[A Typewriter That Bakes Bread] A Piece of Nostalgia for Emigrants

"Back then, I didn't know. I thought I could see all those stars anytime and anywhere. Then streetlights appeared in the neighborhood, and fluorescent lights were installed in every house. And at some point, I stopped seeing the stars. It seems I no longer had the leisure time to gaze at the stars. Now, I have to make up my mind to see the stars." (Author Taekriji)

Memory is the brain's ability to encode and retrieve past experiences. For an event to be stored as a memory, it undergoes a process of being encoded and stored across neurons throughout the brain. This process is so complex and subtle that research is still ongoing in modern science.

Childhood memories can also be explained within the realm of science. The human brain is born incomplete and completes its synapses during a critical period of about ten years after birth. There is a hypothesis that the reason people long for their hometown is because the brain completes its functions based on experiences from childhood.

The book I Miss the Times We Played There by writer Taekriji is a light read that can be finished in half a day while sitting down. It is an omnibus-style collection of short pieces, each one or two pages long, containing episodes from the late 1970s and 1980s in the author's hometown.

As I turned the pages, I felt a subtle charm. It was far from the refined cuisine where one must pay attention to dining etiquette and order. It was neither a course meal with a clear beginning, middle, and end, nor a spicy hot pot filled with rapid-fire stories. The writing had no seasoning taste but conveyed sweet, salty, bitter, and sour flavors. It was a book with such a mysterious charm.

The most memorable episode was the first story in the fourth chapter, "Family," titled "Airplane Toy." It conveyed both the atmosphere of the hometown and the longing for the mother. Other stories like "Memories of Fireworks" and "Family Photo" were also impressively read.

On the other hand, I was amazed by the author's memory, vividly recalling anecdotes from over 40 years ago. Taekriji, who graduated from a prestigious university known as SKY and has lived a successful life after working at top companies, might seem unlikely to look back on a poor and humble past, but apparently not. I thought that as time passes, it is human nature to reminisce and long for the past.

Even after closing the book, the lingering feeling remained for a long time. Ultimately, people cannot help but live by ruminating on memories. Records remain as memories, and as they become recollections, they complete a life. Memory supports the decaying body and imperfect mind. It is the only means to hold onto my identity. Perhaps memory is everything in life.

Why does the book's calm writing style feel so poignantly touching? Is it because our lives are too precious to just let slip away? I recommend this book to expatriates who sometimes want to cry for no reason. You will have a fascinating experience where another's record speaks to your deep inner self.

I Miss the Times We Played There｜Written by Taekriji｜Terracotta｜248 pages｜18,000 KRW

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