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radcon
Joined: 23 May 2011
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 Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 8:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Steelrails wrote: |
One of my friends had students at the local technical high school and this kid was learning about welding. Rather than bemoaning his place in society or his future, his view was this- He wanted to be the best welder in Korea and would work his tail off to do it. None of the angst over meaning and such. This is the life he is going to have and since it is his life, its worth doing the best job you can and to work as hard as you can for it.
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This is the right mentality to have regarding one's place in this world. Too bad not many Koreans think like this. Not many Korean moms of welders are talking about their sons to their friends. |
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cabeza
Joined: 29 Sep 2012
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| Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 8:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Lucas wrote: |
| Quote: |
One of my friends had students at the local technical high school and this kid was learning about welding. Rather than bemoaning his place in society or his future, his view was this- He wanted to be the best welder in Korea and would work his tail off to do it. None of the angst over meaning and such. This is the life he is going to have and since it is his life, its worth doing the best job you can and to work as hard as you can for it.
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Wow, i agree with Steelrails...
FWIW - some great money to be made in welding, esp if you mix it up with deep sea diving for example.
Hard life - but $$$$! |
My brother in law is a welder at the Hyundai Yongam ship yards. He pulls in easily 4 times that of a good esl salary. And then he gets ridiculous bonuses if they come in ahead of time. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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| radcon wrote: |
| Steelrails wrote: |
One of my friends had students at the local technical high school and this kid was learning about welding. Rather than bemoaning his place in society or his future, his view was this- He wanted to be the best welder in Korea and would work his tail off to do it. None of the angst over meaning and such. This is the life he is going to have and since it is his life, its worth doing the best job you can and to work as hard as you can for it.
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This is the right mentality to have regarding one's place in this world. Too bad not many Koreans think like this. Not many Korean moms of welders are talking about their sons to their friends. |
I agree. I wish those moms out there would dial it down and that the government would support more alternative "2nd chance" opportunities and encouragement to "unusual" studies/business pursuits.
You'd be surprised how many parents are supportive and think the same way. We probably don't interact with them much because they don't go to English hagwons as much and might not have the greatest English skills.
You see it in certain people. Yeah, sometimes you get lazy and shady characters and slackers, but you also see some really dedicated people out there. Best Cab Driver types who really put themselves into it, A guy who runs a pizza shop and takes big pride, A restaurant owner, A chicken hof lady, A mechanic. Kids who get the full support of their parents to go all out int baduk or taekwondo or piano or golf or acupuncture or Seminary or coffee shops and so on.
There is a mindset supported by some that if you go into something, you study your butt off at it and work as hard as you can to be the best.
Of course there's also people who will rip you off and take the money and run and leave you with a piece of junk. But the whole "SKY or die" and no respect towards people who do something else is an overblown exaggeration. Koreans love the obsessed entrepreneurial types. |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 8:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Recently I've been surprised at how many of my students want to be bakers, hairdressers, mechanics, or cooks. I think a lot of Korean parents are coming back down to earth, especially the ones that don't live in Seoul. |
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radcon
Joined: 23 May 2011
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| Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 8:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Steelrails wrote: |
| radcon wrote: |
| Steelrails wrote: |
One of my friends had students at the local technical high school and this kid was learning about welding. Rather than bemoaning his place in society or his future, his view was this- He wanted to be the best welder in Korea and would work his tail off to do it. None of the angst over meaning and such. This is the life he is going to have and since it is his life, its worth doing the best job you can and to work as hard as you can for it.
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This is the right mentality to have regarding one's place in this world. Too bad not many Koreans think like this. Not many Korean moms of welders are talking about their sons to their friends. |
I agree. I wish those moms out there would dial it down and that the government would support more alternative "2nd chance" opportunities and encouragement to "unusual" studies/business pursuits.
You'd be surprised how many parents are supportive and think the same way. We probably don't interact with them much because they don't go to English hagwons as much and might not have the greatest English skills.
You see it in certain people. Yeah, sometimes you get lazy and shady characters and slackers, but you also see some really dedicated people out there. Best Cab Driver types who really put themselves into it, A guy who runs a pizza shop and takes big pride, A restaurant owner, A chicken hof lady, A mechanic. Kids who get the full support of their parents to go all out int baduk or taekwondo or piano or golf or acupuncture or Seminary or coffee shops and so on.
There is a mindset supported by some that if you go into something, you study your butt off at it and work as hard as you can to be the best.
Of course there's also people who will rip you off and take the money and run and leave you with a piece of junk. But the whole "SKY or die" and no respect towards people who do something else is an overblown exaggeration. Koreans love the obsessed entrepreneurial types. |
The critical question is when does the thinking change- pre or post not getting into a good university. My girlfriends niece, to put it bluntly is just dumb. She is in middle school, not a good student, and not pretty. The girlfriend is trying to tell them mom to steer her towards some skill such as cooking. The mom won't hear of it and instead just doubles down on the hogwons and private tutoring. A recipe for disaster for all concerned. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 9:05 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, it really is unfortunate that a number of these moms out there can be so single-minded.
The hagwon system actually has its merits, but its not being used properly to its full potential. Yes, there should be both supplementary hagwons and hagwons for "the gifted" in the traditional subjects, but it would be nice to see hagwons out there for specialty fields, ones that it might not be efficient or reasonable for public schools to cover.
