22. 모유를 먹이다/젖을 잘 안 빨아.

A : Do you bottle-feed or breast-feed your baby?

B : I nurse my baby.

My baby doesn't nurse very well.

21. 사산(死産)

Such deliveries often result in four or five days of extremely painful labor that ends with stillbirth.

Chefs as Media Stars

When someone talks about a “star,” he or she may most likely be referring to a popular singer, actor, or actress. Some of the top-class sports athletes are also considered superstars and get a lot of media attention. These people earn a lot of money and can enjoy much fame, making them role models for many children and teenagers who want to become celebrities.

Nowadays, with a boom of cooking shows and food programs in Korea, famous chefs are under the spotlight as they become rising celebrities. These star chefs appear in several programs aired in public as well as cable TV channels. Some are even featured in commercials, advertising various products. 

These new stars that make tasty dishes have greatly changedperceptions about those who cook food for a living. They are now well acknowledged as professionals with high-level skills andexpertise.

Eating is one of the basic things that human beings should do in order to live and almost everybody likes eating delicious food.These things also make cooking as a job something good and worthwhile, contributing to the positive image of cooks.

The popularity of cooks and the rising trend of cooking have significant influences on youngsters. It is known that there are increasing number of teenagers who consider cooking as their future job and dream of becoming chefs like those who appear on television. 

Meanwhile, culinary experts and chefs also raise their voices of concern about this trend since working as a cook is not all about being fancy as shown in the media. It takes a lot of hard work for many years, starting from cleaning the kitchen and preparing ingredients, to become chefs who can be in charge of big kitchens. Dealing with sharp knives and hot fire also makes the job dangerous and difficult. The process is challenging both physically and mentally. Unless the person is determined to have cooking as a career, it is very difficult to succeed. Even after becoming chefs, they are always under pressure to improve the taste of dishes and develop new recipes to maintain their reputation. 

Cooking delicious food is something good, and cooks are the people who do this to bring happiness to other people. The trend of chefs becoming stars and the number of chef hopefuls increasing may be positive but like any other profession, pursuing a career in cooking should involve serious thoughts and sincerity.

Steve Jobs, Apple, and the International Music Industry

Since Steve Jobs and his team created the iPod in 2001, enjoying music and other kinds of media has been brought to a different level. Not only can people listen to music or watch videos on the go, downloading certain kinds of data can be done through iTunes, an online media library that was released by Apple almost at the same time as the first-generation iPod. 

A lot of people believe that since the invention of the iPod and iTunes, the entertainment industry got badly affected. Some say that the music industry took the hardest blow. For some, Steve Jobs and Apple robbed many musicians, producers and other members of the music industry of their income generating resources, which led to loss of careers, loss of investors and the slow death of the international music industry. 

They say Steve Jobs and Apple changed musical consumption anddistribution patterns, the accessibility of digital media and the overall attitude of people towards music. I see all these as positive changes in the music industry and I think it is unfair to blame Apple, especially Steve Jobs, for the so-called demise of the music industry. 

Before Steve Jobs and his team invented the iPod, there were already existing portable mp3 players that allowed people to play music, videos and other types of media on the go. Before the launch of iTunes, there were other music-focused online services, such as Napster that allowed free data sharing through the Internet. I guess it was just made famous by iTunes, and also because people became more familiar with downloading music online. 

I think what the international music industry is experiencing now should be blamed on the poor quality of songs that are being produced. Gone are the days when songs with great lyrics and melody like Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” and Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” are played by local radio stations. Another factor is the quick change in people’s preferences and taste in music. People these days don’t seem to be contented with just one genre of music which makes it difficult for the music industry to produce songs that will generate a lot of money. 

Just as every other sector of the society, the music industry has gone through change over time. Steve Jobs and Apple may have contributed a lot in this said change but I don’t think they affected the music industry negatively. In fact, they might have even revivedthe interest of people in music.

20. 기운나게 하다.

The following morning, I couldn't crank myself up enough to come to work on time.

What is Gross National Happiness?

The concept of “Gross National Happiness” was introduced by Bhutan’s Dragon King, named Jigme Singye Wangchuk. It uses Buddhist spiritual values as means to building an economy that is in line with Bhutan’s culture. The philosophies of GNH veer away frommaterial development measured by a country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The philosophies are sustainable development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment, and establishment of good governance. Currently, Bhutan is the only country that officially uses GNH wherein a Gross National Happiness Commission is in charge of policy resolutions and distribution of resources.

Although the concept originated from South Asia, it has evolved with the help of many international modern scholars, economists, and politicians. The United Nations has officially adopted this concept as a program in the achievement of global development in July 2011. From a philosophy, GNH became a socioeconomic development framework that gained the attention of many scholars and economists due to its focus on people’s happiness and life satisfaction.

The philosophies of GNH are indeed timely and much-needed in a fast-paced world. However, many people still find it problematic due to its strong emphasis on spiritual and cultural aspects rather than economic development. For this reason, many policy makers and economists struggled to accept GNH because of the subjectivity of “happiness.” In contrast to GDP, GNH is more difficult to express numerically. 

