<목욜정모> March 9, 2006 Thursday meeting's topic

[747기장]

Topic 1  =========================================

As Flora is the goddess of flowers in the Roman mythology, flowers represent beauty and symbolize the feminine beauty of women. But the flower is no longer a symbol reserved only for women- at least in Korea.

An expression‎ in vogue these days is "flower Adonis", which describes boys in their late teens and early 20s who are "beautiful" as flowers, with some of them more feminine that some women, enough to make them jealous.

The term may have originated with World Cub football star Ahn Jung-hwan now in hislate 20s who is often compared to David Beckham of England. Such pretty boys include actors Kim Rae-won and Won Bin and singer Kang Ta, to name a few.

The flower Adonis, most of whom are idols for teenagers, are contributing to the trend of men investing more and more time and effort to look better.

The sales of men's cosmetics, excluding shampoo, conditioner and hair styling products, are growing rapidly, making the industry an attractive one. The cosmetics industry, traditionally believed to target women, has a new target segment now-men. No longer do cosmetics represent a "women only" market. Many players are coming up with skincare products for men.

For instance, a "color lotion" with the brand name Man Holding a Flower, which hit the market last year, surprised even the product's maker with $4 million in sales for the first six months. Its success was partly owed to the football star that modeled for its TV advertisement.

This unique cultural phenomenon was even discussed internationally as the Los Angeles Times reported about it in a feature story from Seoul last month.

The U.S. paper attributed the phenomenon to an ultra-competitive society, especially when it comes to jobs, quoting people in the industry. It said market research indicates the best customers are middle-aged businessmen who are trying to compete for jobs and promotions.

Many men remember with some humor their young days of curiosity when they sneaked into the room of their mother or sister to try out their cosmetics. Now, they havegrown up to be adults face an era where men wear makeup openly.

As early retirement has increasingly become a major trend in this prolonged recession, more and more people are become concerned about looking younger to be more competitive to survive the rat race.

Dying one's hair is the first step. These days, plastic surgeons are busy removing moles, dark spots and wrinkles for their male clients. Botox is one popular treatment. It is well known that the nation's most famous man had Botox injections to smooth out wrinkles in the forehead.

Men-only skincare shops are flourishing, with an increasing number of males using special cosmetics other than aftershave and lotions turning the market into a very lucrative one with 210 billion won ($175 million) in sales in the first 10 months of the year.

Professional matchmakers agree that many of their male client could increase their chances after a makeover in hairstyle and general appearance. The ability to make money used to count most, but these days looks are worth more, they say.

Korean women who spend more time at hair salons than the rest of the world are also influencing their husbands or boyfriends to pay more attention to taking care of their faces.

In short, there can be no problem with the desire of men as well as women to look better. But there is something wrong about men having to try to look more pretty to survive in today's economically and socially competitive world.

The more gender lines blur, the more people will scramble to find their identity.

In particular, men are understandably shaken by a world where being a man has no longer any clear definition with the role of women rapidly expanding and volatility in society creating stress.

As proved by the girlish pretty boys'monopoly of major entertainment and programs on TV, traditional men who rely on their strong natural appeal risk being endangered in these superficial times.

An internet survey showed that it would not be that strange for middle-aged men in their 40s and 50s to wear colorful makeup after 5 to 10 years.

Even 17 percent of the male respondents said they are willing to use lipstick for men if such products become available.

One day men may start going to the bathroom in pairs to touch up their foundation.

It's funny to imagine a man running low on makeup in the near future. Will he suspect his sister or best friend?

Maintaining a good image is a fine thing and the effort must be rewarded. Yet, the truth is; Too much is as bad as too little.

Questions-

1. Is there any difference for woman and man making efforts to look better?

2. Do you think that your appearance is important for social success of your life? Would it influence for your success?

3. Have you ever been discriminated by your appearance or encountered with any similar situation?

4. Man: Are you willing to put on a make-up for better looking?
    Woman: What would you think about a man with a make-up?

Topic 2  =========================================

Question- Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

많이 나오는 질문 중 하나죠? 직역을 하면, “5년 후에 당신은 어느 위치에 있나요?” 입니다.
이는 applicant 의 구체적인 계획과 포부를 묻기 위함입니다. 따라서, 본 질문에 대해 답을 하실 때는 지원하는 분야나 회사와 관련지어 얘기토록 합니다. 이때, 구체적인 직위를 언급하기 보다는 지원분야에서 본인이 원하는 일, 기회, 포부 등을 이유와 곁들여 얘기토록 합니다.

