“정년퇴직을 하고 문화센터에서 데생을 배웠어. 재밌더라고. 한 번은 우리 집에서 예수님 사진을 데생으로 그렸어. 거기에 완전히 빠졌지. 나도 모르게 이틀 밤을 새워서 그렸어. 그러다가 3일째인가, 4일째인가 우리 집 소파에서 쓰러진거야. 그런 일이 두 번이나 있었어. 안압이 높아지면 그럴 수 있다고 하더라고. 이러면 안되겠다 싶어서, 데생을 그만두고 다른 걸 찾았어. 그게 사진이야. 사진은 한 번 찍고 돌아서면 되니까 계속 들여다 볼 필요가 없잖아.”
“사진 찍으시면서는 괜찮으셨어요?”
“그건 포토샵을 해야 하더라고. 컴퓨터 들여다보다가 또 몇 번을 쓰러졌지.”

“I retired and learned drawing at the culture center. It was fun. One time I tried sketching a picture of Jesus at home. I was enthralled. I spent two whole nights like that without even realizing it, and after about three, maybe four days of this, I collapsed on the sofa. This sort of thing happened at least twice. They say that it can be caused by eye strain. I figured that this couldn’t go on, so I quit drawing and looked for something else—photography. You’re done after taking the picture once, so there’s no need to keep picking it up and looking at it.”
“Have you been all right while taking photos?”
“As it turns out, you have to Photoshop them. I’ve collapsed a few times from staring at the computer.”

“젊었을 때는 낭만이 있었지. 우체국 첫 근무 날 손님으로 왔던 아가씨를 아직도 기억해. 내 나이 또래였는데 인상이 남더라고. 조그마한 시골 동네여서 금방 알게 됐고, 만나게 됐어요. 하지만 서로 마음이 있다고 다 되는 건 아니었지. 그 아가씨 부모님이 날 못 미더워하셨거든. 지금은 가끔 생각만 날 뿐이야. 이제 오랜 세월이 지나서 나를 기억할지 안 할지도 모르겠지만, 그분도 기억의 조각은 가지고 있지 않을까 싶어. 백발이 성성해진 지금도 그분을 한 번 보고 싶은 감정은 있어요. 손목 한 번 잡아본 적도 없는데 참 웃기지.”
“만약에 지금 만나게 된다면 어떤 말씀을 하고 싶으세요?”
“‘할머니 다 됐네.’ 그 말 밖에 더 있어요?”

“There was romance in my youth. I still remember a girl who came in to the post office on my first day working there. She, who was about my age, lingered in my mind. That was in a tiny village, so we got to know each other really quickly. But it wasn’t like we both had feelings for each other and just fell in love—her parents didn’t find me trustworthy. Now, I just think about her from time to time. A lot of time has passed, so I’m not sure if she remembers me or not, but I think she might have a piece of me in her memory as well. Even though I’m old and gray, I would like to see her one more time. It’s funny, but I’ve never even held her hand.”
“If you had the chance to meet her now, what would you say?”
“‘You’re an old lady now.’ What else is there to say?”

“올해 82살인데, 젊을 때 건축을 했어. 많이 하진 않았고, 평생 집을 딱 3개 지었지.”
“어떤 건물이었나요?”
“을지로에 있는 롯데호텔, 여의도의 63빌딩, 강변의 테크노마트.”
“네?”
“그 세 개 집을 짓는데 건축 본부장으로 있었어. 설계도 하고, 시공사를 뽑고, 건축 허가를 받고, 감독을 했지. 서울시를 설득하기 위해 이 건물이 지어지면 교통에 어떤 영향을 미치는지 분석을 하기도 했고. 엄청 고생스러웠지. 건물 하나 짓기 위해서 해야할 일이 너무나도 많았어.”
“세 건물 모두 서울의 상징적인 건물이잖아요.”
“그렇게 지은 건물이 랜드마크가 되고, 외신에 소개되고, 도시의 흐름이 바뀌는 걸 보면서 무척 기뻤지. 그만한 보람이 없었어. 하지만 이젠 다 옛날 일이지. 이제는 63빌딩보다 롯데타워가 서울의 랜드마크가 되었잖아. 이젠 그 앞을 지나갈 일도 거의 없어.”
“요즘은 어떤 일을 하세요?”
“정말이지 할 일이 없어. 몇 년 전부터는 더이상 언론 인터뷰나 자문 요청도 오지 않으니까. 무료한게 가장 큰 고민이 될 줄은 상상을 못 했는데 말이야. 다행히 오늘은 미술 수업에 가는 날이었어. 일주일 중 가장 좋아하는 날이지. 내가 건축을 시작하게 된 것도 꼬마일 적부터 그림 그리는 걸 좋아해서였거든.”

