Noh Joo-hyun's Jajangmyeon and Woolen Pants: The Romance and Deprivation of Those Days Brought by 'Dongchimi'

There are landscapes that remain as vivid memories precisely because they were times when deficiency was taken for granted. In the recently aired 'Dongchimi', the cast members took time to summon their respective childhoods and memories of their heyday, sharing the lifestyles of those times and the romance contained within them.

"The happiness of a bowl of jajangmyeon"... The taste of childhood remembered by Noh Joo-hyun

Actor Noh Joo-hyun recalled his childhood memories of receiving abundant love from his mother. Having grown up in a Hanok, he shared memories of his older brother eating American sliced bread with cheese spread on it, which he had hidden under the bookshelf, and reminisced about the time his mother ran a Geummun bakery near Pagoda Park. At that time, after he finished school, his mother would take him to a Chinese restaurant to buy him jajangmyeon, and when circumstances were good, she would gift him a special outing accompanied by tangsuyuk.

Memories of precious snacks from those days also continued. Noh Joo-hyun mentioned Japanese caramel that his mother used to buy from department stores. Since caramel was a precious item back then, his mother would prioritize him, which was also the reason he monopolized the affection among his siblings. He added that he cannot forget the taste of that time, to the point that he keeps a certain brand of milk caramel in stock at home so it never runs out.

"A meal eaten after vomiting and hardship"... A time where deprivation and romance intersected

The cast members' stories did not stop merely at memories of abundance. One cast member brought up a memory of traveling to Masan for a representative selection competition during their 5th grade year in elementary school. Jajangmyeon was provided for the first time to the children selected as school representatives, but they shared a painful memory of vomiting due to eating too much jajangmyeon while traveling by bus through winding mountain roads, leading them to avoid jajangmyeon currently.

On the other hand, romance was evident in the part where they reminisced about the tight-knit bonds of their unknown days. A scene was mentioned where, during the hard times of handing out flyers for a theater performance, a director would treat the hardworking actors to a company dinner at a Chinese restaurant next to the National Theater of Korea in Myeong-dong. The atmosphere of the scene, contemplating menus such as jajangmyeon, jajang udon, and fried rice, was a part that showed the affection of those hungry times.

Changes in living environments were also a major topic. Stories continued about the days when there were no toilets in every house and people had to use public latrines, the scenes of neighborhood children gathering to wait, or having to knit clothes and pants themselves using wool that the father brought through bartering. In particular, the life wisdom of the era, such as using steam to flatten and reuse thread when it was lacking, came as an unfamiliar scene to the current generation.

Lunchboxes and Ggulggul-i-juk, slices of the past met through personal belongings

On this day, the cast members added depth to the conversation through actual belongings that prove the lifestyle of that time. Old lunchboxes and side dish containers featuring 'Candy Candy' reproduced the lunch hour scenes of children at that time. Anecdotes such as the difficulty caused when lunchboxes placed on top of a stove leaked soup, or typical lunchbox menus consisting of kimchi, anchovy, red pepper stir-fried fish, and rolled omelets, were shared. At that time, female students also carried their lunchboxes in their bags.

Materials containing the sorrows of impoverished times also appeared. The story of the era when they had to eat 'Ggulggul-i-juk' (pig slop) using containers that held food scraps from US military bases added weight to the conversation, simultaneously reflecting the individual histories of those who had to experience both a glamorous past and rapid changes in household circumstances.

Source: original video (YouTube)