18 community TUESDAY MAY 11, 2010

Expat teachers get

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

more legal help

Submissions may be edited for length or clarity.

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 – Women walk through Bongeun Temple in Gangnam, Seoul.  Glenn Sundeen
By Rob York “This is something that meant the school ‘got away

In Focus: No Camera? Think again

people can do rather quietly. with it’ because the teacher
Foreign English teachers in The employer does not have had no recourse.”
South Korea can take advan- to know.” In a little more than two
tage of affordable legal help Jung Bong-soo said that at years of teaching, Backe said
through the KangNam Labor the moment he is working that he has seen examples of
Law Firm’s Legal Assurance with five or six ATEK mem- schools that exploited teach- The Photo Challenge is spon- because of the mind driving It may seem a lot like running
Program. bers who have formed unions ers’ lack of access to legal sored by Hyosung Camera (Eng- that camera. And just like into a headwind, but these are
The firm, based in Seoul, on cases such as improper help. lish: 010-7203-9599) and Babo behind the wheel of a car, the blessings in disguise for the
has been offering services dismissal or unpaid wages. “Hopefully the program Shirts (www.baboshirts.com). more you drive, the better you development of your photo-
such as legal counsel and me- The first of those teachers will discourage schools from Winners of the weekly competi- get. With an attentive mind graphic skill. Your ability to
diation affordable for English
Expat to is
Living form a labor
a section union
dedicated was
to the daily trying to take advantage of tion receive a 50,000 won store on the road ahead, your abil- spot opportunities, along with
teachers, which haslivingallowed Evan Lloyd, who came to a teacher that doesn’t know
of expatriates. credit at Hyosung Camera and ity to read the conditions and your composition and choice of
several expat teachers to onKorea
It is printed Tuesday,inWednesday
July. In September,
and Friday. their legal rights,” he said. a Babo Shirt. To take part in are all but useless in low light potential problems improves point of view, absolutely has to
form unions. To share storiesLloyd
aboutsaid
yourhe
life started talking
abroad, send stories“Schools have a strong incen- the competition, simply upload and are severely limited in, or with the miles. Likewise, you be more acute. Do it often, do
or story ideas to
The new Legal Assurance to Matthew
ATEK Lamers
about at problems at tive to keep their teachers in your photo at www.flickr.com/ totally devoid of control over can vastly increase your mile- it with consideration and at-
program offers many
mattlamers@heraldm.com
of the his Incheon-area workplace the dark about what can and groups/seoulphotoclub — Ed. things like exposure and depth age behind a lens by using the tention, and you will surprise
Submissions may be edited for length or clarity.
same benefits, including ac- — which he asked not to be can’t be done — this is one of field. It is because of these tools at your disposal and two yourself at the quality of the
cess to online resources, ad- identified — and they re- incentive to help keep them By Aaron Raisey drawbacks that most people, advantages the small “token” images you can extract from
vice about conflict resolution, ferred him to Jung. legal.” once they acquire a primary-use camera has is that we have it your phone, and every time
mediation and help filing le- In December the union Backe’s support for the One of the key components camera, eschew that crummy on us at all times and we tend you pick up that so-called “seri-
gal claims if necessary. Now, was officially formed. It cur- plan comes despite some re- of improving your ability in the little token to device functional- not to take it seriously — we ous” camera, the wind will be
however, individual teachers rently has four members, all cent criticism of ATEK, which photographic realm is practice. ity as inferior. are free to take pictures that at your back.
who are not union members of whom are E-2 visa holders. he wrote had largely failed to Practice seeing opportunities, And rightly so, from the don’t matter. Don’t forget folks, entries for
may enjoy much of the same Collective bargaining between produce tangible results for seeing shapes, patterns, plays of standpoint of technical quality But if the pictures don’t mat- the 1st annual Expat Photo
services. the union and its employer teachers here. color and compositions. Unfor- and control. ter, if the apparent limitations Competition close on the 15th
For a monthly fee of are among the benefits mem- “I can’t say I’ve seen a lot tunately, our ability to exercise But in terms of the more render our images poor from a of May. That’s this Saturday!
20,000 won, English teach- bers have received. of progress from ATEK re- photography is often limited, as important abstract elements “serious” point of view, what’s If you want an even shot at a
ers can have access to the “The union also allows us cently. This program is one we don’t always have our “seri- of an image — composition or the point? It is that mileage we DSLR and other great prizes,
full range of legal services to keep Mr. Jung on perma- concrete sign that the wheels ous” camera with us. During the capture of color, pattern are after. Or to be more precise, you need to be in. The 20,000
offered by the firm on a nent retainer so that any are turning in the right di- weekdays at work, for example, and shape play — they are no mileage coupled with an atten- won entry fee covers transpor-
group retainer. potential problems are looked rections. While I respect the or going out for dinner, or even different than any other cam- tive and critical mind. Further- tation to and from the event as
Attorney Jung Bong-soo of at by a legal professional. need to build goodwill and just walking down to the con- era. Indeed, they share exactly more, we can take those limita- well as a lunch box. For further
