(목요모임) [27 Sep 2018]Thursday meeting topic

[주영이]

Topic1) Learning the charms of secondhand books at old, new places

By Im Eun-byel

• Published : Aug 16, 2018 - 14:23
• Updated : Aug 16, 2018 - 14:23  

A passion for books is often symbolized by a love of the scent of new books.

But it’s not only the scent of fresh ink and paper that excites book-lovers. The musty scent of a used book can be just as much of a turn-on for bibliophiles.

Cheonggyecheon Secondhand Book Street in Dongdaemun, central Seoul, is the most widely known spot for secondhand books. 

Used books are piled up at Cheonggyecheon Secondhand Book Street. (By Im Eun-byel / The Korea Herald)

Used books are piled up at Cheonggyecheon Secondhand Book Street. (By Im Eun-byel / The Korea Herald)

The market has been here since the war and though it has been modernized, the area still has its own unique atmosphere.

With books piled up in front of the stores, it can be hard for pedestrians to navigate. Walking past the collections of faded books, it feels as if time stopped in the 1970s. Inside, the stores are filled with even more books, stacked from the floor to the ceiling.

A nostalgic smell of ink and paper fills the area, while aging storeowners walk up and down in front of their stores. Though the stores do not look organized, the storeowners know the location of their books by heart.

“I know where every book is. It’s all in my head,” Kim Jong-gook, the owner of a secondhand bookstore on the street told The Korea Herald . He was full of confidence. “I don’t even have to hesitate.”

Kim, 74, has been working in the market since he was 18. With more than 50 years of experience, he has learned to truly love his workplace.

“Sitting at this small store, I feel happy when surrounded by books. It’s not about reading them. I am content just being with them,” he said. “But it is more exciting to buy a book than sell one. Discovering old yet new books is the fun part of the job.” 

A bookstore at Cheonggyecheon Secondhand Book Street in Dongdaemun, central Seoul (By Im Eun-byel / The Korea Herald)

Though times have changed and large franchise bookstores have taken over, the secondhand book market is still frequented by enthusiasts. Kim calls them “book addicts.”

“It’s a habit. They come to see what new books have come in,” he said. “It’s like going on a treasure hunt. If you buy a book here, the book won’t be available anymore because there is just one copy here.”

Reflecting the demand for secondhand books, franchise bookstores stepped into the market in the early 2010s, modernizing the business model.

Aladdin Used Books is a secondhand bookstore franchise that launched offline stores in 2011. The franchise now has more than 40 branches across the country. 
 

Aladdin Used Books buys and sells used books. (By Im Eun-byel / The Korea Herald)

These used bookstores look like an ordinary bookstore. Unless one looks closely, it won’t be easy to tell that the books here are used books as they are all in good condition.

Customers can use in-store computers to find the exact location of books. If the store does not have the wanted book, one can search online which branch may have it. 

Visitors browse used books at Aladdin Used Books’ Jongno branch, central Seoul. (By Im Eun-byel / The Korea Herald)

On a weekday afternoon, the bookstore’s Jongno branch was filled with students and office workers from the area.

“I was looking for a book which has gone out of print. I searched online and checked that this branch has the book,” Jin Seung-hoon, a student in his mid-20s said. “It’s convenient and cheap.”

Aladdin Used Books also buys used books. Those who want to sell can simply bring them into a store where they will assess the price based on the available stock and the condition of the books and pay you in cash on the spot. The store resells the books at a higher price.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)

1. Have you visited any secondhand book store? Did you buy any book?

2. Who taught you to read? How old were you when you learned to read?

3. What books do you think should be required reading? why?

4. Have you ever cried whild reading a book?

5. What book has most influenced your life? Why do you think so?

Topic2) 5 signs your spending is getting out of control

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/5-signs-your-spending-is-getting-out-of-control-2015-8#ixzz3kGzeqMLT

Even if you're rich, wasting money is criminally stupid.

Sit down for a minute and think of all the things you could do with the money you waste that would otherwise make life better for someone else. If that doesn't grab you, then think of what you could do with the money that would make life better for your own future self.

