Humans of Seoul

“어제 여길 처음 와봤어요. 이 동네를 쭉 산책하다가 피아노가 한 대 놓여있는 걸 봤죠. 그런데 집에 가서도, 자꾸 피아노 생각이 나는 거야. 그래서 오늘 여길 다시 온거예요. 나를 아는 사람이 없는 곳에서 연주를 한다면 자유로운 기분이 들 것 같았거든.”

“My first time coming here was yesterday. I was just strolling through the neighborhood and saw this piano sitting here. But, you know, even after I got home, I couldn't stop thinking about it. That's why I'm back here today. I figured playing in a place where no one knows me would feel liberating.”

“요즘 아이들은 머리가 좋아요. 우리 손주들 유치원 다닐 적에 초등학교 2-3학년짜리 교과서를 보고 있더라고. ‘너 왜 유치원생이 유치원생 답게 공부를 하지 무슨 초등학교 책이냐’했는데 요즘 애들은 그렇대요. 학교에도 다들 원어민 선생님이 있다더라고. 그렇게 생각하는 게 우리랑 차이가 나요. 아니, 나도 한때 공부를 꽤나 했거든. 그런데 나는 여기 이렇게 서있고 요즘 애들은 이미 저 멀리 앞에 가있어.”

“Kids these days are sharp. By the time my grandkids were in kindergarten, they were studying second and third grade textbooks. I thought kindergarteners should be learning kindergartener stuff, not looking at elementary school books—but kids are all like that nowadays. Schools even all have native English-speaking teachers, too. That’s the difference between my generation and the newer ones. I mean, I did my fair share of studying, too. But if I’m here, these kids are already way over there.”

“요즘 젊은 세대 친구들에게 하고 싶은 말이 있으신가요?” “내가? 나나 잘하면 돼요. 다 알아서 잘해.”

“Is there anything you’d like to say to younger generations?” “Me? No, I'd just concentrate on myself. They figure things out well on their own.”

"저희 아버지는 좀 보수적인 사람이에요. 제가 어릴 때부터 그림을 그리는 걸 좋아했는데, 맨날 집에서만 그림을 그리다, 중학생 때 엄마한테 예고에 가겠다며 학원에 보내달라고 했어요. 같이 학원에서 상담받고 결제까지 했는데, 아빠가 완강하게 반대해서 무산됐어요. 아빠는 제가 번듯한 화이트칼라 직장인이 되기를 원하셨던 것 같아요. 그림을 전공해서 직업이 안정적이기 어려울 거라고 생각하셨니 그랬겠죠. 당시 아빠의 강한 반대로 바로 다음날 학원에 가서 너무 죄송하다고, 전액을 환불받고 돌아온 적이 있었거든요. 10년도 넘은 일인데, 그날 집에 돌아와서 상심했던 기억이 있어요. '이렇게 좋아하는걸 해보기만 하고 싶다고해도 안 되는구나' 하고요. 근데 이것 보세요. 세상이 바뀌고, 그림 잘 그려서 웹툰이나 이모티콘으로 돈도 잘 버는 사람들이 얼마나 많이 생겼어요!"

“My father is somewhat conservative. I’ve loved drawing ever since I was a kid, and I used to draw at home all the time. But when I got to middle school, I asked my mom to enroll me in an art academy with the dream of attending an arts high school. We went in for a consultation and even ended up paying the tuition. But, my dad was so dead set against it that it all fell through in the end. I think he had planned for me to get a decent white-collar job. He probably thought that if I were to be an art major, it would be hard for me to get a stable career. I remember going back to the academy the very next day, apologizing profusely, and getting a full refund, all because of my dad’s staunch opposition. It’s been 10 years since then, but I still remember the heartbreak I felt after coming home that day, thinking, ‘I can’t even pursue this thing that I love so much.’ But look at how the world has changed. Now, there are so many people making good money by drawing webtoons or creating emojis!"

"올해 20살이예요. 저는 화학공학과를 선택해서 오기는했는데, 사실 전공에 대해 잘 모르거든요. 아직 아는 것도 없는데 많은 사람들이 지금부터 진로를 정해야한대요."

“I'm turning 20 this year. I chose to study chemical engineering, but truthfully, I don't know much about my major yet. Even though I still have so much to learn, so many people are saying that I have to decide on a career path right away.”

(왼쪽) “서른 살의 제가 지금의 저를 본다면, 좀 귀여울것 같아요. 너무 서툰 게 많거든요. 옷 취향도 그렇고, 돈 쓰는 것도 귀여운 인형 같은 데에다 쓰고 그렇거든요. '뭐 그런데 돈을 썼나' 라고 생각할 거 같아요. 그런데도 그런데 돈 쓰는 건 멈출 수가 없어요.”

