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89 core oF The communiTy Area residents say the strength of the community is what distinguishes the city from others in the region. Rosamond Clay, a Jinhae resident of one year, points to O’Briens pub as a gathering place for many expats in the area. The pub hosted a fundraiser for a teacher in Masan who had an accident in India, raising more than $20,000 for her rehabilitation. “I’ve never seen a community pull together so well if someone has gotten into trouble and needs help, or if someone has been hurt and needs money,” Clay says. “I think it’s got a lot to do with how good the community is.” O’Briens is located in the Jungang-daero area, where a majority of the nightlife occurs, and is in good company with a variety of comfortable and well-stocked, foreigner-friendly bars, including BK House, Biskachy, International Pub (or IPs) and Next Bar. To discover more about the foreigner hub that is O’Briens, I turned to Sam Piper, a vet- eran Changwon expat, and sometime barfly. “They’re so helpful; and it’s not just that the bar is fantastic, but it also offers West- ern food, or sometimes they’ll get products or even cosmetics from home to sell in a mini-mart to try and help people feel set- tled,” he says. “On top of that, everyone tends to meet there so it’s given birth to all the clubs and groups in the city, too, and if they need help, people use the Facebook page to ask questions or get information. It really is the focal point of the community.” The bar was opened by long-term expat Austin Buckley. A native of Cork, Ire- land, Buckley originally came to Korea in 2002 to coincide with the World Cup, which featured the Irish national team. After teaching for a while and opening the original iteration of O’Briens in Busan, the bar moved to its current location in Jun- gang-dong, Changwon. Buckley says his clientele is the best thing about his bar. “I’ve been really lucky over the years,” Buckley says. “O’Briens has a nice mix of engineers and teachers. It makes the place feel a little bit more like home, younger and older people just having a drink. Thankfully, there is very little drama; people here have no time for it. It’s great to have a clientele who respect the bar enough not to let anything happen. I’m very grateful for that.” ‘I’ve never seen a communIty pull together so well If someone has gotten Into trouble and needs help or If someone has been hurt and needs to raIse money. I thInk It’s got a lot to do wIth how good the communIty Is.’ rosamond clay, JInhae resIdent