“Are the things we have longed for still there?”

A question posed by novelist Jang Ryu-jin, who depicts reality with unique colors, in her first essay, “Our Sparkling Season.”
In an age where everything changes overnight, what if there was one thing that remained constant? A place that allows you to reflect on your past, a country where no one rushes you, Finland, is where novelist Jang Ryu-jin's confession begins.

“I feel normal when I’m with you.”

With his first novel collection, “The Joy and Sorrow of Work”
The first essay by author Jang Ryu-jin, which moved the hearts of countless readers.


Writer Jang Ryu-jin, who returned to Finland after 15 years with her friend Ye-jin, whom she first met in Finland in 2008 while studying abroad, asks a question.

“Are the things we have longed for still there?”

Fifteen years ago, Finland was a snowy winter, but now it's a melting summer. At the end of the questions that arose as the cold snow melted, I was able to truly face myself.

'Why are you so precious to me?', 'What kind of person am I?', 'Why on earth am I like this?'

A journey to find the puzzle piece that completes me, a question I've long pondered. The inner stories Jang Ryu-jin has never confessed become clearer as she travels through snow-covered Finland.

"I'm finally returning to my beloved Finland."

Even if everything in the world changes and disappears, if there's someone who remains as steadfast as a pine tree, I can live as myself. I finally brought up the story of those most essential to me, who have wandered through countless seasons, in Finland, my perfect, personal vacation spot.

“When I first started writing the manuscript, I thought this book would be a story about ‘travel.’
Then, when the manuscript had progressed to a certain extent, I suddenly realized that this book was a story about 'friends.'
Then, the vague reason why I wanted to write about this trip became a little clearer.”
From the text -

In Finland, where I was embraced 15 years ago and still am today, I once again face 'Our Sparkling Season' with my friend Yejin, who still makes me feel the most like myself.

From the moment we decided to travel together, the trip with Yejin, who had an endless list of things she wanted to do and see, was approaching.
Will we be able to accomplish all the countless things we've wanted to do and vowed to do? Will the things we've longed for still be there? We were given exactly ten days.

--- p.47

The idea that everyone should be able to enjoy the 'basic' things 'basically' the moment they come into this world, regardless of how much 'possession' they are born with.
Every time I walked up and down this forest path, I vaguely thought that these 'boxes' also seemed to be in line with the 'right of all people' that everyone should be able to enjoy nature.
Afterwards, I felt a sudden happiness at the fact that I too had the right to enjoy this forest for half a year.
It was a happiness like snowflakes falling on the palm of my hand.
A snowflake that will melt as soon as it touches your skin, but is so beautiful while it is falling, that you want to reach out and catch it without realizing it.
--- pp.106-107

I felt a strange sense of elation at the thought of this intangible, small community of "book lovers" gathering together in a physical space called a "library" anywhere in the world, on any continent, in any country, like secret agents on a secret mission.
Anyway, I will live as a member of this small but undying community.
I was happy to accept that fact once again.

--- pp.119-120

Old friends are like external hard drives of memories.
When I hear from my friends about things that clearly happened to me, but I don't bring them up often enough that I forget they were even there, I feel embarrassed yet reassured for some reason.
Even if I forget, Yejin will know.
This friend must be protecting a part of me.

--- pp.144-145

One winter day, I walked across this lake.
It was not long after I met Yejin.
The purpose was not to go anywhere, but simply to cross the lake on foot.
I don't remember who suggested it first or why we decided to do it.
I just vaguely remember wanting to do that.
(Omitted) When we arrived back on land, on the lawn in front of the student union building, we turned around and looked at the footprints in the snow where we had walked.
We didn't intend to, but we knew instinctively, and maybe that's why we wanted to cross the lake.
The fact that if not now, then I would never be here, in this very place, on this vast planet.
The fact that in just a little while, that place will melt away.
So, this is the only chance I have to stand here like this.

--- pp.158-160

Before I lay down on that mat and fell asleep, I closed my eyes and thought about that time.
The brightest and best time of my life, the golden age of my life, is coming to an end.
From now on, I can no longer expect to live such a simple, happy, and leisurely life.
I wanted to talk to myself back then.
The golden age of your life is not now.
There are many better days ahead.
In 15 years, you will be an adult with scenes so beautiful and sparkling that you cannot even imagine.

--- pp.168-169

I thought that I really wanted to write down somewhere the expression on Yejin's face as she said those words and the way I cherished and loved her.
Don't write a diary or anything like that.
I'll write it for you.
I don't know how to keep a diary, but I'll leave it somehow.
In my own way.

--- p.214

A story that has been rejected from countless contests, yet is happily chosen by countless readers as their favorite novel.
Of all the stories I've told, this is the oldest, and at the same time the one I've touched and re-dressed the most.
The oldest story written when I was the youngest.
The last work included in the first novel collection.
I greeted the story in my mind.
Thank you for coming to me.
Goodbye! Go far, far away.
The stories I create go further and stronger than me.