“I’m 82 this year, and when I was young, I did architecture. I didn’t do much, but I built exactly three places in my entire life.”
“What sort of buildings were they?”
“The Lotte Hotel in Euljiro, the 63 Building in Yeoido, and Gangbyeon’s Techno Mart.”
“Pardon?”
“I was there as the head architect when those three buildings were built. I did the planning, chose the construction company, got the building permit, and directed it. To persuade the city of Seoul, I even analyzed the impact that constructing the building would have on traffic. It was a huge undertaking. There was an unreal amount of work I had to do to build one building.”
“All three of them are iconic buildings of Seoul, after all.”
“I was overjoyed to watch as those buildings became landmarks, received foreign press coverage, and changed the flow of the city. There was no greater reward than that. But that’s now all old news. Rather than the 63 Building, the Lotte World Tower has become Seoul’s landmark. Now there’s not really any reason to pass by there.”
“What sort of work do you do these days?”
“I really don’t have anything to do. It’s been a few years since the mass media interviews and the consultation requests stopped coming. I never imagined that monotony would become my biggest dilemma. Luckily, today was my day to go to art class. It’s my favorite day of the week. You see, the reason I went into architecture is that I loved drawing ever since I was a little kid.”

“(오른쪽) 고3이 된 첫 날에 교실에 모였는데, 친한 친구들이 다 떨어져서 너무 어색했어요. 저 뿐만이 아니라 다들 그런것 같았어요. 반 전체에 어색함이 감돌았죠.“
“(왼쪽) 오죽하면 선생님이 들어와서 너넨 왜 이렇게 조용하냐고 뭐라 했을 정도였죠.”
“지금은 어때요?”
“(왼쪽) 이젠 이렇게 시끄러워도 되나 싶을 정도로 소란스러워요.”
“(오른쪽) 다 얘 덕분이에요. 얘가 그 어색한 분위기에서 모르는 친구들한테도 엄청 웃으면서 다가갔거든요. 웃는 사람을 보면 웃게 되잖아요. 그렇게 다 무장해제가 돼 버린거죠.”

“(Right) Our class gathered together on the first day of senior year in high school, but I felt super awkward because I was separated from all of my close friends. It seemed like it wasn’t just me, but we were all in the same boat. The awkward atmosphere pervaded the whole class.”
“(Left) It was to the point where the teacher could have come in and commented on how quiet we all were.”
“How is it now?”
“(Left) We’re so noisy now to the point I don’t know if we’re allowed to be this loud.”
“(Right) It’s all thanks to this guy. Even in such an awkward atmosphere, he approached all the other students that he didn’t know with a big smile. And you know, seeing a smiling face makes you smile too. That’s how everyone let their guard down.”

“한살 반 된 아들과 일본에서 여행왔어요.”
“저 인형은 뭔가요?”
“아들의 베이비시터라고 불러요. 태어난 날부터, 언제나 함께 해왔죠. 바나나와 함께 아들이 가장 사랑하는 존재예요.”

“I’m from Japan, traveling with my one-and-a-half-year-old son.”
“What is that figurine?”
“We call it my son’s babysitter. They’ve been together since the day he was born. It’s the thing he loves the most, along with bananas.”

“처음 아내를 만났을 때, ‘유전자가 참 건강해보인다.’라는 생각이 들었어요. 이상하죠. 처음 보는 사람에게 상식적으로…”

“When I first met my wife, I thought, ‘Her genes look so healthy.’ I know it’s weird. It’s nonsensical to think of somebody you saw for the first time like that…”

“아내에게 말했더니 평소에도 사람을 그런 식으로 평가하냐고 하더라고요.”

