18 WEDNESDAY
MARCH 18, 2009
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 WINNER — The sun sets
near Jongdal-ri, Jeju-do in early March.
Sunset silhouettes of Hallasan and the Oreum
colonies are viewed from Jimi Oreum.
Mario Taradan (www.flickr.com/photos/helje)
In focus: The best time to take photos
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 upload your
photo at www.flickr.com/
groups/seoulphotoclub — Ed.
By Aaron Raisey
The film or digital sensor in
our camera reacts to the light
that falls on it to produce an im-
age. We all know how important
this is, as without light there
wouldn’t be any photography.
This week we will try to shed
some illumination on one facet
of the topic by focusing on the
area of sunlight, how it affects
our images at different times of
the day, and perhaps come away
with a few tips on how we can
use this to our advantage.
RUNNER UP — A woman
waits at Gyeongbok Palace,
Seoul in February.
Aaron Raisey
Benefits of permanent residency
By Christopher Dykas
Some may think F-2 and F-4
visa holders have it easy.
Compared to other visa classes,
though this may be true. F-2
and F-4 visas do not leave one at
the mercy of employers and al-
low holders to circumvent some
screening processes — as in the
case of some teaching positions
— plus they do not require spe-
cial trips to immigration to add
workplaces for short-term or
freelance work. They also have
a longer period of validity than,
say, E-2 visas.
For some expats in Korea,
these are dream visas. However,
if you have one you can still en-
counter problems.
Even if you are living and
working in Korea on an F-2 or
F-4 visa, there are limitations
that come with these statuses
when living in Korea long-
term.
Especially when it comes to
contractual agreements, hold-
ing a visa status that indicates
you are “returning home” at the
expiration date can make you
appear suspect, and can result
Most casual photographers —
and we have all been casual
photographers — at times think
something like “Great! It’s a
beautiful sunny day, I’m going
to get out there and take some
nice photos.” Yes, but to the
savvy photographer it’s not as
simple as that. Exactly when we
take advantage of that light can
drastically affect the look and
feel of our pictures.
Many photographers know
about the “golden hours” — the
first and last hours of sunlight
during the day. During these
times, the light is soft and
warm; giving a rich glow to col-
ors, especially yellows, oranges
and reds. It’s a good time to take
some cityscape shots for exam-
ple, with glowing buildings
in denial of certain applications.
Take, for example, mobile
phones. Depending on the com-
pany, contract durations range
from “no contract” — which can
actually still include a mandato-
ry three-month usage period —
to one or two years.
Many visitors who come in to
the Seoul Global Center to get a
mobile phone are surprised to
learn that they are ineligible to
sign up for a year-long contract
because of their visa expiration
date.
Having a “one-year visa” and
having “one year left on your
visa” are two very different
things. As of the beginning of
March the rule stood as follows:
if you have six months or more
remaining on your visa, you can
sign up for a year-long contract.
Even a single day short of six
months — this includes many
student visa holders, an E-2
visa holder who has been in
Korea for six months and one
day or an F-4 visa holder who
has been in Korea for 1.5 years
and one day — will leave you in-
eligible.
Even if you have every inten-
COMMUNITY
against a darkening sky and
long shadows adding a dramatic
aspect. It’s also the favorite time
for landscape photographers,
the morning and evening light
giving natural colors a warm
and vibrant aspect.
Oddly enough, the middle of
the day can often be the most
difficult time to take pictures.
On a bright and sunny day the
light can be very intense and
hard; bleaching the color out of
our subjects, creating black un-
sightly shadows and reflecting
off lighter colors so much that it
is very difficult to control expo-
sure.
A fill flash can be very useful
during these times if your sub-
ject isn’t too far away, and a lit-
tle bit of shade or cloud cover
can also be very welcome to alle-
viate these problems. However,
this situation can be turned to
your advantage if you are will-
ing to try your hand at a bit of
black and white processing.
tion of renewing your visa,
many companies have policies
against making agreements
with those who they do not
know for sure can stay in Korea
through the end of the agree-
ment. Even if you can obtain a
long-term mobile phone con-
tract, some must be renewed
upon expiration of the contract
holder’s visa. The same can be
true for Korean credit cards,
certain payment plans for ser-
vices, and so on.
