In the three pages of the calendar, winter seemed so long and broad that it seems it would never touch the spring. But it's March, the prospering season of new opportunities and hope. It is not only the color of green leaves that leads us to spring. The time is called spring : You dream and try hard to get your dreams come true. It is you, it is I, it is all of us dreaming the future. So you wouldn't argue over the fact that you wrote the dream at the top page of 2005. But wait a second and let me make a wild guess here. Are you hoping to earn money? Or to fall in love with someone? The Kangwon Post surveyed 250 students on their 49th anniversary special edition. The survey showed that 24% of students hoped to find employment. 15% wanted to open a savings account to manage their money. 13% preferred to find themselves a sweetheart. By organizing these social surveys, we can easily assume that most people have similar kind of dreams and hopes. But even though we dream and hope together, we do not all think the same way, especially by ages.
The Chung-Ang Herald (CAH) surveyed 250 students to figure out how notions change and develop between the ages. The target of the survey were various. Participants were from 05' (Students who would be entering university this year) to 98' or older. Most of them were people in the library of Chung-Ang University. Some of them finished the questionnaire by network (E-mail, community bulletin board, etc.) The survey was conducted in Feb. of 2005.
Mother, The Closest Friend in Our Lives
Though CAH surveyed from freshman to seniors, CAH came along with some equal data from all ages. The society become busier and more complex for the family. It is hard to keep along the warmth of love. There is a proverb of a mother in one's life: 'There is no medicine like a mother to children'. It is the heart of a mother's love that made the mother the friendliest person in the family. Korea seems to have succeeded to go from a male - based family to a mother - based family nowadays.
Studio Being a Studio Couch of Society
How many hours do you watch television every day? In a research taken from U.S., children normally spend a thousand hours in front of the television. It is quite obvious that many hours in front of the TV only generates laziness and despair. But it is also true that most of our focus is also on TV. People seem to enjoy and use jokes from TV. 'People finding smile', Korean called 'Ut-Chat-Sa', from SBS is most well known in Seoul. For people in their early 20's, Seoul Broadcasting Studio SBS, ranked first in preference in TV channels. But many people contact diverse informative portals to get recent updates. For example, Naver and Daum are among the most famous portal websites in Korea. They post up-to-date news and gossips(it can also be jokes...). Cable TV channels provide more hot news than normal TV channels. Some prefer cable TV channels more because of this. For instance, games for Ongamenet or movies for OCN.
Getting Closer and Closer
Having conversations with others had been exciting during the past years. People tried to get in touch through handy objects. The invention made people to be snatched with phones. Mobile phones became essential items to live in this world. Most people put it in their pocket to use it when they need it. But mobile phones are getting smaller and lighter. More and more people are getting used to holding it. Whenever it is needed, there it is! In the palm of your hand!
Difference Between Boyfriend and Male Friend
We mentioned above in the previous pages that sex is furthermost a taboo but desire for people. University students are free to fulfill their desire. CAH asked whether the distance of the opposite sex is far or close. Koreans use the same word when they talk about an opposite sex friend or sweetheart. So, CAH purposely used this word in the questionnaire to catch the difference between the ages. Males seemed to show more gap between ages. Younger students are apt to respond the word as opposite sex friends. On the contrary, older students had more perception of sweetheart. Females showed small difference but the desire for petting between lovers drew gentle incline by the years growing to the present. Korea is no longer a nation under Confucianism when the Chosun dynasty prospered. We are liberal and responsible for what we want. The desire can be satisfied if the responsibility grows as much as we act.
I ♡ Korean food~
Let's go eat outside! Hmmm... what shall we take? Most Koreans love to find their traditional food even in the outside table. Some age brackets showed conventional outside-dish, 'Italian', 'Japanese' as the best menu. But most Koreans liked to enjoy what they eat in their home. Even family restaurants from abroad are preparing and developing fusion dishes which are adopted from traditional Korean dishes.
Teenager to Twenty, counting your age by the lunar calendar, 25: the half way gone in the twenties... what is your age and what is the real difference? Why does it matter to you? We are changing every year. But as we are young in the minds, we dream and hope together young, or in other words, like in our twenties. Being in your twenties never guarantees you the dreams into reality. What guarantees your dream is your young will to live in your twenties, the mind of independence, and its responsibility.
By Jeong Woo-suk
News reporter