korea herald 20090602
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8/14/2019 Korea Herald 20090602
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COMMUNITY18 TUESDAY JUNE 2, 2009
By Robin Seila
GUMI, North GyeongsangProvince — On May 30, touchrugby teams from around thecountry traveled to Gumi for thethird of seven tournaments in theSpire Korea Touch Champion-ship.
The tournament was hosted byWaegook Cook. The Gumi tour-nament is known for being thelargest and one of the most an tic-ipated tournaments of the year.
Fourteen teams played thisyear, up from eight last year.The teams came from all overKorea — Seoul, Daegu, Ulsanand Busan. The teams rangedfrom teams with experiencedplayers such as t he Scoregasmsand the Dutch Rudders, to ateam that was formed on theday of the tournament day.Their team name was theBarbarians, and they represent-ed seven countries, speaking 13languages between them. RichBuck summed up his team bysaying, “We didn’t know therules and we were phenomenal-ly unorganized, but we had agreat day learning how to play.”
The Barbarians did not makethe playoffs, but another new
team, th e Scoregasms, mana gedto come in second place overall.
The Scoregasms star ted prac-ticing together about a monthago when they learned of thetournament. They traveled toGumi from Masan, which isabout 50 minutes from Busan.The entire team is from NewZealand.
“In New Zealand, touch istaken very seriously; everyoneplays it. It’s not just a warm upgame for contact rugby, the wayit is viewed in other countries,”said Loren Aberhart .
Jemma Moreland, from the
Scoregasms said, “I’ve had afantastic time and I encourageeveryone, regardless of age andskill level, to come out and playbecause it is a great day.”
Moreland and the other play-ers on the Scoregasms said theyare looking forward to partici-pating in the rest of the tourna-ments this year.
The Dutch Rudders, a teamcomprised of players from NewZealand’s souther n-most island,remained undefeated, winningtheir third tournament of theyear. The Exiles had a strongshowing, as usual, with a fourth
place finish. The Ajummas, anew team that made its debutat the Ansan tournament lastmonth, improved dramaticallyto come in third overall.
“It was an awesome day. Theatmosphere and the weatherwere great . We couldn’t ha vewished for anything better andI’m looking forward to a greatafter par ty,” said Derrick Smith,owner of Waegook Cook.
The after party took place atthe Waegook Cook restaurant(www.waegookcook.com), whereeach team received a pitcher of beer.
Awards in the form of bar ta bswere given for the best try of theday, the blooper moment of theday, and to the top four teams:the Exiles, the Ajummas, theScoregasms and the DutchRudders.
For more information abouttouch, visit www.toucharugby.-blogspot.com. Find the KoreaTouch Association on Facebook,or em ail k [email protected].
Practice takes place everySaturday from 9:30 a.m.-11:30a.m. on the Jamwon rugby pitchin Seoul (south r iverside betweenHanna m and Dongho bridges).
This is th e last part in a serieslooking into religion in Korea.The objective is to give expatri-ates a springboard from whichto develop spiritually by provid-ing the contact information.Feature articles have examined
Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. — Ed.
By Matthew Lamers
It’s a major world religionwith more than 5 million follow-ers. There are no priests. ALocal Spiritual Assembly iselected. It is practiced in127,400 locations — includingKorea — in 802 languages. Itemphasizes the unity of the ma-
jor world religions.When they gather they dis-
cuss how as individuals and as acommunity they can contributeto building a better world astheir legacy.
The Baha’I faith count s itself as anoth er of the world’s reli-gions with followers in Korea.
Firaydun Mithaq, a memberof the Baha’I community, saysthat there are believersthroughout the country, includ-ing in Seoul, Songnam, Anyang,Cheongju, Daegu, Gwangju,Daejeon and Busan.
