Korea Herald 20091110

18 COMMUNITY

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 10, 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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De-fragmenting expat community By Rob Ouwehand

A well-known commentator on Korea often compares organizing expats to herding cats: there are simply too many groups in Korea, here for too many different reasons, to ever form a coherent community. Fragmentation is a sad fact of life, and attempting to organize is a waste of effort. Despite that, a few people decided to buck that wisdom, and form a group: along with dozens of Facebook, academic, professional and social groups, The Association for Teachers of English in Korea, ATEK, is now officially organized and operating, campaigning for membership, and establishing a stronger foundation to represent their members. Members of certain online forums didn’t feel this organization represented them, and railed against the effort to form a more integrated English teacher community. That time, rifts formed between the different classes of visa: the F-series (long term resident or married) and the E-series (work or study visa). Because they had different reasons for being here, different goals for their time here, because they needed different things from an organization, how could one English teachers’ organization possibly represent both classes of visa? From time to time on the English language comment boards, a similar sentiment arises between long and short-term expats: some of the veterans get tired of dealing with groups of newcomers, always explaining the same things each year to another new set of colleagues. Some, especially those who can speak Korean, feel they have less in common with other expats, and leave them to fend for themselves. Meanwhile, business people feel little in common with English teachers, divisions form along nationality lines, those teaching in different types of workplaces stick to their own, and that isn’t even mentioning expats from other regions of the world: SoutheastAsian factory workers and country wives, and diplomats and scholars from all over. The final result is the same: the expat community fragments. This should not be so. Now this is not an unrealistic call for everyone to join hands and sing kumbaya, nor is it meant to disparage the neighborhood and coworker connections that naturally develop, but as expats, there are things we can do for each other that we haven’t so far. First of all, expats of any stripe need to recognize that, for all our differences, we have a lot in common. When a story like Bonojit Hussain, who was victim of a racist attack on a bus, appears, we owe it to ourselves to give him support, however we can. The

same goes for racial discrimination or scapegoating in business, in government, or in the media, because even if it’s not our subgroup this time, next time it could be. Racism doesn’t stop to check visa status, years in country, skill with children, diligence on the job, or ability to eat spicy food: We’re in this together. Next, we need to get our subgroups organized, not necessarily to make bold political actions, but so we can stay on top of events relevant to our community, and respond appropriately. One reason a group like the Anti-English Spectrum has managed to grow so large, and operate so effectively in setting the terms for how English teachers have been portrayed in the media and, now in the national assembly, is because English teachers had no organized response to them, and no organization with the ability to mount one, and provide a contrasting view to the fear-mongering. Sure, many individual teachers were very good ambassadors in their individual situations, but those scapegoating us were organized, mobilized, with access to Korea’s mass media — and we had no answer. Groups that can respond the next time our community, or members of it, are vilified, stereotyped or mistreated, need to be in existence, and ready to either act, or to support the actions or needs of other groups. Some already do exist, and when others try to improve those networks, or start a new initiative, we would do well to start off by offering support, rather than immediately seeking out flaws, criticizing bitterly, waiting for impossible perfection, and at the same time tearing down the well-meant and earnest efforts of those who do try something. Finally, we need to take ownership of our own groups. Though it will happen again when the current novice is replaced with another, long-term expats need to continue providing guidance, advice and information to newcomers, connect them with the bigger picture, and encourage them to think ahead, and act in a way that will leave the expat community in better shape than it was when they found it, for the sake of the next batch of newcomers. While many long-term expats complain about having to reinvent the wheel every time another fresh-faced newbie arrives, making these kinds of efforts might be exactly what improves the community’s coherence and, as a result, the retention rate, so that by investing that time, they ultimately won’t have to repeat themselves quite so often. For more of Rob Ouwehand’s writings, go to http://roboseyo. blogspot.com — Ed.

A country road in Gosan, North Jeolla Province

Photo by Oh Tae-kyoung

A last gasp of autumn

A little girl stands on ginko leaves at Hanok Maeul, Jeonju.

The shadow of the photographer is seen in Gosan, near Jeonju.

Twenty-month-old Ko Beom-jun plays in the leaves on Nami Island.

