Whiskey & Soju

유약함에 대하여

나는 버스 타는 것을 즐겨한다. 특히 익숙한 거리를 지날 때 문득 모든 것이 낯설게 느껴지는 그 순간의 기분을 좋아한다. 밴쿠버에 오고 나서는 스카이트레인 대신 일부러 버스를 타는 시간이 많아졌다. 내가 감히 용기 내어 걸을 수 없는 거리의 속살을, 버스 창을 통해서는 가만히 들여다볼 수 있기 때문이었다. 밴쿠버의 거리에는 저마다의 색이

The Strongest Way to Hit Back

There's a current of prejudice, isn't there? A systemic whisper that echoes in nearly every corner of this planet. We can't truly escape it, unfortunately, but perhaps the imperative isn't solely to point fingers outward, but also to turn our gaze inward,

Finding Home in Vancouver: A Korean Immigrant's Nostalgic Journey

I almost started this with the cliché "Vancouver in the 2000s was different than it is now..." but slammed the backspace key in a spasm. I don't want to be that kind of writer. Instead, let me tell you what feels the same, what persists despite

Pessimism, Passion, and That Korean Thing: An Identity Struggle

Pessimism feels like my default setting – not by choice, mind you. My brain seems hardwired to jump straight to the worst-case scenario in any situation, maybe as a way to brace myself for trouble before it hits. I suspect it’s a defense mechanism forged in elementary school, where I

Two Worlds, One Childhood

Looking back, growing up around Seoul between 1993 and 2000 feels less like a clear timeline and more like disconnected scenes from a Wong Kar Wai film – not quite Chungking Express's dreamy melancholy, but certainly hazy, like a half-remembered dream. Take 1998. I was six. Our neighbourhood sidewalk,