She doesn’t seem to have explained why she likes it. It’s pretty hard to understand why someone would like scraping by (one set of bedding!) when they don’t have to.

I can understand not wanting to take action because you like things the way they are. But things change around you even if you don’t want to change.

@beffels Personally I could never live the way she does. (Also, everyone knows that your stuff will last much longer if you alternate between at least two sets!) But I don't think she needs to explain why she likes her lifestyle or why she dislikes 9-to-5 jobs. What's important is that she is truly happy as she is, as she told KJ (and has apparently told him before). And though her lifestyle is precarious in some ways (e.g. what will happen if she has a serious illness?), in other ways it seems kind of compatible with a rapidly changing society. IMO RY is better at dealing with change than a lot of people. She takes the fluctuating job market in her stride, and relies on the kindness of various friends when her grandmother is hospitalised. Her mother seems to have left her and her granny to shift for themselves in Korea, but she has no problem flying all the way to the UK to visit her. One thing is for sure: she's certainly more dynamic than her two friends.

@knewbie I mean I guess she doesn’t owe anybody an explanation, but if you’re with someone for a long time and you don’t feel like sharing that it’s not a good sign. Along with if you don’t ever want to get married but you’re not willing to say that to them...I don’t know, I find it irritating 😅

I have a family member who along with her husband moves about from job to job and place to place, they’re so careful of accumulating ‘stuff’ that she only has one pen at a time, which I find mind boggling....I could never live the way they do but it works for them, so all power to them - but they’re both on the same page which is the important thing.

@beffels Re: RY and marriage. I dunno. In less enlightened situations, there's no guarantee that one's boyfriend would eventually pop the question, so if he has been silent on the topic for 5 years one might perhaps be forgiven for tiptoeing around it too, in case he is (or claims to be ) repelled by your neediness. (I suspect something similar happened to Eun-oh.)

More recently, the belief that romantic commitment doesn't have to involve marriage has become more and more common, even in a relatively conservative country like Korea. In such a climate, one might plausibly attribute the same belief to a boyfriend who has never mentioned marriage in half a decade.

My point is: whoever RY really is and whatever her faults, IMO she's not obliged to share her views on marriage if KJ doesn't ask. The same goes for KJ.

Tbh I don't particularly like either character. But I can't see why RY has to be the one to speak up when it is actually KJ who wants things to change. If after 5 years he still can't change her or accept her for who she is, then he should just say so, and end the relationship.

@beffels ONE PEN!?!?

knewbie: the belief that romantic commitment doesn't have to involve marriage has become more and more common"

Some social scientists and economists think that this is driven by worsening job quality. People without education performing menial jobs cannot afford to marry and have a family, although they may cohabit and have children out of wedlock. On the surface it may seem like a choice but it is really an almost inborn reaction to income instability and economic uncertainty. Contract/gig employment is also justified by this supposed freedom to work when one wants as much as one wants.

Why would Rin-yi adopt this life style and build her identity around it is unclear.

@knewbie I know, right? I thought she was joking but....she was not joking. I understand minimalism is a thing but that’s too much for me.

@nicholas Regarding why RY has chosen this lifestyle, no explicit explanation has been given, as you said, but it's interesting that the only character who needed and wanted a full-time job, Eun-oh, failed resoundingly to find one, and has ended up trying to set up her own business. The characters with stable employment are either working in a family firm or the civil service. Most tellingly, it's the civil service (teaching at elementary school) that KJ suggests as a possible full-time job for RY.

All this suggests to me that EO's efforts in the area of full-time employment, though more conventional, are not much more rewarding than RY's endeavours in the gig economy. At least RY is seen working - in a supermarket, in a cafe, walking dogs, etc. EO is forever at the mercy of companies like the one in Busan or Jae-won's architecture firm (where she only managed to get her foot in the door through personal connections).

@knewbie
"it's the civil service (teaching at elementary school) that KJ suggests as a possible full-time job for RY."