Cooking/Trades/Certain Computer-related Fields/Design/Gardening/etc. stuff for kids to get some practical experience and a chance to study somewhere where they actually feel confident and that they're one of the best students there. |
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Rofpo
Joined: 12 Jun 2013
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| Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 9:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Captain Corea wrote: |
| Steelrails wrote: |
They were damned if they upheld it, damned if they corrected it as both students would have had a legitimate reason to back their answer and choosing one way or the other is going to make the other side upset.
They should have just canceled the question altogether and calculated scores without that question included. Or included any answer as correct. However, I'm not sure how logistically feasible that would be.
But yeah, they aren't screwed for life. |
I think that either of those options would have been better.
Not screwed for life… but they have to wait another year to re-test, no? |
At least you're not going to abuse your kid in the 'education' system here, right? God I hope for her sake I am. |
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Jaffazoid
Joined: 04 Dec 2011
Location: Ulsan
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| Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 9:38 pm Post subject: |
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I don't think I even knew what GDP was when I was in high school. The education system here scares the crap out of me.
Also, I'm not surprised there's such a dispute. There's so many questions that have been given to my students even in Elementary school on their tests that have been designed just to trick students, or even contain multiple answers that are considered correct when only one answer is the 'true answer'. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 12:27 am Post subject: |
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| Steelrails wrote: |
| radcon wrote: |
| Steelrails wrote: |
One of my friends had students at the local technical high school and this kid was learning about welding. Rather than bemoaning his place in society or his future, his view was this- He wanted to be the best welder in Korea and would work his tail off to do it. None of the angst over meaning and such. This is the life he is going to have and since it is his life, its worth doing the best job you can and to work as hard as you can for it.
|
This is the right mentality to have regarding one's place in this world. Too bad not many Koreans think like this. Not many Korean moms of welders are talking about their sons to their friends. |
I agree. I wish those moms out there would dial it down and that the government would support more alternative "2nd chance" opportunities and encouragement to "unusual" studies/business pursuits.
You'd be surprised how many parents are supportive and think the same way. We probably don't interact with them much because they don't go to English hagwons as much and might not have the greatest English skills.
You see it in certain people. Yeah, sometimes you get lazy and shady characters and slackers, but you also see some really dedicated people out there. Best Cab Driver types who really put themselves into it, A guy who runs a pizza shop and takes big pride, A restaurant owner, A chicken hof lady, A mechanic. Kids who get the full support of their parents to go all out int baduk or taekwondo or piano or golf or acupuncture or Seminary or coffee shops and so on.
There is a mindset supported by some that if you go into something, you study your butt off at it and work as hard as you can to be the best.
Of course there's also people who will rip you off and take the money and run and leave you with a piece of junk. But the whole "SKY or die" and no respect towards people who do something else is an overblown exaggeration. Koreans love the obsessed entrepreneurial types. |
I very much agree with this, and have said it to anyone who's willing to listen.
Korea would be a happier place for many if more people opened up their minds as to what constitutes success.
Being in Seoul, I sometimes feel like i'm surrounded by "salarymen". |
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cabeza
Joined: 29 Sep 2012
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| Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 1:16 am Post subject: |
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| Jaffazoid wrote: |
I don't think I even knew what GDP was when I was in high school. The education system here scares the crap out of me.
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Cripes! Where the hell did you go to school? |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 1:20 am Post subject: |
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| jvalmer wrote: |
| Recently I've been surprised at how many of my students want to be bakers, hairdressers, mechanics, or cooks. I think a lot of Korean parents are coming back down to earth, especially the ones that don't live in Seoul. |
Which means less jobs for NETs (in both the public and private sector). |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 2:13 am Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
| jvalmer wrote: |
| Recently I've been surprised at how many of my students want to be bakers, hairdressers, mechanics, or cooks. I think a lot of Korean parents are coming back down to earth, especially the ones that don't live in Seoul. |
Which means less jobs for NETs (in both the public and private sector). |
Maybe, maybe not. Who's to say they don't want to train overseas before they open up shops here? Could be a real drawing card. |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 2:16 am Post subject: |
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| atwood wrote: |
| World Traveler wrote: |
| jvalmer wrote: |
| Recently I've been surprised at how many of my students want to be bakers, hairdressers, mechanics, or cooks. I think a lot of Korean parents are coming back down to earth, especially the ones that don't live in Seoul. |
Which means less jobs for NETs (in both the public and private sector). |
Maybe, maybe not. Who's to say they don't want to train overseas before they open up shops here? Could be a real drawing card. |
And why would a Korean really care about less jobs for NETs? If I was running a successful business with little English, a NETs job situation would not even enter my mind. |
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Underwaterbob
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Location: In Cognito
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| Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 3:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Maybe, just maybe Korea should beef up its standards for universities other than the select few good ones. From what I've seen, outside of the select few, they're mostly pay-to-graduate, degree farms. |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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| jvalmer wrote: |
| atwood wrote: |
| World Traveler wrote: |
| jvalmer wrote: |
| Recently I've been surprised at how many of my students want to be bakers, hairdressers, mechanics, or cooks. I think a lot of Korean parents are coming back down to earth, especially the ones that don't live in Seoul. |
Which means less jobs for NETs (in both the public and private sector). |
Maybe, maybe not. Who's to say they don't want to train overseas before they open up shops here? Could be a real drawing card. |
And why would a Korean really care about less jobs for NETs? If I was running a successful business with little English, a NETs job situation would not even enter my mind. |
They wouldn't. Strange question. |
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