“When I told my wife, she asked if that’s how I usually judge people.”

“몇 십년 전 어느 겨울이었어. 내가 택시에 손님 태우고 원효대교에서 남단으로 착 내려오는데, 그 엄청 추운 날에 한 사람이 다리에 쪼그려 앉아 있더라고. 그 사람을 지나치는 순간 눈이 딱 마주 쳤는데 굉장히… ‘나 좀 살려주세요’ 하는 처량한 그 눈빛 있잖아. 난 그때 손님도 있고 해서 어떻게 할 수 없었어. 그때 전화를 해서 경찰에 거기 사람 있으니 구조해 달라고 지원요청 하면 되는데, 그걸 안 했어. 아마 딴사람이 하겠지 하는 마음이 있었거든. 지금도 그게 굉장히 마음에 좀 걸려. 그때 그 눈빛이 아직도 잊혀지지 않아. 내 기억에 지금도 선하게 살아있어, 몇 십년이 지났는데도… 사람? 사람이란 그런거야.”

“It was winter, a couple decades ago. I was headed toward the south end of Wonhyo Bridge, driving a customer in my taxi. On that freezing day, I saw a person crouched down on the side of the bridge. In the moment I drove past, our eyes met, and that person looked at me so miserably as if pleading ‘please save me’. Since I had a customer, I couldn’t stop. I could’ve called the police and told them someone needed help, but I didn’t. Because I thought someone else would probably call. To this day, that situation weighs on my heart. I haven’t forgotten the look in that person’s eyes. Their expression is still vivid in my mind, even though this happened so long ago… You ask about humans? This is how humans are.”

“70년을 살아오시면서 사람들에게 하고 싶은 조언이 있다면요?”
“조언은 함부로 하는게 아니라고 생각해.”

“Having lived for 70 years, what advice would you want to give to others?”
“I don’t think advice should be given lightly.”

“28년 동안 회사에 있을 때 수많은 정리해고가 있었어요. 정리해고는 자신의 의지가 아니라, 조직의 논리대로 회사를 떠나게 되는 거잖아요. 퇴직 이후의 삶을 준비할 겨를이 없고, 회사에서 밀려났다는 아픔 때문에 다음의 삶을 잘 보내는 분들이 거의 없더라고요. 그래서 저는 회사를 그만두는 건 반드시 본인이 결정해야 한다고 말하고 싶어요. 제 의지로 그만두는 것을 결정하니까 회사에 대한 아픔이나 울분 같은 것이 없어요. 또 하나 좋은 것은 그만두는 계절을 선택할 수 있다는 점이에요. 정리해고는 꼭 연말에 많잖아요. 하필 추운 겨울에 더 서럽게요. 그래서 후배들한테도 꼭 봄에 그만두라고 말해요. 봄에 그만두면 그냥 길을 걸어도 행복하다고요.”

“There were numerous layoffs while I worked at this company for 28 years. Getting laid off means you have to leave because of the company’s rationale and not by your own will. You don’t have the leisure to prepare for life after retirement, and there’s not many people who have a good life afterwards because of the pain of being pushed out by their company. That’s why I want to say that an individual should decide to quit on their own. Because I decided to quit on my own, I wasn’t left with pain or resentment towards my company. Another good thing is that you get to choose the season in which to quit. Layoffs are always prevalent at the end of the year. Of all the seasons, it’s more sad when it happens in the cold winter. So I tell my juniors to make sure to quit in the springtime. Because if you quit in the spring, you can be happy simply walking outside.”

“아이가 생기고 난 후 제일 바뀐 것은 어떤 게 있나요?”
“삶이 부자연스러워졌어요. 아이가 있으니까 제 생활이 자유롭지 못하게 되었다는 뜻이에요. 사실 이게 제일 힘든 점이기도 하고요. 근데도 생활이 더 자연스럽던 이전으로 다시 돌아가고 싶진 않아요. 지금의 삶도 사랑하고 있거든요.”

“What was the thing that changed the most after your kid was born?”
“Life became unnatural. What I mean is that I haven’t been free to do what I want because I have a kid. Honestly, this also has been the hardest thing for me. But, I don’t want to go back to the past when my life was more natural. I love my life now too.”