I think he suggested an elementary school teaching job because it is still a professional, stable and respected job, but it does not require high level skills and/or long hours that middle and high school teaching jobs or work in a company demand. Plus, I don't know about S Korea, but in some countries one can get a certificate to teach elementary school without having a college degree. My understanding is that RY does not have an undergraduate degree.

But I understand what you are suggesting in " The characters with stable employment are either working in a family firm or the civil service." And it goes together with worsening labor conditions around the world (except maybe for China and related fast growing economies). Working in a family business is not a new phenomenon -- in most cultures (except maybe the Anglo-American culture in which parents often prefer to pass on to their children money, i.e., capital, rather than skills or a company) if there is a family business, parents usually want this business to continue (rather than selling it) and their children to take over. And it is in itself not a bad thing, what is bad is the lack of opportunities and proper employment for those without family business or connections.

Geon in essence leveraged RY social connections to get Eun-oh a job, but two things: a) Eun-oh has a degree and some experience (even if unsuccessful) that RY lacks and b) Eun-oh was probably motivated to do a good job by Jae-won being around.

The story about RY's mother and why she returned from London (which is apparently not to console Jae-won as everyone assumed; just like I don't think Geon moved in to keep the flat warm) suggests at some effort on the part of RY to prove something to someone, like her mother. And this endeavor is obviously more important to her than her relationship with KJ.

@knewbie
"All this suggests to me that EO's efforts in the area of full-time employment ... are not much more rewarding than RY's endeavours in the gig economy. ... EO is forever at the mercy of companies"

Here's my take on this, and I understand that everyone is different. Between high school and college and in early years in college, I had to (not wanted to) do gig work. I did seasonal work for a season. It was a landscaping and plant nursery retailer: you get hired in March part time, become full time April-May, back to part time in August-Sep, laid off Oct, go on unemployment benefits for the winter until you get rehired in March next year. There are people who do this for a living. I also did dishwashing, flyer delivery, car sales, contract interpreter, bingo night service at a church, etc. Some of the jobs were no longer than a month or two, either because something happened (the restaurant had a fire and closed, I could not sell enough cars in a month) or you are no longer needed. Two obvious things: a) there is no way to have a career, build on your skills and get better pay, because there is no continuity in your jobs and because the gig employer will rather fire you than pay you more (and then rehire you as if you were a new employee) -- when you focus on the same set of skills (like Eun-oh on marketing), there is at least hope that you will get better and eventually get there and have a career, not so in a gig economy ; b) I get how people are at "the mercy of companies" in big companies - this is even worse in gig employment - you are at the mercy of the company and everything else (e.g., accidental fire), there are no benefits, severance pay, layoff notification, nothing; c) gig employment is high-stress survival through and through, and it takes a toll on your body and mind; people in menial jobs have much worse health and live shorter lives.

I think that gig employment is bad not only for the people engaged into it but also for the society as a whole. Proliferation of gig employment signifies impoverishment and generational breakdown of societies. There is really no reason for part-time gig employment to exist to a large extent. Western societies love references to ancient Greek or Roman sources. So, to support this point, I will make a reference to the Laws of Solon in Athens from the 6th century BC (see Leao and Rhodes). One of the laws of Solon was that the father must teach his children skills or a craft, and when he fails to teach this to his children, then his children do not have to take care of him in his old age (there was a law that children must take care of their parents). The reason this law was enacted is because Solon and the ancients recognized that skills and crafts provide for wealth and prosperity. After the ancient Greek, I always say: "Skillfulness = godhoodness".

So, whatever happened to RY, eventually she needs to recognize these 'realities' of life.

@nicholas I don't teach at elementary school, but I assure you that it requires as much skill, effort and time as teaching at other levels. KJ even states that he'd pay for RY to go to education college to get the teaching qualification, so it's clearly not an easy ride. If KJ had suggested elementary school teaching cos he thought it was easier, then he clearly doesn't think much of his girlfriend. But actually I got the impression that he was just casting about for something that he thought might suit her preferences, in this case her fondness for children.

