Cozmopolitan Sunkyoung

One of the weekend amusements I had in Brussels was reading “Le Monde 2″ and New York Times, both weekend supplements to the French daily newspaper, which my landlord bought everyday. To be frank, with the former, I can’t really I say I ‘read’ it but, at least, I tried to read it. Of articles or sections in the magazine, the ones that retained my attention, despite a shallow attempt, for longer than others were mostly articles about photography, articles featuring eye-catching photographs, sudoku and book section. For the last two, I think I spend quite some time with any kind of journalistic products.

Of all those ordinary weekends when I pursued the pleasure of reading, I remember, if I’m not wrong, a picture of a dark-haired guy standing or sitting on the stairs against the red-brick wall — a typical architecture scene in New York City, based on my very limited sources. He was introduced as the author of several books and one of the book titles immediately widened my eyes — Netherlands. Indeed, the article revealed that the author was raised primarily in the Netherlands. But another fact made the book irresistible: he was born in Ireland. What could be the better combination of an author’s geographical background to spark my interest than this? I had to read this book.

Although in the book itself there was no Irish setting at all — except short mentioning of the narrator’s dentist’s ‘salmon-catching vacations in Ireland’, I had tremendous joy of recalling my fond memories of the Netherlands as Hans van den Broek, the novel’s first-person narrator as well as one of the protagonists, looked back on the fragmented memories of his childhood in Den Haag, the Netherlands: typical Dutch names like the main character’s, street names ending with ‘-straat’ and ‘-laan’, and some other Dutch words and phrases. Among them, one particular word led me to recall my very personal experience: ijssalon (ice cream shop). In a small town in Limburg, the most southern province of the Netherlands, which is one of my Dutch friends’ hometown, there was a small ijssalon just out of the central market plaza. I think I was taken there only once (or twice, at most), favourably offered by my friend’s mother, together with my friend and her partner. I don’t remember which flavour I had — probably, either strawberry or mango, but do remember that I was as much excited and pleased as the little children at the shop, sticking themselves to the glass storage, and that it was one of the happy memories of that summer in the Netherlands. Thinking that perhaps I will never again have a chance (or reason) to go to that ice cream shop, I felt sad. However, even if I do revisit the shop, it will never be the same — I will never feel the same excitement and happiness I had five years ago. A piece of memory completely cropped from certain time and space, and certain circumstances and relationships cannot reproduce the same experience. Hence, there is no point of remaining sorrowful about the only-once-happened-and-will-never-happen-again thing: the more important thing is that you have that memory.

Some other parts of the book that I found amusing or would like to keep here is as follows (pages as marked in a US version of hardcover published by Pantheon Books):

p. 108. [...] and while I changed, Danielle wandered around my apartment, as was her privilege: people in New York are authorized by convention to snoop around and mentally measure and pass comment on any real estate they’re invited to step into.

p. 109. Like an old door, every man past a certain age comes with historical warps and creaks of one kind or another, and a woman who wishes to put him to serious further use must expect to do a certain amount of sanding and planing. But of course not every woman is interested in this sort of refurbishment project, just as not every man has only one thing on this mind.

p. 118. For my comings and goings were frightening mysteries to my three-year-old son. My arrival, however closely anticipated, startled him; and from our first moment together he would be filled with a dread of my departure, which he could not comprehend or situate in time. He feared that any minute I might be gone; and always the thing he most feared would come to pass.