(Left) “I feel like my 30-year-old self is going to look back on the me I am right now fondly. I’m just bumbling along. My style isn’t great, and I’m always spending my money on things like cute figurines. My future self is probably going to wonder why I spent money like this. Still, I can’t stop spending money on these things.”

"저는 상업계 고등학교를 나왔어요. 보통 인문계 고등학교를 다니는 친구들은 집에서 지원받는게 익숙한 아이들이 많은데 상고를 온 친구들 중에는 그렇지 않은 친구들이 꽤 있었어요. 처음엔 알바하는 친구들을 잘 이해하지 못했거든요. 보통 상고에서 열심히 한다하면, 학교 끝나고 야자하고, 컴퓨터 학원같은 델 다니면서 취업을 위한 자격증을 준비해요. 학교 끝나고 알바하러 가는 친구들을 보면서 처음엔 '아르바이트 할 시간에 공부를 하거나 자격증을 따면 더 유리하지 않을까?' 라고 생각했죠. 그런데 어느 날, 월 80만 원 정도 되는 알바비로 온 식구가 생활해야 하는 친구 얘기를 들었어요. 어린 동생 키우는데 드는 돈을 첫째인 친구가 혼자 감당하고 있는 경우도 있다고 했죠. 동생 대학을 위해 자금을 미리 모아두는 친구들도 있었고요. 대부분 본인이 원해서 하는 알바는 아니었어요. 제가 20대 후반인데, 이제야 혼자 생활을 꾸려가면서 그 무게를 실감해요.”

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“I graduated from a commercial high school. People who come from academic high schools are often used to receiving financial support from their families, but there were many students at my school who didn't have that backing. At first, I couldn't understand why some of my friends had part time jobs. Working hard at a commercial high school means doing evening classes and attending computing lessons or the like in order to get a certification that will help with future employment. So at first when I saw friends going off to work after school, I thought, 'Wouldn't you be better off spending that time studying or getting a certificate in something?' But then one day, I heard about a friend who had to support her whole family on a part time wage of around 800,000 won a month. I also heard of cases where the eldest kid had to come up with the money needed to raise their younger siblings all by themselves. And then there were friends saving to send their little brothers and sisters to university. In most cases, having a part time job wasn’t out of choice. I’m now in my late 20s, and finally feeling the weight of having to make a living on your own.”

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"제가 지금 다이어트를 하고 있어요. 식단에서 꼭 지키려고 하는게 마라와 떡볶이를 먹지 않으려고 하는건데, 퇴사 날 마라떡볶이에 맥주를 한잔했어요. 그게 그렇게 꿀맛이더라고요."

“I’m currently on a diet. I’ve been determined to stick to it by not eating any mala tteokbokki, but the day I quit my job, I had mala tteokbokki with a glass of beer. It was incredibly delicious.”

“미국에서 가게를 운영하다가 그 가게를 팔았어. 잔금을 치루는 날 열쇠까지 다음 주인에게 넘기고 나왔지. 집에가서 짐 정리를 하고 있는데 어머 내가 3만 5천달러인가를 가게 서랍에 그냥 두고 온 거야. 그때가 새벽 1~2시 사이였거든.어떡해. 100km로 밟아서 가게까지 달렸어. 내가 과속을 하니까 뒤에 삐용삐용하면서 경찰이 금방 붙더라고. 상향등도 깜빡깜빡 키면서 영화처럼 말이야. 근데 나는 가게에 두고 온 내 돈이 더 급해서 멈출 수가 없었어. 그렇게 쫓기면서도 별의 별 생각이 다 들더라고. 가게에 도착해서 차를 세우니까 경찰이 달려와. “너 지금 몇 마일로 달렸는지 알아?”하면서. 그래서 내가 거의 울먹이면서 말했지. “쏘리, 쏘리. 하지만 내가 가게를 판 돈을 저 안에 그대로 두고 왔어" 나는 솔직히 내 사정 안 봐줄 줄 알았어. 그런데 경찰이 먼저 가게로 들어가더니 새 주인을 데리고 나와서 돈이 어디있는지 확인시켜 주더라고. 무사히 돈을 넘겨 받을 때까지 바로 뒤에서 지켜봐주고 말야. 그리고는 얘기하더라고. ‘너 큰일 날 뻔했네. 이번에 티켓은 안 끊을게. 근데 조심해야 해’ 미국은 속도 제한에 엄격하고 경찰이 강해서 크게 혼날 줄 알았거든. 한 밤의 추격전은 그냥 그렇게 끝났어. 너무 고마웠지. 미국에 살면서 기억에 남는 일 중 하나야.”

