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COMMUNITY18 TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 22, 2009

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.com Submissions may be edited for length or clarity.

PHOTO CHALLENGE — weekly winner —

In Wando,Jeollanam-do,a unique perspective is seen

from the back of a ferry,onSept. 12.

Simon Bond

Before m oving to Seoul, I wor-ried if I would be able to adjust.But after living here for twoyears, I’ve adjusted quite welland I don’t r eally have problemsanymore. But there are waysSeoul could impr ove to help non-Koreans have a more pleasant,comfortable experience tr avelingor living in Seoul.

Of Seoul’s public tran sporta-tion options, it’s the bus systemthat could use the most im-provements.

Because of the many difficul-ties in using public buses, of allthe foreigners I know almostnone take the bus.

First of all, it’s har d to evenfind which direction to go in.Subway maps are shown withinthe context of the city map, sothey’re easy to navigate. But busmaps have no geographical con-text whatsoever; just a line witha few dozen place names.

Moreover, they are usuallyonly written in Korean. Somecynical expats will say “learnKorean,” but what then aretourists supposed to do? For thatreason, transport maps in majorworld cities are always translat-ed into English. And since mostprofessional expats are short-term (living here for under a cou-ple years), learning Korean isn’t areasonable option. The lack of English on bus maps ma kes find-ing your destination (or evenyour location) impossible.

On top of that, even if youknow which bus to take, t here isalso some discomfort when youride it . If you don’t get off thebus quickly, the door will simplybe closed on you.

When it ’s too difficult t o use thebus or subway, or when you’re notsure exactly how to get to yourdestination, people usually use ataxi. A few problems some non-Koreans have with taxis are com-munication, dishonest taxi dri-vers and confusion about the dif-ferent types of taxis. Seoul hasdone a good job in addressingthese concerns. First, there is afree translation services (BBBtran slation, call 1588-5644, avail-able in 17 languages). Anotherway Seoul has taken on t he com-munication barrier is by intro-ducing “Foreign-friendly taxis.”They’re the orange ones thatcharge slightly more. For thatpremium you get a driver thathas been trained specifically inthe art of picking up and drop-ping off foreigners.

Regarding dishonest taxi dri-vers that take you for a ride (ashortcut that slowly turns into atour of Seoul), there’s not much tobe done about t hat, since this hap-pens in every city in the world.

Another issue is lost items. It

has happened to everyone atleast once: You get off the bu s,subway or taxi, give your pocketa quick feel to make sure every-thin g’s wher e it’s supposed t o be— but you realize you left some-thing behind. In this case, Seoulshould be commended again forcreating a system where it’s nottoo difficult to get your thingsback. For lost items on the sub-way, go to www.seoulmetro.co.krand www.smrt.co.kr; for lostitems on taxis, go to www.spta.or.kr and http://hdtaxi.com.ne.kr;for lost items on Seoul buses, call(02) 415-4101; Gyeongi buses(031) 246-4210. One criticism isthat the aforementioned phonenumbers are not multilingual, soyou’ll have to learn Korean your-self (or if you don’t ha ve time t odo that, have a Korean friend callfor you).

On the other hand, if you losesomething in a taxi, you are sim-ply at the mer cy of the driver andchance. In Seoul, there are taxisthat are owned and operated bycompanies, as well as taxis thatare personally owned and operat-ed by the drivers themselves. If you lose something in a companytaxi, you may have a chance of being able to call the companyand seeing if anything wasturned in by a driver. But for theprivately owned taxis, there is nosuch “Lost and Found” for thedriver to return your items. If thedriver is kind and there is some-thing with your contact informa-tion, chances are good for you tobe reunited with your lost items.

In my own experience, I lost mypassport while taking a taxi, butwas lucky that the driver calledme and returned it. However,even if the taxi driver wants to re-turn your item but has no way tocontact you, there’s no centra lplace for the kind driver to leaveyour item for you to later r etrieve.

I’d like to suggest t hat t herebe a central “Lost and Found”for taxi drivers, both privateand company owned, to returnitems that have been left intheir cabs. This place should bemade well-known to both dri-vers and passengers and wouldbe helpful to both non-Koreansand Koreans alike.

The truth is, if you can use thesubway easily ther e’s no realproblem, but in order to betterfeel and experience the city, Ithink it would be better if foreign-ers could use buses more easily.There are some popular places inSeoul that are hard to reach usingonly the subway; if non-Koreanscould use the bus we could getthere cheaply and efficiently.

  Zhen g’s essay was chosen bythe Seoul Global Center amongthe winners of a competition. Theopinions expressed are the au-thor’s only an d do not necessarilyrepresent those of The Korea Herald. To comment, e-mail m at-tlamers@heraldm.com — E d.

Buses, taxis can

be improved

By Zheng Xuejiao

As a foreigner myself, I do admit thatliving in Korea can be difficult at times,but that h asn’t made me turn into acomplainer. It has only made me moredetermined to try an d fit in. Why shouldthe Koreans change to suit us and ourdifferent cultures? Remember, we camehere.

In th e article about J oon, it doesn’tmention if he can speak Korean. I th ink that is the No. 1 way to fit in and adapt .I have already enrolled in KoreanLanguage School and I have only beenhere six months.

I came from Vancouver, Canada,where homeless people roam thestreets, hassling everyone; drugs areeverywhere; crime is ram pant; personalproperty is stolen everyday; festivalsand events are a haven for drunkenhooligans; graffiti and vandalism lay onevery street corner; and personal safetyis being eroded.