the firm said that those for- His help also ensures that create associations, members venience store for ramen, we the same crucial limitation — tions and use them to hone and information on entry, about the
eign teachers who have taken the union is run according to do have a right to ask what’s usually don’t have a camera you. strengthen our photographic travel, judging, or prize presen-
advantage of legal services the appropriate Korean labor happening, and know what’s with us ... or do we? When we are out with that eye. tation, e-mail me or call Paul
were referred to them by the laws,” he said. going on behind the scenes,” Most mobile phones and primary-use camera, it’s often Can’t control exposure? Sad- at Hyosung Camera on (010)
Association for Teachers of Lloyd said it was impor- he said. hand-held devices have a built- for a purpose and we tend to dled with one (usually short) 7203-9599 or e-mail him at
English in Korea, and cred- tant to note that, while their “Communication should be in camera these days. To be assume some degree of re- apparent focal length? No abil- qortjdgns@hotmail.com
ited the organization’s refer- union was established by for- getting better in the near fu- sure, in terms of technical im- sponsibility to take great (or ity to exploit depth of field or You can also get all the de-
rals as being instrumental in eign employees, they would ture as a fellow blogger (Rob age quality they fall far short of at least good) images. But an make pretty bokeh? Stuck with tails at the Seoul Photo Club on
beginning the Legal Assur- welcome any Korean employ- Ouwehand) takes over as the you primary-use camera. Most image is never great because seemingly random (and usu- Flickr.
ance Program. Participants ees who wished to join. National Communications Di- exhibit too much image noise, of a camera; an image is great ally too slow) shutter speeds? (raisey@hanmail.net)
need not be ATEK members, “This is not a union ex- rector.”
however. clusively for foreigners, but Dolezal said that ATEK
ATEK president Greg Dole- so far the Korean staff has has referred teachers to
zal said a key difference in not expressed any interest in many law firms across Ko-
the Legal Assurance Program joining,” he said. rea, but KangNam Labor
Expats, Koreans form volunteer group in Jeonju
from what the unions receive Chris Backe, an English Law Firm is the first to cre-
is the lack of collective bar- teacher best-known among ate a program specially de- By Rob McGovern coined both to be an obvious who can possibly take over the something specific for Children’s
gaining. However, teachers expats here as the blogger signed to meet the needs of indicator of the group’s phi- administrative tasks associated Day, too.
working with the law firm Chris in South Korea, said expat teachers. Though the JEONJU — As Korea cel- losophy, but also to highlight with arranging the visits is also The 129 group members were
alone would have access to that teachers here have been firm is based in Seoul, the ebrated Children’s Day last its multicultural nature, which important for the future of the asked if they would like to do-
the same resources without in need of a service like the Legal Assurance Program week and Parent’s Day over currently includes Brits, Cana- group. The organizers are also nate money in order to try and
paying additional fees of un- Legal Assurance Program. will not be limited to teach- the weekend, there were many dians, Americans, New Zealand- concerned about overstretching, provide each of the 190 or so
ion dues and funding for the “The Legal Assurance Pro- ers in the Seoul area. children who did not have the ers, South Africans and a few having to cancel visits or dis- residents of these homes and
union’s activities. gram offers a benefit that Both ATEK and the KLLF presents and love that they Koreans, who work tirelessly band the group all together. orphanages with a small token
Also, an individual acting didn’t previously exist to said they hope that as de- crave and deserve. behind the scenes to commu- Dalene Fowler, a South Afri- on the May 5 to let them know
alone would have the same foreigners,” he said. “With- mand grows this will cause With the help of some expat nicate the groups ideas to the can volunteer, usually teaches that they are not forgotten.
resources available to union out legal coverage, any legal Korean attorneys to offer spe- and Korean volunteers, hope is staff at the orphanages. adults. She said these visits give Approximately 1.2 million
members without drawing problems would have had cialized services for foreign on the way in Jeonju. The group is still in its infan- her a new perspective. “Interact- won ($1,000) was collected, and
the attention that a union to be helped by charity, an teachers across the country. Recently a new group has cy but has so far arranged three ing with them provides a kind with some generous discounts
would bring. organization like the Seoul started with the aim of arrang- visits to different orphanages of balance, another perspective from local shops, each child re-
“Not many people are excit- Global Center, or by hiring ing regular visits to local or- around the city. to what I do here in Korea.” she ceived a small gift bag with a
ed about forming a union yet an expensive lawyer. To comment, e-mail mat- phanages. “Neighbourly, Neigh- The idea is to arrange for said, adding a comparative note notebook, pens, an eraser and a
because they’re not sure of “Since most problems are tlamers@heraldm.com; to con- borly,” is, as the title alludes groups of volunteers to go to one of nope. few small bags of sweets, hope-
what’s going to happen with not substantial enough to tact the author, e-mail rjame- to, a group composed of both orphanage per month. While “Orphans in Korea are much fully bringing a smile to their
it,” Dolezal said. merit hiring a lawyer, that syork@hotmail.com – Ed. expats and Koreans. this may seem like few visits better off than those in South faces.
The idea behind the name is per orphanage per year it is es- Africa. These orphans are kind
that it, along with the Korean sential that the group remain of fortunate, by comparison.

