My parents decided to leave city life behind and returned to the countryside as farmers. Our family was excited at first, and we planted various crops.
Among them, the one that sticks out in my memory is sweet potatoes.
I remember it clearly because the harvest was so labor-intensive. We harvested other crops as needed, whenever we wanted to eat them. But sweet potatoes required a full day of harvesting, scheduled in advance.
Sweet potatoes thrive in barren soil. But our land was so fertile that there were earthworms everywhere. This made it really hard to grow sweet potatoes.
The lesson learned from sweet potato farming is that they taste best when they are store-bought. Still, it was rewarding to see my parents enjoy farming so much.
thrive - to grow, develop, or be successful
barren - unable to produce plants or fruit
store-bought - bought in a shop and not made at home
be sore - suffering bodily pain from wounds, bruises, etc.
우리 부모님은 도시 생활을 정리하고 귀농하셨다. 처음에 우리 가족은 설레는 마음으로 이것저것 다양한 작물을 심었다.
그중 가장 기억에 남는 작물은 고구마다. 그 이유는 수확하는데 너무 힘들었기 때문이다. 다른 작물은 먹고 싶을 때마다 필요한 만큼 수확했다. 하지만 고구마는 미리 계획을 세워 하루 종일 수확해야 했다.
고구마는 척박한 토양에서 잘 자란다. 하지만 우리 밭은 너무 비옥해서 지렁이가 많았다. 그래서 고구마를 재배하기가 정말 어려웠다.
고구마 농사를 통해 배운 교훈은 고구마는 사 먹는 것이 가장 맛이 좋다는 것이다. 그래도 부모님이 농사를 좋아하시는 모습을 보니 뿌듯했다.
- It takes courage to leave city life behind. / I want to leave city life behind after I retire.
- That class sticks out in my memory for some reason. / There is one scene from the movie that sticks out in my memory.
- The store-bought versions don’t taste the same. / Did you make that yourself or is it store-bought?
A: Did you mention you harvested sweet potatoes from your parents’ field?
B: Yes, they were so big and deeply rooted that it took all day to harvest them.
A: Oh, that sounds like rough going.
B: I got bitten by mosquitoes at least 20 times. I was sore all over.
A: Didn’t you say you have to go again next week?
B: Yes, my parents asked for help again, but I’m trying to find an excuse to get out of it.
