★ 260,000 total subscribers, 100 million cumulative views! ★
★ The first essay from YouTube's [Melbon Netherlands], a healing channel that warms you up to your heart's content! ★

This is the first book containing the stories of the YouTube channel [Melbon Netherlands], which makes you happy just by looking at it.
The author captures the lovely daily life of the Melbong family, who roam the meadows with their Jindo dogs in the Dutch countryside and have fun inviting friends over, with photos taken by the author himself.
The author conveys the author's solid thinking that has enabled him to create such vivid happiness, and also provides an interesting introduction to the leisurely lifestyle of the Netherlands, a country where children, the elderly, and even animals are happy.
Filled with the author's signature wit and charm, along with the affectionate portrayal of family, this book will teach you how to cultivate a wonderful everyday life, the meaning of family and love, and the values ​​of life that must be preserved.

When I got married and my life started to stabilize, I thought, 'This is it.'
The ideal family I've always pictured in my mind... it had to include a dog.
Our very own puppy.
Bongsoon was a puppy born in a family home in Suncheon, and as soon as we saw her droopy eyes online, we headed to Suncheon.
As soon as my father saw Bongsoon, he liked her more than I did and named her ‘Bongsoon’, meaning ‘the gentle girl of Bongdeok-dong.’
--- p.15 From “My Little Puppy, Bongsoon”

When I'm around Tolben, I become more and more like myself.
It's okay not to try hard to look good, and it's okay not to be good at something.
In fact, the thing he says most often is “It’s okay.”
To be exact, it is “Okay~” with a slight Daegu dialect mixed in.
“I didn’t wear makeup…” “It’s okay~”
“I messed up the cooking today…” “It’s okay~”
“Serang’s hair is a mess…” “It’s okay~”
“I think I’ve gained some weight lately…” “It’s okay~”
The more I repeat that, the less anxious I become and the more relaxed I become.
I live 'my own way' next to that person.
--- p.31 From "Tolben, the man who makes me who I am"

The nurse called us over to say our final goodbyes.
At that moment, when we were just looking at each other, not knowing what to say, my father raised his head with difficulty and spoke.

"thank you."
After saying those words, Dad laid his head back on the pillow, tilted his head to the side, and closed his eyes.
The face turned to the side looked peaceful and upright, like the young man in the black and white photograph, unlike the painful past.
For a while after that, my father appeared in my dreams almost every day.
There were days when he had a pained face, and days when he smiled peacefully.
Then suddenly, I thought that it was time to really say goodbye.
I wanted to go somewhere very far and cold, and I remembered the fjord I had seen in a video once.
I headed to the Norwegian fjords carrying my father's favorite wristwatch.
He took out his watch from the boat and said while looking at the flowing waves.

“Dad, it’s really goodbye now.”
And the tears that had been suppressed flowed down without stopping.
After that day, my father never appeared in my dreams again.
The weight on my heart was lifted a little, and I made a resolution.
'Let's live a little more lightly now.'
--- pp.55-56 From "'Let's live a little lighter now' My eternal best friend, Dad"

I thought I would be able to do everything well when I came to the Netherlands.
Parenting, work, family, my life.
But in the end, nothing was perfect and time just passed.
I realized it only after it happened.
Becoming a parent isn't about being perfect, it's about embracing imperfection.
It's about acknowledging that you can't do everything well.
And the fact that Serang is not unhappy just because I am not a perfect mother.
Serang surprised me and made me laugh with a new look every day.
I was growing up healthily, not caring about my imperfections.
I failed in my attempt to be the perfect mother.
The funny thing is, Serang never wanted a perfect mom.
All Serang wanted was for her mom to play with her dad, and that was enough.
Even in times when it seemed like we were losing everything every day, we never lost each other.
--- pp.96-97 From “Becoming an Adult, Becoming a Parent”

In the Netherlands, this kind of 'comfort without overdoing it' is ingrained in everyday culture.
In this country there is a word 'gezellig'.
This word is difficult to pronounce, and there is no exact translation in Korean, but if I had to say, it means 'a cozy, warm, and comfortable state.'
The important thing is not to show off, but to make the time spent together truly warm and comfortable.
Rather than grand preparations or formalities, the atmosphere itself of sitting together, sharing a glass of wine, dimming the lights, and playing board games is Herzelich.
It is often compared to the Danish concept of 'hygge', and while the two may look quite similar on the outside, they are a bit different on the inside.
If hygge is 'a feeling of rest spent alone or with close friends under cozy lighting', then herzelich is 'a simple feeling created in relationships'.
If Whige is a 'quiet sanctuary of my own,' then Herzelich seems closer to a 'warm connection where we can laugh and chat together.'
To put it more roughly in my own words, American cozy is 'warmth', Danish hygge is 'rest', and Dutch herzelich is 'fullness' in a relationship.
--- p.117, 119 From “If Denmark has hygge, the Netherlands has ‘Herzelich’”

My 20s were as anxious as anyone else's.
There were many nights when I couldn't sleep because I was anxious.
But even in that anxiety, there is one memory that remains beautiful.
One summer night, when I desperately wanted to find a job, I went to a networking event and handed over my poorly made college student business card, only to receive a bunch of other people's business cards.
After the event, I sat at the Columbus Circle fountain with two American friends and talked about our future.
Which company do you want to work for, why do you dream of going there, and what do you really want to become?
It may have been a vain dream or a superficial wish, but we kept talking about it.
The streets were filled with the sound of people's laughter and the air was cool.
The small water droplets splashing from the fountain made that summer night even more dreamlike.
That moment, that summer, no, my entire twenties, is the most ecstatic memory I have.

--- p.211, 214 From “Whiskey Night and New York Summer”

After getting married, having a puppy, having children, and living together, I realized that I couldn't stand on tiptoe forever.
Because I had to balance it with the person next to me, not just by myself.
Finding balance is something that I find a little ambiguous.
I used to be afraid of losing myself, but now I've come to think that it's not a bad thing to blend in with other people.
Just like red, blue, yellow, and green all come together to make a rainbow.
When walking with the dogs, Bong-taek pulls on one side and Bong-soon stops on the other side.
Eventually, we walk together, matching our strides and adjusting our speed.
On the way back, the three of them's footsteps have become similar.
Walking like that feels like an exercise in balance in life.

--- p.234, 236 From “Balance Caught with a Magpie’s Foot”