Korea Herald 20090804

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COMMUNITY 1 8 TUESDAY AUGUST 4, 2009 Expat Living is a section dedicated to the daily living of expatriates. It is printed on Tuesday, Wednesda y and Friday. To share stories about your life abroad, send stories or story ideas to Matthew Lamers at [email protected] Submissions may be edited for length or clarity. The Photo Challenge is spon- sored by Hyosung Camera (English: 010-7203-9599) and  Babo Shirts (www.baboshirts. com). Winners of the weekly com-  petition receive a 50,000 won store credit at Hyosung Camera and a Babo Shirt. To take part in the competition, simply up- load your photo at www.flic kr.co m/ groups/ seo ulp hotoclub — E d. By Aaron Raisey It’s a mysterious quality, and effective use of bokeh can great- ly enhance your photography. I mentioned it last week, so we’ll look at it in more detail this week. Q: It’s a stra nge word, where does it come from? A: The origin of the word is Japanese, meaning something similar to “blur” or “not in focus.” It has been adopted into the lan- guage of photography to mean the aesth etic quality of the out of focus areas of a photograph. There is some debate over the ac- cepted pronunciation in English, but “b” + “oke” as in “poke” com- bined with “ay” as in “pay” seems to be most widely employed. Q: Okay, but getting back to the photography, what really is it? A: Let me give you an exam- ple. Have you ever seen a photo taken at night where the lights in the background are big round blobs? Or a portrait where the background is so blurry that you can’ t see any det ail, just fuzzy shapes? It’s those areas of an image that photog raphers r efe r to when they ta lk about bokeh. Q: I like t he effect, so how can I get my pics to have some de- cent bokeh? A: There are several contribut- ing factors towards achieving nice bokeh, but probably the most significant is the selected aperture, or f value of your lens — how much light your lens is letting in. At larger apertures (the smaller the f-stop number) you will get more bokeh effect. For example, if yo ur a pertur e val- ue is f/11 (small aperture), you will get little to no bokeh. If f/2.8 (large aperture) is selected then you will get good bokeh in most conditions. Q: You said apertu re is impor- tant, what are some other con- siderations? A: The relationships between various factors and the exis- tence or degree of bokeh you can produce are extremely complex, but I can give you a couple of guidelines to keep in mind. Distance is a factor — if the distance between you and the subjec t is smaller th an the sub-  ject and the background, you will be enhancing the boke h. The focal length of the lens has an influence — the shorter the lens, the less bokeh you can get for the same apertur e value. At an equal distance from the subject, a 50mm lens at f/2.8 will produce more bokeh than a 16mm lens at f/2.8. Point and shoot cameras typically struggle to produce good bokeh due to their very short focal lengths. Q: How do I see it in a ction for myself? A: First, you need to have con- trol of your aperture, so click into Aperture Priority mode on your SLR. Choose a convenient subject — a lamppost is good — and from a meter or two away, take a series of pictures at vari- ous apertures. You will see the effect the different apertures have on the background. Next week, we’ll look at bokeh in a bit more detail as it relates to different types of lenses and how we can use it creatively in our photography. In the meantime, you can see some great examples at the Seoul Photo Club on Flickr.  Aaron can be reached at raisey@hanm ail.net — Ed. In focus: What is bokeh? PHOTO CH ALLENGE — Monthly winner for “heat” theme — Near Ocheonjang Station,Busan, vaca- tioners do their best to escape the humidity , relaxing next to a stream that runs under the metro in late July. Matthew Hanson Question: I was born and raised in England, graduated from a top English university and have been applying for teaching jobs in Korea for three months with n o luck. I have all of my paperwork ready and ther e doesn’ t appear to be any other problems aside from the fact that I am of Indian decent. Am I being rejected strictly be- cause of my race? Answer: I actually know someone who is having this ex- act problem. He’ s a month int o the application process, but nev- er gets past the first phase, which is resume and photo sub- mission. This is an issue that gets discussed a lot among ex- pats and I’ m certain th at every- body knows someone who has dealt with this discriminatory practice. Race relations on the penin- sula have been tirelessly cov- ered by countless bloggers and  journalists from h undreds of an- gles and perspectives, so allow me to skip t he fluff and give you the shortened version: Korean society is slowly working t oward racial tolerance, but still ap- pears to be some time away. So, why can’t you, a na tive English speaker who meets the minimum requirements for teaching in Korea, get a job? Well, it’ s all about enr ollment, money, stereotypes, fear and mothers. The Korean mother has total educatio nal power and if they organize, they can pretty much guarantee t he demise of a small English academy. Perceptio n is king a nd while the average mother doesn’ t ha ve anything against non- Caucasians, she is more com- fortable with what she knows and likely prefers her child to be taught by a white teacher. Regardless of ability, if a teacher gets an “X” put on him or her, it’s dif ficult to escape unscat hed. Academy directors know that, so they avoid the situation by trying to hire white Westerners. An example is a private school in Dobong-gu, Seoul that two weeks ago put up an ad on a popular job site for foreign teachers. The ad read, “American or Canadian, if possi- ble American, black is okay, but not 100 percent black.” The school was forced to remove the explicit rejection of “100 percent blacks” in an updated job adver- tisement recently . In the case of the questioner, I have a feeling that directors and recruiter s don’ t believe that someone who looks Indian could be a native speaker. Remember, perception dictates treatment. It’s a