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The one-day guest for today is Ilya from Russia. He has been in Korea for eleven years and is very fluent in Korean.
Time for Q&A about Russia
Q: Do Russians or Koreans drink more liquor?
A: Russians drink less alcohol than Koreans.
Alberto says that when he went to Russia, he saw a sign that read: Beer isn't a beverage, it's alcohol. Everyone laughs because beer is a beverage. MC Si Kyung says that Russian beer is delicious. Ilya says that a lot of Russians drink Russian beer because it tastes better than German beer, to which Daniel jokingly shows his frustration, ha.
Q: Is it true that Korean mayonnaise, ramen and chocolate pies?
A: Yes, in the 90's Russia was in a bad state and it was very hard to live in Russia. The government started importing Korean goods. The chocolate pies were especially popular.
Q: Do Russians fight well?
A: Yes, Russians were generally hot-blooded. They get angry easily.
Guillaume says that he thinks he knows why Russians are angry. When he went to Russia, he found out that Russians go to the sauna together and hit each other in the sauna with white birch (it's like a small plant).
Q: Why do Russians hit each other with white birch at the sauna?
A: It's very good for the skin. Afterwards they all into ice cold water.
Q: How to Russians think of Americans?
A: Although the older generations hated America during the Cold War, the younger generations don't have any ill will at all towards America.
Q: Does Hollywood make Russia into the classic villain?
A: Ilya says he feels wronged whenever movies like James Bond come out. Alberto agrees that movies gave Russia a bad image. However, he went to Russia and everything was so good, not dangerous at all.
Q: What do Russians think of the Chinese?
A: lya dsn't like the Chinese. He also says there's too much yellow dust in China. Zhang retorts by saying Russia doesn't have any friends, ha. The others hope that they'll get along.
It's time for the Global Cultural Conversation.
The topic is the world' most prestigious universities.
- Zhang says that China's best universities are Peking University and Tsinghua University. The amount of accepted students per year is about 5.000 so the probability of getting in is 2000:1. (China's student population is in the millions.) If you get in, everyone will congratulate you.
- Takuya says that Japan's best university is Tokyo University. Another is Osaka University.
- Ghana's best university is the University of Ghana. He says that the college admission exam takes a month. The MC's say that it's a relief that Korea's CSAT is only one day.
- Robin says that he wants to talk about two of France's universities. The first is Sorbonne University in Paris. He says that there's a cooking university called Le Cordon Bleu.
- Enes talks about Istanbul University, which was founded in 1453. If you go to college for four years in Turkey, you only go to the military for six months. However, if you don't you go for sixteen months.
- Daniel says that Germany doesn't really have top universities. There are universities famous for certain majors. He says that the graduation rate of universities is low because not everyone goes to college.
- Alberto says that Italy is similar to Germany because it doesn't have top universities and has universities famous for majors. Many universities don't have campuses either. It's not hard to get into universities, but very difficult to graduate. Ilya says that almost everyone goes to college in Russia because many Russians think that it is necessary.The MC's ask: Are there countries where it's difficult to get a job for people who didn't graduate college? Yes for Ghana, Russia, Japan, Turkey, China, Belgium and United States.
- Russia's best known university is Moscow State University. Ilya also says that there's a UFO university. It's more of an academy and it really exists.
- Julian says that there's a university that teaches how to make beer in Belgium. He says that the most prestigious university in Belgium if the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. It was opened in the 1600's so it has a long history. A lot of famous designers graduated from the university and is one of the three best fashion design universities in the world. Julian says that the university is very expensive. They say that America is the best when it comes to expensive universities and Tyler confirms it.
- Tyler says that most people think that Ivy League universities are the best universities but it's not true. They are the Ivy League because of a sports alliance so although they are all good universities, not all of them are the best. They ask Tyler for tips on getting into American universities. Tyler says that all Korean applications look almost exactly the same. Tyler says that American universities are communities and they look for students who can add to the community. Applicants should submit their own unique story.
- Guillaume says Canada's best well known university is the University of Toronto. It has a very large library and two alumni are Nobel prize winners.
The Korean Representatives are Super Junior's Eunhyuk and Kyuhyun.
Haha, when the MC's ask if Super Junior is popular in other countries, the summit members say that they used to be popular. Now's it's all about EXO. Zhang agrees that EXO is the most popular now in China, but Super Junior is still well liked and well known in China.
Kyuhyun imitates Si Kyung's singing, much to veryone's delight. He and Sung Si Kyung sing a wonderful ballad together. Kyuhyun also came out as a solo singer recently and sings a snippet of his new song.
Eunhyun reads today's agenda (from a Korean male youth):
I recently was promoted in my company. Whenever new workers come into the company, I think about how fast time has gone by. Recently, a junior fifteen years younger joined the company. Since there is a big age gap, I can't really understand what the juniors of the company talk about and I feel that the juniors feel uncomfortable with me. I put myself out of the way for the juniors. I avoid my juniors because I can't communicate with them. Am I abnormal?
The vote is six think he's normal and seven think he's abnormal.
Julian says he's abnormal because he has to put en effort into understanding what young people say. It doesn't matter if the man makes a mistake; as long as he's putting in effort, it's fine.
Enes says that it is important to think from the junior's point of view. The junior would feel uncomfortable if the man starts using the language that young people use.
Julian says that the man should acknowledge his own generation and not try to act younger. He should instead act his age, but also try to communicate as well. Daniel agrees.
Robin says that the man is slowly making himself into an outcast. Even though communicating is difficult, it'll get better if he tries.
Ilya says that if the man isn't invited to hang out with his juniors, he shouldn't go.
Alberto says that due to Korean culture, the younger generation is wary of the older generation, but that has to happen the other way around. The older generation people should put an effort into knowing how younger people think.