I don't think KJ is more or less important to RY than her lifestyle. In the first place, there is no way RY could even suspect that KJ is unhappy with her life choices, since he has always framed his objections as concern for HER happiness. Rather than believing her when she says she's perfectly content, KJ constructs elaborate falsehoods, ostensibly to alleviate her hardships, but - since she clearly doesn't regard them as hardships - actually just to make himself feel better. Enough of all the posing as the supportive, accepting boyfriend; KJ needs to tell RY that her lifestyle is making HIM (not her) unhappy. Only then can the two of them come to a compromise (or just split up).

@nicholas I just realised that my earlier comment might give the impression that I’m addressing the relative merits of various forms of employment, and defending the gig economy. You’re preaching to the converted; actually I believe that the gig economy is one of the worst manifestations of capitalism, and none of its so-called "advantages" makes up for its privileging of profit over people. All I was saying was that the difference between full-time jobs and part-time gigs is narrowing (and it’s a development that I deplore). With no daddy’s company to fall back on or the civil service to prop her up for life, Eun-oh’s position is not much more stable than Rin-yi’s.

I’m sure almost all young Koreans are aware of this, which means that those who decide that full-time employment is not worth the struggle may not be as thoughtless or reckless as they appear to be. In any case, alternative lifestyles are hardly a recent phenomenon. People who prefer to drift from job to job have existed for centuries, and if they believe their way of life is best for them, and they hurt no one in the process, then I don't think anyone has the right to judge them for it. Why do we assume that RY is unrealistic or ignorant just because she has taken a different, difficult path? How do we know she hasn't carefully weighed the pros and cons, and concluded that the pros outweigh the cons? Also, what counts as pros and cons is different for different people. Like the protagonist of Murata Sayaka's novel Convenience Store Woman, RY knows exactly what she wants from life, and neither I nor KJ should presume to know better than her.

@knewbie
Elementary school -- arithmetic, alphabet, some art, child development and psychology (aka being good with kids), work ends when children go home, no weekend work;
High school -- algebra, pre-calculus or calculus (depending on curriculum rigor), grammar and style, textual analysis and world lit, specific subjects, extensive lesson prep, testing and grading, commanding respect of 12-18 year olds (and even older depending on country);
Private sector - pressure, stress, nasty bosses, deadlines, giving presentations and writing proposals, endless meetings and emails, zooms, technical research, a stream of data in -- decision-making out, long hours
I don't know - seems to me like the skillsets are different.

"If KJ had suggested elementary school teaching cos he thought it was easier, then he clearly doesn't think much of his girlfriend."

I would use the word 'fit'. RY would be a good fit to teach elementary.

I don't think people like their romantic interests because of academic performance or high intellectual ability or promising earning potential. People like their romantic partners because they like them. This, however, should not prevent them from realizing that their boy/girlfriend is completely useless in math, can't work in a high pressure company or lacks high income earning potential. No one is perfect.

One can impose conscious limitations on the dating partner: like being of the same socioeconomic status, religion, ethnicity, high earning potential, a graduate of an Ivy League school, a member of Mensa society, etc. But this would not be romantic love, so no point in discussing it here.

" KJ needs to tell RY that her lifestyle is making HIM (not her) unhappy."

Yep, I agree on this. When couples first pair up, it may not be clear to each other their life approaches, but at some point they need to discuss how they will live together and what matters in life to them. But in real world, talking is hard to do, not everyone can communicate openly and well, not everyone can articulate clearly their position (talking about cognitive processes). People are some time unsure where they stand on issues: is it worth losing a long-term partner over a life style thing, may be the partner changes his or her mind? -- these are all hard decisions to make. Even RY could change her mind, a couple of painful injuries lifting heavy boxes in a store may clear her mind.