“Although the number of theBaha’Is in Korea is not over 200active believers, the KoreanBaha’I community is composedof vibrant and dynamic mem-bers that arecommitted toserve the Koreansociety primarilyin the field of ed-ucation,” Mithaqsaid. “They re-spect and cherishthe Korean cul-ture and exalttheir religious beliefs.”
Mithaq, an Australian with18 years of experience in Korea,holds a doctorate in educationand is a professor at Kyung HeeUniversity in Seoul.
He explained that Baha’Is inKorea worship daily at theirhomes and often regularly holdprayer gatherings in their ad-ministrative centers — in Seoul,located at Huam-dong.
There are elected bodies orcounsels in each city, town orvillage that organize and ad-minister community religiousaffairs and activities. There areno rituals; in t he Baha’I faithprayers are offered voluntarilyby individuals in the gather-ings.
The faith is a relatively newone, having been founded onlyabout 150 years ago byBaha’u’llah in the m iddle of 19th century in Persia.(Baha’u’llah is a title given tothe founder and is made up of two words: “Baha,” meanin gglory and “Allah,” meaning God.Putting t he two words together,you get “the Glory of God.”)
One of the more uniquethin gs about Baha’I is its decen-tralized structure. Each center,wheth er in Da egu, New York orLondon, has an elected adminis-trative counsel that provides in-formation, study materials and
systematic study programs forinquires into the Baha’I Faithand the needs of the Baha’I com-munity.
“The Baha’I commun ity isopen to everyone and welcomespeople from any religion to par-ticipate in its study gatherings,prayer meetings and importantfestivals.
The community meets regu-larly to socialize with everyone“in their gatherings with spiritof respect love and unity,” ex-plains Mithaq. They also studythe Baha’I Writings and planprograms to serve the outercommunity in child education,
junior youth empowerment andhumanitarian community ser-vices aimed at spiritual, socialand educational development.
In an e-mail interview,Kamran Eshraghian gave someimportant background informa-tion on Baha’Is. He said that hu-manity has entered a new era of enlightenment whereby theearth’s inhabitants are nowchallenged to draw on their col-lective inheritance to take up,consciously and systematically,the responsibility for the designof their future.
“Baha’I teachings highlightthat appearance of religion can-not be seen as a series of inde-pendent and random events,but rather as a single endlessprocess, that is called ‘religion’with a common source and acommon purpose as the catalyst
for education and advancementof humanity,” he said.
Inter estingly, the Baha ’I per-spective says that the appear-ance of religion is progressiveand proportional to an increas-ing spiritual capacity of humansas we advance.
“Over time, spiritual truth isdistorted, human virtues suchas truthfulness, compassion, jus-tice, disappear. It is at this pointof time a where humanity be-comes in need of spiritual re-newal that new religion emergesto facilitate hum anity’s advance-ment,” explained Eshraghian.
Eshraghian lives in CheongjuCity, Chungcheongbuk- do. Hereceived his Ph.D., MEngSc.,and BTech., degrees from theUniversity of Adelaide,Australia. In 2004 he received aDoctorate of Engineering fromthe University of Ulm, Germany,for his research in the integra-tion of nanoelectronics with thatof light wave t echnology. He cur-rently serves as chairman of theboard of directors of four hi-techcompanies, holds an adjunctchair at UKM in Malaysia, andis a visiting scholar atUniversity of Adelaide.
Eshraghian was a member of the au xiliary board of the Baha’Ifaith in Australia from 1974 to1985. “Baha’u’llah compar ed theworld community to tha t of the
human body being highly inter-connected. Therefore Baha ’Icommunities in t heir gatheringsconsult and exchange ideas onissues pertaining to values, edu-cation, developments in the ar tof consultation, enrichment andempowerment of children andthe youth through developingtheir understanding of virtuessuch as trustworthiness, truth-fulness, compassion, sense of
justice and practical measuresthat can advance the prospectsfor peaceful development of allpeoples.”
Members of democratically-elected Local SpiritualAssemblies look after the affairsof the community and can comefrom all strata of society such ashousewives through to engi-neers, doctors and universityprofessors — all serving thecommunity for a one year t erm.
