“What is work?”
“What is a relationship?”
“Can people change?”
“How do you trust people?”

In a bakery in an Irish seaside village, bake your own answer instead of the world's set answer.

“If there had been no story, there would have been no grandmother.”
The author of 『My Future Hope is, Cute Grandma』, the pioneer of the publishing world's grandmother syndrome, reveals her dark past(?) from her days as a baker.

The author, accustomed to 'hurry, hurry' and 'perfection', carries the heartbreak of life and heads to an unfamiliar country, Ireland, to volunteer for a year baking bread with the disabled.
But my initial confidence quickly crumbles in the face of a completely different baking culture.
My resolve to become a 'baking Mother Teresa' was shattered, and I had to endure helpless nights as a misfit, full of mistakes.
Then one day, strange words begin to enter his ears.
Words that are unfamiliar but keep lingering in my mind.
Leaning on those words, he begins to feel it again little by little.
Bread, words, and myself.

This book is an essay that records life in an unfamiliar space, and a narrative of recovery that rediscovers oneself through relationships with others.
The author candidly shares the cultural clashes, unfamiliar tasks, and tensions from unfamiliar relationships she experienced while volunteering at Camp Hill, a community for people with disabilities in Europe.
The process is described in a calm manner, without exaggeration, with humor and restraint.

The first half of the book unfolds the period of adaptation at Camp Hill, a community for people with disabilities.
In an environment where the language is different and the rhythm of life is different, the author often makes mistakes and is embarrassed, but all of those moments converge into one question.
“What roles can I and we play for each other?” The process of slowly answering this question forms the core narrative of the book.
The author does not simply examine what he is good at and what he is bad at, but quietly observes how those skills are transformed and accepted in relationships with others.
We also discover the secret to embracing imperfection, managing anxiety, and having fun together within Camphill's innovative system, where efficiency is not important.

This book goes beyond simply describing an unfamiliar volunteer life.
Through episodes with various characters, the author reflects on himself.
As the expression goes, “People who serve as good mirrors,” others’ speech, actions, and even mistakes become opportunities for new understanding for the author.
As the author's mirror becomes clearer, the sentences become more concise, the emotions are restrained, but the details of the scenes become clearer.
Although this book is themed around 'words,' it actually shows more deeply the weight of 'relationships' that cannot be said, feelings that cannot be expressed, and yet can be understood.

The second half is a record of encounters and partings.
Having fallen enough at Camp Hill and recovered enough, the author travels around Europe and encounters other pieces of life.
Through "Couchsurfing," a free homestay, readers will be captivated by the author's inner transformation.
The author, who was initially a complete stranger, gradually breaks down the boundaries between 'self' and 'other' and shows the process of becoming a part of the relationship.
Because the changes are so delicately depicted, this book does not remain in the sentimental trap of common healing essays, but maintains the sincerity of self-confession to the end.

What is most impressive is that this book collects the 'words of life' slowly and without haste.
Rather than pushing grand insights or messages, he carefully conveys to readers 'good words' gleaned from the margins of everyday life.
The belief that a single sentence or scene can linger in someone's mind for a long time is what firmly supports this book.

"Good Words in Wonderland" is not a story of failure and success.
It's a story of a wonderful fall.
It's a story about falling into an unfamiliar world and relationships, and getting closer to the hearts of others and my own true feelings.

After closing the book, readers will come up with their own 'good words'.
And you will picture the face of someone you want to share it with.

*Camp Hill: A village-style community based on anthroposophy and Waldorf philosophy that helps people with disabilities live while receiving vocational training and cultural benefits.
In addition to accommodation, volunteers are provided with a small monthly allowance and other benefits such as medical benefits.
There are over 100 established in 19 countries including the United States, Canada, and India, with 48 concentrated in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Camphill.org.uk

*Couchsurfing: A traveler exchange platform where people share their space with travelers for free, much like nomads willingly offer up a tent for travelers crossing the desert.
It is said that it started with an episode where an American, before traveling to Iceland, sent an email to 1,500 Icelandic college students asking if they would let him stay in their country to save money, and received about 50 replies.
The person who offers his or her home to travelers is called a Host, and the person staying there is called a Surfer.
It is a type of free homestay, and the form of accommodation (room, living room, etc.) and amenities are provided free of charge within the range that the host wants to provide.
www.couchsurfing.com

In that country, they devised a way to bring into life what was inconvenient and lacking without discarding it.
He said that space, objects, and time can be shared with others instead of being occupied.
It is said that work is not learned by doing, but learned by doing.
He said it doesn't have to be perfect and that the person doing it should enjoy it.
--- p.12

