Daily life, USA, San Francisco
It’s been almost half a year since a shelter-in-place order was issued in California due to Pandemics. It has continued since I visited Korea for a while in early February, so it’s been about five months without going to work or doing outdoor activities. Sometimes I go out for air or grocery shopping, but since cafes, restaurants, and art galleries are all closed, I don’t have to go around separately. Since I don’t have anything to play, all I do at home is work (mostly) or watch Netflix/Watcha Play. Of course, the difficulty of living is not as high as it was then, but it is not much different from studying or writing because the scholars of the Joseon Dynasty had nothing to do with their exile. That’s why the title of the article is “The History of Abductees.”
Still, there’s something I got during this “corona exile.” Once I hesitated, I was able to finish three papers and wait for the screening, study adjacent fields that I had not been able to do under the pretext of lack of time, and diet while I was at home, so I could go on a little diet. Every day, the grumbles like Smurfs just because they’re locked up and working, but after writing it down like this, I don’t think it was worth complaining about. Of course, when I turn on Instagram and see Korean friends having fun at nice restaurants, I go back to grumbling. “I came all the way to the United States to enjoy the rich movie, and I wonder what the trouble is.”
Of course, when Corona seemed to calm down for a while in June (actually it was before the storm), I took the time to go to Napa Valley with my friends. Looking at the pictures, it looks really good, but it was actually almost the only entertainment for half a year. Of course, the restaurant is still not open so I couldn’t go to my favorite restaurant, but Napa is always good. I wonder when I can go again and have fun as usual. I can’t wait for the Corona vaccine to come out. Of course, by the time it comes out, I think I’ll probably clean up my life in the U.S. and go back to Korea (please).
I have a new challenge because I have a lot of time at home, which is baking. Until now, I had been confident in cooking because I lived alone and ate often in the U.S., but I had never tried baking because it seemed to be another area. In the meantime, my brother, who I know in the neighborhood, is a very good baker and is encouraged by his friend (who is also a great astrophysicist), and since he has no pleasure in living at home, I started to try something sweet, but the results are not bad. Cooking, baking, and cocktails are the only things that have definitely grown in America. I have to study like this.
Despite my exile from Corona, I’m trying to get along with myself. Although Podak’s life, which has to live with uncertainty about the future, sometimes fluctuates my feelings, I know it’s up to me. Along with the sweet expectation that the future you want to achieve is touching your fingertips, and the bitter anxiety that feels like it’s going to be scattered through your fingers.