Now, let’s talk about Korea . Seoul isprobably the safest big city in the world;personal safety is never an issue. Whereare all the homeless people? Crime isrelatively low; personal property is re-spected and not stolen by some drug ad-dict; families can go to festivals andevents and have a good time.

I can put up with a little bit of spit-ting, being bumped, garbage on thestreet, being stared at because I am dif-ferent. I like it here and Koreans arenice people.

 Brad Anderson, Suwon

Joon is right in many ways. TeachingEnglish should not be based on whichpassport you carry or your country of origin. In teaching English, a teachershould have not only skills, but also aneducational background, experienceand desire to teach English.

Filipinos are versatile teachers aswell as creative. Korean people must beaware tha t a speaker’s accent is no in-dication of his or her ability to speak English. Professionalism is much moreimportant.

As long as a person is educated, welltraveled, skilled and creative, he isqualified to teach English. I too experi-enced what Joon has experienced herein Korea, which I’ve never experiencedin other countries. If Koreans want tocompete and want to excel in English,they must open their minds and heartsto the world, not just to a few of itsEnglish-speak ing count ries. It’s time toexplore the true and different colors of English.

I am thankful to The Korea Heraldfor taking this issue up. I hope Koreanpeople soon give us equality and realizethat Filipinos are qualified to teachEnglish. Because many of us are eagerto share our knowledge.

 Hali Possa

EXHIBITION

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

 WHAT S HAPPENING

Korea not

that bad

Teaching

English

Pusan International FilmFestival

What: 14th Pusan International FilmFestivalWhen: Oct. 8- Oct. 16Where: BusanCost: Opening/Closing: 10,000 wonGeneral show: 5000 wonTickets go on sale Sept. 21for the open-ing and closing nights. Tickets for therest of the events go on sale Sept. 23.For more information, go to the PIFFwebsite www.piff.org

Comedy night in Seoul

What: Professional standup comedyWhen: Sept. 26 at 7 p.m.Where: Roofers Bar, Itaewon, SeoulWho: Jonathan Athert on (Australia)and Terry Johnson (U.S.)Cost: 35,000 wonTo get to Roofers Bar, go to ItaewonSubway Station (Exit 3) walk straight,and turn right at Mr. Kebab. RoofersBar is up on the right. Ticket includesone free drink. To make reservations, e-mail spotlight comedyclub@yahoo.com,call 019-802-2474 or 016-695-4624.

International SeoulMarathon

What: 8th In ternational Tourism SeoulMarathonWhen: Sept. 27 at 9 a.m.Where: Sangam World Cup StadiumSquare of Peace, SeoulCost: 20,000 won for 5 km; 30,000 wonfor full courseFor more information on this and othermarathons, go to go towww.seoulmarathon.co.kr

THIS IS KOREA

Colin Roohan Simon Bond Dave Heidloff

The Photo Challenge is sponsored by  Hyosung Camera (English: 010-7203-9599) and Babo Shir ts (www.ba-boshirts.com). Winners of the weeklycompetition receive a 50,000 won st orecredit at Hyosung Camera and a BaboShirt. To take part in the competition,simply upload your photo at www.flickr.com/ groups/ seoulphoto-club — Ed.

By Aaron Raisey

Over the course of the year, some of the best images produced by membersof the Seoul Photo Club have been fea-tured here on the Expat Living pageand th ey are all coming together in oneplace for the Seoul Photo Club-ExpatLiving Photo Exhibition.

The theme of the show is “This isKorea,” and the photographs really dorepresent all of Korea through t he eyesof the expatriate.

There will be photographs taken liter-ally from one end of the country to theother. From broken dancer sculptures inPaju to a Hallasan sunset on Jeju, thegritty byways of Busan to the fortresswalls of Hwaseong, Suwon. Seoul fea-tures prominently of course — imagesas diverse as club action in Hongdae

and Buddhist sculpture. What t he SPCsees through the viewfinder is indeedvaried, interesting and representativeof the many different ways of looking atthis unique nation.

Almost every different style of pho-tography will be represented.Landscape, street, portrait and nightphotography. Natural light, controlledlight and black & white. Film and dig-ital. It will all be there.

So when and where does it all takeplace? This Saturday evening is theopening event, from 5p.m. at GallerieCafe Ohoo in Hongdae. It ’ll be a greatopportu nity to meet t he people behindthose cameras, as Seoul Photo Clubmembers from all over Korea will bethere. It could be a good opportunityto share a drink, ask some questions,and get (or give!) a few tips. You’ll dis-cover that expat photography in thiscountry is practiced by ordinary peo-ple just like you an d I — living, work-ing and tr aveling here in Korea. If you

miss out on the opening night, the ex-hibition runs for two more weeks, sother e’s plenty of opportu nit y to check it out.

This is only the first SPC exhibi-tion. We have another planned forspring next year, and we’ll be select-ing the exhibitors each week untilthen. If the idea of winning a 50,000won voucher from Hyosung Camera,a Babo shirt, having your image inthe newspaper (a fantastic souvenirof your time in Korea, by the way)and being a part of this event ap-peals, then head over to the SeoulPhoto Club on Flickr(www.flickr.com/groups/seoulphoto-club) and just upload a few pics aweek. It’s tha t easy. And as all of thephotogra pher s you’ll meet onSatur day evening will testify, it reallyis an excellent incentive to get outthere and develop your photographicskills and travel the country. See youon Saturday.

(raisey@hanm ail.net)

For more information on the exhibi-tion, including directions and the open-ing time, e-mail matt lamers@her-aldm.com — Ed.

RE: Struggling to fit in,Filipino wants equality