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COMMUNITY18 TUESDAY NOVEMBER 17, 2009

THREE COMICS FROM ROKETSHIP

The Photo Challenge issponsored by HyosungCamera (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 wonstore credit at HyosungCamera and a Babo Shirt. Totake part in the competition,simply upload your photo atwww.flickr.com/ groups/ seoulphotoclub Ed.

By Aaron Raisey

As much as we might en- joy photography and happilyendure the ha ssle of haulinga camera around, there areof coursetimes wherewe donthave a cam-era with us.Maybe we forgot to take it, orperhaps it isnt convenient orpractical to have it with uson the occasion.

But does photographythen stop for us? Are weonly photographers whenwe are physically in posses-sion of a camera? Perhapsso for some, but I recom-mend keeping those pho-tographers eyes open allthe time.

What do I mean? What aresome things we can keep aneye out for? Well, lets brieflytouch on a few areas thatcontribute to a good photo shapes, lines, color, contrastand light.

Practice seeing regularshapes and how they com-pliment each other or cre-a te in te res t ing in te rac -tions. Squares and circlestogether such as a solitaryball on a tiled floor. Groupsof triangles could be anoth-er the structure of a con-struction crane is filledwith triangles. Related toshapes a re l ines , andstrong lines can be an effec-tive way to create interestin your photos. Keep alook-out for diagonals,curves and especially theelusive and treasured Sline such as you might seein a wind ing pa th o r acountry road.

When you are out andabout without that cameraalso keep colors in mind.Look for pleasing plays suchas a yellow building againsta blue sky, or any vibrant col-or in a relatively dull envi-ronment.

Closely aligned to color iscontrast. Contrast is espe-cially relevant to black andwhite photography. Watchfor sharp delineations be-tween bright areas anddark. In your mind, tryswitching to black andwhite mode in th e middle ofthe day when t he light is of-ten too harsh for color cap-ture but creates sharp shad-ows.

This brings us to light. Beobservant of the light at dif-ferent times of the day. Ondays without too much cloudcover, you will notice howthe quality of light changesover the course of the day-light period. This can have adramatic effect on color.Colors are warm and rich atthe beginning and the end ofthe day, but bright andharsh during the midday pe-riod. Make a mental note ofthese effects for futur e refer-ence.

Bringing two or more ofthese elements together iswhat t he broader subject ofcomposition is all about,but th e point here is dontclose your eyes to photog-raphy just because youdont have a camer a han dy.Look for these things andmenta l ly no te them even if it might not be real-ly worthy of a good photo,its the seeing tha t is im-portant. J ust as you dontneed specialized exerciseequipment to keep yourbody in shape, you dontneed to be in possession ofa camera to keep a prac-ticed eye.

Have a look at what thesome of the best expat pho-tographers in Korea are see-ing and check out the SeoulPhoto Club on Flickr.

(raisey@han ma il.net)

In Focus:

Photography

without

the camera

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 Daechongbon gPeak. Photo by Norlan Page

Global village centers arecommunity centers for foreign-ers living in Seoul, where stafftry to help expats deal withproblems they face in their dailylives. With the aid of embassies,labor centers, and police, theycan be protected and helped,even if they cant speak Korea n.Staff speak English, Chinese,Japanese, French, and someother languages.

Through the global centersyou can sign up to do volunteerwork for others in need. Globalvillage centers are an other wayof networking.

After all, communities gath-ered thr ough the village centers

are often the most effective athelping newcomers from theirown countries. Foreign volun-teers gather and go to help outat orphanages and nursinghomes.

It is th rough this kind of workthat they are also able to under-stand Korean living and get in-volved in local society.

With a visit to the nearestglobal village center, people canfind information or learn aboutevents held around Seoul.Various programs and lectureswhere participants can experi-ence Korean culture are listed.For example, there are daily liv-ing orientation sessions. Most of

the programs are free or have avery minimal charge.

The centers also offer freeKorean-language classes for be-ginner and intermediate levels.

There are now six global vil-lage centers in Seoul: Itaewon-Hann am, Ichon, Yeoksam, Se-orae, Yeonnam and Yeongd-eungpo.

The new YeongdeungpoMulticultural Village Centeropened just a few months ago,on Sept. 29.

Currently, there ar e 37,000 reg-istered foreigners and 6,700 for-eigners with Korean citizenshipliving in Yeongdeungpo-gu. Thistotals 44,000 foreigners, makingit the district with the highestnumber of alien residents.

In order t o fulfill their needs,the center is divided into three

parts: Educational Support,Welfare Advancement, andCultural Support. There are of-fices and counseling rooms, lec-ture rooms for computer andlanguage education, meetingrooms, a multicultural library,and a playroom for kids. All fa-cilities are available for foreign-ers, married immigrants, andtheir families.

Global centers are tailoredspecifically to the demographicsof the foreigners in the districtthey are serving. In t he case ofthe Yeongdeungpo Multicul-tural Village Center, becausemost of the foreigners in thearea are ethnic Koreans whohave come from China to work,there are programs specificallyorganized to help t hem find em-ployment.

Additionally, while other vil-lage centers only provide begin-ner and intermediate levelKorean classes, because theseethnic Koreans from Chinausually come with some back-ground in the Korean language,the Yeongdeungpo Mult icult-ural Village Center also offersadvanced-level classes. Acc-ording to the schedule, peoplecan also take Korean, computer,or driver s-license classes, pay-ing only for textbooks.