Oh, yes, lovely and young as you are today, you are going to have a future self who might very well wish he or she had more money in the bank.

If even that isn't enough to make you reconsider your ways, think of how hard you worked to earn that money (trust fund babies may leave the room now), and then picture yourself doing that work for free because what you're essentially doing is throwing hours' or weeks' worth of salary right into the trash.

Really. Picture yourself putting cash money into a trash bag, and watching it being driven off down the street in a garbage truck. Insane, right?

However, you may not realize how much money you're actually wasting. Here's five signs you need to curb your spending before you send more cash to the dump:

1. You buy new stuff just because it's new.

You're the guy in line at 2 a.m. on the day the new iPhone is being released. But guess what? There's always going to be a new iPhone coming out. And a fancy new fill-in-the-blank. Commerce is what makes the world go 'round. If companies stopped creating new versions of things to sell, they'd go out of business. However, it doesn't mean you have to buy into the super-hype and rush to get everything the minute it hits the shelf.

It's not just electronics. The new car smell is still hanging in the air and you're at the dealership again looking at next year's models? Cars depreciate 11% the minute you drive them off the lot, and lose 19% of their value in the first year. You don't get your money's worth out of a car until you've driven for a while.

2. You sale shop for things you don't need.

It's Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Super Saturday, or Free Shipping Day, and you're right out there among the rest of them. Fighting your way through the crowds — real or virtual — to get your hands on stuff you never knew you wanted. You hate to miss one of your local department or computer store's special sales (nearly every weekend), and you never pass up two-for-one coupons for things you don't even need one of. “But look how much I'm saving!” you say. But look how much you're saving if you keep your wallet in your pocket.

What's that you say? You only shop at discount stores, dollar stores, and places with Barn, Depot or Warehouse in their names? Look how much I'm saving! Yep, you're saving what it would have cost if you'd bought the same things at high-end establishments. But if you don't need them, then you're not saving a cent no matter what you paid for them. Plus you've got to figure out where to put everything when you get it home. You want to wind up living like someone on Hoarders?

3. You pay fees to use a credit card or checking account.

You're handing over money to a credit card company so that you can pay interest on the money you owe them? What a deal! There are a few exceptions when the program rewards will more than pay the fee, but generally, paying an annual credit card fee is dumb. There are plenty of credit cards with no annual fee. Get one.

The same applies to having accounts at a bank that charges a monthly checking account fee or a fee to visit a teller instead of an ATM. Do some research and find a bank that will accommodate you with no fees for a minimum deposit you can live with.

4. You don't use loyalty cards at the stores you shop at regularly.

Rail as you might at the insidiousness of grocery and other stores that extract personal information from you and track your purchases in exchange for giving you discounts, if you regularly shop at a store that offers special pricing to customers in its loyalty program and you don't take advantage of it, you're over-spending at that store by 20% or more every time you shop there. Unless you're in a witness protection program, it's absolutely worth the savings to give your local supermarket your address and phone number and let them keep tabs on the brand of butter you buy.

5. You eat out more often than you eat at home.

If your breakfast comes in a Styrofoam container, your lunch is delivered in a plastic box, and you're choosing dinner from a menu, you're spending way more than you have to. You can't help it if you're on the road, but otherwise, you can eat as well or better at home for a lot less money, even if you barely cook at all. Tax and tip alone add about 25% to the price you'd pay if you bought the food yourself and just nuked it. If you actually know how to cook, there's sort of no excuse.

Questions

1. Are you more of a spender or a saver? Tell me about your spending habits.

2. How do you manage your monthly wage or money? Do you invest in stocks or bonds?

3. Where do you spend most of your money? Are there any staff that you do not really understand why people spend so much money on?

4. What kind of efforts do you do to save money? And why is it a good idea to save money?

5. Do you prefer more taxes and better welfare or less taxes and more disposable income? And why?

[주영이]

안녕하세요 오늘 모임 장소는 충대 중문 파리바게트에서 진행 하겠습니다. we will have a Thursday meeting (27th September) in Paris Baguette, Chungdae