Generation gap, half-million
unemployed; these could be the words
that represent the reality of today’s
youth.
On campus, students mostly are
concerned about what their future jobs
and salaries might be, what TOEIC
score they get, and what kind of field
is most prosperous for the future.
In this situation, students express
their record-breaking concerns.
Gim Hyung-tae, the author of
How Lonely You Are had continuously listened to their voices and
gave them fresh solutions online at www.thegim.com. Gim Hyungtae
is a painter, musician, song writer, and columnist graduated from
Hong Ik Fine Arts University 1989. In 1997, he created a unique
band, named Hwanshinhye, which released five albums. Now he is
working as a counselor. Each of them was so punctual and even critical.
Every counselee was moved by Gim’s replies and gradually
this website became popular for those who do not have an answer to
their present dissatisfaction. These ambitiously gathered and most
appealing cases were published as a book. It is a book of counseling
cases for the youth.
What is good counseling? Is it a reply warm enough to melt
even the stiffest hearts or is it an arrangement of the finest phrases?
Neither. The finest solution is like the teeth of a saw. Every one of
their teeth is composed fully with any of blanks within them. It is
sharp, good enough to stab also figured just correctly.
However a good counselor always tells them a real solution with
more interests. But no people in their twenties expose themselves
proudly with their issues. But Gim sometimes used a sharp tongue
and criticized them on his famous website. Certainty, that is shock
treatment.
Do not overestimate your ability. “The people in their twenties
are just visionary dreamers who got used to consumption culture”,
“Wake up from your dreams”. These are the glimpse of phrases he
often used in his books, this frank and reckless tone is certainly
effective for most freshman students who just entered their universities.
Because they come from different circumstances in high school,
they do not know how to react or make up their minds. Gim trashes
their transparent excuses and rips the blinders from their eyes to see
cold reality with no prejudice or concerns.
Do you need a counselor? Go ahead if you are one of the students
who are in high anxiety about a faint future and tough reality.
YaeDam Pub Co / 309 pages / 9,800 won

AMERICA BICYCLE TRAVEL Hong Eun-taek
Challenged to cross the American continent, Hong Eun-taek just
did it by himself. Hong Eun-taek, a formal special correspondent of
Donga Ilbo, an Iraq war correspondent and Editor-in-Chief of
Ohmynews says he just did it because it was fun and was the best
opportunity to look back on himself along the trip.
He crossed the continent for 80 days on a bicycle. From the east
coast, Yorktown, Virginia, to the west coast, Florence, Oregon with
40kg of heavy luggage. Named as the Trans America Trail which
was designed on American Independence Day in 1976, this coast to
coast (Atlantic to Pacific) route stretchess for 6,836km and passes
through 10 American states. Remembering what his road trip companion
saying, “The important thing is to get through the first
week”, he started the bicycle trip. In the beginning period, he translated
during the night to satisfy travel expenses and ran through an
average 80 km everyday during the day. Sometimes, walking was
faster than his bicycle. And he had to get through 11 hours of rain on
a bicycle, committed map error, hills were never lower than he
expected. He reduced his burden during the trip often. From it, he
learned to travel light.
In this book, there are stories of other riders who gave him a
hand without any compensation. Some others offered a nights shelter,
who offered a free meal, road
yielder, and even racists. He collected
a live view of countryside of
America not a metropolitan area like
everybody. With this memory he
came back, and tells the story.
Almost every university student
has a dream of traveling other countries
away from his tough college
life; we can learn a true challenge
from him.Hanibook Pub Co / 401 pages / 15,000 won