The two quotes below are not directly related to my own amusement found in the book but more to the items of an interesting list elaborated by Christian Lander in his blog, Stuff White People Like, as well as in his same-titled book. I’m thinking of sending him these quotes as cultural references.

p. 178. [...] of the Manhattanish importance lately attached to coffee and sushi and farmers’ markets, [...]

p. 188. I brushed Jake’s teeth with his dinosaur-themed toothbrush. I read him a story—at his insistence, Where the Wild Things Are, even though it frightened him a little, this story of a boy whose bedroom is overtaken by a forest—and calibrated his bedroom’s dimmer switch according to his instructions.

p.192. He nattered about his salmon-catching vacations in Ireland, which by coincidence had been precisely the pastime of my Dutch former dentist and led me to wonder if there was a connection between angling and tinkering with teeth. Certainly he seemed as happy as a fisher, this New York practitioner, and why not? One of the great consolation of work must be its abbreviation of the world’s area, and it follows that it must be especially consoling to have one’s field of vision reduced to the space of a mouth.

p. 206. Now Chuck was driving us through Brooklyn. I heard myself tell him, “My wife is seeing another guy.”
He showed no surprise, even though it was the first time I’d raised directly the subject of my marriage. After a moment, he said, “what do you want to do about it?”
“What can I do?” I said hopelessly.
He gave his head a categorical shake. “Not can do: first figure out what you want to do. It’s Project Management 101: establish objectives, then establish means of achieving objectives.” He glanced at me. “Do you want her back?”
I said, “Let’s say I do.”
“OK,” he said. “Then you should go back to London. Right away. It’s a no-brainer.”
I thought, No-brainer? What would happen in London? A seduction with flowers? A ravishment? Then what?
“Otherwise,” Chuck, growing emphatic, said, “you’re in danger of having regrets. My bottom line is, no regrets.”

Last weekend, a friend of mine, Inky (Ingrid) visited me from the Hague in the Netherlands. We met each other back in the summer 2004 right before she went to Korea as an exchange student in Business Administration Dept. at Yonsei University. We have been in contact each other since, but it was in Maastricht in September 2005 when we saw the last time. So, it was such a great reunion that we couldn’t wait for it.
헤이그에 살고 있는 잉그리드가 지난 주말에 놀러왔었다. 우리가 처음 만난 건 2004년 여름, 잉그리드가 연세 상경대의 교환 학생으로 가기 직전이었다. 그 후로 계속 연락을 해왔지만 마지막으로 본 건 2005년 9월 마스트리히트에서였다. 그래서 이 번에 다시 보게 되는 걸 둘 다 손꼽아 기다리고 있었다.
 
On Friday night when she arrived, there was ‘Wine & Cheese Party’ by the Stage Liaison Committee, so we were there. When we take a picture together, she always lowers her height being considerate of me. But this time she got even shorter than me.
잉그리드가 도착한 금요일 밤에 Stage Liaison Committee가 주최한 ‘와인과 치즈 파티’가 있어서 그 곳으로 향했다. 우리 둘이서 사진을 찍을 때면 그녀는 늘 나를 배려하여 키를 낮춘다. 하지만 이번에는 나보다 오히려 작아져 버렸다.
    
오른쪽 사진에서 (보다 큰 사이즈를 위해 클릭 추천) 잉그리드와 나의 윗 입술 모양을 보면 동양인과 서양인의 다른 구강 구조를 발견할 수 있다. 지혜의 동료가 인사 코칭 강의 때 한 이야기라고 하는데, (내 기억이 맞다면) 입 꼬리의 위치가 동양인의 경우 서양인 보다 아래에 있다고 한다. 따라서 같은 지름의 입 크기를 가졌다 하더라도 웃을 때는 서양인의 입꼬리가 더 높이 올라가기 때문에 상대적으로 더 크게 웃는 것처럼 보인다고 한다. 같은 이치로, 입술을 다물게 되면 동양인의 입꼬리는 다소 아래를 향해 있기 때문에 화가 났거나 기분이 안 좋은 것으로 오해를 받기가 쉽다고 한다. (그 강의의 요지는 입 꼬리를 올리는 연습을 통해 표정 관리를 하라는 것이었다. 지혜야, 틀리다면 알려다오.)
Looking at the shapes of me and Inky’s lips in the photo on the right side (click to enlarge recommended), you can find the difference in oral shapes of the Eastern and Western. This is what Jihye’s colleague said in a lecture for human resources coaching, and if I remember correctly, the position of the corners of the Easterner’s lips is lower than the Westerner’s. Therefore, though two people from bothsides have the same width of mouths, when they smile, the Western people’s corners of lips move up higher and they look like giving a bigger smile. In the same reason, closing their mouths, the Eastern people’s corners of lips rather go lower than the counterparts’ and thus they are often misunderstood as if they are angry or in a bad mood. (The theme of the lecture was to manage one’s expression through practice to lift the corners of their lips. Jihye, please correct if I am wrong.)

