A wedding now costs the average groom $72,000 after jeonse payment  January 26, 2011 | |
| A wedding should be anticipated as a day of roses and romance, vows of lifelong commitment and a celebration with loved ones. In Korea, though, a wedding can be dreaded as a huge financial burden. According to a report released by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the average husband-to-be is now spending an average of 80.9 million won ($72,196) on his wedding, while his dearly betrothed has to shell out 29.4 million won. And the figures go up if the couple is planning to live in Seoul. On the ministry’s request, Daegu University and Nielson Company Korea surveyed 2,500 households, or 4,754 people, from August to October last year asking them how much they have spent on a wedding. The costs include everything from the wedding hall to the bridal gown. But the biggest cost of all - 80 percent of the budget - is the house or apartment the couple will live in after the wedding day. It’s Korean custom for the groom to provide a house or apartment, while the bride has to fill it up with furniture and household goods. And the recent hike in rental deposits, or jeonse in Korean, because of a shortage of apartments available for long-term leases, is making weddings even more stressfully expensive for grooms. Kim Jin-su, a 33-year-old securities company employee who is getting married next month, secured an 85-square-meter house in Seongdong District, Seoul, with a jeonse of 230 million won. A bank loaned Kim 60 percent of the jeonse and he borrowed the rest from his parents. Kim will have to pay interest in the amount of 1 million won per month to the bank. “It costs too much for men in Seoul to get married,” Kim said. “That’s why more and more men are getting married late. It’s uncomfortable starting a marriage with so much debt.” Brides-to-be are also complaining. An office worker surnamed Sohn, 30, was introduced to a researcher at a large company by her parents last summer. After five months of dating, the couple finally set a date for their wedding. Then came the financial problems. Sohn’s fiancee told her that because his parents were turning over their house in Gangnam, southern Seoul, to the couple, she should pay the real estate transfer tax and buy home appliances. That bill totaled about 100 million won but Sohn didn’t have it. When Sohn told her betrothed that she would borrow the money from her parents, he coldly replied that if she was indebted to her parents they would expect the couple to support them when they were old. He told her to get a bank loan for the money. Sohn was shocked and heartbroken, and after months of quarrels, she broke the engagement. “I’m from the countryside, where housing prices are relatively affordable compared to Seoul,” she said. “My friends who were settling down in the suburbs never mentioned such costly wedding preparations. But the houses in Seoul are so expensive, it’s a burden on the brides-to-be as well.” By Shin Sung-sik [enational@joongang.co.kr] Guide Questions: Describe a traditional Korean wedding. Why is getting hitched in Korea considered a dreaded event nowadays? What could be the effects of the high cost of weddings in Korean society? Vocabulary: cost an arm and a leg |
My job involves explaining so many idiotic things several times a day. I had to come up with a lot of tricks to preserve my sanity.
None of them have worked.
I already declared that iphones are for retards. In fact, it is so retarded that it deserves a different dialog.
I'm a new texter. I had a phone for only 2 yrs (generally because I thought it was stupid, I mean, why would I want to be constantly at the reach of people I douched or anyone else who may want to douche me?) when it became necessary for work. But "true genius shows itself in any field it chooses" as master Hiko Sijuro (a key figure in my life after Chuck Norris) once said and I became a texting master in no time. For instance, I learned that you don't have to write the word "boobs" on texts, you just use (.)(.) and if you type a semicolon followed by a close parenthesis, you can digitally wink at all your contacts!
"Uh.. Di, di ko yan kilala"
But for reasons still unknown to me, I suddenly found my self in a relationship. Now some of you might be guessing, "so that's when texting became screwed up and complicated!"
Wrong! That's when I came up with these kick ass rules for texting. (and I suggest that you do so too if you want to live a happy life, full of loving experiences) meh
1. Letting her read what's on your inbox seems like a bit of a no-brainer. So lets make "never let her read what's on your inbox" as the first rule. This must be the simplest and most effective rule ever made about texting.
"But how am I suppose to do that?"
SMS is not exactly an unequivocal way to communicate. ( The rest of us will take a brief pause here while you google that word) A simple "Hi!" could be interpreted as flirting. Given this reasoning, tell her that the only reason why she would still want to look at your inbox is to intentionally pick a fight. If she still insists on digitally frisking you, try to convince her that you love her and respect her. Then take a look at her inbox and twist every friendly message from her male friends and accuse her of being a whore. That would prove your point. Of course, when she finally sees it your way and agrees to the rule you may still want to "take a look at her inbox and twist every friendly message from her male friends and accuse her of being a whore" whenever you want to.
This is the most crucial rule. Being able to implement this rule will avoid a dozen of other rules like "erasing flirt messages you receive after forwarding them to others" or "giving dude names to chicks in your contact list".
2. Second would be the "rule of equivalent response". This means that for every three messages she sends, you give her only one in reply. The reason behind this one is very easy to understand. You need to show her who's the boss (no, no, don't ask her) in the relationship.
"What if she starts doing the same thing?"
Girls by nature, wants nothing but to make you feel miserable with guilt. Some of them also have tricks of their own while others who are not smart enough just imitates yours which is more irritating. If you send her a message and she doesn't reply, you just ignore it. Don't send anymore messeges like "txtbck" or "wla k bng load?" or worse, pasaload 2. Just forget it happened, whining about it makes you look insecure. When you finally meet, dont say anything about it unless she mentions it first. Don't go like "Didn't you get my message last night? I was worried sick about you!" She's right in front of you now. That means that she didn't get kidnapped. She just spent the night at her best friends house. Who is by the way, a Baron Gysler with the looks of Christian Bautista.
"Seriously dude, we just talked"
3. Third is "drunk texting". The thing is, you should never do it. Unless you are me, alcohol can impede your brain function so instead of pressing "Candy" you press "mom".
