soyoung Woo/friendship final draft/Wed 1-2

Important thing is a close relationship.

 

We are living making many relationships in family, relatives, school, academy, or in chance.

I think it is easy to recall kinship and friendship when we hear a word 'relationship'. kinship is made between relatives and friendship is made between people in school, academy or in chance etc….

so, I will talk about differences and common features we can see in friendship and kinship.

I introduce 3 differences and 2 common features.

 

A first difference is blood. friendship is not related by blood but kinship is related by blood. so some people think that they are more stronger relationship in kinship. but it is not applied to all cases. for example, I am closer my friend than my cousins. I rarely contact in kakaotalk, call, or text messages my cousins but frequently contact my close friend.

A second difference is whether it is regulated by law or not. kinships is regulated by law but friendship is not regulated by law. we can know this when we get a certified copy of our family register. but a relationship between me and my friend is not written in a formal document.

A third difference is whether it is made by a choice or not. kinship is not made by a choice I make but we can make friends by choice. as a result, sometimes we have relatives who is not to our taste. but we have to meet them on holiday like Korean New Year's day, Chuseok, but we have not to maintain a relationship with a friend who is not to our taste because we can choice friends. so if we don't like a friend, we can a decision to not maintain with the friend even though it is not a easy problem anyway.

A first feature in common is we can depend on our relatives and friends. If we maintain a closer relationship with them, we can confide in them our secrets. both relatives and friends will help us. for example, I was tired due to sooneung on last year, both my friend and my cousin sister help me. my friend gave me tangerine, chocolates and my cousin siter gave me a spaghetti she made, a cake.

A second feature in common is that generally we don't live with them usually. of course there is exceptions about this. but in generally we are living our family other than relatives, friends.

 

In a conclusion, we saw many features about kinship between relatives and friendship between friends. I think if we maintain a closer relationship with relatives or friends, we can live a happier life because we can depend on both relatives and friends. even though friends are not registered in a formal document, we can make a closer relationship with them than relatives who are registered in a formal document. Also, we can a close relationship between relatives as much as friends because we more frequently meet our friends in usual than our relatives who we meet in holiday like Korean New Year's day, Chuseok in usual. I think we it's not important whether we are friends or relatives. what is important is how we maintain a intimate relationship with them.

  

soyoung Woo/p.109/Wed 1-2

 

Why do people work?

 

   In almost every culture people work because work is a reward for it. I think that the nature of people is liking playing but in fact, I do not think anyone would really be able to do it if I told them to play without doing anything.

 

  People work in almost every culture of the world. There will be no one who does not work at all, and never has ever done it. I thought of why people do work and I thought 2 reasons.

The first reason is that you will be compensated if you work. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, all nations of the world are capitalist societies. In a capitalist society, as much as he has worked, he receives compensation for his work and runs his own life through it. If you work harder, you get more compensation. Therefore, those who work harder than others will be able to live a better life than others who are not.

 

  The second reason is related to human nature. The personality of many people, including myself, can be thought of as enjoying playing. But if you ask me to play for life, do not do anything, and I will not. Almost everyone will. I think that human nature likes to work and play.

 

   In conclusion, I think people work to live a better life than others. The ant in the Aesop's fable "The ant and the grasshopper" also worked to live a better life than other animals in order to be rewarded for their work. As a result, the ant could safely lived cold winter. In capitalist society, where people are compensated for their work, people have the desire to stand out from others. It is also because the nature of man likes not to enjoy playing but to do work and play together. People are living more personally by doing their jobs.

 

Seonghwan Cho / Chapter4 Part5 A3 / WED 1-2

Working Mothers Need Help

 

As the generation went by, the role of men and women has changed. Among many changes, it is representative for women to be able to participate in economic activity. In the past, women can only do household chores and child caring. But today, We can find women in our workplace. This change seemed to be a blessing at the beginning because it means women can have same right – right to work – as men. However, nowadays it is a burden to women especially who have children. As the economic situation suffer hard time, it is difficult to make a living only by father's income. As a result, women are forced to work in addition to taking care of their child and doing chores. Of course, I'm sure there is nobody who thinks mother can do all the requirements. For those working mothers, our society should guarantee their quality of life since they are members of our society. Through this writing, I'd like to deal with what society can do to help women balance work and family. And there are two main sections I will discuss – one is political and economical and the other is sociocultural.

