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COMMUNITY18 WEDNESDAY JUNE 3, 2009

By Henry Allen Hurst

OSAN, Gyeonggi Province Though Korea is becoming moreinternational, th e nat ions ho-mogeneous nature still seemsimpenetrable to many. Being aforeign migrant in Korea es-pecially a black one leavesmany foreign nationals feelinglike islands unt o themselves.

So was the case with ShaAlemu Mekebeb.

After becoming increasinglyhomesick, Mekebeb, founderand chief administrator ofBrothas & Sistas of SouthKorea, looked far and wide foran Afro-centric expat group inwhich to explore Korea.

I started (Brothas & Sistas ofSouth Korea) for selfish reasons,the San Diego native admits. Ineeded an a venue to connect withother brothers and sisters. I wassure I was not alone. I wanted tofind other black people; however,the group is not exclusively blackand is open t o anyone.

There are over 520 people inthe group.

Mekebeb decided to teach inKorea after stints in what he de-scribed were less desirable of-fice jobs. She learned aboutteaching English abroad from afriend who had been teaching inJapan for the last two years.During an online chat session atabout 3 a.m., she decided tomake the leap.

Mekebeb, a former highschool tutor and part-time sub-stitute teacher, says she has en-

joyed teaching in Korea. She en- joys virtually no stress coupledwith a stable income while do-ing a job she loves. She has noplans of leaving anytime soon.

Mekebeb is well traveled.During her seasonal breaks incollege, she visited five conti-nents. Being a foreigner was notnew to her. She says that someof the cultural insensitivities donot tarry long in her mind.However, Mekebeb has friendsthat feel differently.

I have many friends thatsometimes have trouble andcomplain about mistreatmentthey feel is because of their col-or, she says. I have those feel-ings as well, but its no differentfrom home.

Mekebeb says groups likeBrothas & Sistas of SouthKorea are important for numer-ous reasons. She rememberswhen she first explored the op-tions for a teaching job on popu-lar ESL forums almost threeyears ago.

Some people told me to notgo because Koreans were racistand that I should go to Japan,where people are more toler-ant, she recalls. It saddenedme, but a fter reflecting, it reallyangered me. The people onthese forums were young whitemen, who came to Korea and ex-perienced culture shock for thefirst time in their lives andcouldnt han dle it.

On a lighter note, Mekebebsays the groups most popularquery is about hair. She sported

dreadlocks down to her elbowswhen she first arrived. Theblack men want t o find a properbarber. Th ose with locks cantfind places for upkeep and sis-ters can talk about what stylistthey found tha ts best to handletheir textur e of hair.

Members also express thatBrothas & Sistas of South Koreais one of the most active groupson Facebook. The group has or-ganized and promoted severalevents such as Speakeasy, anopen mic event, skiing andsnowboarding day trips.

The group has even thrown aBob Marley birthday bash, anda party to witness the inaugura-tion of U.S. President BarackObama.

The group also holds monthlybook club meetings. Ironicallyreflective of their sojourn inKorea, th is month s book is TheOutsider by Richard Wright.

Derek Johnson, a group mem-ber from Washington D.C. hasresided in Korea for just a littleover a m onth.

Johnson says he likes thestraightforwardness and curi-ous nature of Koreans and thekimchi. However, J ohnsons dis-contents echo those of many for-eigners, such as xenophobia andovert nationalism.

Johns on says he doesnt be-lieve the xenophobia is rooted inracism, rather the fear of theunknown. He points to culturalmuseums such as the AfricaCultural Center in northernSeoul, which the group visitedlast April, as evidence.

I think Koreans have a mis-conceived notion about Africansas well as African Americans,said Johnson. This is particular-ly obvious in the way black peo-ple are displayed in the mediaand school (curricula). This is

giving future generations an un-guided and inaccurate (stereo-type) of black people. If Koreanswant to successfully interactwith th e black world, it should beaddressed on a ll levels.

