Global Community

Int’l school tuitions weigh on families

By Kim Young-jin With a new school year starting up at international schools, so too are the familiar, hopeful rituals: the zipping of backpacks and meeting of teachers; the new, more challenging homework. But for a growing number of parents who send their children to such schools, some of which have already begun classes, the hope quickly fades to serious financial stress. Each year, tuition costs a whopping 20 to 30 million won ($18,700-28,000) and many wonder how they can afford their children’s education. Some parents even change schools. The problem has many calling for education reforms to better care for the children of foreign residents. “When my child started kindergarten, it was 13 million won per year. Now she is entering middle school and it costs 20 million won,” said one parent who took his daughter out of one of the leading international schools in Seoul. “For me, it is not sustainable.” “It was ridiculous,” said one English teacher and photojournalist, who was forced to pull his child out after four years at one international school. “It got to

(487) Acupuncture (I)

(486) Treasury securities

(485) Sovereign credit rating

(484) Traffic jam

Little Travellers to hold photo scavenger hunt

By John Redmond The Korean chapter of the Little Travellers HIV/AIDS Initiative plans to hold a photo scavenger hunt beginning at Seoul City station on Aug. 13. The Amazing Race-style challenge, comprising teams of four people armed with cameras performing certain tasks, aims to raise awareness and money for the Hillcrest AIDS Center in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. This will be the third time such an event is to be held, following previous successes. “After the success of the past two years' events, Little Travellers once again plans on unleashing its participants on the unsuspecting people of Seoul to solve riddles, follow clues and complete tasks,” states a press release. Little Travellers are beaded pins made by women affected by HIV/AIDS in South Africa. Each pin is individually handcrafted and unique. These women are part of an income-generation project through the Hillcrest AIDS Center. Each pin is sold for 5,000 won with all proceeds going directly back to South Africa to benefit both the crafter and the AIDS center, and to fight HIV/AID

Expat theater grows through friendly competition

By Kim Young-jin One group had been literally locked inside a theater since morning, tasked to write and produce four short plays in a single day. Not far away, another sipped wine in a chic bar, launching their popular company under a new name. But with two Saturday events ­ Probationary Theatre Company (PTC)’s performance of the fast-produced plays and the launch of the Seoul Shakespeare Company (SSC) ­ starting at the same time, would there be a conflict in the expat theater community? Not even close. Organizers say the competition ­and cooperation that has sprung up among the handful of English-language theater groups here is fueling better art. “We communicate and help each other,” said Lindsey Higgins, artistic director of SSC at the Berlin Cafe in Itaewon. “The sense of friendly competition is inspiring.” The event marked the debut of the troupe under its new name after being known since its inception in 2009 as Actors Without Bard’ers. She said she had spoken with Desiree Munro, creative director of PTC, about the fact that both events had been schedu

(483) Precious stones

(482) Tradional Korean medicine (I)

(481) Rain (II)