18 COMMUNITY
LETTER TO EDITOR
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.
KISS your way
to better health
By Rob Ouwehand
What’s not to like about social
dancing? It’s good exercise, it’s
fun, it’s satisfying to learn a new
move and it’s a non-threatening
way to meet people who are gen-
erally active and adventurous,
as long as one has the courage to
ask a person for a dance and
even that gets easier every time.
At the same time, dancing
swing, salsa, meringue or cha-
cha with a partner is a chance to
chat and make a new friend. In
this writer’s experience, asking
a stranger to dance is much eas-
ier than approaching a stranger
in a bar and dancing together
has far fewer expectations or
suspicions attached to it than
buying someone a drink: it
might be one of the best ways
out there to meet new people.
When Sara Rose first came to
Korea, there was a large foreign
dance community that used to
meet regularly to do Latin
dances like salsa, meringue and
cha-cha. Not many Koreans
joined in, but times were still
good. When she came back after
four years away, a lot of the
Puerto Rican soldiers who first
led the Latin dance groups had
N ow,there were a lot of places to go
dancing,but expats didn’talw ays
know how to find them. To remedy
this,Sara started a website called
KISS: K orea International Salsa
Social, at www.korealatinand-
salsa.com, w here people can join, get
directions in English, connect and
arrange nights out at the different
Latin dance clubs in Korea.
been transferred away and the
foreign dance community was
not doing as well as the sudden-
ly booming Korean Latin-dance
network.
Now, there were a lot of places
to go dancing, but expats didn’t
always know how to find them.
To remedy this, Sara started a
website called KISS: Korea
International Salsa Social, at
www.korealatinandsalsa.com,
where people can join, get direc-
tions in English, connect and
arrange nights out at the differ-
ent Latin dance clubs in Korea.
One of the joys of joining a
dancing community is the con-
stant learning: even beginners
can have a good time asking
people to bear with them as
they learn the steps. After ask-
ing a few people to dance, that
nervous reservation disap-
pears and Sara assures me
that in a single night, open-
minded (read: don’t be a wall-
flower) novices can learn
enough of an unfamiliar step to
enjoy their time. Later, after
learning the dances better, the
opportunity to pass on the fa-
vor and spend a few songs
teaching another novice, cre-
ates a nice give and take where
dancers are almost always ei-
ther teaching or learning a
new dance move.
Most dancers are generous
about teaching people a turn or
two: everybody remembers
when they were the new one
and the satisfaction of learning
a new turn, twist or trick is
huge and cumulative, so that
each night of dancing is more
fun than the last.
“The International
Hub of Podcasting”
SeoulPodcast, sponsored by
— Not your grandfather’s internet radio show.
See SeoulPodcast.com
If even learning from part-
ners sounds intimidating, the
Korean International Salsa
Social site includes information
on when and where beginner
classes, workshops, lessons and
private sessions are available,
for prices that vary according to
the level and size of the group,
but are quite reasonable any
way you slice them. Even better,
many of the tutors and teachers
giving lessons are among
Korea’s top competitive Latin
dancers, so the quality of in-
struction is top shelf.
It’s actually surprising how
much Latin dance there is in
Korea if one knows where to
look: between Facebook and the
website, there are about 400
group members now and just in
Seoul there are 10 different
clubs where people regularly
meet, as well as places in
Busan, Daegu and other cities
across the country.
The dancing community wel-
comes anyone, both Koreans
and expats and it’s a tight
group: that is, familiar faces
show up from one club to the
next, from one weekend to the
next, so that friendships are
easy to form and maintain and
it gets easier asking for a dance
from a person you know.
Even better, the fact that
everybody knows each other a
little helps the atmosphere in
the Latin dance clubs to remain
quite positive: the kind of
drunken groping that makes
some kinds of clubs unappeal-
ing is extremely rare in dances
with precise steps like salsa,
tango and so forth, even more
so when people know the other
dancers and remember their
faces. Rather, the Latin dance
clubs welcome all ages and
though drinks might be con-
sumed, nobody wants to get
drunk enough to accidentally
step on somebody’s toes, so the
kinds of scenes that occur at al-
cohol-centered clubs when
drunk egos clash also rarely
happen in the Latin Dance
Clubs.