Evening and weekend classesare available along with week-day classes, in order to accom-modate as many schedules aspossible.

In order to organize the pro-grams, staff members startedannouncing the opening of theYeongdeungpo Multicultur alVillage Center and began seek-ing teachers and applicants asearly as July.

Now there are 305 peoplefrom 10 different countries

learning in the YMVC. On aver-age, 170 participants recieveservices here daily, said thechief of the DISDYO in theopening cerem ony.

The Yeongdeungpo Multic-ultural Village Center is openfrom 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Mondaythrough Friday and from 10a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. Formore information, visit theYeongdeungpo Multicultura lVillage Center near DarimSubway Station (Line 2 or 7,Exit 8 or 10), or call (02) 2670-3800.

For more information aboutany of the global village centers,visit the Seoul Global Centerwebsite atwww.global.seoul.go.kr or callthe hotline at (02) 1688-0120.Or, anyone can call or visit thenearest global village center orget useful information fromtheir websites, which can befound at the link above.

(shan non.sgc@gmail.com)

What are global village centers?NEW TO KOREA

By Lee Jae-eun

Ever since arriving in Koreafour years ago, Ive reacted to-ward the first symptom of a cold usually a sore throat in th esame way: I am convinced that Ineed a good nights rest a s soonas possible. This is the r emnantof a mentality that served mewell in Tennessee, where awork-hindering illness was anannual event, but a brief one if Iwere properly rested.

There are a couple of prob-lems with that way of thinking:for one, Im no longer inTennessee, and Im convincedthat the common cold germsthere ar e like NCAADivision IIIwrestler s and Koreas gamgi

germs are Division I all the way.For another, those Tennessee ill-nesses beset me when I was inmy energetic early to mid-20s,whereas n ow Im a 30 year oldwith recurring back pain and achest full of jeans that dont fit.

Despite my expectations ofbrevity, there a re always a wholerange of phases that must beworked through. First, th eresStage I, or the throat phase,where it hurts t o talk and I spitmore often than a Yankees pitch-er would dur ing the wh ole of All-Star Weekend. If I wake up inthis condition, I have two choic-es: Call in to work and tell themI cant ma ke it, or show up andlet them see and hear how muchthey dont want me around.

The next day, or perhaps laterthat afternoon, the sore throatpasses and Stage II, the chillsand general muscle achesphase, sets in. Here starts the

worst way to spend a day off:Wrapped up in a blanket thatsnot warm enough and never willbe, I hope to sleep but struggleto do so because of breathingproblems, so instead I lie awakewondering if ther es a neighbor-hood juk, or rice porridge,store I can stagger toward.

After the muscles aches andchills pass, then comes StageIII, or the recovery phase.During recovery only the nasalproblems remain an d work maycontinue. My experience hasbeen tha t its annoying to workwhile experiencing sinus diffi-culties, but on the upside, if youhave Korean coworkers th eresvirtually no end to the numberof tangerin es youll receive.

This year when my wife Ji-yeon woke up with gamgi symp-toms after a working for a weekat the hospital, I again had thefirst impression th at shed be

better after spending a day get-ting some rest. This time aroundI was more wrong than usual: Inprevious years we didnt have aflu pandemic making headlinesworldwide, nor did we haveDaniel, our 5-month-old baby.

My first reaction when shetold me, one day after her symp-toms began, that she had t estedpositive for H1N1, was to won-der what would happen to him.She had already started recov-ering from her symptoms, so Iwas more or less su re shed beokay. But when Da niels nosestarted to run and his tempera-ture rose, I thought back towhen she was seven monthspregnant and we found out thathis leg length was two weeksahead of most Korean babies atthat stage, and the Koreannurses exclaimed that the ultra -sound pics had shown his noseto be very big.

When I found out he had mytra its, I knew hed never be justanother person to me; hed bepart of me, and I would feel thethings that hurt him.

He and my wife were checkedinto the hospital where she worksto be watched for a few days. Icould feel Stage I of gamgi settingin, but was m uch more concernedwith the fact that when I heldDaniel, he didnt r each up andgrab me like usual; instead hisarms hung at his side, with himtoo weak to lift th em.

He and I were both tested forH1N1, but fortunately we bothtested negative. I still had toleave them in the hospital, butnot until after I had wat ched thenurses put an IV into his leg,which caused him to cry untilhis voice went hoarse. On thebright side, at least this willteach him that adults frequent-ly will cause him great pains

while saying that th eyre help-ing. This should be great prepa-ration for university.

I was through with Stage II ofmy own illness a couple of daysafter symptoms began, and myreward was their return fromthe hospital, with th e doctor as-sured that the worst hadpassed. Now Im at home withthem, well into my recoverystage and confident tha t well allbe well again soon.

Furthermore, I will havemany years to teach Danielabout how to stay well, how torecover from illnesses, and howto say, Thanks, but I alreadyhave enough tangerines.

For more of Rob Yorks writ-ings, go to rjamesyork.blogspot.com; to contact him, e-mail rjamesyork@heraldm.com Ed.

Coping with the three stages of the flu

By Rob York

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 storiesor story ideas to Matthew Lamers atmattlamers@heraldm.comSubmissions may be edited for length or clarity.