11월 초까지 전시되는 그랑플라스 뤼미나리. Luminary in Grand Place, displayed until early November.

    
바가지 요금 때문에 그랑 플라스에 있는 식당이나 술집에는 되도록이면 가지 말라고 여행책에 씌어 있으나, 그러면서도 가게 되는 게 여행자들의 수순인 것 같다. 잉그리드는 와인보다 맥주를, 그 중에서도 다소 쓴 맛이 나는 triple 맥주를 좋아한다. 나는 특이한 잔에 따라주는 Kwak을 마셨다.
Because of over-price in Grand Place, every tourist book warns not to try the restaurants and bars in the area. Nevertheless, it seems tourists are destined to follow the most touristic places. Ingrid likes beer better than wine, especially triple beer which is a bit bitter. I drank ‘Kwak’ which was served in its own unique glass.

    
일요일에는 잉그리드가 아름다운 건물로 기억하고 있는 벨기에 만화 센터에 갔다. 마침, 어렸을 때 좋아했던 만화 중 하나인 스머프의 특별 전시가 열리고 있었다. 모자를 벗은 스머프를 본 적이 있는가?
On Sunday, we went to the Belgian Centre for Comic Strip, which Inky remembered was a really beautiful building. Luckily, there was a special exhibition of the Smurfs. Have you ever seen a smurf who took off his hat?

    
2005년 가을 마스트리히트에 갔을 때는 네덜란드 산 미피의 탄생 50주년이었는데 올해에는 스머프가 50주년을 맞이하는 해이다. 이 두 캐릭터는 모두 본명과 영문명이 따로 있다. 미피의 본명은 ‘Nijntje (작은 토끼)’이고 스머프의 본명은 ‘Les Schtroumpfs’다.
When I visited Maastricht in the autumn 2005, it was Miffy’s 50th anniversary who was born in the Netherlands. This year it is the Smurfs that celebrate their 50th anniversary. Both of these characters have different names in their own languages and English: Miffy – Nijntje in Dutch, meaning ‘little rabbit’; The Smurfs – Les Schtroumpfs in French.

나를 위해 준비한 선물로 잉그리는 완벽한 선택을 했다. 바로 네덜란드 스윗츠! 네덜란드는 자신들만의 군것질거리에 굉장한 자부심을 갖고 있다. 나는 처음에는 호기심으로 접근했다가 결국 왕팬이 되어버렸다. (아랫줄 왼쪽부터 시계반대방향으로 시작)
As the presents for me, Inky made the best choice – Dutch sweets! Dutch people are so proud of their own sweets and snacks. In the beginning I approached with curiosity and later I became a big fan of Dutch sweets. (From the left on the lower line, anticlockwise)

Karamelstroopwafels met roomboterstroop: 얇고 바삭바삭한 와플인 이 과자는 잉그리 말에 따르면 카라멜이 첨가 되어 더 맛있다고 한다. 음… 사실이다. 벌써 반이나 먹었다.
This thin and crispy biscuit is, according to Inky, more delicious than normal roomboterstrops because of addition of karamel. Hmm… she’s right. I already had the half of it.

