[Bread Baking Typewriter] Babamba, Merona, Deowisanyang, Subakba... Ice Cream's Message of Support and Comfort

Even the Things That Were Good Gradually Lose Their Charm

"The ice cream I like is somewhat trivial food." Confessing love for ice cream, yet immediately calling it somewhat trivial. The reason for liking it is that it is insignificant and never important. Is this kind of love okay? When you listen to the detailed story, it makes sense. Because it is somewhat trivial food, when things that are too big, too important, and too great weigh heavily, ice cream calmly soothes the body and mind to face them. The book "Even When the Things I Liked One by One Become Trivial" by writer Ha Hyun is filled with such small comforts that ice cream offers in everyday life.

The writer has continued his writing activities with warm and delicate prose after the bestseller "Pieces of the Moon." This time, the theme he chose is ice cream, which naturally comes to mind during hot summers like these, but it is not something sought only in summer. It is a dessert for all four seasons and a snack loved by everyone. Wherever you go in the neighborhood, when you enter a supermarket and open the freezer, ice cream always welcomes you. The writer wrote, "I am only satisfied when eating ice cream that is easily available anytime and anywhere, and can be eaten without burden even when my pockets are light, nothing particularly special or new."

Since ice cream is familiar and convenient, easily accessible whenever desired, everyone likely has childhood memories associated with it. For a writer who loves ice cream, those memories are naturally more abundant. The writer has been with ice cream throughout growing up?from a child holding his father's hand going to the neighborhood mart, to an elementary school student who had to practice dance routines for sports day, to a middle schooler waiting for the bus to the academy with friends, to a college student who gave up precious vacations to focus on part-time work, and to an adult who arrives early for appointments and has to wait for someone. He wrote that even when he met customers who swore recklessly during part-time work, found special deals in supermarket flyers on gloomy nights, stayed up all night singing at a one-person karaoke, listened to music by his favorite musicians, or read beloved novels, he always ate ice cream. Despite life boiling hot and then cooling down repeatedly, he faced those ups and downs with ice cream in his mouth.

Looking back, having something that accompanied those moments that were not much but painfully difficult at the time is a great comfort. It would be even better if it were a person, but food is fine too. For the writer, that was ice cream. Babamba, Melona, Dewi Sanyang, Subak Bar, Papico, Bbangbbare... The writer takes out memories embedded in these ordinary and unremarkable ice creams one by one. Just as ice cream comes in various forms and types, the stories intertwined with them are diverse. The writer’s writing, enduring moments of intense anger, pain, joy, and unbearable times with ice cream, reads as both a tribute to ice cream and a record of the ups and downs of life faced alongside it.

Listening to the writer’s story, one thinks that although there are many difficulties we encounter in life, it is fortunate that the variety of ice cream is just as diverse. If life is simply harsh and the need for encouragement and comfort has not changed from childhood when you first bit into ice cream to now, perhaps one can empathize that the brief sweetness this somewhat trivial food melts into your mouth can give you the courage to face the bitterness of life. If someone is anxious because they cannot do something too big, too important, or too great, it might be worth recommending some ice cream.

Ice Cream: Even When the Things I Liked One by One Become Trivial | Written by Ha Hyun | Semicolon | 180 pages | 12,000 won

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.