“In ‘78, I was an instructor at an acting academy. It helped me earn some pocket money, but the girl I was dating at the time said she would only date and not marry me. When I asked her why, she said it’s because I was poor. Later, I found out she was the daughter of the owner of a big theater. Her family was wealthy. Back then, whenever theaters put on shows, they made a truckload of money. So that’s why she wouldn’t marry me. Around that time, someone set up a blind date for me. Those days, even the slightest mention of being an actor meant immediate rejection, because it meant I didn’t make any money. Because I was still dating my girlfriend at the time, I went on the blind date, flat out told her that I was an actor, and just went home. But the next day, the matchmaker scolded me, saying there was no such girl like her. Apparently, the girl went back to the matchmaker after meeting me and said, ‘Money is just something that comes and goes, so what’s so important about it? Sincerity is what’s important.’ After hearing that, I asked her to meet me again at a place called Ssun Coffee House on 5th Toegye Street. After talking with her, I found out that she really meant what she said. And then, one month after our blind date, I got married. With my Flower.”

“Now she’s really beautiful, but truthfully, I didn’t realize all of my Flower’s beauty back then. But just sitting in that coffee house and listening to her speak, I remember thinking, ‘This woman is my wife.’”

“78년도 그때 나는 연기 학원 강사를 하고 있었어. 그걸로 용돈을 벌어 썼는데 그때 만나던 여친이 나랑 연애만 하고 시집은 안 온대. 아니 왜 안오냐 그랬더니 가난해서 싫대. 나중에 알고 봤더니 큰 극장의 사장 딸이더라고. 집에 돈이 많은 거야. 그때는 쇼 같은거 한 번 하면 돈을 가마니에 담았거든. 그래서 나랑 결혼 안한다는 거지. 그러던 중에 중매가 들어왔어. 그때 당시 연극한다고 하면 돈을 못 버니까 그냥 바로 딱지맞는 시대였거든? 나도 여자친구가 있으니까 중매 가서 ‘저 연극합니다.’ 하고 그냥 돌아왔지. 근데 다음날 중매해준 사람이 ‘너 그런 여자 요즘 세상에 있는 줄 아냐’면서 나한테 뭐라 그러는거야. 그 여자가 중매 끝나고 돌아와서는 ‘사람이 돈이라는 게 있다가도 없고 없다가도 있는데, 돈이 뭐 중요해요. 성실한게 중요하지.’ 그랬다는 거야. 그 말 듣고는 그때 퇴계로 5가에 ‘썬 다방’이라고 있었는데 거기로 그 여자보고 나오라 그랬어. 얘기를 해보니 정말 자기는 그렇게 생각한대. 그러고 선 본지 한 달 만에 결혼했어. 우리 꽃님이랑.”

“지금이야 너무 예쁜데, 사실 그때는 꽃님이가 막 예쁜 줄 몰랐어. 근데 그냥 그 다방에 앉아서 얘길 듣는데 ‘이 여자는 내 마누라다.’라는 생각이 딱 들더라고.”

“I had a side gig as a dance teacher for 9 years at a school for senior citizens. Every student there was over 65 years old. You’d think that people who have lived for 65 years would learn to accept everything and be considerate, right? Not at all. One seat gets taken and they start to fight, saying, ‘I’m supposed to be sitting in the front where I can see the teacher best. Why are you here?’ Like kindergartners… people’s shells certainly age through the years, but souls aren’t like that. For people, aging shouldn’t just be the process of dying. You must be born again and again. Each time into a better person.”