The assembly operates on aconsultative basis and decisionsare arrived at through majorityvote.
The assembly addresses theneeds of the community, for ex-ample education of children,scheduling of devotional meet-ings, needs of elderly, and thekind of service they can offerwithin a neighborhood. Theelected should, in Ba ha’u’llah’sview, consider themselves re-sponsible for the welfar e of all of humankind.
What does the Bah a’I commu-nity strives for? “The well-being
of mankind, itspeace and securi-ty, are unattain-able unless anduntil its unity isfirmly estab-lished,” Eshrag-hian quotedBaha’u’llah assaying.
“This is what the Baha’I com-munity strives for as they gath-er together in devotional meet-ings at homes, at Baha’I centersuch in Seoul or at houses of worships in several of the conti-nents. These gatherings areopen to everyone no matter whatreligious background they mayhave. Holy writings from majorreligions are read by individuals.
“To participate effectively inthe struggle to bring materialwell-being to humanity, the reli-gious spirit must find ... newspiritual concepts and principlesrelevant to an age that seeks toestablish unity and justice in hu-man affairs. As the consequence,the Ba ha’I commun ity is closelyknit in thoughts — and work to-gether to developing their under-standin g of principles of theBaha’I teaching that revolvesaround such issues as equality of women and men, h armony of sci-ence and religion, elimination of all forms of prejudice, universaleducation and elimination of ex-tremes of wealth and poverty.”
(mattlam ers@heraldm .com)
For more information on the Baha’I faith, contact Kamran Eshraghian by e-mail a t k.eshragh [email protected] or Firaydun Mithaq at mithaq99-@gm ail. com
PHOTO CHALLENGE WINNER — Now located at the Gwacheon National Science Museum, early Korean astronomers used this mapof the sky to track constellations.To participate,go to flickr.com/groups/seoulphotoclub Shawn Parker
Expat Living has scoured the inter-net and called dozens of people tocompile the most comprehensive listof community groups in Korea.Whether you’re after a pool league inItaewon, a debate club in Busan or afriendship club in Daegu, everythingyou need to be happy in Korea ishere.
To add your social group to this list,e-mail the group’s name, your name,phone number and the group’s contact information to Matthew Lamers at [email protected]. If you see this list anywhere else, it was copied from Expat Living! — Ed.
Adoptee Solidarity Koreawww.adopteesolidarity.org
African Women’s Group(02) 536-0453 or (02) 797-2767
Animals (Animal Rescue Korea)www.animalrescuekorea.org
Association for Teachershttp://atek.or.kr
Association des Francophoneswww.afc-online.org
American Women’s Club of Koreawww.awckorea.org
Australian and N.Z.groupwww.anzakorea.com
Baseball (Daegu softball league)[email protected]
Basketball (this organizationorganizes weekly games)www.kena.kr
Baseball (Seoul,softball)Starts in June. [email protected]
Bible study (In Seoul)011-359-13173 p.m. Saturday afternoons
British Association of Seoulwww.britishseoul.com
Buddhism (Seoul International ZenCenter)www.seoulzen.org
Busan community informationhttp://pusanweb.com
Busan Foundation for InternationalActivitieswww.bfia.or.kr
Busan International Women’sAssociationwww.biwakorea.com
Busan Photo Clubwww.flickr.com/groups/535889@N22
Book clubSearch “Mokpo Book Club, SouthKorea” on Facebook
Canadian Women’s [email protected]
Chinese Women’s Clubhttp://ocwckr.spaces.live.com
