The three MC's introduce themselves. Jun Hyun Moo, Yoo Se Yoon and Sung Si Kyung greet the viewers.
The summit starts out with an introduction of the current members: Sam Okeyere (Ghana), Alberto (Italy), Zhang Yuan (China), Daniel (Germany), Robin (France), Julian (Belgium), Guillaume (Canada), Takuya (Japan), and Tyler (America).
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MC Jun Hyun Moo is asked about his plan for the new year. Guillaume jumps in and says that Hyun Moo should eat Galbi Soup, which is a Korean saying that if one eats the soup, then one may get married. They all applaud at Guillaume's knowledge of Korean.
Sam's plan is to build a middle school on land that he owns in Ghana. Everyone is wowed by Sam's kind heart.
There is a special guest today. His name is Sujan and he's from Nepal. The others ask why he's so good in Korean and Sujan says that he enjoys watching Korean variety shows. He practiced and learned Korean from five years ago. He currently works at a Korean parachute company. This brings lots of laughs because it sounds weird in Korean. "Parachute" is a slang/euphemism for someone who gets into a company through connections, like family connections, and not one's own ability. Sujan explains that he works for a Korean company that actually makes parachutes, haha.
Time for Q&A for Sujan about Nepal.
Julian: Does Nepal only have mountains?
Sujan: Yes Nepal is famous for the Himalayas, but there are other attractions and other things to do, such as the Kathmandu, Pokhara and Himalaya hiking trails.
Sam: What's the weather like? It must be cold there.
Sujan: There are four seasons in Nepal.
They ask a few questions about religion in Nepal and Sujan replies that people can believe in more than one religion at a time, which surprises the others. Almost 90% of people in Nepal are Hindu. Also, the caste system still exists. Due to unfair treatment, there are some talks about reforming or erasing the caste system, but it is very difficult.
The MC's ask about how other countries celebrate the New Year.
America: After a countdown, a ball drops in Times Square. Fireworks begin and lots of couples kiss, even strangers.
China: New Year's is not really important. Lunar New Year is more important. People are really superstitious, however, and many get their fortunes read.
Japan: Like China, many Japanese get their fortunes read, especially about relationships and school. There's also special New Year's food.
France: France also has special food. There's also a tradition where couples kiss under the gui tree.
Canada: At home, families hug each other. There's also a longtime television show featuring the best comedians on New Year's Day called Bye Bye.
Ghana: There's also a New Year's countdown and special food.
Nepal: There are two calendars in Nepal and different communities use different calendars, which is confusing.
Germany: Germans actually eat French food often.
Time to welcome the guest
The Korean representative for this episode is Sean from YG Entertainment. He was a member of 1st generation hip hop group Jinusean. Sean hilariously says that more youngsters know him as a social worker since he always volunteers. He is guesting to submit an agenda:
I am a dad of ten years. I do a lot of volunteer work and I think a lot about the Earth. Instead of making a comeback as a singer for fans, I want to give my all to save the world. Am I abnormal?
The Outcome: 3-normal, 7- abnormal
Guillaume thinks that Sean is doing a respectable job, but thinks that Sean should just save money and give it away when he dies. Julian thinks that people need to help by using their bodies since money can't solve everything. Zhang, who thinks Sean is abnormal, thinks Sean is too aggressive in his volunteer work and that can make his family unhappy. Julian disagrees saying that Sean is happy doing this work so there's nothing wrong with it. Takuya agrees with Zhang that if he's too aggressive, then he may not spend enough time with his family, which would upset his family.
They ask Sean if his family is okay with his volunteer work. Sean asks (with holy music in the background): Is there happiness when i am happy or when everyone else is happy? Haha, there are CG-made angel wings behind Sean. Sean replies that his wife and his children are happy with his volunteer work. He takes them with him to volunteer so they spend enough time togtether.
Guillaume asks if he would have done what he does now if he weren't a celebrity. Sean replies that he would have, even though the amount of money he could give would be significantly lower.
Zhang thinks if Sean gives all his money away, since he gives so much money away, his children will suffer. Sean replies that when his children graduate from high school, he plans to let them live independently without financial aid.
Alberto understands that others' happiness is important, but if others come before yourself, then can your family be happy? Sean replies that the happiness of his family comes first before volunteering.
They shift the focus to Korea's volunteering system. Sujan thinks that it's really great that Korea rewards those who do volunteer work. Tyler thinks that the reason for doing volunteer work is important. Is it for school credit or for your own sincere heart?
