18 WEDNESDAY
FEBRUARY 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 — On a winter day,
the sun shines through a wooden structure at
Nagan Folk Village, Jeollanam-do.
Photo by Simon Bond/www.369photography.co.uk
In Focus: Finding right image file
The Photo Challenge is spon-
sored by Hyosung Camera
(English: 010-7203-9599) and
Babo Shirts (www.baboshirts.
com). Winners of the weekly
competition 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/seoulp
hotoclub — Ed.
If you have a digital camera,
you are no doubt familiar with
at least one of these types of im-
age file. Maybe you have won-
dered what the difference is and
what the advantages of shoot-
ing in one format over the other
are.
Well, there are advantages to
both, and likewise, both have
drawbacks. Let’s try to answer
a couple of questions and hope-
fully you can decide what’s right
for you.
PHOTO CHALLENGE SECOND PLACE — Kimchi
pots seen at Suwon Folk Village, Gyeonggi-do.
Nathan Woodward
Free tickets for COEX travel exposition
By Jung So-ya
The Seoul Global Center in-
vites both expats and Koreans
to the 2009 edition of the Korea
Travel Expo. Feb. 19 is the
opening day of the event at the
Atlantic Hall at COEX (Line 2,
Samsung Station, exit 5 or 6)
from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The four-day annual event at-
tracted close to 100,000 visitors
in 2008, and this year the
Ministry of Culture and
Tourism, its organizing body, is
IN FOCUS
JPEG vs. RAW
By Aaron Raisey
Q: JPG and RAW, what are
they?
A: JPG files are the de facto
file format for images on the
Web. Almost all the images you
see on the Web and that people
e-mail to each other are JPG
files. They are the finished
product — ready to share with
family and friends and to up-
load to your website.
RAW files are just that —
raw. They are the image as the
camera initially sees it. The file
needs to be processed further by
software to be shared, printed
or uploaded to the internet.
All cameras can do this pro-
cessing in-camera, preparing
the JPG image for use. Some
cameras give you the option of
expecting an even larger
turnout.
The number of booths in this
year’s event has increased by 17
percent to a total of 491, with
160 regional governments par-
ticipating. Although the main
focus of the event is travel in-
formation, the Korea Travel
Expo also offers entertainment,
shopping and events with
prizes.
The travel expo is a good
place to go to learn what each
region of the country has to of-
COMMUNITY
doing it yourself at home on the
computer.
Q: Does my camera save my
pictures as RAW files, or JPG
files?
A: Mid to low range point-
and-shoot cameras only shoot
JPG. If you have a top of the
line point-and-shoot or a DSLR,
you will likely be able to choose
either, or even both, simultane-
ously.
Q: So, what are the pros and
cons of RAW?
A: The big advantages of
RAW are that it gives you an-
other chance and more options.
If, for example, you didn’t get
the exposure quite right, you
want some more contrast or if
the white balance is off, you can
adjust these (and many more)
aspects of the image accurately
and safely. The original file is
never altered.
The major disadvantages of
RAW are that they need special
software and time. The appro-
fer in terms of tourist attrac-
tions, food, natural beauty and
other regional products to plan
day trips or short holidays with-
in Korea.
It is also a great place to take
the whole family, as there will
be many opportunities to expe-
rience Korean culture with in-
teractive exhibits and hands-on
activities for children and
adults.
The kids might be interested
in making insects out of wood,
making beaded bracelets, mak-
priate software should be sup-
plied when you purchase the
camera, but you need to invest
time in learning how to use it
and time in front of the comput-
er after every shoot to produce
those JPG images to share.
RAW files are also big. If you
are shooting a lot, or shooting ac-
tion, memory cards fill up very
quickly. At about 3-4 times the
size of a comparable JPG image,
storage can become an issue.
Q: What about JPG? Why
would I shoot JPG?
A: JPG is easy. Just shoot and
share. You don’t need special-
ized software to see the files
and if you want to adjust your
image, there are many image
editing programs that are free
and easy to use. However, JPG
doesn’t give you the flexibility of
adjustment that RAW does.
Changing, for example, the ex-
posure or white balance on a
JPG file is more difficult and of-
ten produces results that aren’t
ing pressed flower key chains,
or trying on the clothes of old
Confucian scholars.
There will also be booths
available for learning how to
weave straw shoes, making nat-
ural soap using wine, making
red pepper paste, and catching
your own clams in the recreated
mud flats.
For those of you who are fans
of the global talk show
“Chatting with Beauties,” it will
even be possible to pose for pho-
tos with a poster of New
satisfactory.
Q: My camera shoots both,
but which kind of image is best
for me?
A: That depends. If you are
confident that you can get the
image right the first time, or
you can’t be bothered with
learning new software and
twiddling with images on your
computer, then JPG might be
best for you. Shoot RAW if you
like the options it gives you in
terms of the wide range of ad-
justments that can be success-
fully applied to your image and
if you enjoy the time it takes.
