Department of French Language & Literature

Park Maré-Maria Department of French Language &Literature
Park Maré-Maria
Department of French Language &Literature

Sometimes, we become passionate for something in an unexpected way, just like the movie The Hobbit: An unexpected journey. This was exactly what happened to me during the long and stressful quarantine. It may seem paradoxical to get interested in something in such a difficult and hopeless time. But in my case, I found the hobby of my life: it was baking!

 

To be honest, baking was not something completely unexpected for me. Actually, I got interested in it as a kid. With my mother, we often had a wonderful time making cakes and cookies and eating them together with pleasure. However, as I entered middle school and got busy, I could not spare time for baking. Because it is an activity which requires different materials and a lot of time, it was not a suitable hobby for a student who has to spend most of the time studying. Eventually, having a busy time in middle and high school, I completely forgot about the passion I had for baking.

 

After I entered university, I had to spend most of my time at home due to the lockdown. I tried different things to escape from my routine. I watched all the movies I planned to watch, read books, played piano and did almost everything I could do at home. However, because I lost the passion I had for baking, I never thought of baking and even thought that it was a hassle.

 

Then one day, my brother joined an online meeting room where people gathered to make cream puffs together. He asked me if I wanted to participate. At first, I refused his proposition because it felt like annoying work. But after a few moments, I heard my brother having a good time baking and talking to others, while I was having a boring time just watching something on YouTube hoping that time would pass by. So, I asked him if I could join it and then became one of the “cream puff members”. With my brother, we prepared the ingredients, mixed them, put the mixture in a small round shape and also made the cream filling. While baking, we made mistakes: we flipped plates, shapes were unequal and the like. But we still found it amusing. It also brought back all the good memories I had about baking when I was younger.

 

After that day, I missed the feelings I had when I baked with my mother as a child. So, I picked up a recipe book and started to devote myself to baking. I made chocolate cookies, castella bread and honey bread. It felt like I was brought back to my childhood. Moreover, time passed quickly when I was concentrating on baking, so there was no time to get bored. All the stress that the lockdown caused was finally recovered by finding the right hobby.

 

It is true that the spread of COVID-19 and the following quarantine lowered the quality of our lives. However, even in difficult situations, I think we can still find something worthy. It can be an activity just like me, it can be a book, or it can also be a person. And I believe finding these precious things can make life better. So, if you are having a difficult time, instead of doing nothing, try to find something “precious”!

저작권자 © Ewha Voice 무단전재 및 재배포 금지