bad deal and an even worse introduction to Korea, but if you are set on coming to the peninsula and don’t want to wade through t he discriminato- ry hiring waters, then there are ways to do it. Apply directly: Recruiters typi- cally try to funnel teachers into positio ns th at n eed to be filled, re- gardless of stated preferences. Trust me, I’ ve been a recruit er. That s what we were encouraged to do. They want easy cash, which means easy cases. An African- American or, in this case, a Brit of Indian decent requires a lot of work for the recruiter and, as we know, placement is not guaran- teed. Save yourself the trouble, cut them out of the loo p and a pply to schools directly. Most universi- ties, intern ational schools, public schools, and adult language insti- tutes have websites where you can apply on your own. Play the game: If you want to use a recruiter, then you might have to play their game. For the most part, academies and re- cruiters evaluate you sole ly on the photo you provide to them. They look at your skin color, facial hair and expression, weight, hairstyle and even your surroundings. From those superficialities they create a story for you. Don’ t assum e the worst: Just because schools, recruiters or some mothers have unfounded concerns about hiring anyone who doesn’ t fit into their narr ow definition of what a native speaker should be, tha t doesn’ t mean you should give up. Remember, it’s not only about race. It’s about being different. Men with long hair, big beards or visible tattoos get left out all the time. The reason white peo- ple are tolerated more is because of exposure. The more diverse we make our expat community and Korean society, the more contact Koreans will get and as time goes by, this issue might be a thing of the past. I know the system needs a lot of work, but exposure and tolerance are the only things that can fix some of these stereotypes. Until then, be smart, have a good game plan and a void the avoida ble. Y ou’ll regret not tr ying. View Ask t he Expat’s blog at asktheexpat.blogspot.c om. T he views expressed here do not nec- essarily represent those of The Kore a Herald — Ed. What’s with racist hagwon? By Valerie Pergay CHEONGPYEONG, Gyeo nggi Province — The sun is shining and I am sitting on a boat. I’ m cruising on a refreshing lake surrounded by a scenic beauty of lush, green mountains. Believe or not, I am actually only an hour from Seoul. This heavenly place has been my summer secret getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city. It’s called Cheongpyeong Lake, located northeast of Seoul in Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi Province. Ch eongpye ong Lake, a man made reservoir was a result of the hydroelectric Cheong- pyeong Dam built to block of f the North Han River. It resembles a river more than a lake. All along the water s edge are floating barges offering water sports like waterskiing and wakeboarding. The usual begin- ner’s packages co st ar ound 60,000 won, which include an instructive lesson and two at- tempts with the boat. As a be- ginner, you will begin on a bar attached to the side of the boat progressing on to the rope de- pending on your skill. All equip- ment r ental, life ves ts and tow- els are provided. All you need to bring is your own swimwear. If water sports are not your cup of tea, there are other exhil- arating activities on the water. Banana boats and inflated tube rides are quite popular. Thrill seekers should try the fly fish, pulled by a speed boat at high velocity raising you into the air. If that is not enough to get your adr enalin going, I don’t know what will. It’s a wo nderful day tr ip, but if you’ d like to stay t he weekend, there are plenty of pension houses and hotels to be found. My favorite is Maison de Bali (mdbali.com) which has modern style accommodation and a few cottages off the wat er’s edge fo r about 200,000 won a night. It is frequented by young, affluent Seoulites who come to relax and party for the weekend. The hotel has a swimming pool that is great since swim- ming freely on a lak e full of bo at traffic is not recommended. They also have a restaurant and refreshment bar but you are welcome to bring your own pic- nic if you’d like. Ask for Brian, the En glish speaking instructor. Cheongpyeong is also well known as a holy ground of Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church in Korea. Cheonpyeong contains the Heaven and Earth Training Center where “Moo nies” flock on their sacred pilgrimage participating in workshops chan- neling spirits past. Holy o r not, all I know is that I always return Seoul rejuvenated and refreshed channeling good vibes from my wonderful week- end in Cheongpy eong Lake. Getting there Driving to Cheongpyeong is relatively easy. Take the Olympic Express Highway heading east, which converges onto the spanking new Seoul- Chuncheon Expressway No. 60. This newly built highway opened recently and has cut travel time to Cheongpyeong by half. (The usual route 100 is full of traffic lights an d local traffic). Stay on the highway till you reach Route 46 in Hwado and follow the directions toward Cheongpyeong. Once you reach Gapyeong, you will see the lake on your right and follow it till you see the bridge overlooking the Ch eongpyeong Dam. Yo u can either choose to cross the bridge or keep going straight. There are plenty of places to do watersports. By train from Cheongnyangni Station, you can take the Chuncheon bound Mugunghwa train and get off at Cheongpyeong Station. It takes about an hour. Make sure t o re- serve your tickets since the train gets very full, especially this time of year. Once arrived at Cheongpyeong, you can take a local taxi, which can cost around 10-15,000 won depend- ing where you want to go. Valerie is the managing editor of the magazine Discovery, pub- lished by the Seoul International Women’s Association. S he cane be reached at vvalkenburgh@  yahoo.fr — Ed. Se cret sum me r ge taway: Cheongpyeong Lake Enjoy the lake view on Maison de Bali’s deck. Valerie Pergay A man water-skis on Cheongpyeong Lake. Valerie Pergay ASK THE EXPAT By George Hogan

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