Johnson says despite thelengthy stares, he has no nega-tive incidents to report withKoreans.

Because I am black, I havereceived numerous stares andplenty of requests for pictures.Ive freighted old ladies an d chil-dren, and some have completelyadored me.

Nevertheless, Mekebeb hasnoticed positive reactions toblack culture in Korea.

For weeks after Obama waselected president, manyKoreans greeted me with bigsmiles yelling, Obama!

Alison Ramsay anothermember of the group saidthat through taking part in the

groups activat es, you can get toknow other people that mostlikely you may not have met, be-cause everyone lives so far awayfrom each other. And beingapart of this group, you get tomet people from different coun-tries, such as Uganda, SouthAfrica and America ... and get achance to make good bonds andfriendships.

She admitted that as a blackperson in Korea, there are somedifferent challenges t o overcome,and the group is part ly venue toaddress those needs. We dostand out, so its nice being partof a community where you dontalways have to think about howyou stand out; being part of acommun ity wher e you donthave to worry about that; whereyoure not being stared at, shesaid, referring to Brothas &Sistas of South Korea.

Ramsay is a New Yorker of

Jamaican descent and ha s beenin Korea for three years.

When people first arrive toKorea, people first like to lookfor t heir own cultures; they ap-preciate Korean culture, butthey like to experience whatthey know; share the samebackground and they can helpyou get adjusted to this place,said Ramsay.

Im fr om New York an d it snice being able to communicatewith people where you comefrom; so its nice to be able tobring your own culture and tra-ditions and share it with peoplethat can relate and people thatdont necessarily have t he sameexperience but are willing to takepart in them and just share.

To join the group, go towww.facebook.com and searchBrothas & Sistas of SouthKorea.

(henry_a_hur st@yahoo.com)

This years North EastAsian Gaelic Games will beheld on Saturday June 6 atMokdong stadium inYangcheon-gu, Seoul, with tenteams in total.

As Koreas founding Gaelicfootball club, the Seoul Gaelssaid they are delighted to bewelcoming teams from otherparts of the Korean Peninsula.

Both Daegu and Gwangju

will be returning for the sec-ond time in an attempt towrestle the glory back fromthe defending champions, theSeoul Celtics, with teamsfrom Japan hoping to take theConor Mur phy Cup out of thecountry altogether.

The Pats from Seoul will alsothrow their hat in for the firsttime.

Gaelic football is described asa mix between soccer, rugbyand Aussie ru les and you donthave to be Irish to join. Teams

to date have boasted a wide se-lection of members from the lo-cal and expat community inKorea.

The North East AsianGames will be an all weekendevent, kicking off on Fridaywith a mee t and gree t a tHollywoods, Itaewon from 8p.m.

After the competition, cele-brations will be hosted at the

Wolfhound, It aewon from 7 p.m.Brunch will be made availableon Sunday at the Bungalow, inItaewon.

Entry into th e stadium will befree for the event.

For more information on theclub and the North East AsianGames, please visit www.seoul-gaels.com, e-mailseoulgaels@gmail.com or con-tact Taidgh Simpson at 010-4442-1618 or Kevin Tobin at010-8668-3473.

(pro.seoulgaels@gmail .com)

By Hong Nam-hui

Foreign workers livingKorea can have various prob-lems arise during their stayhere, from unpaid wages tohealth problems to visa issues.Many of these issues are onesthat can affect anyone livingand working in Korea, howev-er when you are relatively un-familiar with t he customs, reg-ulations and language of acountry, such problems be-come more complicated.

That is why the SeoulGlobal Center a nd its affiliateGlobal Village Centers inYeonna m-dong, Yeoksam -dong, Seorae-maeul, Ichonand Itaewon/Hannam work tohelp solve the various prob-lems that foreigners living inKorea may face, to create amore comfortable life inKorea.