Conversation is not a game like tennis or table tennis where you attack the other person to prevent them from receiving.
Just like in catch, you have to control your strength and direction so that your opponent can receive the ball well.
But if you just keep giving and receiving the ball, it will quickly become boring.
If you can walk a subtle line, it becomes a game you want to play again.
--- p.47

Don't be conscious of grammar, be conscious of relationships.
It's not about how fluently you speak, but how much you want to know each other and how respectfully you talk to each other.
Again, your English is good enough!
--- p.61

I define myself, and that definition will be the only guide to my life.
I am no longer afraid of reputation or misunderstanding.
As the process was intense, the response was firm.
--- p.72

A person who knows happiness can face someone else's happiness without selfishness.
--- p.77

The night is not dark.
Bright.
It's also very bright.
The moon was shining its light on everything on earth without discrimination.
Of course, the road, the barn, the farm equipment, even the spokes of a bicycle leaning against a fence.
And when I looked at Clara, I saw the moment when the moonlight reflected on the person's body and the person itself became light.
--- p.89

The mind, like a parachute, is useful when it is opened.
The moment you use a parachute is a do-or-die situation.
It doesn't matter if it spreads out or not.
Everything must be opened up in an instant.
I learned at Camp Hill that the moment to open your heart, or rather, the moment when it does open, may come during a fall.
--- p.93

Perhaps work is a "signal." As humans, working means acknowledging each other's presence by calling each other's names and shaking hands.
And in doing so, it is actually confirming one's own existence.
A desperate and beautiful signal, like a blinking blue light, saying, “I am here.”
My real job at Camp Hill is to keep an eye out for those signals.
Living together without missing the signals of our people, faithfully sending my signals.
That's my job.
--- p.104

Here, I do 'helping work' and 'making work happen'.
It is the job of preparing, encouraging, and watching over an environment where colleagues can work safely.
--- p.109

As I watched the volunteers' cheeks glow like apples, I realized an important point I had overlooked.
Concerts aren't just about performers.
It's a collaboration with the audience.
--- p.129

If you break down the word perfect into Chinese characters, it means 完, meaning complete, and 璧, meaning round jade wall, meaning 'a perfectly round jade bead'.
If we banish the imperfect members from the fold, will the remaining members roll along like jade beads? The country I live in now is one where no one cares about perfection.
It may seem creaky and shaky, but surprisingly it rolls for a long time and quite far.
--- p.131

Turning points come from unexpected sources.
Camp Hill, where they made an emergency landing because they had nowhere else to go, even got another chance here after running away from their first landing site.
That's why we shouldn't close our lives too early.
Even if it's closed, there's a reason why it needs to be reopened.
--- p.136

Yerka and Sarah came to teach me.
I learned from them how to not forget the path I had taken, how not to pass on the pain, how to speak out about problems, and how to be the first to reach out.
Yeah, just tell the truth.
In simple terms, take it slow, just as it is.
Be courteous to people.
--- p.156

Grandma Heidi used to call our volunteers "a good group."
It's a simple statement, but I really like the expression.
A good group created by a good individual, a good group created by a good individual… Which is the beginning, and which is the result?
--- p.188

If you don't know, you can know more.
This trip won't be one where you go in search of what you know and come out with only what you want.
--- p.220

Dita knows that it doesn't matter who puts her in what situation or how they look at her.
That he is a person who lives his life beautifully, even though it could have been a mess.
His beauty is unwavering.
--- p.231

All I could do was not try to appease my anxiety by trusting others, but to become a safe person and help others ease their anxiety.
Looking back, it seems like we did that to each other implicitly.
--- p.238

In the midst of the clamor to stand out, that dull, plain photo immediately drew me in.
A person who knows the meaning of flowers blooming in the desert.
The wonder and calmness he felt was transmitted through the monitor.
I knocked on his door.
--- p.261

Romance exists only where there are friends who can rub their bodies together like a cat with its belly exposed, where the illusion of a son or daughter who is a mother does not exist.
--- p.300

The journey felt like a story that began with the discovery of an unknown book that suddenly fell at my feet.
The title of the book I picked up with the pure expectation of fun and happiness was ‘Blank Dictionary.’
A blank dictionary on which nothing has been written yet.
--- p.359

The dictionary was generous.
I thought it was over if I made a mistake, but there was always a next chapter.
As I faced things I had never learned before, as I became an observer on the bench rather than a starter, as I hung out with strange people who called me friends despite being different ages, and who gave their space and time to strangers, my dictionary was gradually filled.
That's how I first experienced a world where it was okay to be wrong.
Fixing it, starting again.
--- p.359

I have no doubt.
Even if I leave this place and these people tomorrow, a new journey will begin again.
That another blank dictionary was waiting for me.
If so, I would be happy to pick it up.

--- p.360