Expat Parents in Korea

http://expatparents.forumer.com

The forum is up and getting off to a great start. I really hope this helps people stay connected beyond the EMCK blogger blog. The thing I like most about this forum is that it is private. Of course there are other Korea forums out there for parents to connect on, but they are open to the whole internet. Users have to register and be approved for this one and I am going to closely monitor the interaction to make sure people play nice! I think it's going to be great though.

I got some work today! Met with a former coworker today at her office in Gongdeok. She now works for one of the biggest education publishers in Korea. Seems I have something to do now rather than surf the internet in the evenings! yeah!

Expat Moms in Korea

I started up a private blog for Expat Moms in Korea last December. I would often get emails from women saying something along the lines of, "I'm glad I found your blog. I'm moving to Korea soon..." I also knew some moms in Korea through Ravelry, and just some moms I had met along the way. Then I met mamaseoul, who gets a tonne of hits to her blog from people searching things like "pregnant in Korea." After a successful lunch with about 6 moms in November 2008, I thought, why not stay connected online? That's how EMCK started.

Since then our little group has grown to between 70 and 80 members. I had no idea there were so many expat moms in Seoul. Many people post often, some just read, and some just come out to events. It's been so nice to see this group grow and watch the amazing exchange of information. I've met some good friends and I hope I have helped others make friends, too. I think I have. That makes me happy.

But since blogger can only accomodate up to 100 blog authors, we now have to change formats. I'm now working on making a forum for expat moms and dads in Korea. It's hard to say whether people will take to it or not, but I'd like to help people stay connected. There is already a board for moms and dads over at www.expatkorea.com, but it's not very active. Anyway, if my forum doesn't work out, I'm still happy because I can still keep the friends I've made. But I'm hopeful that it will be successful. I have a few good ideas in store...

One thing I am a little worried about is the dynamics between the moms and dads. I liked that EMCK was moms only, but I think it's time to branch out a bit. When I think of the expat dads that I am friends with, I know that the interaction will be postive. But it's the people you don't know that you have to be careful of. I've learned that lesson before.

Here's hoping the transformation goes well! I'm off to work on the forum!