Don’t forget though, good
photographers produce good
images irrespective of which
type of file they choose to work
with. The importance of file for-
mat takes a back seat to actual-
ly getting out there, shooting
more, applying a critical eye to
your results and getting out
there again.
(gilgamesh@paradise.net.nz)
Zealander Baillie Catherine
Dewar, representing Daegu.
Drop by the Travel
Information desk at the Seoul
Global Center to pick up your
free tickets (otherwise the ad-
mission is 2,000 won per per-
son).
The SGC is located on the 3rd
floor of the Press Center near
exit 4 of City Hall Station (sub-
way line 2). Feel free to call the
SGC at 1688-0120 for more in-
formation.
(jungsoya@sba.seoul.kr)
Teaching
Korean
to Aussies
By Jessica Carter
Learning English isn’t always
easy for Koreans. But learning
Korean is not always easy for
English speakers either.
Jennifer Lewis has taught
Korean at Temora High School in
rural New South Wales,
Australia, for the past 10 years.
Although she admits that teach-
ing another language may be dif-
ficult at times, Lewis loves her
job and her students love their
Korean classes. “Students believe
it is a hard language to learn but
I’m quick to point out how diffi-
cult the English language is in
comparison,” she said. “The kids
love it, and I love it.”
Lewis traveled to Korea in
January with 16 other teachers
as part of the Endeavour
Language Teacher Fellowship, a
program sponsored by the
Australian government to en-
courage Korean language teach-
ers to visit Korea and practice
their language skills.
The program was offered for
the first time this year, reflect-
ing how important Korean is be-
coming for many Australians.
Australian Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd has committed $62.4
million over the next three years
for the National Asian Languages
and Studies in School Program.
The program aims to have 12 per-
cent of graduates fluent in
Korean, Mandarin, Japanese or
Indonesian by 2020.
Suzanne Lofts, who also trav-
eled to Korea on the Endeavour
Language Teacher Fellowship
program, teaches Korean at
Wollumbin High School in
Murwillumbah, a small commu-
nity in New South Wales where
language classes are compulsory
for all students in grade seven.
Lofts said that it is important
for her students to learn Korean
because it builds on the strong
relationship that already exists
between the two countries.
“Korea is a valuable trade
partner for Australia and we
have a large Korean population
as well,” she says.
According to the 2006
Australian census, 60,873 resi-
dents of Australia identify
themselves as being of Korean
ancestry. Korean language
classes are not only offered in
high schools, but also to help
those with Korean ancestry
maintain their cultural identi-
ty.
Su Hill, who was the Group
Leader on the Endeavour
Language Teacher Fellowship
trip to Korea, teaches Korean in
Sydney. “I teach Korean as a
community language program
for speakers with a background
in Korean. I have been teaching
an average of 30 Korean stu-
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dents per year for almost ten
years now.”
Hill said that community lan-
guage programs such as hers do
not offer language classes to
speakers without a background
in Korean. Australian students
with an English language back-
ground must take the subject in
high school and have the option
of continuing it until their final
year of school.
Lofts said that the number of
students at her school choosing
to take Korean classes, once they
finish taking it as a compulsory
subject in grade seven, is grow-
ing. “I currently teach about 150
students and the number of stu-
dents taking Korean classes in
the higher years is gradually in-
creasing.”
According to the Australian
Embassy in Seoul, Korea is
Australia’s third largest mer-
chandise export market, making
trade a crucial element between
the two countries. But the rea-
sons these teachers and their
students want to keep learning
Korean is about more than just
politics and economics.
Elizabeth Florence is training
to become a Korean language
teacher at the University of
Queensland, and said that the
Endeavour Language Teacher
Fellowship trip gave her the
chance to embrace Korean cul-
ture. “My favorite moment in
Korea was my homestay experi-
ence,” she says. “I loved being
welcomed by a warm family and
having the chance to be involved
in day-to-day Korean culture.”
Hill agreed that it is the peo-
ple and Korean way of life that
matters. “The people here are
very friendly and they have a
rich culture,” said Hill. “Korea is
a rapidly changing country that
isn’t scared to change. Even the
language is changing.”
With more students interested
in learning Korean and the
Australian government keen to
provide more funding for Korean
classes, teachers like Lewis,
Lofts, Hill and Florence play a
crucial role in communicating the
changes Korea is undergoing.
Lewis said that the
Endeavour Language Teacher
Fellowship helped her under-
stand more about the culture
behind the language she teach-
es. “Korea 10 years ago is even
different from Korea today. If I
want to continue teaching
Korean language and culture to
the students then programs like
this are incredibly beneficial.”
“I can’t wait to get back in the
classroom.”
To comment on this article, e-
mail mattlamers@heraldm.com
— Ed.