커피 한 잔

코로나가 바꾸어 놓을 세상이 어떤 것인지 알지 못하던 무렵 태어난 손녀 ‘하린’이가 벌써 돌이 되었다. 그때는 아직 코로나가 확산되지 않았던 때라 우린 마스크도 없이 병원에 가서 아기를 볼 수 있었다. 그리고 시작된 코로나 사태. 딸이 낳은 아이라 더욱 정이 가는 손녀지만 이제껏 안아 본 것은 손가락으로 꼽아 볼 정도다. 사진과 비디오로 자라는 모습을 지켜볼 뿐이다. 화상 통화지만 그나마 자주 본다고 요즘은 알아보고 손을 흔들고 곁에서 엄마가 시키면 인사도 하고 전화기에 뽀뽀도 한다. 남들이 보면 유난을 떤다고 할 수도 있지만, 나는 그동안 보건당국과 정부의 지침을 잘 준수해 왔다. 지난 3월 이후, 가족 모임도 하지 않았고, 식당에 가서 외식을 한 적도 없다. 그 덕인지 감기 한번 안 걸리고 잘 지내왔..

My grandfather was collecting antiques and old coins. He also sold them to the rich and made profit. Jong Roe was the business center of Seoul and there were clusters of rich here and there. He organized and ran several social clubs for them. They paid the membership fees to join. The membership fees were loaned to the borrowers and the interests charged on these loans were the incomes of the cl..

My aunt, my mother’s only sister, was a very pretty woman. I mistook her black and white picture as a movie star’s. She came home a few days after her wedding. I have no memory of her wedding day. I only remember my grandfather grabbing her hairs and slapping her. He was screaming, “You, go out and be dead.” I still don’t know why she came back so quickly after her wedding. Grandfather sent her ..

Upon the news of his return, his parents came out of the house on bare foot. They slaughtered a pig and had a big party with relative and neighbors. His cousin urged him to make a speech. He got on the podium at the school yard and told the town’s people that the North Korea invaded the South unlawfully and started the war. However, the South was winning and they would defeat the communists. Soo..

He did not have any relatives in Manchuria. It was not easy to make the living there. He found a job in a store in the market place. He worked for the room and the food. He was fluent in Japanese and people suggested him to join the Japanese army. Japan was in the war and, sooner or later, they would draft him. So, he joined Japanese army in Manchuria. In few months, he got used to the military ..

He waited in dark for the family to fall in sleep. He closed his eyes and pictured the faces of his brothers and sisters. He did not know when to see them again. He made up his mind after he overheard his father was going to the marketplace to sell the cow. He will leave when the day breaks. He will make lots of money in Manchuria, the new world with many opportunities, and buy his father a cow,..

요즘은 한국의 외식 메뉴도 다양해져 파스타를 비롯해서 전 세계 음식을 풍족하게 맛볼 수 있지만, 60-70년대는 사정이 좀 달랐다. 조금 고급스런 외식이라면 경양식 정도였다. 경양식이란 간단한 서양식 일품요리라는 뜻이라고 한다. 메뉴에는 비프스테이크도 있긴 하지만, 보통의 데이트 코스라면 함박스테이크나 돈가스, 오므라이스 정도였다. 내가 처음으로 서양요리에 맛을 들인 것은 외할아버지를 통해서다. 할아버지는 인사동을 중심으로 돈 있는 상인들을 모아 친목회를 운영하셨다. 회원들이 투자한 돈을 굴려 그 이자로 모임에 들어가는 비용을 충당하는 방식이었다. 친목회의 정기모임은 주로 식당에서 이루어졌는데, 중식, 일식, 또는 경양식집 등에서 이루어졌다. 장소를 예약하고 회원들에게 연락하는 일은 할아버지의 몫이었는데..