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“I sold the shop I was running in the U.S. On the day I finalized the transaction, I handed the keys over to the new owner and left. When I got home and was organizing my belongings, I panicked, realizing I had left about $35,000 in a drawer at the shop before leaving. It was sometime between 1 and 2 in the morning, and I had no idea what to do. I rushed back to the shop at 100km per hour. Since I was speeding, I heard police sirens going off pretty quickly. It felt like a scene from a movie with the police flashing their high beam headlights at me. But I couldn’t stop; the money I had left at the shop meant more to me. Even though I was being chased, I couldn’t think about anything else. I arrived at the shop and parked my car. The police came running up to me, asking me if I knew how fast I was driving. On the verge of tears, I apologized and told them I had left the money I received from selling the shop inside. Honestly, I didn’t expect them to believe my story. But to my surprise, the policemen entered the store first and returned with the new owner, asking them to check where I had left the money. And they stayed behind me until I safely got it back. Then they told me, ‘You could have been in serious trouble. We won’t give you a ticket this time, but you need to be more careful.’ Since speed limits are really strict in the U.S. and the police have such a strong presence, I expected they would have told me off. That’s how the night I was chased by police ended. I was incredibly grateful. That was one of my most memorable experiences I’ve had while living in the U.S.”

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“20년 전에 미국으로 이민을 가서 한국에는 한… 12년만이야. 이제는 한국이 낯서네. 여기 청계광장 찾아오는 것도 어려워서 세 명한테나 길을 물었어.” “잘 가르쳐주시던가요?” “세 명 다 한국말 못하는 외국인이더라고… 나도 모르게 나와 비슷한 사람이 눈에 들어왔나봐.”

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“I moved to the U.S. 20 years ago, and this is my first time back in Korea in like… 12 years. Korea feels so different now. I had such a hard time finding Cheonggye Plaza, I had to stop and ask three different people for directions.” “Did they give you good directions?” “Turns out, all three of them were foreigners who didn't speak Korean… I guess without realizing it, I was drawn to folks who are in the same boat as me.”

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“20년 전에 미국으로 이민을 갔어. 처음엔 틈만 나면 한국에 왔지. 미국이 낯선 만큼 늘 한국에 가고 싶다는 마음이 있었거든. 근데 얼마 안 가서 어머님이 돌아가셨어. 부모님이 안 계시니까 한국에 오고 싶단 생각이 안 들더라고. 이제는 미국 사는 게 낯설지가 않고 그냥 편해. LA공항에 딱 내리면 ‘집에 왔구나’ 하는 생각이 들거든. 나한테 고향이라는 건, 한국이란 나라보다는 엄마라는 사람이었나봐. 내 고향은 우리 엄마였던 거지.”

“I immigrated to the U.S. 20 years ago. At first, I came back to Korea every chance I could. My desire to go to Korea was as strong as the U.S. felt strange to me. But not long after that, my mother passed away. With both my parents gone, the urge to come back just didn’t occur to me. Living in the U.S. isn’t strange to me now. It’s just comfortable. The moment I land in the LA airport, I think, ‘Ah, I’m home.’ I guess that for me, my home wasn’t a country called Korea but rather a person—my mom. She was my hometown.”

“7년 차에 회사를 그만두고 아내와 세계여행을 떠났어요. 회사에서 같이 일하던 사람들은 모두 좋았는데, 일이 정말 너무 많았어요. 거의 매일 새벽 한두시가 돼야 퇴근해서 집에 갈 수 있었거든요. 그러다보니 온전하게 제 가정과 가족들한테 집중할 시간이 너무 부족했어요. 저는 그게 정말 싫었거든요. 처음 아내한테 이야기했을 때 반대가 심했죠. 아마 아내는 그 결심이 순간적인 감정이고, 시간이 지나면 괜찮아질거라고 생각을 했던 것 같아요. 근데 제가 1년 반 동안 아내를 설득했어요. ‘난 다른 좋은 회사로 다시 들어갈 수 있는 충분한 능력이 있다.’ 라고요. 그리곤 블로그 정보를 모아 세계여행 후 더 행복해진 부부들의 이야기 자료를 모았어요. 그렇게 1년 반만에 아내를 설득해 퇴사도, 여행도 모두 해냈습니다. 그리고 여행 후 정말로 다른 좋은 회사에 갔고요, 무엇보다 아내와도 더 행복해졌어요.”

“I quit my job of 7 years and traveled the world with my wife. While I liked all of my coworkers, the workload was just too excessive. I was leaving the office around 1 or 2 am nearly every day. As time went on, I barely had any time to spend with my family, something I really hated. The first time I discussed quitting with my wife, she strongly opposed the idea. I think she thought it was more of a knee-jerk reaction and that things would improve with time. But I continued to persuade her for over a year and a half, assuring her I had the skills to get a job at another reputable company. I researched blogs and came across multiple stories about couples who traveled the world and grew happier together. So in the span of a year and a half, I managed to persuade my wife, quit my job, and embark on this global adventure with her. And after our trip, I really did land a job at a good company, but more importantly, my relationship with my wife flourished.”

