18 COMMUNITY
In Focus:
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
mattlamers@heraldm.com
Submissions may be edited for length or clarity.
PHOTO CHALLENGE — Weekly winner — Last week in Seorak National Park, Gangwon-do, a heavenly reward for a long climb — the Taebaek mountain range near Osaek as seen from Daechongbong
Peak.
Coping with the three stages of the flu
By Rob York
Ever since arriving in Korea
four years ago, I’ve reacted to-
ward the first symptom of a cold
— usually a sore throat — in the
same way: I am convinced that I
need a good night’s rest as soon
as possible. This is the remnant
of a mentality that served me
well in Tennessee, where a
work-hindering illness was an
annual event, but a brief one if I
were properly rested.
There are a couple of prob-
lems with that way of thinking:
for one, I’m no longer in
Tennessee, and I’m convinced
that the common cold germs
there are like NCAA Division III
wrestlers and Korea’s “gamgi”
What are global village centers?
NEW TO KOREA
By Lee Jae-eun
Global village centers are
community centers for foreign-
ers living in Seoul, where staff
try to help expats deal with
problems they face in their daily
lives. With the aid of embassies,
labor centers, and police, they
can be protected and helped,
even if they can’t speak Korean.
Staff speak English, Chinese,
Japanese, French, and some
other languages.
Through the global centers
you can sign up to do volunteer
work for others in need. Global
village centers are another way
of networking.
After all, communities gath-
ered through the village centers
THREE COMICS FROM ROKETSHIP
germs are Division I all the way.
For another, those Tennessee ill-
nesses beset me when I was in
my energetic early to mid-20s,
whereas now I’m a 30 year old
with recurring back pain and a
chest full of jeans that don’t fit.
Despite my expectations of
brevity, there are always a whole
range of phases that must be
worked through. First, there’s
Stage I, or the throat phase,
where it hurts to talk and I spit
more often than a Yankees pitch-
er would during the whole of All-
Star Weekend. If I wake up in
this condition, I have two choic-
es: Call in to work and tell them
I can’t make it, or show up and
let them see and hear how much
they don’t want me around.
The next day, or perhaps later
that afternoon, the sore throat
passes and Stage II, the chills
and general muscle aches
phase, sets in. Here starts the
are often the most effective at
helping newcomers from their
own countries. Foreign volun-
teers gather and go to help out
at orphanages and nursing
homes.
It is through this kind of work
that they are also able to under-
stand Korean living and get in-
volved in local society.
With a visit to the nearest
global village center, people can
find information or learn about
events held around Seoul.
Various programs and lectures
where participants can experi-
ence Korean culture are listed.
For example, there are daily liv-
ing orientation sessions. Most of
worst way to spend a day off:
Wrapped up in a blanket that’s
not warm enough and never will
be, I hope to sleep but struggle
to do so because of breathing
problems, so instead I lie awake
wondering if there’s a neighbor-
hood “juk,” or rice porridge,
store I can stagger toward.
After the muscles aches and
chills pass, then comes Stage
III, or the recovery phase.
During recovery only the nasal
problems remain and work may
continue. My experience has
been that it’s annoying to work
while experiencing sinus diffi-
culties, but on the upside, if you
have Korean coworkers there’s
virtually no end to the number
of tangerines you’ll receive.
This year when my wife Ji-
yeon woke up with gamgi symp-
toms after a working for a week
at the hospital, I again had the
first impression that she’d be
the programs are free or have a
very minimal charge.
The centers also offer free
Korean-language classes for be-
ginner and intermediate levels.
There are now six global vil-
lage centers in Seoul: Itaewon-
Hannam, Ichon, Yeoksam, Se-
orae, Yeonnam and Yeongd-
eungpo.
The new Yeongdeungpo
Multicultural Village Center
opened just a few months ago,
on Sept. 29.
Currently, there are 37,000 reg-
istered foreigners and 6,700 for-
eigners with Korean citizenship
living in Yeongdeungpo-gu. This
totals 44,000 foreigners, making
it the district with the highest
number of alien residents.
In order to fulfill their needs,
the center is divided into three
better after spending a day get-
ting some rest. This time around
I was more wrong than usual: In
previous years we didn’t have a
flu pandemic making headlines
worldwide, nor did we have
Daniel, our 5-month-old baby.
My first reaction when she
told me, one day after her symp-
toms began, that she had tested
positive for H1N1, was to won-
der what would happen to him.
She had already started recov-
ering from her symptoms, so I
was more or less sure she’d be
okay. But when Daniel’s nose
started to run and his tempera-
ture rose, I thought back to
when she was seven months
pregnant and we found out that
his leg length was two weeks
ahead of most Korean babies at
that stage, and the Korean
nurses exclaimed that the ultra-
sound pics had shown his nose
to be “very big.”
parts: Educational Support,
Welfare Advancement, and
Cultural Support. There are of-
fices and counseling rooms, lec-
ture rooms for computer and
language education, meeting
rooms, a multicultural library,
and a playroom for kids. All fa-
cilities are available for foreign-
ers, married immigrants, and
their families.
Global centers are tailored
specifically to the demographics
of the foreigners in the district
they are serving. In the case of
the Yeongdeungpo Multicul-
tural Village Center, because
most of the foreigners in the
area are ethnic Koreans who
have come from China to work,
there are programs specifically
organized to help them find em-
ployment.
Photo by Norlan Page
When I found out he had my
traits, I knew he’d never be just
another person to me; he’d be
part of me, and I would feel the
things that hurt him.
