Why?

The 'supermarket' that I shop at is just a minute or so away from my front door to the front of the shop.  I have written about this place before but I question it's existence sometimes but mostly those that work within.  The shop itself is much, much, much smaller than supermarket anybody in the UK or the US would shop at.  This place has a selection of things, yet it is almost like an illusion.  There seems to be a variety of things on things that nobody in their right mind would want or stuff that kids crave.  As for the rest of the food, the studd I use to make meals, there is little choice and that often causes me to wander around the shop for a while attempting to come up with a meal that may be a bit different.

Now, that's just the shop itself, but it is the staff and their habits that I do not understand.  The people that work at this shop, are for the most part in their middle ages, they will likely do this job for the rest of their life or until they retire.  They work as shelf stockers and cashiers, there is also a baker and his wife who work at this shop, a great couple.  There is also, however a young woman, just shortly out of school, she is fairly good looking and by all accounts she did fairly well at school, yet she works at this shop.  Now I am not trying to make a dig at their jobs, not at all.  It is rather their work hours, I do not know what they account to.  But the shop is open from 9am to 11pm every day and from what I can tell the staff work different shifts, but it would appear that they work every day. Plus the shop never seems to have an off day.  I am well aware that most places are open every day, but occasionally places will close for the major holidays.  Today was a major holiday: Chuseok.  I am told that most everywhere was closed in the big cities today, but even today the 'supermarket' was open and most people were working.  Now I can see that most of the people that work there will work for the rest of their lives in the Korean manner of work until you drop.  But I think it is the young girl that confuses me the most.  I had thought that perhaps she was saving up to make a step into something else.  However I am told that this does not realy happen in Korea.

If you do well in school you go to University, if you don't then you get a low paid job.  Plus vocational professions are not viewed highly and people in such professions are apparently not paid well and they lack security in their jobs.  Therefore I guess the young woman may stay in Tongdosa for the rest of her life, or else she will marry and then move away.  I would ask her...perhaps, if I could.  But without one another's language I guess I shall just be left wondering.

I guess it is just the way of things here.  From my observations and what I have learnt once you are done with high school you have one of three options, the company, university or a minimum wage job.  The last option is unlikely to lead you anywhere in this country, it would look like unless you work in a big place it is unlikely that a promotion will ever be in order.  If you take university you will have many more options at the end.  As for the company route, you either enter at the bottom or you go in at the management route.  The differnece with this route is that advancement appears to be possible within the companies.

Well I am certain that I do not understand the proper subtleties of the Korean work place.  Maybe I'll gain more of an insight of it in the next three months or, maybe not.  But either way it is just something that both interests me and also causes me to feel sympathy for those that will be stuck in jobs with no way to advance or move on.  Well that's it for now.  Perhaps more of my thoughts will spew out in the next couple of days while I have a little time off, especially since I am unable to get these thoughts out when I am at work now that my blogging site is banned by gyungnam province education board... weird.