(오른쪽) “제 취미가 사진 찍는 거예요. 그래서 얘도 많이 찍어주는데, 아무래도 포즈를 한번만 더 바꿔보라고 한다든지 다른 각도로 한번만 더 찍어보자라든지 하는 주문이 많죠.” (왼쪽) “그거 산에 올라가는 것보다 더 힘들어요. ‘1번만 더’가 2번이 되고 15번이 된단 말이에요.” “그래도 그렇게 열심히 찍고 나중에 사진 보면 마음에 들어요?” (왼쪽) “저번에 다 지웠어요. 게임 깔아야 하는데 용량이 부족해서요.” (오른쪽) “이게 다 핸드폰이 문제야… 열심히 찍었는데…그러니까 게임하지 말라고!”

(Right) “My hobby is photography. I take a lot of pictures of him. But I end up giving him a lot of commands, like asking him to change poses or try a different angle.” (Left) “It’s even harder than climbing up a mountain. ‘Just one more time’ becomes two more times, becomes fifteen more times.” “If you work that hard to take the photos, do you end up liking them later?” (Left) “Last time I erased all of them. Because when I tried to open my game, I didn’t have enough storage space.” (Right) “Cell phones are the problem… I worked so hard to take the pictures… Just stop playing games!”

(오른쪽) “오늘도 게임을 같이 했어요. 근데 이모부만 혼자서 운이 되게 좋아서 좋은 아이템을 뽑는 거예요. ‘너 없는 거 나는 다 뽑았다!’ 이러면서 저한테 자랑하는데 말투가 너무 얄미웠어요.” “그때 어떤 생각이 들었어요?” (오른쪽) “친구였다면 한 대 때리고 싶다…”

(Right) “We played games together today too. But my uncle had good luck all by himself and got the cool items. He was showing off saying, ‘I got all the items you don’t!’ It was so annoying!” “What were you thinking about at that moment?” “If he was my friend I’d give him a punch.”

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(왼쪽) “저는 이모부예요. 저는 도봉구에 살고 조카는 남양주에 살고 있는데, 멀지 않으니까 일요일에는 얘를 많이 데리고 나와요. 저희가 원래 좀 친하거든요.” “이모부 장점이 뭐예요?” (왼쪽) “말 잘해라” (오른쪽) “웃겨요. 그냥 얼굴이요. 그리고 게임을 굉장히 많이 해요." (왼쪽) “게임을 잘한다는 것도 아니고?” (오른쪽) “음… 맛있는 걸 잘 사줘요.”

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(Left) “I’m his uncle. I live in Dobong-gu and my nephew lives in Namyang-ju. It’s not too far so on Sundays I often take him places. We’re pretty close.” “What do you like about your uncle?” (Left) “Say something nice.” (Right) “He’s funny. Just his face. And he plays a lot of games.” (Left) “But I’m not good at them?” (Right) “Um… He buys me a lot of yummy things.”

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“오늘도 게임을 같이 했어요. 근데 이모부만 혼자서 운이 되게 좋아서 좋은 아이템을 뽑는 거예요. ‘너 없는 거 나는 다 뽑았다!’ 이러면서 저한테 자랑하는데 말투가 너무 얄미웠어요.” “그때 어떤 생각이 들었어요?” “친구였다면 한 대 때리고 싶다…”

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“We played games together today too. But my uncle had good luck all by himself and got the cool items. He was showing off saying, ‘I got all the items you don’t!’ It was so annoying!” “What were you thinking about at that moment?” “If he was my friend I’d give him a punch.”

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“38년 동안 운전을 했어요. 운전을 하면 비 오는 것도 싫고, 눈 오는 게 정말 싫었어요. 건강이 안 좋아진 뒤로 운전을 그만하고 아침마다 매일 어린이대공원을 한 바퀴씩 돌았던 게 이제는 5년이 됐네요. 폭우가 와서 걷기 힘들 정도가 아니라면, 비가 와도 이른 아침에 나와서 걸어요. 언제부터인가 연두색 나무에 빗방울이 이렇게 방울방울 맺힌 걸 바라보고 있으면 기분이 굉장히 좋아요. 비멍이라고 알아요? 나중에 꼭 비 오는 날에 와서 해봐요.”

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“I was a driver for 38 years. When driving, I hated when it rained and hated it even more when it snowed. I quit driving after my health took a turn, and for the past 5 years, I’ve been taking a stroll around Seoul Children’s Grand Park every morning. Unless it’s pouring, I’ll venture out in the early morning and take a walk, even if it’s raining. I’m not sure when I started noticing how the rain drops fall onto the lush trees, but watching it makes me feel content. Have you ever zoned out while watching rain drops? You should try it for yourself sometime on a rainy day.”

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