saturday stroll through Deokjin Park, Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. Raj graduated with a master’s degree in financial management Rob McGovern from Chonbuk National University and is preparing to do his Ph.D. at the same university.

Nepali chases ‘Korean dream’ By Rob McGovern

JEONJU, North Jeolla Province — Shiba Raj Pokharel is a bit of an ethnic rarity in a city not exactly known for its diverse range of expats (or their cuisines). It doesn’t seem to bother him. Raj, as he prefers to call himself, said there are around 30 Nepalis in Jeonju, all studying at the same university as him. All can speak English and some can speak the local language, which helps, considering some of their lectures are given solely in Korean. Raj modestly admits that he can speak Korean quite well, but then he has been self studying for three years. Jeonju’s lack of diversity tends to make Raj stand out from the crowd, maybe a little exotic even. There are hundreds of “garden variety” expatriates here, masses of Canadians and Americans, Kiwis and Australians, Irish, British (of which we have a Welsh person and even a few Scousers!). Raj, a Nepali, has called Korea and Jeonju his home for the last three years.

He graduated with a master’s degree in financial management from Chonbuk National University last February and is currently having a well-earned rest before embarking on his Ph.D., which will keep him in Jeonju for another three years. The home of the Himalayas, Mount Everest and Lord Buddha (in Raj’s words), Nepal is a landlocked country with a population of around 30 million. Raj has found that the Himalayas, and in particular, Mt. Everest have in a small way helped him settle in Korea. Just about every expat in Korea has had their nationality wrongly assumed once or twice, and Raj is no exception. He has been referred to as “Indo” once or twice, but when Raj points out that his country is home to Mount Everest, the penny drops and people instantly know where he is from. Since mountain climbing enjoys great popularity here, Nepalis get away with a bit of hand clapping. Raj is very laid back, but admits that he has good days as well as bad. “The assuming nature of Koreans sometimes

does make me feel a bit sad, but I don’t let it bother me too much.” Until four months ago Raj was alone in Korea. His four brothers, three sisters, parents and extended family, were all more than 2,000 kilometers away in Nepal. But in May one of his brothers came to live in Jeonju with his wife to study at the same university as Raj. His brother and their group of friends often get together to eat and socialize, and both Korean and Nepalese festivals or holidays are cause for a feast of native food. Although Raj does admit it is hard to cook genuine Nepalese food here because of a lack of authentic ingredients, the food is adequate enough to placate any desire to eat a real, home-cooked meal. Three years down the line, Dr. Pokharel will be looking for a job that could well take him away from Korea and surely away from Jeonju. “It depends on where the jobs are,” he said when asked about his plans. Like many expats, Raj dreams of one day returning to his homeland to live out his days.

“When I am about 45 years old I will think about returning to Nepal to retire.” Nepal is a progressive state: It’s one of the few countries in Asia to have abolished the death penalty, and in November 2008 the nation’s Supreme Court ordered full rights for LGBT individuals, including the right to marry. But in a country where no government has survived for more than two years, the political scene could hardly be described as stable. The country came out of a decadelong civil war in 2006, where an estimated 13,000 people died, leading to an interim parliament passing a bill making Nepal a federal republic. The king left the royal palace for the last time in 2007, ending 239 years of royal rule. Raj is hopeful that one day Nepal will be a peaceful place, but at the moment admits that it would be difficult to live there. For now Raj is happy studying and living in Korea, eating kimchi jjigae and samgyeopsal with his friends and studying. ([email protected])

Film or digital? All about convenience The Photo Challenge is sponsored by Hyosung Camera (English: 010-72039599) and Babo Shirts (www.baboshirts.com). Winners of the weekly competition receive a 50,000 won store credit at Hyosung Camera and a Babo Shirt. To take part in the competition, simply upload your photo at www.flickr.com/groups/seoulphotoclub — Ed. By Aaron Raisey

Last week we examined the economics of film vs. digital cameras and came to the conclusion that in the long term, there might be very little between the two. This week the question of convenience between film and digital comes into focus. With two very important exceptions, there is very little difference between actually using comparable digital and film cameras, and there are also a couple of important peripheral considerations. Before we examine the differences, how are they similar? On either camera the photographer must make a few choices before taking the shot. For example, what mode shall they shoot in (aperture priority, manual, full auto, etc.), or do they need to apply any exposure compensation? These decisions are common to both types of camera: make decisions, compose and shoot. Not much difference in convenience here. Digital though, does have a couple important advantages around the time of capture. The most obvious is the feedback we get from being able to view the image immediately, and the subsequent choice whether to keep it or delete it and shoot again. This feature is certainly convenient and useful, particularly for those new to SLR photography. Perhaps more significant is the ability to select different ISO values on the

DSLR. (Very briefly, the ISO value is the “speed” of the film or digital sensor — the higher the number, the more sensitive to light the film or sensor is. Higher ISO values allow better performance in low-light situations.) With a film camera, you commit to a fixed ISO value when you purchase a roll of film, and once loaded into the camera there is no way to change it short of loading another roll of film with a different ISO. This gives the DSLR a tremendous advantage when it comes to adapting to a very broad range of lighting conditions. From bright sunlight to the dim interior of a coffee shop on a Friday evening, the DSLR can take it all in stride. The peripheral issues I mentioned include having to be prepared with extra rolls of film — the capacity of memory cards precludes having to worry about that issue with digital — and post-processing. With film we have to find the time and convenience to drop off undeveloped film and pick up those hopefully great images we’ve been dying to see. Shooting digital means we have likely already vetted our images at the time of capture and now we are ready to share and enjoy them when we get home. But beware of getting sucked into spending hours in front of the computer making your images “better.” For me, I think the digital camera has the edge. I like my DSLR’s ability to easily adapt to different lighting conditions and I appreciate the convenience and the flexibility this gives my photography. Next week, we’ll look a bit closer at images from film and compare them with those captured digitally. In the meantime, head over to the Seoul Photo Club on Flickr. ([email protected])

PHOTO CHALLENGE — weekly winner — A shopkeeper in Samcheong-Dong, Tom Hicken Seoul reaches for the top shelf in her cluttered stationery store.