If Latin dancing sounds fun
to you, this is a good time to act
on the interest: the Korea
International Salsa Social’s
year-end party is coming up
this Saturday, Dec. 12 at The
Hive in Itaewon: there’s more
information at the website and,
of course, newcomers are wel-
come to join up, meet some peo-
ple, get some exercise and learn
a few new steps, all at the same
time.
If you know of an expat com-
munity that deserves to be fea-
tured in this column, e-mail ro-
boseyo@gmail.com; you can read
more of Rob’s writings at
http://roboseyo.blogspot.com —
Ed.
Here and now is way forward
By Eoghan Ryan
The passing of a close friend
recently drew into focus the
wrenching hurt that a major
change in life can cause. As a
person who generally seeks out
and thrives on change (I’ve lived
in five countries in five years),
I’ve valued all things new, and
often to the detriment of the old
and the neglect of loved ones.
New countries, cities, jobs,
friends, lovers, all fire the rest-
less mind and revamp the list-
less soul; at least they have for
this oft-bored Irishman.
All moves have, by degree,
been by choice. With each
change there have been ele-
ments of excitement, trepida-
tion and melancholy. But this
most severe of losses has done
several things to change the
way I view my lifestyle and
those I share it with.
With the grief for the loss of my
Seoul Players present Black Comedy
Seoul Players kicked of the
winter season in November
with a new comedy entitled
“Black Comedy” at Roofers in
Itaewon.
Featuring a multi-national
cast from the United States,
Canada, England and New
Zealand, the production fea-
tures a clever script and physi-
cal comedy which can be en-
joyed by all audiences, including
those whose first language may
friend has come melancholy and
nostalgia for losses of a different
kind. My moves and adventures
may have upgraded my life expe-
rience, the size of my pool of
friends, or at least my bank of
stories to be told at the bar on a
Friday night. But, I have also
seen significant downgrades,
losses which were grieved.
Some losses are abrupt but
most are more gradual. From
lover with a future, to boyfriend,
to acquaintance, to chapter in
the history book; from daily con-
tact to occasional Facebook com-
ment; from ever present to wor-
thy of a visit some time. The fre-
quent buzzing of the phone, to
the point of annoyance, falls
away to stoic silence. The hollow
echo of those names contained
within can ring loud sometimes.
In swells and troughs these
transitions from times of plenty
to famine and back, rise and fall.
With noteworthy exceptions,
not be English.
“Black Comedy” is a farce by
English playwright Peter
Schaffer and the last three per-
formances are tonight at 9 p.m.
and tomorrow night at 6 p.m.
and 9 p.m.
The storyline follows a young
couple who decide to host a par-
ty with borrowed furniture, only
to experience a blackout as
guests arrive.
Finding their way around in
the relationships that replace
the lifelong ones left at home
drift away, downgraded by dis-
tance, indifference, choice and,
well, life.
Last month for the first time
in five years I considered mov-
ing back to Ireland. The uncon-
ditional support of friends and
family after my friend’s death
was a sight to behold, the very
best of people at the very worst
of times. But yet I choose not to
live among them. So, back to my
expat life I have come and de-
spite that traveler’s instinct to
cut and run, here I am going to
stay. There are only so many
times you can leave good people
behind and start again.
A friend I contacted recently
following the breakup of her
marriage commented that she
was thankful for the message as
it seemed some people thought
that heartbreak was contagious.
Heartbreak is not contagious
the “dark” — while being com-
pletely visible to the audience —
oddball characters show up
throughout the evening to join
them in bumping into furniture
and each other.
Seoul Players has been
around since 2001 and has al-
ways provided theatre in
English-language for the expat
and Korean audiences. Seoul
Players remains a not-for-profit
organization that puts on shows
FRIDAY DECEMBER 11, 2009
The Photo
Challenge
The Photo Challenge is
sponsored by Hyosung
Camera (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 won
store credit at Hyosung
Camera and a Babo Shirt. To
take part in the competition,
simply upload your photo at
w w w. f l i c k r. c o m / g r o u p s /
seoulphotoclub — Ed.
