Keep it up study on Aug 16th in 2014

안녕 하세요. 리더 Alex 입니다.다들 휴일을 잘 보내고 있는지~아침 저녁으로는 약간 쌀쌀한 기운이 느껴지는 요즘이에요.다들 감기 조심, 그럼 내일 만나요. ^^     Topic 1. Fantasy on marriage may end in misery    In the time it will take you to read this article, many couples will have tied the knot. But many others will have gone their separate ways too. Recent data from the Supreme Court data shows that the number of divorces in Korea inched up 0.7 percent to 114,781 last year from a year ago.  New divorcees who had been married for less than four years, accounted for 24.6 percent of the total. Experts say that the data reflects changes in social and cultural norms about divorce _ changing from being regarded as a sin to becoming a socially accepted option. But divorce is still an arduous and painful last resort.  Many couples begin their relationships love as if they are Romeo and Juliet, but then some find they were hasty about their choice of partner and end up facing agonizing divorce proceedings which often deteriorate rapidly into a legal tug of war.    ‘I was a slave’  A 23-year-old woman with the surname Kim married last year to a colleague aged 32 after meeting him at her office in Seoul. She is now going through divorce proceedings after six months of marriage. “I couldn’t stand my mother-in-law’s insults and my husband’s rude attitude towards me,” said Kim. She said that her mother-in-law seemed nice before they married.  Kim was even told by the in-laws that she should come without preparing a dowry. “I thought the mother-in-law took pity on me for not having parents and decided to favor me,” said Kim. “I was naive and believed what she said. But then my husband and his mother started ignoring and beating me, demanding money which I couldn’t provide to them,” Kim added.  She had no one to talk to about the marriage because her parents died a few years before the marriage. She confessed that she impulsively decided to marry because she wanted to settle down with someone. “I had to abort my baby because I had to work hard to earn money and give a certain amount of it to husband and my mother-in-law. I was a slave,” Kim said. Kim is currently undergoing treatment in a hospital after having an abortion and suffering from depression.   Marriage is reality  A 26-year-old woman surnamed Choi married a man with the family name Park. They were of the same age and married in 2006 right after they graduated from the same high school, despite strong objections from their parents.   “Of course, our parents didn’t want us to enter wedlock at such an early age. Also they hated us being in love. Since then, I barely talked or called them,” said Park. Unlike most other Korean high school graduates, the two didn’t pursue college education.  Park worked for a small manufacturing company and Choi became a housewife taking care of their baby born in the same year. They said the first year was good. “Though I could not bring home a lot of money as a breadwinner, she endured such hardships,” Park said.  But money was a problem. As their parents objected to their marriage, they didn’t receive any financial support from their families. Moreover, not getting a college education became an obstacle to both of them securing well-paid jobs. “Both sets of parents urged us to break up and enter college. At first, it sounded like nonsense, but as time passed by and life became harsher, their arguments sounded more convincing,” Park said. Though they are not legally divorced, Park and Choi are now living separately in their parents’ houses. They separated after agreeing to enter university and go after jobs with decent salaries. They both admitted that they are still not ready to be a married couple independent from their parents. “I still love her, but I’m not sure when we can get back together, like old times. I still believe love matters the most in marriage, but at the same time, marriage is more about reality,” said Park.  “There are a huge number of couples in the early stages of married life filing for divorce,” said Oh Yeon-jung, a member of the marital dispute resolution committee at a court in Pohang.    Questions  1. Do you have fantasy on marriage? Do you think your life is different after getting marriage? 2. How do you think about living alone? good or bad? 3. What make you not to get married now? 4. What do you see first for your  fiancé? 5. If your parents do not like your fiancé ,  how would you do? 6. What about baby? Do we need baby? Why or why not? 7. Can you live with fiancé parents to save money after getting married?     Topic 2. Foreign food chains target breakfast market    While rice has long been the most popular breakfast food in Korean culture, bread is mounting a challenge for that title as more and more people avail themselves to convenient western food, especially on busy mornings. “I usually eat sandwiches in a coffee shop or from the morning menu in franchise hamburger chains because they are quick and easy,” Kim Jong-hoon, 31, an office worker for a major food company, said. The entire landscape of morning meals in Korea has begun to change. Foreign food companies are jumping into the breakfast market, even threatening market-leader McDonald’s. “I am happy to hear of the introduction of comfort food these days, because I can’t eat rice and spicy foods for breakfast. When I first came here a few years ago, it wasn’t like this,” Canadian Ted Smith, 27, said. Dunkin’ Donuts, an American franchise operated by SPC Group, released its breakfast menu on Oct. 25 for the first time in Korea, announcing that it believes the morning offerings will serve as the firm’s new growth engine. “Dunkin’ Donuts has been making an effort for more than a year to attract long-term customers by strengthening food selections as the firm’s strategy,” said Sung Gi-an, an official at BR Korea, operator of Dunkin’ Donuts. The four new menu items are so-called “western food.” Dunkin’ Donuts serves breakfast items until 11 a.m., with prices ranging between 2,900 and 3,900 won. “We researched McDonald’s a lot because it is the leader of breakfast menus as a foreign franchise restaurant here,” Sung added. It is hard to measure the market size of western-style breakfast because there hasn’t been such a market before McDonald’s introduced its “McMorning” breakfast menu in November 2006. “We don’t think they are competitors. We are just trying to meet customers’ needs,” Ryu Ji-eun an official at McDonald’s Korea, said. Dunkin’ is not the only competitor. Subway Korea, an American sandwich food franchise, also announced it will release a new breakfast menu on Friday. The firm had 66 stores as of Oct. 30. “The firm introduced the menu four years ago. We felt it was necessary to boost the morning menu because there is a customer demand,” said Ko Eun-ju, an official at Subway Korea. Starbucks Korea is another strong player. Even though they are not a full-sized food restaurant, they have their own morning set, providing more than 20 kinds of bread and cozy seats for customers. The firm announced last month that it will strengthen the food lineup with 17 new healthy menu items beginning Nov. 23. The firms are not only releasing new menu items but also engaging in fierce competition by boosting marketing to raise customer awareness. “Our goal is to meet customers’ needs as much as we can in various ways,” said Sung at Dunkin’ Donuts. The firm released an application that functions as an alarm clock and provides promotional information. The firm is also providing discounts and coupons.  Subway Korea also planned to use sample taster groups to promote its new menu offerings. “It is all about meeting customers’ needs as much as possible, so we will put more energy into promotions from now on,” Ko at Subway Korea said.     Questions  1. Do you regularly have breakfast? What’s the menu in the morning? 2. How many meals do you eat a day? Enough or not? 3. If you sleepy and hungry at the same time , what would you do? 4. In your house , who cook? Can you cook? 5. After getting married , can you make breakfast for your husband/wife? 6. Do you like to eat junk food? How often do you eat them? 7. Do you have allergy for any food? What is it?