"All I was saying was that the difference between full-time jobs and part-time gigs is narrowing (and it’s a development that I deplore)."
One needs to keep in mind that these trends rarely go on forever in a straight line. RY is ~30, that is she has another 30-35 years of work. I full expect this trend to stop and may be even reverse even in the West one way or another. This is a political economy issue outside of the scope of this discussion. People have short but also long lives, what is true today may not be true tomorrow.

"Eun-oh’s...

@knewbie

"Eun-oh’s position is not much more stable than Rin-yi’s."
Yes, at the moment, but Eun-oh's job is physically less demanding and intellectually more stimulating. In the last episode, she was walking around with her walky-talky giving orders, listening to music... totally not like being a cashier.

@knewbie
In the last episodes, the KJ and RY issues moved from being between them to being between them and the outside world. Seems to me KJ himself may not care what jobs RY does and how she lives (except may be to the extent that she should be available to him for 'romantic' get together), but he seems to want her to add to his missing self-esteem and win approval of his parents. That's why he lied to his uncle about what RY does. In other words, he is "ashamed" to take her to his parents in her present state.

@nicholas No that is not all there is to elementary school. Why do you assume that children are easier to manage than teens and adults? And speaking as someone who has taught at elementary school in the past and who has friends who are still doing so in various countries (including Korea), l can state for a fact that elementary school education involves all the things you mentioned for the private sector. Yes, including research. For example, how language or maths should be taught at elementary school level is a very tricky issue, requiring a great deal of thought and technical expertise. And though school hours might be short, actual work hours (planning lessons, marking work, dealing with some pupils' personal issues, etc) are incredibly long, stretching into the evenings and over weekends.

I was actually quite shocked that KJ had taken his lying so far. I think you're right that he's ashamed of RY.

@knewbie
"elementary school education involves all the things you mentioned for the private sector."
I have hard time seeing how working for a private company is similar to teaching in an elementary school. I have attended an elementary school and been around people with kids talking about elementary schools. I can't see how those are similar. Sorry.

"Yes, including research. how language or maths should be taught at elementary school level is a very tricky issue"

Yes, but, these issues are not decided on the level of elementary school teachers. Highly qualified educators in a department of education, or a school district, or some educational program decide this (except in the US, where the educational system is a hodgepodge of patch-works). Singapore Ministry of Education, for example, publishes text books, work books and teacher manuals for elementary schools. Lesson plans, tests, explanations -- everything is in the teacher's manual. For someone with a college education - it's like nothing. There is a company that translates these books into English and sell them around the world -- Singapore Math -- look it up, super popular, very good to teach math to kids, I would highly recommend. Singapore Math sells math and science teaching packages through middle school.

@nicholas I’m glad you mentioned Singapore, because I have some knowledge of its education system. Primary school teaching may be different in nature from a private sector job, but it does not lack the latter’s challenges. I’m certain that many primary school teachers would agree that their jobs involve “pressure, stress, nasty bosses, deadlines, giving presentations and writing proposals, endless meetings and emails, zooms, technical research, a stream of data in -- decision-making out, long hours”. (The Zoom thing only started last year, of course.) They don’t write the kind of proposals that you have in mind, but they do have to write reports to do with, say, risk assessment of proposed activities or problematic pupils. They have to deal with a neverending stream of new information about 100 or more pupils and how they are doing academically and personally; extracurricular activities; new initiatives; pupils’ parents; etc. They have to make decisions about how to process and apply that information. And frequent and interminable meetings are a downright plague in Singapore schools.

It is true that the curriculum planning division of Singapore’s education ministry provides lesson plans, pedagogical guidelines, work books, etc. But if they were genuinely useful, the country would not have such a thriving private tuition industry. It’s one thing to have a lesson plan or work book or teaching package, but quite another thing to use it properly. Many schools (as well as university-educated teachers) struggle to apply the recommended pedagogies effectively, especially as the materials provided by the curriculum planners are not always aligned with the Primary School Leaving Examinations. Teachers preparing students for the exams – or interested in actually educating them – almost always feel the need to supplement the ministry’s methods and materials, sometimes quite extensively. Little wonder that many teachers have left the civil service for the private tuition sector, where – relieved of their other duties - they can analyse the requirements of the PSLE at their leisure.