 

From now on, let's consider political and economical section. We need a policy to help working mothers. And the policy need to be practical and effective not nominal. What is now implementing is baby break – it means child-care leave – and subsidy for it. It looks seemingly great policy. However, many working mothers don't use the baby break. It is because they worry to be fired or to get any disadvantages in workplace. The babe break is a paid leave so working mothers think the business owner doesn't like it. Actually, many business owners hate those policies since they are business losses. Therefore, working mothers say the current policies are too nominal. They also say what they really want is not a new policy but actualizing the current policies. According to a research by the Korea Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, among 788 working mothers aged 15-49 after 2011, only 41.4% used baby break. To increase utilization rate, policy makers should design more feasible policies which working mother can feel free to use while minimizing business losses.

 

Next is the sociocultural section. This can be more personal solution at the beginning because it is about conscious aspect. While the debate about working mothers is heated, many people still do not consider it is an important issue. I think it is due to traditional stereotype. I mean there is perception that child caring and doing chores are women's own. I strongly believe that we need to break it down. Men should feel a sense of duty as to child caring and household chores. Just giving women right to work is not fair. In addition to that, men should also take some obligation from women. If these changes on personal perception are accumulated so that cultural change is made, women no longer will worry about any disadvantages.

 

Today, I talk about hardship working mothers are suffering nowadays in two main sections. Each person in our society need to change our recognition about women's role. And the policy maker should make the current policy more practical, possible, and effective as well as just make new policies. To conclude, I hope in the future women can live a more fair life.

 

Sungtae Kim/ Chapter 4 Part 5/ Wednesday 1~2

The Purpose of Working

The basic job of students is studying, but some students don't like this job. I'm one of those students who hate studying. It was irritating to continuously work to improve exam scores throughout high school life. Considering the future, I had to work harder but it was easier said than done. Some people feel in the similar way with their job. They don't want to work sometimes, when the situation compels them to work for living. This might make them look at negative sides of their job and end up making vicious cycle by worsening the feeling even more. I guess this is why some people who work in totally different jobs say in similar negative nuance about what they do. To crack this vicious cycle, people need to think about the purpose of working. This might help them try to find positive things as they work. Work have purposes which can be summed up into three words; nature, achievement, and identity.

Working is the nature of humanity. It is one of desires that human has. if not satisfied, this desire can cause bitter consequences. The victims of unemployment can suffer from poverty and solidarity. But the biggest problem that makes a failure of their life is emotional problems such as lasting depressions and loneliness. These feelings can cause harsh decisions like suicide which is becoming a common thing nowadays. This desire doesn't end even when people are old. My grandfather worked in a company as an engineer until age of 70s. He enjoyed working and said that his friends envy him of working until that age. His friends tell him that he is the happiest person among them. Working is a nature of human which can be bailed by other hardships in life but eventually will turn out in later life.

Work is a mean that leads to achievements. When we ask elementary students about their dream, they pick up names of jobs that sound good for them. These dreams are specified or modified along their lifestyle and taste. Working helps them achieve these dreams and get what they want. Children always find new things in their life and learn. This is not different for the grown-ups who get new experiences through working which sometimes can be a failure, but eventually achieve what they dreamed for. Without working, people will never achieve anything and will lose the chance to taste the thrill of achievements.

Finally, people find their identity through jobs. Identity means the true inside of a person that includes thoughts, characteristics, and past experiences even. The work that we are doing shows those identities and help oneself recognize it. Identity is like a puzzle that is matched through hints that come from each piece. Every job that we do in our life can influence our job and transform it according to new experiences.

In conclusion, the purpose of working can be separated into three parts. It is the nature of human. It is a mean that leads us to achievements. And finally, It helps people find their identities.

eunseo kim / wed 1-2

Pg 109 topic 3

           'Working mom' is a commonly-spoken term in many societies including Korea, while it is rarely heard in Sweden where women welfare is well-established. Working mothers in Korea are often confronted with a serious role conflict, which force them to give up either one of the roles. To guarantee their life as a good mother and an employee, the society needs to achieve two things; an extended parental leave and a well-established policy to prevent career break.

           Maternity leave is a commonly used term that often replaces parental leave. This is because in most societies, childcare is dumped only on the mothers. However, in many countries over the world, even maternity leaves are not given for granted. This is the major reason that generates role conflict among working women. While women are left with childcare, they are not given enough leave from work; doubling the hardship. Taking a closer look to Korean society would better develop this point. According to the government's data, only 60.5 percent of women in 2016 were lucky enough to take a leave from work after work. But even this number seems quite bubbled, considering that only 56.6 percent of women were able to come back to their work after the leave. The remaining 43.4 percent were unable to lead on their career, causing a career break.