--- p.219

If we compare cities as travel destinations to friends, I think Paris, London, and New York are like friends that everyone loves.
A friend who is attractive to everyone because she is gorgeous, beautiful, and has a unique aura that only she can exude.
A friend who is always surrounded by friends, and whom I often find myself glancing up at.
But at the same time, a friend who constantly makes me worry and be conscious of how I look to that friend.
A friend who suddenly makes me doubt whether he or she will actually think of me as a 'friend'.
A friend who makes me nervous.
On the contrary, I felt that Helsinki was a friend who made me relax.
A friend who is attractive, of course, but whose charm is not known to everyone.
A friend who just stays by my side silently.
A friend who only shines when you look at him quietly for a long time from the side.
A friend who has never cared how I appear to him.
A friend who doesn't make you doubt that we're friends.
A friend who treats each other comfortably and naturally whenever we meet.
I thought that Helsinki was the city that gave me the feeling of a true friend, a city that gave me a sense of security and trust that it would always be within reach.

--- p.261

Ironically, it was only when I realized that the uncomfortable feelings I was feeling and the strange events I had been experiencing fit almost perfectly with examples from a counseling textbook that I finally felt at ease.
It feels like I've solved a long-standing puzzle.
The scars on my heart remained, as what happened never happened again, but I was now able to face the scars, the traces of the past, squarely without any clouded eyes.
After solving the great mystery of life, I no longer had any qualms or worries, and I was able to resolve to walk the rest of my life with a refreshing step.
--- pp.274-275

Here's one of my novel writing secrets revealed.
This is the so-called 'little by little imagination' methodology.
As expected of an MBTI 'N type', I tend to imagine a lot of useless or seemingly useless things, but sometimes I get ideas for novels from these unconscious and habitual imaginations.
If I had given a different answer to this conversation, if someone else had joined in, how would things have played out differently? What kind of person would that person be? What would their mind be like? How would it change? It's not about some incredibly novel setting or a grand worldview, but rather imagining something that takes just a tiny step forward from the real situation.
If you keep taking those one step at a time, you will end up moving farther and farther away from your initial idea and becoming different again.

--- p.281

Audi seemed like a space that showed contemporary Finland in miniature.
Helsinki's landmark is Helsinki Cathedral, but its cultural landmark is probably Odi.
A meeting place for citizens, a space for storing and sharing knowledge, and a space open to everyone and where creation is possible.
A world where everything is possible, everyone is respected, and there are no restrictions under the 'rights of all people'.
Yejin said as she was looking through the English novel section after passing the rainbow section.
"Next time I come, will you have 'Let's Go to the Moon' and 'The Joys and Sorrows of Work' in English? Meanwhile, I hope 'Yeonsu' gets translated into English too!"
“They say the collection is limited to 100,000 books. Will I be able to fit in?”
“You should listen! You’re the author of a novel set in Finland.”
At the Kuopio Library, I thought Yejin's words were just a delusion, but I was surprised and delighted that in just a few days, they had become a realistic imagination that could actually happen.

--- pp.325-326

I don't label my happiness as something from the past, saying, 'I was so happy back then.'
He doesn't even turn his back on my happiness, saying, 'This will make me happy.'
I feel incredibly happy, but I don't show it to others.
Because it's upsetting to see someone suddenly become hostile and angry after hearing that my family is happy.
Nevertheless, I am writing this here for the first and last time.
About the happiness I felt while listening to the sound of raindrops falling, knock… knock… knock… under the eaves of Alvar Aalto’s house.
About the overwhelming warmth and boundless trust I felt when I returned home after my short trip, knowing that I had a loving family of my own choosing.

--- p.345

Ironically, 'naturalness' is not 'nature'.
Just leave 'nature' alone.
Because it already exists there.
But ‘naturalness’ is a different story.
Creating a 'natural space' will require incredibly sharp thinking.
The Alto Office, with its entire building curved and enclosing the garden, was very natural and beautiful, but to build a building of that type, each brick had to be bent at the exact angle desired.
That thought led me to think that the same goes for 'realistic novels'. 'Real' is just reality itself.
It just exists everywhere.
But 'realism' is something else.
To create a 'realistic novel' and 'realistic sentences', you have to change countless elements such as characters, settings, dialogue, and even the number of letters or particles in a single word... and run countless simulations over and over again.
When writing sentences that read smoothly and without hesitation, you can't write them that smoothly.
Just as you have to sand a rough raw material countless times to create a smooth surface.
I'm not comparing a novice like me to a great artist like Alto, but I've been thinking about that all day.
The story I created, the story that readers enjoyed reading, was probably the result of my personality, which I don't even like.
So, even if we can't bring it out, at least let's not hate it.
A person's personality is developed to help its owner survive in the best possible way.
As if it were the law of nature.
So I'm going to try not to hate my personality anymore.

--- p.357

I feel like I've made a huge 'secret' completely mine.
If I ever visit Finland again for any reason, after a few snowmelts, and then come back to Helsinki and here again, I won't have to ask for the Wi-Fi password.
When I enter here, the Wi-Fi here will automatically connect to my phone.
Although it is invisible to the eye, this place and I will be silently connected.
Okay, it will stick.
The ten days of quiet relaxation enjoyed with a beloved friend, so similar yet so different, were coming to a warm and refreshing end.

--- p.395