But despite having six cen-ters a cross the city, it can st illbe difficult for many t o cometo our offices to seek out help.That is why the SGC has re-cently begun its on-site coun-seling ser vices.

This service travels everySunday to different parts ofSeoul to offer on-site coun-seling including expert ad-vising in areas of labor regu-lations, general law, con-sumer affairs and immigra-tion issues, all with the helpof multi-lingual staffers.

For problems that cannot besolved on the day, our servicefollows up on cases either byarranging times for people tocome to our main center, or bytelephone.

This past April, in the so-called Mongolia Town areaof Gwanghui-dong in Jung-gu, our on-site counseling ser-vice helped numerous for-eigners, many of whom hadproblems and did not knowwhere to go, saw our set-up oftables and advisors andstopped by to have questionsanswered.

The most frequently experi-enced problems we have en-countered so far include laborand status of sojourn issuesexperienced mostly by E-9(non-professional, temporaryemployment) visa holdersfrom countries such asMongolia, Russia andUzbekistan.

In the Daerim area, whichhas a high-concentration ofethnic Koreans from China,concerns centered on natu ral-ization and H-2 (short-termwork) visas, as well as unpaidwages.

Two instances highlight t hepossibilities for helping theforeign community of Seoulthrough this type of counsel-ing. First, while walking byDaerim Subway Station, aKorean Chinese man stum-bled upon our on-site counsel-

ing service. This man had re-cently changed jobs and hadunpaid wages from his previ-ous employer, which hethought he would never beable to r ecover.

By chance, he decided to seeif it would be possible to re-ceive help from us and ourcounselor helped him draft apetition to the Labor Boardfor delayed wage recovery. Heis currently awaiting the re-sult.

Another day, a migrantworker from Mongolia wasworried about his stay inKorea. His current employerdecided not to apply for a visaextension, causing much con-cern for the worker.

The worker then spoke withone of our specialists in frontof the Gwanghui-dongCommunity Center and theconsultant was able to helphim find a way to extend hisstay.

The SGC intends to contin-ue its efforts to reach out andprovide aid t o Seouls expatcommunity by traveling toother areas of Seoul wheremany live and work, such asItaewon.

If you would like more infor-mation on upcoming locationsof our on-site counseling ser-vices, check the SGC webpageat http://global.seoul.go.kr orcall us at 1688-0120.

(cdykas@sba.seoul.k r)PHOTO CHALLENGE WINNER An elderly gentleman enjoys ahot bowl of soup for lunch in a back alley near Tapgol Park,Insadong,Seoul. Peter Schurmann

Brothas& sistas

of KoreaI started (Brothas&Sistas of South Korea) for selfishreasons. I needed an avenue to connect with other

brothers and sisters. I was sure I was not alone. I want-

ed to find other black people; however, the group is not

exclusively black and is open to anyone.

Sha Alemu Mekbeb

Because I am black, I have received numerous stares and

plenty of requests for pictures. Ive freighted old ladies

and children, and some have completely adored me.

Derek Johnson

And being apart of this group, you get to met people

from different countries, such as Uganda, South Africa

and Americans ... and get a chance to make good bonds

and friendships.

Alison Ramsay

SGC starts on-sitecounseling service

Mokdong preparesfor Gaelic Games

A self portrait of Alison Ramsay with her gayageum, aKorean traditional instrument. Ramsay took Korean mu-sic classes the National Center for Korean TraditionalPerforming Arts. She is also a part of the social groupBrothas & Sistas of South Korea. Alison Ramsay

Both Daegu and Gwangju will be re-

turning for the second time in an at-

tempt to wrestle the glory back fro m

the defending champions,the Seoul

Celtics,with teams from Japan hoping

to take the Conor Murphy Cup out of

the country altogether.

Expat Living is a section dedicated to the dailyliving 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 atmattlamers@heraldm.comSubmissions may be edited for length or clarity.

Seoul Gaels host national tourney June 6