Keep it up study on Aug 9th in 2014

안녕하세요. 리더 Alex 입니다.이번 주는 계속 비가 와서 목요일 온도를 약간 낮춰준 느낌이네요.저녁때 산책을 했는데, 꽤 생쾌했습니다. 주말 토요일도 선선한 날씨를 기대하며~토요일에 만나요. ^^     Topic 1. 'Direct buying' sets new retail trend    Fed up with higher prices of imported goods, a growing number of Koreans have jumped to direct buying from abroad setting a new consumer trend. Korean consumers are often likened to sitting ducks for individual or corporate importers of brand-name products, in particular. That’s because they pay much higher prices for imports from abroad compared to prices in their countries of origin, analysts say.  Customers are beginning to feel uncomfortable with unreasonably-high price tags attached to imports. “Online and mobile shopping is increasingly preferred to offline shopping, allowing consumers a greater access to nearly all kinds of items around the world at reasonable prices,” Yeo Yeong-sang, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities, said by telephone. The won’s favorable exchange rates against the dollar and the yen and big discounts during the year-end shopping season are encouraging more Koreans to try direct buying from the U.S., Europe and Japan this month, he said.  “Lack of after-sales services remains a major loophole for direct purchasing. But local advocates for direct buying won’t likely give up the steep discounts,” Yeo said. In a recent survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) of 1,650 online shoppers, one fourth of the respondents said they have an experience of making a direct order due mainly to lower prices. “Seven out of 10 respondents are satisfied with the quality of products they ordered. Lower tariffs on imports from the U.S. will further drive up direct buying,” Hwang Mi-jeong, general manager of the KCCI’s Retail Policy Supporting Team, told The Korea Times.   The upper limit of tariff-free purchasing value of U.S. products fell to $200 immediately after the free-trade agreement between Korea and the U.S. took effect in March 2012 from 150,000 won ($143) which included product prices and delivery costs, Hwang said. She warned that increased direct buying would put a dent on the domestic retail industry, “Korean companies need to attract customers in Southeast Asia and China to Korean online shopping malls in order to offset a possible decline in local retail sales.” According to the Korea Customs Service, the overall value of direct buying soared to $642 million for the whole year of 2012 from $242 million reported in 2010. In the KCCI poll, the respondents spent an average of 930,000 won ($880) per person on direct buying for the past two years. Those in their 30s turned out to be the biggest purchasing group as they spent 1.01 million won per person during the two-year period. Shin Hae-soo, a Seoul-based editor working for a foreign media company, is a big fan of direct buying. She spent more than 5 million won to buy products from foreign shopping malls in the past one and a half years. “I came to have an interest in direct buying in 2011. Back then, I came to realize I could buy the same imported products sold in Korea at unaffordable prices at lower prices in foreign shopping malls,” the 33-year-old editor said. Shin cited the example of how she bought five Gap sweaters for $75 during Black Friday shopping. But one piece of the Gap sweater sells at about $80 in retail shops in Seoul.      The holiday shopping season usually accounts for up to a fifth of U.S. retailers’ annual sales. “It is also good to buy products which are not available in Korea through direct buying. It usually takes 7 to 10 days before I receive the product I ordered but it is acceptable for me,” she said. Song Young-ju, a 41-year-old local brokerage worker, said she could place an order for a TV made by Samsung Electronics if it is cheaper compared to local ones. Recently, some Korean consumers ordered large quantities of Samsung-made TVs from abroad because they are still cheaper even after tariffs and delivery costs. The delivery of the product is temporarily suspended due to an overheated demand from Korea.    Question   1. Where do you usually shop? Online or offline? Why?  2. What's  the pros and cons of on/off line shopping?  3. Who usually with you? Which one is more comfotable alone or together for shopping?  4. Have you bought something "Direct buying" from other countries? What was it?  5. Have you been to other countries for shopping such as Hong-kong?  6. What would you like to buy first these days?  7. When you need to buy something, do you buy them impulsive or prudence?     