Korea ‘holds many courses to entertain expats’

Posted 18 Nov 2009

Those considering teaching in Korea will find that whatever their hobbies, there is usually a group or society they can attend to help them fulfil their interests.

This is according to a report from the JoongAng Daily, which has highlighted the many social options that expats in Korea go for.

Among these was a recent poetry contest that aimed to test the knowledge of foreigners regarding Korean literature.

Overall 12 individuals from 11 countries, including China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar, were present at the social event, the newspaper reports.

Ethnic Korean Alexandra Park, who cannot speak the language as she was born and raised in Uzbekistan, told the JooAng Daily: "Because my Korean is not good enough to write poetry in Korean, I wrote the poems in my first language – Russian – and then translated them".

She added that adapting to her new life was difficult at first, but she now has two children and a Korean husband and is determined to master the language.

Last week, The Dong-A Ilbo reported that figures from the Hyundai Research Institute show that the number of foreign residents in Korea reached 1.15 million at the end of September 2009.

Category: Moving Abroad