September 2024 – Wansan Library Writer-in-Residence Notes
Libraries aren’t really the best places for having a meal or a proper cup of tea. The main purpose of a library is for reading books, after all. And books are basically filled with the scent of ink and wood, so when other smells mix in, it can get rather unpleasant. That’s why libraries aren’t quite suitable for running restaurants.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!A while back, an older friend who used to live around here dropped by my workspace. Over tea, he told me that the old Wansan Library used to have a restaurant in the basement, and after eating, he’d look around to see if there were any pretty girls about. “Wow, so there was a time like that!” I nodded along. After he left, I watched people eating coffee, drinks, and kimbap on the first floor, and suddenly I felt like writing about food and drink.
(After reading some books about libraries) I found out that libraries in Jeonju, as well as in Korea, Japan, Britain, and Germany, are running cafes as pilot programs – and Jeonju could very well be a pioneer in this. Songcheon, Kkochsim, and Pyeonghwa Libraries run ‘I Got Everything’ cafes where people with disabilities work as staff. The drinks are actually quite good, and it’s a lovely spot for a break. A book and a cup of tea go together rather well, don’t they? Though libraries aren’t exactly the best places for having a chat.
Since I’m a writer-in-residence at Wansan Library, I’ll stick to talking about this place. Generally, when the library opens in the morning, people settle into their spots and after about 10 minutes, they head to the water cooler with their bottles or cups. Or they visit the coffee vending machine on the first floor. Last August, I never used the vending machine at all. But this month, I suddenly fancied a coffee one morning, so I got one from the machine – and it was actually pretty decent! Much better than the drinks from small cafes in the city center that rush through everything. It wasn’t just me either – the other writers nearby, Lee Kyung-ok, Choi Ki-woo, and Kim Geun-hye, all agreed. The machine’s coffee-making skills have really improved. Plus, it’s cheap! The first half of 2024 was marked by high prices, but finding 2,000 won coffee is like spotting a flower garden in the middle of an asphalt road – quite miraculous. On holidays, you can see people having snacks and watching movies in front of the vending machine with their coffee. As long as they’re not too loud, it’s actually a beautiful scene.
It’s about a 2-minute walk down from Wansan Library (at my pace). Getting to cafes in nearby Dongwansan-dong or Seoseohak-dong takes about 5 to 15 minutes. In August and September, when you’re walking, you can feel sweat forming between your clothes and skin. The hot wind makes you sweat even more, so by the time you reach a cafe, you’re absolutely knackered and just collapse into a chair. After going out like that two or three times, I gave up. Taking the car would be a hassle too, and thinking about going out and then having to walk back because there’s nowhere to park in this area with limited parking spaces… Blimey, it’s dizzying to think about. Even in September, temperatures reach 34°C during the day, so I reckon I won’t venture out for cafe walks until October. Just to mention, the cafes I visited were: Did(디드) Flower Garden Branch (Dongwansan-dong), Haim(하임) (Dongwansan-dong), Gwang Coffee Roastery(광커피 로스터리) (Seoseohak-dong), Eat Anything(잇 애니띵) (Seoseohak-dong), and Hyemidang(혜미당) in the Youth Mall on the 2nd floor of Nambu Market.
After having coffee and getting some fresh air outside, you really don’t want to go back to the library. Despite my determination from last August, I found myself muttering, “If I go to the library, I’ll just struggle with writing and worry myself into a funk… shall I skip today?” Laziness is quite frightening, isn’t it? Fighting laziness is something you need to be prepared for your whole life.
So to avoid temptation (and save a bit of money too), I make tea in my workspace. I drink black tea, oolong tea, and pu-erh tea that I’ve received as gifts or bought. In my previous post, I wrote about opening the door and wandering around when I first arrive at the library, but these days I open the door and fill the kettle with water first. Hearing the sound of water filling in the kitchen feels like slowly waking up.
Of course, I have coffee too… but I’m in a situation that’s both awkward and wonderful. I used to work part-time at a cafe for ages, and the friends I made there now run their own cafes. They visited my workspace last month to congratulate me and brought loads of coffee beans. When you only have a small amount of beans it’s fine, but when you have this much, they’re more troublesome to store than tea. Ground coffee loses its aroma quickly, and if you drink too much coffee, your whole day goes to pieces.
So last month and this month, when I meet the other writers in the morning and at lunch, we share coffee and tea. At first, we only drank drip coffee, but then we started adding milk and sugar too. I’ve learned what the most delicious coffee tastes like: drinks shared while having a good chat are the most delicious and comforting. When I say chat, it’s usually about our work. In August, “Why can’t I write anything?” was the most common topic. I suppose creative struggles are similar for everyone. These days it’s more like “I know what I want to write, but I’m not making progress.” Either way, we’re all moving forward while wobbling about.
Sometimes in the afternoon (mainly on Saturdays), when I see another writer’s room lit up, I pop over to offer a cup of coffee or tea. Usually, it’s just Lee Dong-han from the room next door who I end up calling. He has quite refined tastes, so I get a bit nervous every time I make something, but thankfully he enjoys both tea and coffee, which I’m grateful for.
This morning, as I write this, it was rather warm, but I went out to Wansan Chilbong Hill with my mug. Watching autumn’s coolness spread through stems and leaves amid summer’s heat, I took a sip of oolong tea. This place was once an execution ground, royal forest land, a defense base during the Korean War, and now it’s become a library. I placed tea in a small paper cup on a bench and held a small tea ceremony (茶禮). For those who were once here, and for those who come and go and stay here – may they all be at peace.
P.S. This post is also published on Tistory and Brunchstory.