@knewbie
"about 100 or more pupils"
Class sizes in the primary school in Korea are smaller than that, and I hear they are shrinking to 20-30 students. One teacher teaches one class - 20-30 students -- piece of cake.

"problematic pupils"
Seoul is not inner city New York or 20th arrondissement of Paris.

"they were genuinely useful, the country would not have such a thriving private tuition industry."
That's because parents with plentiful resources want to give their children an edge vs the rest of student body. This will always be this way no matter how good the general educational system is. I think the Singapore educational ministry publishes additional educational resources for tutoring and those who want extra training. I am pretty sure there are issues in Singapore and Korean primary schools, but things are not that bad.

@nicholas Of course class sizes are smaller than 100, but most primary school teachers in big cities end up teaching at least 4 classes of around 20-30 students. That makes 80-120 students in total. Even if you're fortunate enough to get 100 pupils of uniform ability, you'd still have to keep track of what each student's strengths and weaknesses are, whether they are getting along with their classmates, etc.

I have no idea what it's like in inner city New York etc, but many teachers in Asia tell me that behavioural problems among children have increased significantly in the last 2 decades, owing to factors such as higher divorce rates, economic insecurity and the pressures of social media. Anyway, if you have just 2-3 problematic pupils among 80, you still need to write reports on them. And teaching involves a lot more admin work (report writing, form filling, etc) than many people are aware of. Just ask any teacher in Singapore.

Singaporean parents and other Asian parents have often been criticised as "tiger" parents. But although many engage private tutors to give their children "an edge", as you say, many others just want their children to survive the system. That the Singapore ministry has found it necessary to respond to the private tuition phenomenon by providing additional resources (most of them online) just goes to show that it is a real problem. Why would an already adequate system require bolstering? As a matter of fact I was indirectly involved in this initiative, and I heard many curriculum planning officers privately commenting that it was piecemeal and superficial, completely unable to address deeply entrenched issues. E.g. face-to-face teaching and especially private tuition allow a student's specific problems to be spotted and resolved much more quickly and directly than any quantity of resources.

A few years ago I spoke to an elementary school teacher who had moved from Seoul to a rural area in Jeollanam-do. Her account of her experience in Seoul sounded very similar to that of Singapore teachers. In Jeollanam-do things are better owing to the smaller number of students (smaller class sizes being a very simple solution that the Singapore ministry has fluffed by simultaneously reducing the number of teachers). But even so, challenges like a disproportionately heavy admin workload and curriculum inadequacies remained.

@nicholas I should add that the student to teacher ratio might be around 30:1, but each teacher would still have to teach their subject to around 80-100 students, mark the corresponding amount of work at least once a week, conduct lessons for at least 4 separate groups of students at least once every two days, and so on.

@knewbie
"each teacher would still have to teach their subject to around 80-100 students"

I went to an elementary school where the same teacher taught all subjects (which would be basic things) throughout the day to a class of ~30 students. I think this is the same in primary schools in Korea, may be I am wrong.

"behavioural problems among children have increased significantly in the last 2 decades, owing to factors such as higher divorce rates, economic insecurity and the pressures of social media"

Right -- cut throat competition in the private sector creates economic insecurity and dysfunction in the family that then percolate into schools in the form of developmental and personality disorders among students. Parents worry that their children will become gig employees and seek to give the kids an edge over other kids even if it is a rather futile effort, given that the educational system already teaches very well. Here's my prediction, soon these parents will figure out that the more efficient way to go is to undermine the education of other kids than to give their own kids an edge. This will take place in the form of separation of the education system in two tiers: the public/free schools with poor training and private/expensive schools with relatively adequate training.

