Balsam fingernail polish

Bits and pieces of the Korean culture

     As I was walking from the bus stop to my house on quiet Kardinia Street, where people are rarely seen, I again saw my elderly neighbor squatting on the ground watering and trimming her flower bed.  Her garden is the best around my neighborhood, my family unanimously agreed.  No wonder she is one of the few visible neighbors among the invisibles who let the automatic sprinklers do the watering.

     My neighbor's impressive garden reminded me of a small flower bed my mother had tended when I was small.  This was of course long before high-rise apartments were in fashion in Korea.

     My younger sister and I used to pick the pink balsam from that garden to tint our fingernails.  We pounded the balsam into a paste and put it on our fingernails.  When pounding, we of course didn't forget to add white alum powder to brighten and clarify the color.  We wrapped and tied our fingers tight to make sure the balsam paste would not fall off while we were sleeping.  I now wonder why we did this right before we went to bed instead of during the daytime.  As soon as we woke up the next morning, we would gingerly unwrap the coverings and yell with a joy to see the tomato red fingernails.

     The idea of tinting my daughter's and my fingernails with balsam dawned on me!  My daughter will be exhilarated.  It will be really fun, I thought.  Of course, we will apply the balsam paste in the morning during the weekend so that it will sit safely on our nails throughout the day.  What an idea!  I'd better hurry home.

(From Bits and Pieces of the Korean Culture, 2000)

계절이 우리와 반대인 호주에 1년간 안식년으로 있으면서 쓴 글입니다.