Topic 2. Living someone else's life  Another me  Kwon Hye-yoon, 25, received a phone call late one night, requesting that she meet a friend of a friend of hers, Kim. Her friend, Choe, wanted to introduce her to someone who he thought she would get along with well, so she accepted without hesitation. The next night, when she met Kim, her jaw dropped at his first words. “That’s not Hye-yoon! That’s Lucy!” Kim explained that he had met a friend on Facebook named Lucy who looked uncannily like Kwon. Intrigued, Kwon asked to see the Facebook account and couldn’t believe what she saw. The name read Lucy, but the photo was Kwon _ and at the bottom right corner of each photo was a watermark that read “Lucy.” Kwon hurried home, created a second Facebook account with a different name and added Lucy. She looked through her profile photos _ they were all photos of Kwon. Reading the captions, Kwon felt a chill down her spine. Lucy had stolen photos of Kwon and created another life for herself in cyber space. Under a picture of Kwon and her best male friend, Lucy had written, “Dear cousin, feel better!” “The thing that scares me is that I would never have known if it weren’t for Kim,” Kwon said. Kwon contacted Lucy to find out who she was and why she was stealing her photos. “I’m sorry,” was all she said. Such cases are more common than people think. As more and more netizens actively engage in social networking sites and messenger services, the risks of fraud and phishing are higher than ever. But in the shadows of such acts of corruption are cases in which “thieves” steal photos and use them, albeit harmlessly, to create a virtual existence. In many such cases, these people steal photos of other people without permission, post them on their blogs or social networking pages and live another’s life virtually, assuming that the behavior is okay because they are not profiting from it, nor committing a serious crime. Lee Jin-a, 24, said that she has lived in horror ever since an anonymous message arrived on her Facebook account, saying that a total stranger was pretending to be her. Following the link on the message, she found a Facebook account that was a duplicate of hers. “After reviewing this person’s page, I felt as though my whole life had been stolen,” said Lee. Lee is nothing out of the ordinary, except that she has a pretty, small face and a well-balanced slim physique. Like other girls her age, she posted pictures of her miscellaneous life events on her Facebook page, such as shots of her enjoying dinner at fancy restaurants or trying on new clothes.   Why?  Regarding a series of identity theft cases reported in recent years, psychologists agree that those who steal others’ identity on social network sites by and large are less than satisfied with their lives. Most people guilty of identity theft tend to be tempted by the “seemingly wonderful” life of others on SNS because they think that can fill the hollowness in their minds by living someone else’s life. Another reason why they do so is that they tend to believe they can create an “ideal” version of themselves, someone they really want to be but who doesn’t actually exist. Ha Ji-hyun, a professor of psychology at Konkuk University Hospital, said in a news report that identity theft incidents are closely related to the nature of SNS as an online venue where many of its users have a strong tendency to upload things that others may feel jealous about, such as the experience of going on exciting trips or tasting delicious food at fancy restaurants. They find satisfaction once other users show positive responses such as clicking the “like” button or leaving jealous comments. On the other hand, users who don’t have things to brag about, or seldom get envious responses, feel a relative sense of deprivation. Psychologists say that once they feel this, they crave compliments from others to compensate for the negative feelings. However, experts warn that in serious cases, such a vicious circle may lead to depression. “These people who steal others’ identities resort to extreme measures to recover their confidence which has been lost due to deprivation,” Ha concluded.     Questions  1. Do you use SNS&messenger? Why do you use them?  2. What's the pros and cons of SNS&messenger?  3. Did you make any mistake during using SNS&messenger?  4. Do you usually share your password with your boy/girl frined or not? What if he/she ask you password?  5. Have you check someone's background by SNS? Why?  6. Why do people upload pictueres on their SNS? Why do you do that?  7. Does it bluff to upload some luxurious stuff on SNS? Why some people think that it is bluff?  8. Do you agree that "twitter is wasting your time"?