Good Answer 1)
Well…in five years… I see myself being in a position where I can be involved in more of the decision making process in the marketing arena. I have many innovative marketing ideas and I would like to see more of my fresh ideas being implemented, of course, with my team members’ support.

Good Answer 2)
In five years I’d like to have the opportunity to work in a retail store where I can meet the customers directly as well as serving customers over the telephone and other non face-to-face methods. By then, I hope to have broadened my on-the-job skills, have learned more about other areas that are related to the job, have more supervisory experience in overseeing other staff members, and better understand the needs of customers to service them directly.

More Questions)
- What do you want to be in 5 years?
- Where would you like to be in 5 years?
- What is your 5-year plan?
- How long do you think you would continue to grow in this job?

Topic 3  ========================================

[Korea Herald : 2006-03-04] Railway workers on strike arrested 

Walkout loses steam on third day as more unionists back on job Railway workers on strike arrested

About 230 railway workers were arrested and thousands more suspended from their jobs yesterday as the railway workers' union extended its strike to a third day crippling passenger and cargo transport across the country.

Their walkout showed signs of losing strength as a quarter of strikers returned to work in the face of threatened dismissal and an umbrella labor group also halted its separate general strike.

In its first action since the strike began on Wednesday, police took 231 strikers into custody from raids carried out on six sites. Investigators also seized documents and computer files from three offices of the Korean Railway Workers' Union in Seoul.

The strike had been declared illegal by the government on Tuesday when it imposed emergency arbitration, under which all collective actions are banned for a 15 day cooling off period.

Putting even more pressure on the strikers, the state run Korea Railroad Corp. suspended the jobs of 2,244 workers who refused to return to work.

KORAIL President Lee Chul yesterday told reporters "we will continue to meet the labor union, but there will be neither official nor unofficial negotiations."

The government reiterated its tough stance as Kim Chang ho, head of the Government Information Agency, said it was considering "all possible measures" to deal with the illegal strike.

About half of the 25,510 member union went on strike Wednesday, demanding, among other things, the reinstatement of former employees sacked for their involvement in previous illegal strikes.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation said nearly 4,000, or 30 percent, of the strikers returned to duty yesterday afternoon. About 22.8 percent of striking train drivers resumed work yesterday, a jump from 4 percent the day before.

Their return somewhat improved transport services but citizens continued to suffer from inconveniences as only 45 percent of railway operations was back to normal, according to the company.

The union leaders reacted angrily saying the stern measures by the government and management will only aggravate the situation. They warned of a prolonged struggle.

The union, however, lost support from its powerful alliance. The nation's second largest labor umbrella group declared a halt to its three day general strike after the National Assembly postponed acting on controversial bills on nonregular workers on Thursday.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions said that their protest could be resumed if lawmakers attempt to pass the bills in the April extraordinary parliamentary session.

Fears about further disruption of cargo movements were heightened as the nationwide truckers' union threatened to step up action from next Monday. They are bargaining with cargo companies over fees and will decide tomorrow whether or not to go on strike, it said.
 
Questions-

1. Do you support Railway workers strike? If yes or no, why?

2. These days lots of labor unions went on strikes such as Airlines pilots' unions strike, Railway workers strike, Hyundai Motor's strike etc. What do you think of these events?

3. Still KTX's women crews are striking against their organization. This problem is related to salary and become a full-time worker(regular worker). What is your opinion towards crews' strike? Are they right?

4. Now days, public servants are eagerly supposed to make union. The government, however, absolutely denied their opinion. Do you agree or disagree making a union for civil servants?

[신선영]

말이 나와서 하는 얘긴데,,여승무원 같은경우는 2년이나,,3년정도 지나면,,정규직으로 합당한 보장을 해주는게 당연한거 아닌가요?? 평생 비정규직으로 KTX여승무원으로 일하라는 건,, 너무 치나친것 같습니다..ㅠㅠ

[747기장]

목요일에 나와서 영어로 얘기해주세요...ㅋㅋㅋ 그리고 비정규직은 정말 철폐되어야 할 것 같네요. 물론 기업의 입장에서는 엄청난 타격이겠지만..