To address this challenging aspect of GNH, a GNH Index was made. However, Bhutan has its own model for its GNH Index. The GNH Index adopted by international scholars consists of sevendimensions: economic, environmental, physical, mental, work, social, and political. Some areas that are subjective such as the wellness areas are measured using both quantitative andqualitative data. Each of the seven dimensions is rated from zero to ten, wherein zero means very dissatisfied, five means neutral, and ten means very satisfied. 

Additionally, the survey also asks the following questions: What are the top positive things in your life that make you happy? What are the top challenges and causes of stress in your life? What would you advise your government to increase your well-being and happiness? What are the most influential city, state, federal or international projects? How are they negatively or positively impacting your well-being and happiness?

Although the GNH Index is relatively comprehensive, it is still being criticized because of its tendency to be unreliable due to varying responses from people across genders, cultures, and other personal factors. In fact, it has become a controversial avenue for socioeconomic debate because in its simplest form, implications of the GNH unintentionally ask the question: What is more important, money (GDP) or happiness (GNH)?

19. 기진맥진한 상태다.

He was in a run-down condition.

If you feel run-down from lack of sleep, you should get more rest.

A : How long have you been feeling under the weather?

B : I've been feeling run-down for a couple of days.

The Most Influential Musician in Korea

Every few years, a new president of Korea is elected. However, there is one kind of president whose status remains. Seo Tai-ji is known as “the president of culture” of South Korea. Without a doubt, he is one of the most influential figures in modern Korean music. He transformed the music industry in various aspects. 

Prior to Seo’s debut, Korean musical industry had trot, ballad, and dance as the three major genres. Heavy metal also existed but it was only small-scale. With Seo’s debut in 1992 in a trio called “Seo Tai-ji and Boys,” the musical paradigm shifted. The trio introduced their first song titled “I Know.” They got the lowest rating from the jury on a talent show they debuted on. It was only a minor setbackin what would be a musical revolution. The song became a great hit and a sensation among teenagers, making the top boy banddominate the Korean music scene in the 1990s. In fact, the band became one of the highly successful modern boy bands in the Korean music industry. 

The boys’ songs revolutionized the dance genre. The trio’s street and hip-hop dance brought change to the genre. Different genres were also introduced. “I Know” has rap which was a fresh musical form. The song also incorporated dance and vocals. The fusion of the three musical aspects can easily be heard in modern K-pop. 

Seo also shifted the balance between musicians and media corporations. To concentrate on the production of the third album, he temporarily minimized his TV appearances, something that was unheard of and uncommon during that time. His bold action brought autonomy to musicians, tilting the balance of power between artists and media corporations. It emphasized musical perfection over popularity. Since then, taking breaks from media presence became common among celebrities. 

Seo is called the president of culture because his arrival sparked a revolution in Korean music. Of course, he was not free from criticisms like many other musicians. 

Nonetheless, it is not an exaggeration when we say anything he did became a trend and brought new standards in the music and entertainment industry. He established the cornerstone of the modern K-pop. These are the reasons why he is truly one of the most influential musicians in Korea.

18. 늦잠을 자다.

On the weekends many people like to sleep in.

Tomorrow, there will be no school so you can sleep in.

Understanding El Niño

Several countries in South America, such as Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina, are experiencing severe floods that already took away thousands of lives and properties worth millions of dollars. Many had to abandon their homes and evacuate to safer areas. This situation is caused by continuous heavy rains brought by what the United Nation’s World Meteorological Organization calls, “the worst El Niño phenomenon in more than 15 years.” 

The El Niño phenomenon is an undesired climate cycle that usually starts during the month of December and lasts for a couple of months. It causes drought, floods, heat waves, cold seasons andspikes in global temperature. El Niño affects global weather patterns and its consequences may vary in every country. 

In a normal climate cycle, without the El Niño phenomenon, trade winds move the warm water of the Pacific Ocean towards the west and pile the warm water along the coast of Asia and Australia. This causes the formation of rain clouds that brings the normal amount of rainfall to the equatorial Pacific Ocean region. This is a self-perpetuating cycle that contributes to the normal weather patterns of different countries. 

However, during an El Niño phenomenon, trade winds are not able to fully push warm Pacific water to the west, which leads to an abnormal distribution in water temperature in the Pacific Ocean.Warm water moves to the east which brings a lot of rainfall to America and other neighboring countries. This explains the excessive rainfall and floods in South American countries. 

Also, less warm water is also pushed to the west hence lessening rainfall in Australia and many countries in Asia and Australia. The decrease in rainfall causes drought and heat waves. This explains the heat wave in India and the severe drought in Indonesia and the Philippines. 

Climatologists say that the El Niño phenomenon should also be blamed for the abnormally warm winters experienced around the world. The shift in atmospheric pressure caused by El Niño usually increases the earth’s temperature by 0.5 degrees above normal but in the 2015 El Niño, the earth’s temperature rose by three degrees. This led to lesser snowfall and a warmer Christmas for some countries like Canada. 

It is predicted by experts that harsher effects of El Niño may be expected in years to come. They say that people across the Pacific may take the hardest blow. As a way to prevent horrendous events from happening, they are calling for immediate collaborative action against climate change. Every nation should unite and do something as soon as possible.