★ 0119 TOPIC & 대망의 신년회 공지

◆ 카르페디엠 식구들의 토요일과 함께 하는 남자 웨인 입니다. 아직 날씨가 많이 춥습니다.     계절 독감과 노로 바이러스 장염 조심 하시길 바랍니다. 본론을 들어가서      대망의 2013년 카르페디엠 신년회가 드디어 막이 오릅니다. 카르페 디엠과 한번이라도 연을 맺으신 분들은     부디 참석하시어 자리를 빛내 주시기 바랍니다.    - 장소 : 종로 JRT 어학원 3층 -  일시 : 1월 19일 18시 -  회비 : 일만원         우리 모두 참석하여 희망찬 2013년을 만들어 보아요. 그럼 토요일에 뵙겠습니다.    모두들 그때까지  take care!!!!!   SMALL TALK 1. How was your week? 2. Do you have any special plan for 2013? 3. What TV shows are you watching these days? 4. What do you think about live alone for good? 5. In case you are single at the moment, why? 6. What is the most important thing in your life? 7. Tell us about your strong point. 8. Tell us about your weak  point.     TOPIC 1: Can Korea ever accept homosexuals?   Homosexuality has long been taboo in Korean society. The traditional Confucian emphasis on familial bonds led homosexuality to be regarded as detrimental to the societal order, as defined by the philosophy’s five categories of social relationship. Today, many Koreans continue to see the sexual orientation as deviant or symptomatic of mental illness. Some even question its very existence: A pastor last month claimed on national television that the country was free of homosexuality. With such perceptions to contend with, many gay men and women hide their identity from colleagues, friends and family. Simply “coming out” is one of the biggest challenges for gay people here, according to a director at a gay men’s organization that is contacted by about 50 people each week. “Most people have little understanding of homosexuals, not very deep. I think that they need to be more interested about gay people’s lives and human rights,” said Lee Jong-goel, director-general of Chingusai, or “Between Friends.” Outside influence “Most Korean straight people did not have information and opportunities to meet gay people around them,” said Lee. “So my documentary was a kind of educational material for them, and they learned and felt about gay people’s everyday lives. Some of them were shocked, because actual Korean gay men and their lives in my film were so ‘normal.’ They thanked me and my film and said ‘I’ll be a supporter for gay people!’” “My film revealed the gay life and gay image in Jongno, so they were afraid to ‘be recognized’ as gay by straight people who didn’t have a gay image and notion (before watching the film).” One misconception that exists is that homosexuality is a foreign condition, its presence in Korea being attributable to relatively recent outside influences. “Many Korean homophobes think that Korea had no gay people before the ’90s. They think that it was influenced by Western culture. But that’s not true. They don’t want to know their friends and family members’ sexuality,” said the Chingusai director. In fact, before the arrival of the Joseon Dynasty in the 14th century and its elevation of Confucian principles, Korea was relatively tolerant of same-sex relationships. According to a paper on the history of homosexuality in Korea by Kim Young-gwan and Hahn Sook-ja, elite warriors during the Silla Kingdom known as “hwarang” engaged in homosexual behavior, while King Kongmin of the Goryeo Kingdom practiced pederasty. While the Confucianism of the Joseon era rarely made direct references to sexual matters, homosexuality necessarily came into conflict with the ridged kinship mores of the time. As the influence of Confucianism has weakened over time, a belief system more recent to Korea has become a significant source of opposition to homosexuality: Christianity.While there is some diversity of opinion of the issue within the faith, most churches see homosexual acts as sinful. For Lee, there is reason to be cautiously hopeful that Korea will eventually be accepting of homosexuality. Some viewers of his film at the Berlin International Film Festival told him that the German capital had been like Korea 30 or 40 years ago. “There was fear, homophobia, hate crime and prejudice in Berlin at that time, but now Berlin is the central ‘gay’ city in the world where gay people can express their love on the street hand-in-hand, out of the closet,” Lee said. But he believes it will take time for Korea to catch up ― perhaps 40 years. *Confucian – 유교 / detrimental – 유해한 / pederasty – 주춧대, 기초 1. Would you describe your culture as homophobic? Is there a hatred of homosexuals or are most people indifferent(don’t care)? 2. The reason given by the Korean government for banning Brokeback Mountain was that it could cause young people to become gay. Do you think that’s possible? 3. Why are some cultures open about homosexuality while in other cultures the subject is taboo? 4. What do you think about gay men or women serving in the military? Should people who admit to being gay be allowed to join the military just like everybody else? Why or why not? 5. Can Korea ever accept homosexuals? How long will it take for that?   TOPIC 2: Poverty and Homelessness   The statistics surrounding homelessness are staggering. Even in the United States, the richest country in the world, over 700,000 people are homeless on any given night. Homelessness knows no racial or national boundaries. It is a problem in every country on every continent.  In poor countries the most common reason for homelessness is poverty, but in advanced countries this is often not the case. In rich countries there is a lot of misunderstanding on the part of the public when it comes to the subject of homelessness.  Homeless doesn’t always mean lazy. It isn’t true that all homeless people are lazy and don’t want to work. In fact, many of the homeless people on the streets in developed countries, have jobs! They just don’t make enough money to pay for rent.  When it is a choice between food and shelter, food always wins out. The problem is that prices, particularly in the cities, are high, and most homeless people live in large cities where rents are the highest of all.  Racism, addicts, runaways, and violence at home. Other reasons, besides poverty, why people become homeless are drug or alcohol addiction, racism, dissatisfaction with home life, and domestic violence. In some rich countries members of certain races of people can’t find work, so they are forced to live in the streets.  Teenagers may decide to run away from home because they hate their parents, and women who are beaten by their husbands escape. Many of the women live in their cars and move around from place to place in the city so that they can’t be found. They usually take their children with them.  Welfare systems. Most countries have some sort of welfare system to help people who are homeless for one reason or another. They can range from soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and food stamp programs to monthly welfare checks from the government.  The U.S. welfare system has been criticized by some Americans as being too generous. They say that sending out monthly checks makes welfare recipients lazy and takes away their incentive to work.  Welfare systems are expensive, so only rich countries can afford them. And while an efficient welfare system might seem to be the perfect solution to the homeless problem, some European governments that have been nearly back rupt by them would disagree.  The most well developed welfare systems are in Europe, not the U.S. and Canada, as one might expect, and those systems have long since become a drag on European economies. In 1995 European countries spent an average of 51% of their GDP on taking care of the homeless, an enormous percentage of any country’s treasury, and their economies are feeling the effects.  Asian countries lag quite a bit behind the west when it comes to providing relief for the homeless and poverty stricken. Except for Japan, most of the money used to care for the prro people in Asain countries comes from private sources, not the government. However, richer Asian countries like South Korea and Taiwan are now developing public welfare programs. One major improvement is that both countries now provide universal health care for their citizens, something that the U.S.A. has just developed. 1. Are there any homeless people in your city? If so, where can they be seen and why (for what reason) are they in the streets? 2. Are there any beggars in your town? Where can you see them? 3. Are you willing to give money to beggars? Why or why not? 4. Some countries in Europe are being bankrupted by their welfare programs, now using up 51% of their GDP. Is stopping the programs a good idea? Why or why not? 5.What would you do if you found a homeless person sleeping in front of your house or apartment building – report him to the police? Give him money or food?