[Book Sip] 'Hambaderica,' a Meal Spot for Female Workers... Sister, Have a Meal Before You Go

Editor's NoteSome sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book, while others instantly resonate with readers, creating a connection with the book. We excerpt and introduce such meaningful sentences from books.

She invites strangers to her home and cooks for them. This is the story of Ericapap, who plans and executes projects related to ‘cooking’ and ‘gathering.’ The book deals with the lives of female workers who visit ‘Hambaderica,’ a humble eatery for female laborers, whose name is a variation of ‘Casaderica,’ meaning ‘Erica’s house’ in Italian. It shares the stories of 11 women who came to Hambaderica, wore its signature uniquely designed glasses together to break the ice, shared meals, and discussed their work-related concerns.

On the way home after scraping every bit of shaved ice from my bowl, I saw trumpet creepers in full bloom. Feeling sentimental from being full, I became curious about the flower language of this vibrant summer flower. A quick search revealed meanings such as ‘woman,’ ‘honor,’ and ‘making a name for oneself.’ Hambaderica, trumpet creepers, and women. The thought process of a spark-type ENFP brain was busy, and after a few rounds of mental ‘se-sse-sse’ (a Korean hand game), it reached this conclusion.

‘A humble eatery for female workers building their own worlds, named Hambaderica!’

From page 19, Prologue: Welcome to ‘Hambaderica’

Then, in July 2021, I finally quit a job that didn’t suit me. Only after quitting did I start to notice people who weren’t just ‘barely getting by’ but were ‘building their lives bit by bit.’ I felt the need to properly document their stories. Ultimately, this project became a seed born from my own deficiencies, regrets, curiosities, and the small things I could do, coincidentally meeting the name ‘Hambaderica,’ and just after naming it, encountering trumpet creepers blooming by the roadside, blossoming like a flower.

From page 22, Prologue: Welcome to ‘Hambaderica’

If there’s one area where I feel I’ve truly improved, it’s communication. When you carry out a project from start to finish even once, you roughly understand your colleagues’ working styles and tendencies. So you try to adjust accordingly. Since all content is created through collaboration, when emotions get hurt or communication falters during work, it directly reflects in our content. (Omitted) I try to communicate clearly but gently. I want to speak in a way that doesn’t upset me when I hear it and also makes my coworkers think, ‘Yes, the schedule is tight, but let’s work hard together.’

From pages 56-57, Attitudes toward Work, Life, and Self

What I do is ‘imagine how others perceive me.’ That’s what branding is. But if it goes in the wrong direction, it becomes censorship and prejudice, and you tend to preemptively imagine, ‘That person will see me this way.’ (Omitted) I had prejudices against myself. ‘I grew up like this, studied to this extent, was raised in a grandparent-headed household, graduated high school, and didn’t come from a wealthy family, so there must be limits to what I can achieve with my assets.’ My prejudice against myself created the prejudice that others would see me that way. But if you look closely, those people don’t really think much about me. It’s just me overthinking.

From page 221, Kim Kimi: Creating the Brand Called ‘Me’

Unni, Stay for a Meal | Written by Ericapap | Semicolon | 268 pages | 18,000 KRW

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