The MC's reveal that in the World Giving Index, Korea is 60th place out of 135 countries for volunteering. America and Myanmar are tied for first place. Tyler says that giving is rewarded in America. Sujan says that Nepal is usually on the receiving end of help. G11 go around talking about people who became famous through volunteering.
MC's Question:
If you are born as Sean's son and your father says he wants to give all his money away to charities, will you encourage him or stop him?
Four members would agree with their father's decision. Eight would stop him.
Guillaume agrees because for him, dad's happiness is more important. Even if Guillaume as debt, he needs to take care of his debt by himself, although he would be happy if his father repaid the debt, haha. Sujan says that it's his father's hard-earned money so he doesn't have a right to take it. Sam agrees with Sujan.
Alberto says that realistically speaking, he would want some money from his father. Robin would stop his father for his father's sake because it would be better for his father to help his son start living independently so that his son could pay it forward. Tyler thinks that the father could save charity money in a different bank account. Daniel has a similar thought to Robin and says realistically the father should help his son. Zhang has a different idea and says that the money isn't only his father's money so his father shouldn't have the sole decision maker. In addition, the son may feel bad for not getting any money if he lived as a good son his whole life.
Sean thinks that parents should help their children if they need help, but if parents keep on helping then children will not learn to become independent. He also says that volunteer work should be fun so that people would want to do it.
The MC's ask for fun ideas for volunteering. There are several ideas, but the MC"s like Zhang's idea. Zhang suggested jump roping with many children. Children could pay to play. Even though they would pay only a few cents at a time, the money will pile up. They suddenly decide to do Zhang's idea right now in the JTPC parking lot. The losing team will pay the winning team's money too. Everyone heads outside.
It's a battle between Jun Hyun Moo's team and Yoo Se Yoon's team.
Jun Hyun Moo's team is Hyun Moo, Robin, Guillaume, Sam, Sujan, Alberto and Takuya. Se Yoon's team consists of Se Yoon, Daniel, Sean, Zhang Yuan, Tyler and Sung Si Kyung.
Hyun Moo's team wins the first round. They play again and Hyun Moo's team wins again. The losing team pays all the money, including the winning team's as per the rules.
They head back to the studio. Zhang says that pollution in China was so bad that people couldn't see the sky. However, people took measures to improve the environment so it's a lot better now. Nepal says that Mount Everest is so different now than it was two years ago. Now, there's little snow and lots of garbage on the mountain so it's very dirty. Tyler introduces the Meatless Monday campaign in America where families don't eat meat every Monday. One day of not eating meat equals five days of not using a car. Daniel says that there is a campaign in Germany for not using cars. Alberto says that the campaign also happens in Italy and the cities have become much cleaner since.
Sean says that people are used to living comfortably so the Earth became dirty. If people can give up some comfort for the sake of the Earth, then the Earth can be saved.
The MC's bring up the movie Interstellar and the idea that Earth cannot become livable in the future. They ask: Will Earth be unlivable in the future due to pollution or something else?
Takuya thinks that a really deadly virus or bacteria will make Earth unlivable, not pollution. However, others disagree. Alberto believes that people need to make an effort to change how they live for Earth. Julian says it will be very difficult to change our way of life, but we can start from something little like not eating meat on Mondays. The little things will add up and turn into something big.
The final vote is taken: no one thinks Sean is abnormal. Guillaume says that since Sean looks so happy to volunteer, no one can say anything. Everyone applauds Sean.
The episode ends with Jun Hyun Moo's singing of Soyu X Junggigo's "Some." You seem normal, are not normal, are normal.
My Comments:
This was a really good episode in my opinion. It made me think about the way that I'm living and whether I should give up some comfort for the sake of the Earth. I remember that Global Warming and pollution has become an issue a few years back. Green energy such as solar panels increased in usage and many politicians made rules or laws that made cities cleaner. Smoking in public places, for example, is illegal. Recycling was also promoted by countries around the world.
I read a lot of Korean news and I heard that Sean was an angel, but after watching Abnormal Summit, I now know myself that Sean really is an angel. It's really hard to change a way of life because everyone's so used to how things are now. However, it is possible to change little by little so that the little things add up. I always heard that some people thought that the Earth might not be livable in the future, which is why NASA explores Mars as a possible second Earth. I don't know if Earth will eventually become so toxic that humans can't live on it anymore. However, I do know that it is possible to prolong that future and make a cleaner environment for everyone.
What are your thoughts? Do you have any New Years' Resolutions? Do you think that Earth will become unlivable one day?