@ nicholas I went to an elementary school where I had different teachers for almost all subjects, except English and Maths in the first two years. In any case, some elementary schools, especially in rural areas, would probably have far fewer students. In Singapore, primary school teachers have recently started to teach fewer subjects and more classes. Those who teach subjects like the so-called “mother tongue” have always had more than one class of students.

I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about re: personality disorders and the separation of the education system. I was referring to something that is a genuine problem for schools and teachers – the fact that there are more elementary school students these days who come from broken homes, are abused or neglected, require financial help, are bullies or bullied, suffer from mental health issues, get into trouble with the police, etc.

Your own experience was painful but it was also a healthy one. You were very wise in how you handled the situation and you grew from it.

Your observation that Eun-oh really has not been growing is spot on. Sadly, she started to grow on Jejudo- and particularly with Jae-won but then decided to throw that growth away out of sheer insecurity and fear. That is what I find infuriating- first she grew and was headed towards a very happy life and then she went backwards. And that is just crazy.

It is true that going forward would have meant a moment of embarrassment. As we have seen, Jae-won could have handled the reveal and her friends would have been there for her and probably would have been happy for her. And she would have been able to move forward with even greater confidence in Jae-won's love- and with that an increased awareness of her own value.

I think it is also her "friends" who are keeping her from exploring more. On the surface, the friendship (from kindergarten!) of these individuals looks admirable, but there are these little things that make it feel creepy. In the apology, Eun Oh said that she did not want them to know what happened and she pretended like nothing happened. But pretending like nothing happened is essentially going back to the way things were. Seems that you mother played a huge role encouraging you to self-explore. Eun Oh just does not have that type of support. Now I am oscillating between considering her to be just a "horrible" person and thinking that maybe it is her so-called friends who make her to be this way. I express this view in some previous post, if she could shake off the friends, she could be happier. And it maybe that on some level she realizes that the choice is between her hapless friends and successful Jae-won.

She is passive aggressive, she knows what she is doing. The annoying thing is that she is not breaking up with Jae-won (she did not say 'take care' when they exchanged things), she will torment him at his company. In real life, he would eventually need to get a restraining order from a person like that...

How would Rin-yi and Geon provide for themselves? Geon is a free-lance writer who doesn't seem very motivated to actually write. Rin-yi acts like a drifter with little motivation to do much of anything else. They'd live on ramyeon for the rest of their lives.

Maybe Rin-yi not wanting to marry Kyun-joo and not getting a proper job is her passive aggressive way of getting rid of him. Their romance was not romantic, it was the opposite of it, he really hounded her into 'submission' (if you will), which tells us something about his level of self-esteem. And he is clearly a second fiddle to Jae-won in the company, even though both are architects.

The writer owes us an explanation as to why Rin-yi picks on Geon.

It also feels like Geon is in the story to be the opposite of Jae-won in terms willpower, perseverance and getting the girls of his dreams. While Jae-won is willful and proactive and is all out to get the girl who he likes, Geon is listless and passive. I think that Sun-young came back to Geon to have a take 2 of the break-up expecting a different outcome. She told him that the first time they broke-up, she did not really want to break up, she wanted that he a) told her that he did not like the two other girls and b) tried to stop her from breaking with him. In take 2, he did a) but not b), and she left. Watch in the final episode, they have take 3, where he does a) and b). Getting emotion from Geon is like pulling teeth...

I guess our divergent perceptions of Geon affects how we view him with regards to this issue, since it hasn't been explicitly addressed in the drama.

Since I see him as a good friend to Eun-oh, I always assumed he was doing 50-50 on rent and utilities. It's common for writers to work on one book for years, so doing freelance writing/copywriting or getting an advance from the publisher helps to pay the bills. Of course if one sees Geon as a passive slacker, then the assumption that he's freeloading off Eun-oh is a plausible alternative.

At the start of ep6 Geon says he is renting the room in Eun-oh's flat so EO has probably sublet the space to him.