PHOTO CHALLENGE —
weekly winner (top) — It’s
orange season on Jeju-do.
The fruits are plentiful in the
markets as orchard farmers
on the island are busy har-
vesting gamgyul during
November and December.
Katharine Rusk
PHOTO CHALLENGE —
monthly winner (left) —
Anguk Subway Station,
Seoul is photographed in
the morning Seoul. The
theme this month was “point
and shoot.” Aaron Brown
but it does allow for a clarity
that adds to your appreciation of
the relationships that remain.
Be they back home, or in one’s
new home, those that don’t drift
away and are not downgraded
should be valued.
Any temptation to feel bitter-
ness towards those who’ve faded
away is negated by an under-
standing that they have lives to
live, priorities to manage, aspi-
rations to pursue. Equally, by
leaving, by moving on, I’ve gen-
erally been the catalyst for any
downgrading of relationships,
so the responsibility lies only
with me.
So, for now this expat is not
leaving. I’m staying here.
Instinct tells me that upgrading
the appreciation for what I’ve
got is the way forward.
The author can be reached at
ryan.eoghan@gmail.com — Ed.
for the benefit of the community
and love of the theater.
Tickets are 15,000 won, and
Seoul Players recommends re-
serving in advance via e-mail at
blackcomedyseoul@yahoo.com.
From Itaewon Station (Exit
3), walk straight and turn right
after Dunkin Donuts. Roofers is
located on the second floor, a 1-2
minute walk up the hill on the
right, across from King Club.
(johnredmond@heraldm.com)
RE: Death,
racism, kimchi
Orpheus Allison
Sunchang, North Jeolla Province
— Your columns have been in-
teresting in providing a focal
point for those of us new to the
Korean Maelstrom. Yes, there do
seem to be a disproportionate
number of articles on English
teachers. I am one of that group.
However, I have appreciated
your efforts to provide a sound-
ing board for those teachers who
are trying to meet the insatiable
demand that Korean Society has
placed on a foreign language. I
would be more interested in find-
ing stories about teachers who
come from non-traditional back-
grounds. I worked in Broadcast
television in the U.S. for 18 years
before I began teaching. I use a
variety of techniques and skills
that are not part of traditional
teaching courses. Most notably I
am using Shakespeare’s Romeo
and Juliet and other plays as
teaching tools. Many of my
Korean colleagues remark on the
fact that the language is old and
that it is beyond the capability of
my students. I did this with
Chinese students and it netted
time for me in a graduate pro-
gram in England.
I suspect that part of the issue
is the expectations of schools,
parents, and society not easily
defined yet demanding a scien-
tific approach that can be mea-
I suspect that
partof the
issue is the
expectations
of schools,
parents,and
society not
easily defined
yet demand-
ing a scientif-
icapproach
that can be
measured.
Schizoid de-
m ographics
are certainly
not new but
the interpre-
tation is.I
w ould appre-
ciate more in-
sight into the
people be-
hind the titles
or the head-
lines.
sured. Schizoid demographics
are certainly not new but the in-
terpretation is. I would appreci-
ate more insight into the people
behind the titles or the head-
lines. And I would like to know
more about what has brought
the foreign population to Korea.
Not all of us are motivated by
money. I have to be honest, the
pay here in Korea is better than
what I received in China. But I
was also freer in China to take
on small short term jobs that
opened opportunities for later
work without affecting my visa.
This allowed me to return honor
to my patron in many ways be-
yond the classroom.
It would be nice to learn of
programs that we can bring into
our classrooms. I know that the
U.S. military does do some
classroom work on a voluntary
basis. But what about compa-
nies that have a vested interest
in our students a major issue is
that my students do not see a
connection between their school
work and the future. It would
also be really nice if there could
be a regular calendar of when
schools and districts do testing
and it also would help if we
could compare programs offered
by the expat teachers.
Keep doing the great job you
are doing. You are helping to
build a better future.