He and my wife were checked
into the hospital where she works
to be watched for a few days. I
could feel Stage I of gamgi setting
in, but was much more concerned
with the fact that when I held
Daniel, he didn’t reach up and
grab me like usual; instead his
arms hung at his side, with him
too weak to lift them.
He and I were both tested for
H1N1, but fortunately we both
tested negative. I still had to
leave them in the hospital, but
not until after I had watched the
nurses put an IV into his leg,
which caused him to cry until
his voice went hoarse. On the
bright side, at least this will
teach him that adults frequent-
ly will cause him great pains
Additionally, while other vil-
lage centers only provide begin-
ner and intermediate level
Korean classes, because these
ethnic Koreans from China
usually come with some back-
ground in the Korean language,
the Yeongdeungpo Multicult-
ural Village Center also offers
advanced-level classes. Acc-
ording to the schedule, people
can also take Korean, computer,
or driver’s-license classes, pay-
ing only for textbooks.
Evening and weekend classes
are available along with week-
day classes, in order to accom-
modate as many schedules as
possible.
In order to organize the pro-
grams, staff members started
announcing the opening of the
Yeongdeungpo Multicultural
Village Center and began seek-
ing teachers and applicants as
early as July.
“Now there are 305 people
from 10 different countries
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 17, 2009
while saying that they’re help-
ing. This should be great prepa-
ration for university.
I was through with Stage II of
my own illness a couple of days
after symptoms began, and my
reward was their return from
the hospital, with the doctor as-
sured that the worst had
passed. Now I’m at home with
them, well into my recovery
stage and confident that we’ll all
be well again soon.
Furthermore, I will have
many years to teach Daniel
about how to stay well, how to
recover from illnesses, and how
to say, “Thanks, but I already
have enough tangerines.”
For more of Rob York’s writ-
ings, go to rjamesyork.
blogspot.com; to contact him, e-
mail rjamesyork@heraldm.com
— Ed.
learning in the YMVC. On aver-
age, 170 participants recieve
services here daily,” said the
chief of the DISDYO in the
opening ceremony.
The Yeongdeungpo Multic-
ultural Village Center is open
from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday
through Friday and from 10
a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. For
more information, visit the
Yeongdeungpo Multicultural
Village Center near Darim
Subway Station (Line 2 or 7,
Exit 8 or 10), or call (02) 2670-
3800.
For more information about
any of the global village centers,
visit the Seoul Global Center
website at
www.global.seoul.go.kr or call
the hotline at (02) 1688-0120.
Or, anyone can call or visit the
nearest global village center or
get useful information from
their websites, which can be
found at the link above.
(shannon.sgc@gmail.com)
Photography
without
the camera
The Photo Challenge is
sponsored by Hyosung
Camera (English: 010-7203-
9599) and Babo Shirts
( w w w. b a b o s h i r t s . c o m ) .
Winners of the weekly compe-
tition 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/seo
ulphotoclub — Ed.
By Aaron Raisey
As much as we might en-
joy photography and happily
endure the hassle of hauling
a camera around, there are
of course
times where
we don’t
have a cam-
era with us.
Maybe we forgot to take it, or
perhaps it isn’t convenient or
practical to have it with us
on the occasion.
But does photography
then stop for us? Are we
only photographers when
we are physically in posses-
sion of a camera? Perhaps
so for some, but I recom-
mend keeping those pho-
tographers eyes open all
the time.
What do I mean? What are
some things we can keep an
eye out for? Well, let’s briefly
touch on a few areas that
contribute to a good photo —
shapes, lines, color, contrast
and light.
Practice seeing regular
shapes and how they com-
pliment each other or cre-
ate interesting interac-
tions. Squares and circles
together such as a solitary
ball on a tiled floor. Groups
of triangles could be anoth-
er — the structure of a con-
struction crane is filled
with triangles. Related to
shapes are lines, and
strong lines can be an effec-
tive way to create interest
in your photos. Keep a
look-out for diagonals,
curves and especially the
elusive and treasured “S”
line such as you might see
in a winding path or a
country road.
When you are out and
about without that camera
also keep colors in mind.
Look for pleasing plays such
as a yellow building against
a blue sky, or any vibrant col-
or in a relatively dull envi-
ronment.
Closely aligned to color is
contrast. Contrast is espe-
cially relevant to black and
white photography. Watch
for sharp delineations be-
tween bright areas and
dark. In your mind, try
switching to black and
white mode in the middle of
the day when the light is of-
ten too harsh for color cap-
ture but creates sharp shad-
ows.
This brings us to light. Be
observant of the light at dif-
ferent times of the day. On
days without too much cloud
cover, you will notice how
the quality of light changes
over the course of the day-
light period. This can have a
dramatic effect on color.
Colors are warm and rich at
the beginning and the end of
the day, but bright and
harsh during the midday pe-
riod. Make a mental note of
these effects for future refer-
ence.
Bringing two or more of
these elements together is
what the broader subject of
composition is all about,
but the point here is don’t
close your eyes to photog-
raphy just because you
don’t have a camera handy.
Look for these things and
mentally note them —
even if it might not be real-
ly worthy of a good photo,
it’s the seeing that is im-
portant. Just as you don’t
need specialized exercise
equipment to keep your
body in shape, you don’t
need to be in possession of
a camera to keep a prac-
ticed eye.
Have a look at what the
some of the best expat pho-
tographers in Korea are see-
ing and check out the Seoul
Photo Club on Flickr.
(raisey@hanmail.net)