Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Treefarmer]

[mack4289]

Korea to Open Private School to Teach Happiness

Seoul- South Korean entrepreneurs have started a new kind of private school (known as a hagwan here): it�s one that teaches Koreans how to be happy. Citing Korea�s high suicide rate and low quality of life ratings, the entrepreneurs spotted a promising market opening.

According to the new business owners, the schools will be open from the early morning to as late as midnight and teach Koreans of all ages, from as young as 4 years old, how to be happy.

Parents reacted enthusiastically to the news. �I�ve always worried my child would have the same problems with depression and frustration with life that I�ve had,� said one Korean mother. �But I know if I send him to a happiness hagwan for 3 or 4 hours a day, he will learn how to be content with his life. Of course, he will have to give up playing basketball at night with his friends, which he won�t like. But his happiness is more important than some basketball game.�

The happiness hagwans plan on recruiting foreign teachers from some of the countries ranked as the happiest in the world, such as Vanuatu and Colombia (ranked 1st and 2nd in the controversial Happy Planet Study of happiness in the world). While the study has plenty of detractors who claim it was compiled based more on the politics of the surveyors than on any sort of scientific method, the new hagwan owners were not deterred.

�Vanuatu is the happiest country in the world, so all we have to do is put Korean people in a classroom with a Vanuatan for a few hours a day and he or she can teach us how to be happy. It�s that simple,� said one entrepreneur.

�Sure, attracting Vanuatans and Colombians to Korea, a place where they probably know almost none of the language or culture, will be difficult. But once they get here and see how unhappy Koreans are, they will see how much we need them and will want to keep returning.�

[mack4289]

UN Delegates Complain About Ban Ki Moon�s Management Practices

New York City- There has been growing disgruntlement lately among UN delegates over how UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon manages them, according to sources within the UN. While the complaints were quiet at first, Moon�s failure to address them has caused the delegates to become bolder in expressing them.

Among the complaints were a lack of guidance in how to present the UN�s stance on important issues, sending new delegates immediately into high-level diplomatic meetings with no preparation time, frequent last-minute schedule changes with no prior notice, an insistence on holding the delegates� passports and university diplomas �in case visitors wanted to see them� and even late arriving paychecks that were sometimes insufficient.

One UN delegate told a reporter, �At first, I was willing to chalk up the mistakes to a lack of experience. I thought once he got used to the position, things would improve. But even after I�ve asked him politely many times, I still have the same problems.�

When asked to elaborate, the delegate said, �I�m still owed overtime from last month and every time I ask him he says the UN is a little short this month and he�ll pay me as soon as possible. On multiple occasions, I�ve had to work later hours and even weekends on short notice, too short for me to re-schedule my plans. I would threaten to quit but he�s got my passport and I�m not sure he�d give me a letter of recommendation.�

Moon�s defenders claim he�s only doing what�s best for the UN and that the foreign delegates are too needy and demanding. �They complain about lack of preparation time for the meetings, but they wouldn�t use that extra time if they had it,� claimed one of Moon�s advocates. �They�d just sit in the office and look at e-mail. These lazy delegates don�t know how to adjust to a different management style. Just because [Moon�s predecessor Kofi] Annan coddled them doesn�t mean Moon has to.�

Regarding the passports and diplomas, the Moon defender said, �We have to keep those around because so many people are suspicious that the delegates might�ve forged their credentials. We can use them to prove the delegates are legitimate. If they need them back, they can come and ask us. If they have a good enough reason, of course we�ll give them back.�

Contrary to the Moon advocates claims, not all of his detractors are foreign. The Korean delegates, in many cases, seem to have a lower opinion than the foreigners do of Moon. �Those foreigners complain about their passports and their paychecks, but we have all the same problems plus we have to go out drinking with him every night�, said one Korean delegate. �I don�t see any of the French dragging themselves into work every day feeling like a walking corpse because they had to do soju bombs with Ban all night.�

When asked to comment about this article, Moon was hostile at first, even demanding the names of this newspaper�s sources. When he composed himself and decided to answer some questions, he had this to say, �Yeah, I don�t always treat them great, but why should I? If you treat them too well, they will think you�re weak and take advantage of it. All you really have to do is not treat them so badly that they quit at the same time. That gives you a lot of margin for error because, let�s face it, these people aren�t going to find a better job.�

[TheUrbanMyth]

[eamo]

Wow!

Great thread. And they say Dave's isn't as good as it used to be. Rubbish!