Drop: 일명, black candy. 주로 북부 유럽 지방에서 많이 먹는 캔디인데 어두운 색깔과 이상한 맛 때문에 외지 사람들은 꺼리는 캔디 중 하나이다. 마스트리히트에 있을 때 대부분의 한국 사람들은 입에 넣었다가 바로 뱉어버리기 일쑤였다. 나도 처음에는 오만상을 찌푸리며 겨우 먹었는데 어려서부터 늙어 죽을 때까지 먹는 국민 캔디라는 말에 몇 번 시도를 한 끝에 마침내 좋아하게 되었다. 잉그리드가 하는 말이 자기가 마스트리히트에서 만났던 한국 친구들 중에 drop을 좋아하는 이상한 혀를 가진 사람이 한 명 있었던 걸로 기억하는데 그게 파쿠였는지 나였는지 정확하지 않았지만 일단 샀다고 한다.
So-called ‘black candy’. This candy is eaten widely in Nordic countries and, because of its dark colour and strange taste, foreigners normally dislike it. When I was in Maastricht, I saw most of Korean students putting the candy in their mouths but immediately spitting it out. I also had a hard time with the first few tries, but after hearing that every Dutch person eats this candy from when they were very young and until they become old to die, I gave it a serious try and finally became to like it. Inky said she remembered, among Korean friends she made in Maastricht, there was one girl who had a weird taste so liked drop. Though she was not sure if it was Sunjung or me, she bought it anyway.

Chocoladehagel: 이 사진에 있는 모든 단 것이 다 네덜란드 고유의 것이지만 완전 더치스러운 것을 꼽으라면 아마 이 chocoladehagel이 될 것이다. 상자에서 볼 수 있듯이 네덜란드 사람들은 식빵 위에 이 ‘초콜릿 입자’를 뿌려 먹는다. 나의 첫 번째 룸메이트였던 스웨덴에서 온 이다는 마스트리히트에 교환 학생으로 오기 전에 이미 네덜란드에서 잠깐 공부를 했었는데 그 때의 경험을 바탕으로 나에게 초콜릿 입자를 추천해주었다. 그녀의 추천이 체중 증가로 이어진 것은 당연하였다.
All the sweets in this photo are typical Dutch, but as the truly genuine one, I’d pick up chocoladehagel. As seen on the package, Dutch people put these chocolate sprinkles on the bread. My first roommate, Ida from Sweden, had lived in the Netherlands for a short while before her residence in the country as an exchange student. From her previous experience, she suggested me chocoladehagel. Apparently, her suggestion led me to gain weights.

‘S’ – Alphabet chocolate: 나의 영문 이니셜 초콜릿을 준비한 잉그리드의 센스!
Inky also bought an alphabet chocolate for my name’s initial.

Kruidnoten: 네덜란드인들은 그들만의 크리스마스가 있다. 매년 12월 5일에 축하하는 ‘Sinterklaas’가 그들에게는 25일 크리스마스보다 더 큰 행사이다. 이 때 꼭 먹는 과자가 바로 kruidnoten으로, 생강, 계피 등이 첨가된 갈색 과자이다. 왼쪽의 choco kruidnoten은 원래 쿠키에 일반 초콜렛과 화이트 초콜렛을 입힌 것이다.
The Dutch have their own Christmas, ‘Sinterklaas’, which is celebrated on 5 December. To them, it is a bigger and more special event than Christmas on the 25th. And on Sinterklaas they always eat ‘kruidnoten’, brown cookies spiced with ginger, cinnamon and others. Choco kruidnotenon the left is the one coated with normal chocolate and white chocolate.

여러분이 무엇을 걱정하는지 알고 있다. 아는 사람은 알겠지만 나는 초콜렛, 단 것을 그다지 좋아하지 않는다. 아마 나 혼자서 이 과자들을 다 먹게 되지는 않을 것 같다. 그치만, 잉그리드, 정말 고마워!
I know what you are worried about. As some of you know, I don’t like chocolate and sweets much. Probably I won’t finish all the sweets by myself. But, Dank je wel, Inky!