           To prevent such problems, maternity leave must be guaranteed by the law for all working women. In this status quo, many women feel diffident to take a leave due to the psychological and practical pressure from their workplace. If it is legally guaranteed, all women will be free from work-family role conflict. Moreover, the previous maternity leave must be extended to a 'parental leave', where men can also take some rest from their work and focus on childcare as well.

           Taking a step further, 'career break' is also a problem that the society must tackle. Although more women take a parental leave, it is inevitable that some of them feel it difficult coming back to their workplace. This causes career break, which is a loss to both the women and the society. While more women can lead on their career, getting another job after birth is quite difficult. As it is a loss for both the society and the women, this vicious cycle must stop; the government must establish more policies to protect women's career.

           Women, under same work conditions, can do just as well as men employees. However, women are mostly faced with role conflict; between their role as a good worker and an good parent. Such problems need the intervention of both the society and the government; to create a fair, equal society. This is a matter of justice- it is fair and square that women are free from role conflict.

 

Hayeon Jin/ Chapter 4 First draft/ Wed 1-2

3. How can we solve the conflict of working mothers? In other words, what should society do to help women balance work and family if they must or want to work?

 

Working Mothers? Why not Childrearing Fathers?

The birth rate of the society nowadays is consistently plummeting. The price index has reached a new high, while the wage has not risen much. Given that, it is hard to sustain the family with single income. This explains the reason why the number of working mothers has drastically increased for past two decades. Many of the working mothers find it tough managing both work and childrearing. Therefore, strict implementation of childcare leave in the companies and the reformation of the stereotyped gender roles in the society are needed.

The presence of child care leave system in the companies is so faint that most of the employers can't use it. The child care leave system is supposed to be mandatory by laws in all the companies. However, the defect and the shortage of laws make companies worm their way out of letting employers use it. This makes many working women struggle with their work and childcare. Many of them can't even fully spend their maternity leave but get back to their work. Thus, there should be strict implementation of childcare leave by strengthening the surveillance whether the companies are keeping the child care leave system properly or not. Plus, the punishment in case of the nonfulfillment must be reinforced. The government should also tighten up and add details to the regulations regarding child care leave system in a new way. It should not only be the women but also the men who should use that system. The male employees must be given a chance to care their young children, and this can only be done with the reformation of the stereotyped gender roles in the society.

Have you heard of the term "working fathers" or "childrearing mothers"? I know that your answer is no. The society had been patriarchic for most of the time. The status of women has been risen starting only few decades ago. It is proven by one statistics, that the percentage of women executives in the 100 major companies in Korea 2016 is only 2.2%. The society had given all the burdens of childcaring to the women. However, the world has changed. We should break such stereotyped gender role. Just as mentioned above, the society should guarantee and foster men to use child care leave. We should always remember that it must never be the women but also the men who should be responsible for childcaring. Only by then can the word "working mothers" or "childrearing fathers" disappear.

What society can do for struggling working mothers is the strict implementation of childcare leave in the companies and the reformation of the stereotyped gender roles in the society are needed. Knowing all the ways to solve the conflict of working mothers, we should grant it to be real.

 

 

Sunyoung Park / Chapter 4 part 5 A / Wed 1-2

1.       Cause and effect: Why do people work?         

 

"My dream was to live a life where I work to travel, and I am living my dream now." This is what I heard during one seminar from some woman. The purpose of that seminar and the name of that woman have faded now, but the impact she left on me still vividly remained in my heart. Work to travel, isn't it amazing?

 

Let's say you are a person who's in love with travelling. Traveling the world means much more than just a simple travel. It is the most valuable thing in your life. Then working to travel the world would be bearable even if it feels like you are sitting on pins and needles. That is because you have a vivid purpose that can cheer you up even in the harsh situations that happen at your work place which haunt you.

 

How about if you are a big fan of Coldplay, the band? We all know the ticket for Coldplay concert is very pricy. Then to afford the ticket price, if the salary from your workplace is the only income, then although the boss always annoys you, you will still stand it. You will happily work to save the money for future ticket. Even though it can't be always happy.

 

These are two good example that people can easily sympathize, but these are narrowly focused on money. In these situations, working equals to money. But there are also people who are working to achieve their dream. For those people, working itself is an achievement of what they dreamed of. We can see if from people who are poorly paid, but still happily work hard.

 

Reasons for working can absolutely verify from people to people. It can be from simply earning money to achieve one's dream. Even it can be volunteering and giving out their talents for free for some people. We cannot define the reason of working. Also we cannot tell why we think people work. But it is the big task in our lives to figure out what "we" are working for, because it will eventually shape how our lives look like.