Cigar Seoul Cigar Aficionado Societyhttp://seoulcigaraficionadosociety.blogspot.com
Cricketshane_kennedy_nz@hotmail. com
Club Italiawww.clubitalia.or.kr
Cyclingwww.mtbk-adventure.com
Czech [email protected]
Darts (Seoul Dart League)www.seouldarts.net
Debate (Busan Socrates Cafe)[email protected]
Democrats Abroad Koreawww.democratsabroadkorea.blogspot.com
Daegu [email protected]
Daegu International Women’sAssociationwww.diwakorea.com
Daegu Friendship [email protected]://www.daegupockets.com
Daegu Photography [email protected]
English Ministry Minister’sAssociation
http://emmainternational.tripod. com
Europe Korea Foundationwww.ekf.or.kr
Football (American, KNFL)www.kafa.org
Fencingwww.seoulfencing.com
French speaking expatriates andKorean womenwww.cerclefrancocoreen.org
Global Overseas Adoptees’Linkwww.goal.or.kr
Gaelic Football (sport)www.seoulgaels.com
German Clubwww.deutscherclubseoul.de
Hiking (Seoul Hiking Group)www.meetup.com/seoul-hikers
Hinduism (The Vedic Center)www.krishnakorea.com
Helping Others Prosper throughEnglish (HOPE)www.alwayshope.or.kr
Hockey (ball hockey)www.cbhk.org
Hockey (ice,for kids)www.jrkingskorea.com
Islam (Muslim Federation)www.koreaislam.org
Indian Women’s Club [email protected]
International Friendship Clubhttp://ifckorea.com
International spouses groupwww.iskakorea.com
Irish Association of Koreawww.iak.co.kr
Jewish Community of Koreawww.jewishkorea.com
Korea TESOLwww.kotesol.org
Korea Toastmastershttp://khtoastmasters.ning.com
Korean American AdopteeAdoptive Family Networkwww.kaanet.com
Language Exchangewww.iaminkorea.com
Lacrossewww.lacrosse.or.kr
Migrants in Koreawww.migrantsinkorea.net
Networking(Korean English NetworkingAgency)www.kena.kr
Non-denominational Book [email protected]
The Nordic Women’s Club Seoulwww.kolumbus.fi/hannu.ruhala/nwc/about.html
Pool (Itaewon Pool League)www.itaewonpool.org
Pride Koreahttp://kqcf.org
Republicans Abroad Koreawww.gopkorea.blogs.com
Royal Asiatic Societywww.raskb.com
Russian Community in Koreawww.russiankorea.com
Rugby (touch)http://touchtagrugby.blogspot.com
Sailing (Busan Expat SailingAssociation)www.busansailing.com
Seoul Art Collectivehttp://seoulartcollective.tk
Seoul International Women’sAssociationhttp://www.siwapage.com
Seoul Players(theater group)www.seoulplayers.com
Seoul Photo Clubwww.flickr.com/ groups/seoulphotoclub
Seoul Stitch N Bitch
http://seoulsnb.blogspot.com
Seoul Tennis Clubhttp://seoultennis.com
Soccer (SSFL)www.ssflkorea.com
St. Andrews Society of [email protected]
Surfing clubseoulboardriders@hotmail. com,Search “Seoul Boardriders” onFacebook
Swedish Women’s EducationalAssociationwww.swea.org/seoul
The Join Together Society(volunteer)www.jtsint.org
Touch ruby,Seoul
www.touchtagrugby.blogspot.comUltimate Frisbeewww.koreaultimate.net
Vegetarian(Seoul Vegetarian Club)seoulveggieclub.wordpress.com
Volunteer (PLUR volunteer group)[email protected] “Volunteer for PLUR!” onFacebook
Wine and Women Koreahttp://www.ekf.or.kr
complete community group listt Li i
Expat Living is a section dedicated to the dailyliving of expatriates.It is printed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.To share stories about your life abroad, send storiesor story ideas to Matthew Lamers [email protected] Submissions may be edited for length or clarity.
Small but vibrant:Baha’Is in Korea
In Gumi, a try for perfection
The Baha’I perspective says that theappearance of religion is progressive andproportional to an increasing spiritualcapacity of humans as we advance.