So what could be the solution?
If you plan to stay in Korea long-
term, roughly on a permanent
basis, applying for an F-5 visa —
permanent residence — might
be an option. This visa is avail-
able to various groups of people,
including F-2 and F-4 visa hold-
ers, E-2 visa holders, and even
those without visas.
The most upfront benefit of
an F-5 visa is freedom from the
stipulations of other visas. Upon
switching to an F-5 visa, former
F-2 visa holders may stay in
Korea even if they divorce and
former E-2 visa holders may
stay in Korea even if they
switch jobs or decide to work on
Look for high contrast. On a
bright sunny day dark shadows
abound, and can often look very
effective in a black and white
when used creatively.
You might even try looking
back in your library for those
photos that perhaps looked a bit
too bright and harsh, and try
looking at them again in black
and white.
When you are out there pho-
tographing at different times,
try to remember what the sub-
ject looked like to you and com-
pare that with the images when
you get them home. Often an
image has surprising colors or
looks much more vibrant than
we remembered it in real life.
We can use this as feedback
into our photography in the fu-
ture if we encounter similar
lighting conditions.
However, light is useless of
course if we aren’t out there us-
ing it. Get out there!
(raisey@hanmail.net)
a freelance basis.
Other benefits of the F-5 visa
include unlimited re-entry into
Korea and once you have lived
in Korea on an F-5 visa for two
years, you qualify to vote in cer-
tain local elections.
Although this visa has no ex-
piration date and allows you to
travel freely in and out of the
country, it is important to note
that if you plan to stay out of the
country for more than a year,
you must obtain a re-entry per-
mit, which allows you to stay
out of Korea for up to two years.
If an F-5 visa holder stays out-
side Korea for two years, the
visa will expire.
There are various methods by
which you can qualify for an F-
5. They can basically be divided
into two categories: time and
money. In August of last year
the regulations for obtaining an
F-5 visa were relaxed. Now,
both F-2 and F-4 visa holders
can qualify for permanent resi-
dence status after living in
Korea on their respective visas
for two years.
Professionals in some speci-
fied fields (for example busi-
March tennis tournament
By Matthew Lamers
When Emmanuelle Jourdan
and Olivier Mouroux started the
first expat tennis tournament in
2003, they were pleased with the
response. But when they opened
the Seoultennis.com Tourna-
ment up to non-French players,
the reaction was fervent.
Since the beginning, more
than 200 players have taken
part, making it popular
enough to attract corporate
sponsorship.
“More and more people have
heard about this tournament
and I get frequent e-mail about
getting more information. The
website is easy to find on the in-
ternet and many expats contact
me thought it,” said Mouroux.
“Lacoste has been our offi-
cial sponsor since the begin-
ning; we also have Domaine de
Bequignole — French choco-
late — and we always are al-
ways looking for more spon-
sors,” he added.
Mouroux said the idea came
from a desire to build bridges be-
tween the fragmented expat
communities in Korea. He said
the tournament is a great way to
meet new people and network.
“At the beginning, this tour-
nament was only played with
the French community, but I
Touch season starts Saturday
By Jeremy Burks
Spring weather brings out
more than blossoms. Bare legs
will be on display next
Saturday as the new season of
Touch kicks off on Seoul’s
Jamwon rugby pitch.
The season’s first tournament
will feature 12 teams and about
150 players and is the first in
the 2009 Korea Touch champi-
onship. Over the course of the
season, teams will be competing
ness management or science)
who have lived in Korea for
three years, or teachers, profes-
sors or traders who have lived
in Korea for five years, can also
qualify.
In all these situations, you
must live in Korea for the given
time period in consecutive years
maintaining the same visa sta-
tus and be under the age of 60.