Ouwehand looks to strengthen version, highlights the differ-

ent people involved, namely
the Commonwealth folks and
the Americans. The name was
ATEK’s communication
viable and endure the inevita-
ble turnover of members. The
group has 129 members, but
Working with them also makes
me think about how relative
everything in life actually is.”
To comment, e-mail mattlam-
ers@heraldm.com; to contact the
author, e-mail robguv@gmail.
establishing a core of volunteers The group decided to do
com – Ed.

The National Council of

the Association of Teachers
of English in Korea has ap-
pointed Rob Ouwehand as
their new communications
director.
Ouwehand, 30, is known
among many of Korea’s ex-
pats as “Roboseyo,” a blogger
who regularly writes about,
among other things, commu-
nity activities and intercon-
nectivity among expats.
According to ATEK, his
duties as communications di-
rector will include staying in
contact with the media while
developing and maintaining
communication channels with
expats.
The position of communica-
tions director had been va-
cant for the few months prior
to his appointment, which
Ouwehand said had put a
strain on other ATEK offic-
ers.
“Once I’ve learned the
ropes, look for more frequent
communications, through
press releases for big stories
and updates on the website
for smaller news, or to fill in
details from news stories,” he
said. “I hope to use social me-
dia like Facebook and Twit-
ter to make it easier to get
news about what ATEK is
doing, and in the long term,
I’d like to see the ATEK web-
site become a vital source of
practical advice for teachers
in Korea. This will take col-
laboration with others, but
it’s definitely doable.”
The native Canadian has
lived in Korea since 2003 and
teaches at a university in
Seoul. In addition to his blog,
his writings have been pub-
lished in Expat Living and
Newsweek Korea, and he has
been featured in the Cana-
dian Embassy’s newsletter.
“The name recognition can’t
hurt: I’ve been writing about
the importance of building
stronger, better-connected
communities on my blog for
a long time now,” he said.
“Joining and working with
ATEK is a natural extension
of that. If my readers know
where I’m coming from, that
might mean they hear me out
where they might not offer a
stranger the same benefit of
the doubt.”
In order for the name rec-
ognition to be meaningful,
however, ATEK has to make
positive and meaningful
changes for Korea’s English
teachers and their profession,
he said.
“ATEK is helping people
every day, and plans to con-
tinue making it easier for
English teachers to get the
help and advice they need, in
the classroom and in life.
“I’m proud to be a part of
that.”
The organization said that
it has more than 1,000 mem-
bers throughout Korea.
(rjamesyork@hotmail.com)
Free soccer clinics open
for kids 5-13 years old
International Football Educa-
tion has held four free soccer
clinics and two more are sched-
uled for May 15 and May 16.
The clinics, held at Ho Sung
Middle School and Jamsil Ol-
ympic Park, Velodrome, are for
5-13 year olds.
The free clinics are part of
the countdown to the launch of
IFE Camps and the Elite IFE
Academy, which will begin this
summer.
IFE Academy participants
have the opportunity to take
part in the group’s “Skillz”
program, which it says “equips
players with that extra flair
which in turn will enable them
to flourish as creative attacking
minded soccer players.”
The IFE Academy will bring a
full-time, professional youth soc-
cer organization to Seoul, which
will provide a positive develop-
mental soccer environment for
players, coaches and all within
the Seoul community, the group
said in a press release. Through
its Skillz program, the IFE will
also provide a player devel-
opment model to help in the
development of youth players
from 5-18 years old, all within a
single organization.
“We are delighted to provide
the free sample sessions dur-
ing the month of May with our
Date Location Time
licensed coaches,” said IFE tech-
nical advisor JW Neiland. “The May 15 Ho Sung Middle School, Pyongchong, 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
goal of the month is to give the May 16 Jamsil Olympic Park, Velodrome, Jamsil, Seoul 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Seoul community the opportu-
nity to see the professionalism
of the IFE brand and to expe- structured IFE curriculum.” contact the IFE Academy to
rience first-hand the training IFE Academy will host two register. For more information,
environment that IFE coaches more free clinics in May. As go to www.ifeasoccer.com or
create through the developmen- space is limited, organizers ask contact them at 010-8123-0282.
tal focused, age appropriate and those wishing to participate to (The Korea Herald)