The MC's say that there is no country other than Korea where age is incredibly important. The others agree. Eunhyuk says he wonders how old he has to be to finally be considered an adult. Si Kyung says that in other countries there must not be any word quite like "oppa" or other honorific titles. He asks if they all like being called oppa and they immediately say yes, ha.
The MC's say that in Korea each generation is given a title, such as Generation X or Generation V. They ask if other countries do that too.
Takuya says that in Japan, his generation is called the Utori Generation because for his generation, schools on Saturdays were cancelled and school hours got shorter. They aren't favorably looked upon by the older generation because they studied less.
Alberto says that the generation is called One Thousand Euros Generation or Generazione mille euro. That's because they monthly earn a thousand euros. Since they earn so little money, they can't get married.
Ilya says that his parents' generation lived in the Soviet Union, which is very different from Russia. They are called the X Generation. Due to coercion and threats, they couldn't speak freely and had little freedoms. Russia is not like that now so there is so much of a generation gap between parents and their children.
In Ghana there was a chief who you must go to if you have conflicts in order to solve the conflicts. The people must have done exactly as the chief told them to. However, the new generation never goes to the chief for conflict resolutions.
The MC's ask a question: Which generation blocks communications between generations- the new generation or the older generation?
Takuya says that the new generation should take the first step in communicating. Julian thinks that the older generation blocks communications because they have more wisdom and they must open themselves up more. Enes says that young people today should imagine that when they become 50 or 60 they may not be able to communicate with their children.Alberto says that it's so difficult to persuade the older generation. Enes says that's why younger people have to put in more effort, but Alberto says no matter how hard they try the older generation will not listen.
Alberto says that he tried explaining Facebook once to someone older, but no matter how hard he tried the older person couldn't understand. Julian says that the older generation are not willing to accept new things.
Tyler says that wanting the older generation to cater to the younger generation is too advantageous towards the latter. Since the world is changing, the older generation has to do that which is why the younger generation should help.
Zhang tells an anecdote about how his mother learned to use a smartphone. At first Zhang gave up teaching her because it was too hard to explain, but after much effort his mother learned. He thinks that the younger generation needs to change their thoughts too.
Alberto says that the older generation first has to want to learn so that the younger generation can help.
Tyler says that in order to teach the older generation, the younger generation has to understand them.
Eunhyuk says that when Super Junior first debuted, they tried a lot of new dances on stage and put on new types of performances. The older camera directors felt exhausted by Super Junior's stages, but after a while they changed and started to like the new types of stages. Eunhyuk thinks that it is possible for the older generation to change.
Guillaume tells an anecdote about how his father tried to use technology. There's so much new technology these days and his parents were not willing to use that technology. However, Guillaume needed his father to send him some pictures so his father tried to use technology for the first time. No matter how much Guillaume tried to explain to his father how to use technology it didn't work so his father eventually just showed them to him over video chat, haha.
The MC's ask if G11 ever experienced a generation gap within themselves. Takuya eagerly raises his hand. He experienced a generation gap with Alberto a few episodes ago when Alberto didn't know who the kpop group Sistar was. The younger generation knows Sistar well, but Alberto didn't. Zhang says he felt one with Hyun Moo because Hyun Moo likes Chinese actors who were popular when Zhang was really young. When asked which actors are popular now, Zhang can't answer, ha.
The MC's give out a pop quiz. After listening to new slang, they must try to guess its meaning.
The first sentence filled with several slang talks about Hyun Moo.
Ha, G11 takes this opportunity to take a stab at and diss Hyun Moo. Takuya answers correctly.
The second one reads: The person I met on a blind date is a butterface. (Butterface is the slang.)
Eunhyun thinks butterface means the person is greasy. Alberto thinks it means the person's skin is bad. Other guesses are that the person's face is fat, good looking, yellow face, ugly face. Julian and Guillaume both think butterface is "but her face" as in everything about the person was good except the face. Alberto says that in Italy, those women are called shrimp.
The MC's move on to another topic. Communication between family is more important than communication between generations. Many families do not talk often these days. In a day the average family talks less than ten minutes. Everyone agrees that when they were young, they were forced not to watch TV or do other things when their whole family was together so they communicated, but it's different now.
The MC's reveal that the best communicator in G11 is... Julian! The most congested person, as in the person who doesn't open his mind to other ideas, is Zhang.
The MC's suddenly as a question: If I were to be born again, would I want my father to be Julian or Zhang? Five people chose Zhang and six chose Julian.
Tyler says he chose Zhang because he seems like he would raise his children well. Ilya thinks similarly that the father has to educate his children well. Takuya chose Julian because he wants a father whom he can talk freely to whereas he feels like Zhang would hit him if he says something wrong. Alberto says that he thinks Julian would interfere too much with his children's lives. Enes thinks that Julian would raise his kids too comfortably so the kids won't learn the right way.
Julian says that there's a misunderstanding. He doesn't want to be a friend to his children all the time. He wants to play the role of a friend sometimes and a father the other times.
The final vote is held. Nine think that the youth is abnormal.
My Comments:
Overall, there was a lot to learn from the talks and debates. I love how the G11 members get so heated in the middle and make the Korean guests and MC's flustered. They seem like actual Koreans because they know the language and culture so well. Except maybe Zhang and Robin lol. Poor them, they are always teased about their lack of Korean skills.
Learning about universities in the first half was okay. It's not a very interesting topic to me, but there were some surprises such as a beer making college in Belgium. The second half topics were topics I never really thought about because I actually don't fell that much of a generation gap. Maybe it's because where I live everyone is pretty modern and up-to-date. I enjoyed Ilya's company and the Q&A about Russia. It looks like a beautiful country in pictures and I wish to go there one day.
What do you think? What are your thoughts on lack of communication in generation gaps and families?
