Close your eyes and think of yourself lying on a country bench. Can't you feel the sound of birds singing, the sound of the gentle breeze, the smell of flowers? It's hard to see in the city, but when you go to the countryside, you can easily feel birds playing the violin and the wind whispering in your ear. Don't you want to be there right now? Country life gives us freedom and peace just by imagining it. Let's go into the next work and experience a fresh rural life.

 

Book

"Since I started 'five days in the city, two days in the village', I have always been traveling."
-Kim Miri

 

<I go home to the country house on Friday (2018)>

Three years ago in the fall, the author bought a deserted house that had collapsed in the countryside. It wasn't planned, it just happened on the spur of the moment. Contrary to the fantasy that the countryside will immediately bring freedom and relaxation, in reality it created unexpected inconvenience. Since she bought an old house, she had to spend a lot of time and effort fixing it up. Every weekend, she went back and forth between Seoul and the countryside and carefully worked on the house. In addition, an awkward relationship with an unfamiliar environment in the countryside meant she could not be comfortable in an instant. There was an awkward clarity, like something newly painted alone in a friendly faded rural landscape painting. Even if she came to the countryside, slept, relaxed, and farmed, she was still exposed to the awkwardness of the city, unlike the native people of the countryside. Such feelings made her feel lonely and tired at times. Nevertheless, she fell in love with life in the countryside. It was because of spring, which approached and left brilliantly, summer, which came in energetic green and warmed the fruit, fall that filled the heart, and winter that cared for and raised her. She started her country life to escape reality, and that life recharged her. How long will she be able to continue her current life without abandoning either side?

 

Recommendation

I go home to the country house on Friday is an essay about living in the city on weekdays and in the country on weekends. The ostensible theme is rural life, but this book is different from life completely removed from the city. The life of 'five days in the city, two days in the village' is a new lifestyle that combines the dream of rural life based on existing urban life. It gives readers a more realistic sense of practical difficulties in terms of finances and circumstances. Those difficulties give readers an opportunity to think seriously about rural life. It is characterized by the fact that the differences between rural and urban life are well illustrated. This comparison is more detailed because the writer lives in the city and the country at the same time, not just in one environment. It also tells us what to expect before starting rural life and precautions to take. This book is for those who can't completely leave reality and imagine country life.
 

 

Movie

"I didn't run here, I came back here."
-Hyewon

 

<Little Forest (2018)>

Hye-won, who dreams of becoming a teacher, fails the Teacher Certification Examination unlike her boyfriend. Feeling hungry for an escape from city life, she leaves for the countryside, her hometown. Leaving the busy life of the city, she enjoys a self-sufficient slow life in the countryside. She is well adapted to life in the countryside, immersed in its warm atmosphere and loose flow. In fact, there was one more reason why she came to the countryside: longing for her runaway mother and expectation of her return. In the house where Hye-won returned, the letters left by her mother before leaving are hidden like treasure hunts. The letter contained excuses for why she left, and her recipes, such as how to make potato bread. Hye-won is looking for letters and cooking with the crops she has harvested. Will Hye-won discover why she came to the countryside?
 

 

Recommendation

<Little Forest (2018)> is a movie based on a comic book. It vividly shows Hye-won, who returned to her hometown after walking away from her daily life where nothing went her way, spending four seasons making and eating each meal with crops she grows with her friend. It is calm and healing to see the characters farming by themselves and cooking according to the recipes left by Hye-won mother. Since it was filmed over four seasons, vivid and colorful colors are the backdrop for all the scenes. By paying attention to such scenery, the behavior of the characters, and Hye-won's emotional changes, the audience can be fascinated enough by this movie. Also, the movie's big point is that it reveals a slow life that is hard to see in the city through food. The scenes of cooking and eating food provide stimulation for our appetite and considerable emotional satiety. As such, this movie captures the rural atmosphere in a variety of ways and the charm of rural life that cannot be seen in the city center.