Photo by Oh Tae-kyoung

Photo by Oh Tae-kyoung

Photo by Kim Yeon-hee

This week could be your last chance to get out of the city and meander through a beautiful fall-colored forest. And with last week’s pre-winter preview of what’s in store for the next four months, don’t expect to be the only one wherever you decide to go. If you’re in the Seoul area, top of the list is Nami Island. Although it’s a manufactured type of beauty, it’s definitely worth a trip. The two best times to go are in the autumn and when it’s covered with a blanket of snow. To get there from Seoul, take a train to Gapyeong Station, and then jump in a taxi to the ferry dock. Admission includes a roundtrip ferry ride: 5,000 won for adults and 2,500 won for children. Photographers still chasing beautiful autumn portraits will want to head to Duryunsan, South Jeolla Province, Mudeungsan Provincial Park, South Jeolla Province, or Naejangsan in North Jeolla Province. Some say Naejang Mountain is one of the best places to go to see autumn’s changing leaves. To get there from Jeongeup City Bus Terminal, take No. 171 for Naejangsan National Park. Another mountain down south, Mudeung in Mudeungsan Provincial Park, is commonly visited for its accessible trails and picturesque valleys. To get there from Gwangju Station, take bus No. 18 to Wonhyosa Temple (about an hour and a half). Duryunsan Provincial Park, close to the southernmost point of the peninsula, has fantastic photoops. Be sure to check out Daedunsa Temple, which is part of the national Templestay network. To get there from Haenam Intercity Bus Terminal, take a bus for Daedunsa and get off at Daedunsa Temple.

What’s left Provided by the Korea Tourism Organization, these mountains still have some leaves on the trees.

A tree is reflected in a puddle of water in Hanok Maeul, Jeonju.

Mountain

Reaches peak

Duryunsan

Nov. 12

Mudeungsan

Nov. 7

Naejangsan

Nov. 5

Hallasan

Nov. 4

Gayasan

Nov. 1

Bukhansan

Oct. 31

Palgongsan

Oct. 29

Gyeryongsan

Oct. 29

Photo by Oh Tae-kyoung

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In Focus: Medium format is a wake-up call The Photo Challenge is sponsored by Hyosung Camera (English: 010-7203-9599) 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/seoulp hotoclub — Ed. By Aaron Raisey

PHOTO CHALLENGE — weekly winner — Last weekend cars drive through a breezy autumn evening near Korea University, Seoul. Erik Sellgren

About a month or so ago, I decided to try something new to me in photography: medium format film. This week I’d like to discuss what medium format is, and the effect that the switch back to film after a long time shooting digital has had on my photography. Medium format is a larger

film than the ubiquitous 35mm we’re all familiar with. It comes in various flavors (eg. 645 and 6x7 among others), but they all share one side of 6cm in length and use the same “120” size film. Medium format has been around since the beginning of last century and has been first choice for many areas of professional photography where the very best quality prints are essential. These days though, affordable high-resolution digital cameras have all but supplanted medium format in the more dynamic kinds of professional capture

such as at weddings, where digitals adaptability and flexibility give it a distinct advantage. However, medium format film is still very popular in areas of pro photography where you have time and/or control over the conditions such as shooting landscape or in the studio, and also with those to whom photography is art to be viewed in a gallery. But more important than what medium format actually is, is the effect the switch to film has had as to how I personally practice my photography. On the down-side, the camera shares the issue typical with most film cameras — once the film is in you can’t change it. In addition, it’s big, heavy and doesn’t exactly get out of the way of your photography. The camera I

use is totally manual — I have to set the aperture, shutter speed and focus manually — meaning off-the-cuff opportunistic shots are almost totally out of the question. Also a roll of film is about three times more expensive than 35mm and only yields 10 frames. There is a flip-side to this. Once the shutter fires, I can’t take it back, I can’t immediately see what I’ve got, and there is a definite price tag on each shot. This is the flip-side? It is. As it turns out, this has been of real benefit to my photography. It has forced me to think about each shot much more carefully than when shooting digital. With a DSLR you are free to take multiple pictures — different compositions, choices of aperture and exposure, etc. — but with

medium format I have to consider every single shot in much more detail. I’m not free to just fire away carte-blanche, choose the best and delete the rest. I typically get one chance only to get the best photograph and I try to make quite sure I’m going to get it. Sure, I’m not as productive, but my percentage of keepers has increased two-fold over what I was getting with my DSLR. This isn’t a film vs. digital issue, it’s all about attitude and approach. Shooting film, especially a more expensive format like medium format, forces close attention on technique — your choice of aperture, focal point and especially composition. I highly recommend grabbing a film camera once in a while as a wake-up call. ([email protected])