In addition to these require-
ments, applicants must also
prove financial capability. An
example would be a proven in-
come of at least twice that of the
Korean GNI per capita (which
the Bank of Korea estimates to
have plummeted to around
$18,000 for 2008), as well as
other possible criteria (language
proficiency, criminal record).
For non-residents, foreign in-
vestors who invest at least
$500,000 into Korea and who
hire at least five Korean citi-
zens can also qualify for imme-
diate permanent residency.
For more information specific
to immigration, the Korean
Immigration Service has a mul-
tilingual hotline that can be
reached by dialing 1345. Also,
for more information on this
and other topics regarding life
in Korea in general, the SGC
can be reached at 1688-0120.
(cdykas@sba.seoul.kr)
thought that it would be nice
to have other nationalities.
This is why we decided to
translate the website into
English and make all commu-
nication in English as well.
“I really believe that this tour-
nament is opening many doors
among (expat) communities —
at the last final we had people
from all over the world eating
cheese fondue together. It was
quite fun,” said Mouroux.
“Newcomers meet many
people during the tournament
and we organize a nice lunch
with all the players and fami-
ly after the final.”
Mouroux, 34, from France,
has been in Korea for eight
years and is the CEO of
Asiance (www.asiance.com).
The reason for the tourna-
ment’s success is probably its
flexible structure. The 16 par-
ticipants are divided into
groups of four. There is a quar-
terfinal, a semifinal, then a
championship match.
Two players of the same
round robin contact each other
and are responsible for plan-
ning their own match. This for-
mula, according to organizers,
allows everyone to schedule
games in a very simple way be-
cause dates are not imposed as
they are in other sports.
for valuable points at each of the
six planned tournaments. The
championship is an open format
with men’s, women’s and mixed
teams competing in the same
competition and each tourna-
ment has an overall champion
as well as a bowl winner.
“Last year’s form counts for
nothing,” said Shane Lowndes,
the tournament director. “And
even if your team didn’t make
it into the first tournament,
there will be another chance on
How to apply
— It’s a function of time and money
— Regulations for obtaining an F-5
visa relaxed
— F-2, F-4 visa holders can qualify
for permanent residence
— Must live in Korea 2
consecutive years
— Teachers, professors or traders
who have lived in Korea for 5
years can apply
The next tournament, the
12th overall, is planned to
start March 20.
Mouroux said that despite
the popularity of Seoulten-
nis.com, there are no plans to
expand the tournament be-
cause of scheduling difficulties
that come with having more
than 16 competitors. He did ad-
mit that registrations filled up
in less than 24 hours for the last
Seoultennis.com Tournament
in September 2008.
If you’d like to join, but March
registration is already full, orga-
nizers recommend joining the
waiting list. They also recom-
mend keeping a close watch on
Seoultennis.com for news on the
September tournament.
There are two tournaments
a year, one in March and an-
other in September.
Player eligibility is open to
anyone. Said Mouroux:
“Anyone who plays tennis; lev-
el is from average to good; and
yes, it is open to women, too.”
Tournament champions re-
ceive a polo Lacoste shirt and
a trophy, which has usually
been a Korean vase.
For more information, go to
www.seoultennis.com or e-
mail Olivier Mouroux at
info@seoultennis.com.
(mattlamers@heraldm.com)
April 11th when we hold the
second in the series.”
Jamwon rugby pitch is lo-
cated between Hannam and
Dongho bridges on the south
bank of the Han River.
Interested players, clubs
and supporters can watch the
tournament from 11 a.m. until
5 p.m. For more details on how
to access the pitch, visit
www.touchtagrugby.blogspot.c
om or e-mail koreatouch@
gmail.com
— Must maintain the same visa sta-
tus during the period before ap-
plication
— Must be under the age of 60
— Proven income of at least twice
the Korean GNI per capita
— Other criteria include language
proficiency, criminal record, etc.
— Foreign investors who invest at
least $500,000 into Korea and
hire at least five Korean citizens
can also qualify for permanent
residency