iEspere un momento! Espere un momento
please wait for a moment!
“Un momento!!”
Eunsu shouts in Spanish and then speaks again in Korean.
“wait a minute”
She doesn’t understand. Burgos is about 260 kilometers from Saint-Jean-Pied-Port. Peregrino walks here in as little as ten days, but usually takes two weeks. It’s easy to get used to the laid-back Spanish culture, but when you say “Welcome” in Korean, are you suddenly thinking of this as Korea?
Koreans don’t specify a table, but they stride in and sit down. Camarero Momo, who works with me, is Moroccan, and in just a few days, I learned how to make “one kimchi and one jeyuk.” When Momo strode in with exaggerated gestures, turned around and imitated Correa Peregrino by saying, “One piece of kimchi, one piece of pork,” Eunsu’s face turned red. She also got tired of the rudeness of Koreans in just a few days. Now, he leisurely but firmly shoos the rude customers out with an angry expression. And the most common thing to say is, “Un momento, wait a minute.” When you come to Spain, you follow Spanish law. In Spain, the status of the customer and the owner is equal. If you don’t like it, don’t come.
Still, there are some memorable guests. In particular, the few guests who hugged Eunsu were special to her. Eunsu remembers the person she first hugged and patted each other on the back with.
She was unusually small and came in almost in tears. When Eunsu greets you by saying ‘Ola’, he says ‘Ola’ in a low voice like a mosquito. When Eunsu said “Hello” again in Korean, her eyes sparkled for a moment. When Eunsu asked, “Did you come alone?” he answered, as expected, in a mosquito voice, “Alone.” After a pause, he adds, “I took the bus because my legs hurt.”
Eunsu guides her to a bar table for two. It is said that Korean people hate high chairs at bar tables. Nahye told the story of a Korean female pilgrim who sat at a bar table one day.
“How did I get here? They made me sit here like this and gave me spicy kimchi stew even though I told them I couldn’t eat spicy food…” There was also a woman who screamed loudly.
She said she came alone near the end of the store’s business hours. I tried to send Na-hye back, saying that business was over, but she insisted that she had come here with difficulty and that she had to eat some food before leaving. When I asked if kimchi stew was spicy, he said it was moderately spicy, but he said he couldn’t eat spicy food but still wanted kimchi stew. However, he said that the kimchi stew was spicy and that he cried and got angry because they made him sit at the high bar table.
Eunsu finds it easier to hang her legs on the bar table when her legs hurt. And Nahye’s store only has 4 tables for 4 people and 3 bar tables for 2 people. If you seat Koreans indiscriminately, the wait for Korean customers will only end up getting longer.
The woman with a gnat-like voice sat down without making a sound. However, the Spanish old man sits at the bar and keeps talking to Eunsu, even moving his body around. Eunsu looks at him worriedly and Momo says that she is his friend and that it is okay. But she changes her seat. It looks like he feels uncomfortable coming into contact with the Spanish grandfather.
Eunsu said, “Choose slowly.” So, after carefully reading the menu, she ended up choosing kimchi stew and egg rolls. Korean food takes a lot of time. In particular, egg rolls will burn if cooked at the same time as other foods. If you order egg rolls during busy times, Na-hye can’t do it. It’s still early so there aren’t many customers, but Eunsu asks Nahye, “Is it possible to make egg rolls?” I ask. Still, my heart was touched. “He came in with a face that almost looked like he was crying. He said he had to take the bus because his legs were sore.” Add: Na-hye says she will do it.
She says she is worried about whether she should go to the hospital or get a patch because the front of her leg hurts. It is said that while waiting to board the bus, he saw the people he had started walking with in the morning and became angry.
“I can walk too, and I would walk just fine if my legs didn’t hurt…”
It’s not her leg that hurts. It’s a typical Korean’s quick illness. I want to do better than others…
Eunsu brought me egg rolls and kimchi stew and gave me a bowl full of rice. “Let me know if you need more rice.” And then he stepped back. How delightful Korean food must be. I want to give her time to fully enjoy her food.
Soon, other customers come in and take their orders. As they pass by, Eunsu makes eye contact with her. “It’s delicious, right?” When I asked her, she smiled and answered. “Why do I like this everyday thing so much that I don’t eat in Korea?” It’s an absurd laugh.
Peregrinos walk 20-30 kilometers every day, so they have a good appetite, and although Spanish food is a bit salty, it suits Koreans’ tastes well. There is no need to look for Korean food to eat. It is said that even on the way to Burgos, there are bibimbap and salad bars and albergues made by a Korean married to a Spaniard, and a grandmother who sells Korean food through delivery because she wants to learn Korean. However, the Camino usually passes through small rural villages. It is not easy to find Korean food ingredients like in Barcelona or Madrid. Having lived in Spain for over 10 years, there are few places that serve Korean food as well as Nahye’s know-how in skillfully adapting local ingredients to Korean food. Additionally, Burgos is about 260 kilometers from Saint-Jean-Pied-Port. If you walk quickly, it will take 10 days, if you walk slowly, it will take about 2 weeks. The Korean food you suddenly encounter cannot be delicious.
“I will start walking next week.”
When there was some free time, Eunsu spoke to her again. She makes surprised rabbit eyes. When Eunsu walked the Camino in the past, he skipped the Meseta by bus. So, I am planning to walk the Meseta starting next week. He briefly says that he is friends with the owner on the Camino, and that he is currently volunteering at a Korean restaurant.
“European people walk for 10 days, then walk for another 10 days… even if you break it down like that, they walk a lot.”
As I add this, she sighs again.
“Why can’t I think of that? Why try to risk everything at once?”
She keeps sighing as if she is truly pathetic.
“Korea is far away, it took me 27 hours to get to Burgos the other day.”
Eunsu feels touched and speaks softly. For Europeans, it takes an hour or two to get there by plane or by train, but in Korea, it takes 14 hours to fly directly to Paris, Barcelona, or Madrid, and from there, you have to travel another 5-6 hours or more. It’s not an easy road. Even if you take 10 days of vacation, you can’t walk for less than a week, excluding the travel time. How dare you call the Camino the path of the broken hearted or the path of the unemployed? Otherwise, it would be difficult to take more than a month to walk the Camino. Of course, pensioners also walk a lot after retirement.
She cleaned up not only the rice bowl but also the kimchi stew and side dishes.
“I healed myself with Korean food. “Go away, chicken soup of the soul.”
Even people who thought it was tacky to try Korean food while traveling abroad find themselves looking for Korean food on the arduous Camino. They say that the Camino de Santiago is the most beautiful road in the world, but anyway, walking 800 kilometers on two feet and walking alternately between mountain paths and asphalt while carrying a backpack weighing more than 10 kilograms is difficult. No matter how hard it is to buy it.
“Koreans, after all, have a passion for food! “Kimchi stew is the best.”
She must have had fun watching Eunsu play around with Momo’s fumbling in English, Spanish, and Korean.
“You speak Korean well.” Do it.
Eunsu said, “Momo is from Morocco, but she speaks Spanish and English well. My girlfriend is Korean, so I speak a little Korean. “He has language skills.” He looks at Momo with envious eyes. Momo smiles when Eunsu makes eye contact with a customer while speaking in Korean.
Eunsu gestures to Momo and says, “Call me sister,” and Momo calls her “noona.” She likes it and says, “Oh my gosh.” She smiled brightly for the first time after entering the store.
