Description 작품 소개
A parenting diary by a journalist and mother living in Berlin, whose worries about settling into a foreign city soon give way to learning to grow along with her child. What would it be like to raise a child in Germany, one of the most popular nations of Europe, in a city like Berlin that’s now a brand unto itself? It’s exciting even just to imagine it, but in practice you come to realize that it’s better to raise children in a familiar environment. But what should you do if the circumstances force you to leave home?
This book is a parenting diary recording the experiences of the author, a reporter named Nam Jeong-mi, during the year she spent living in Berlin after her husband was assigned there as a correspondent. The author is a cautious and hardworking newspaper reporter who clocks in and out of work on time and always keeps her deadlines. The sudden upheaval of her life to leave for a foreign country and raise her child there is an adventure even for a mother who also happens to be a reporter, but she soon finds herself setting aside her worries as caring for her child allows her to learn both how to get along in Berlin and how to live as a parent. Savoring an energy as healthy and fresh as if walking in Mauerpark, we enter into this book.
Germans approach childrearing with a healthy practicality. Korea offers the term “forest influence area,” referring to housing with a park or forest nearby to allow residents to experience nature even in the middle of a city. But in Berlin, everywhere is a forest influence area, as the long separation into West and East Berlin has prevented any large-scale development. Berliners have this to thank for their ability to live within nature at all times, everywhere they go. The children of Berlin wear clothes they can dirty with impunity and play without a care. The parenting practices of German parents are so rendered all the more novel from a Korean perspective. Unlike Koreans, Germans still carry rings of keys, and their postal delivery service leaves something to be desired. Through a year of daily life in Berlin, we can dive deeper into this charming city than can is possible in a mere visit.
It takes time to learn how to be a new family. The birth of a child means the addition of a new family member. Past the acclimation period when all is awkward and clumsy for child and parent alike, they grow closer with each passing day. The author considers a model of childrearing that gives full marks to both child and parent, one which does not focus solely on the child but remains fun and enjoyable for every member of the family, including children.
There are no expectations.