Back to school? Wood shop please!

When my director told me that we were going to be meeting at the school at 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday, I wasn't impressed. We all do what we need to do to survive, and in this case, the school was doing exactly that; They got us up bright and early so that we could advertise in front of a local elementary school.

Despite cutting into my sleeping time, I didn't get the worst of it, as some of the staff who had to travel from Jeju city had to get up even earlier to make the 50+ minute drive here.

During the week our staff had put together about a thousand of these "gift bags" for our short campaign. There was about a dozen boxes or so stacked away in the office, which we moved out to the school on Saturday.



Basically I was the attraction of the advertising, we handed out gift bags with free teaching hours in them and information pamphlets about our school. Perhaps we would have done better if I was dressed as a clown...maybe not, either way we attracted some attention from the kids and their parents who were dropping them off. I opted to wear a nice shirt and tie, complete with dress pants and shoes, something that I'm glad to say I'm not required to do while teaching.

Unlike in North America, all kids here go to school on Saturday. Although it is a shorter day, usually ending sometime around lunch. Still, none of the kids I saw looked very happy to be out at 8:00 am on a Saturday morning; the feeling was mutual.



The strange thing I noticed was that instead of grass, there was sand on the playground/field...and no beach volleyball court either. Anyway, in a matter of minutes the grounds were stormed with children, many who very surprised to see a foreigner greeting them at the entrance.

I saw a few of my students and exchanged greetings with them as they walked to school; it made me feel a bit more comfortable. I thought we did quite well for such a short period, handing out almost all of our bags. Even though I'm sure a good percentage will end up in the garbage, every little bit helps. I was told that if we got between 3-5 new students it would be considered a big success.

By 8:40, almost all students had arrived, and so we decided to head back to our school for some breakfast. We were served what I was told would be oatmeal, but instead more resembled a rice soup with vegetables in it. After a small bowl and a cup of coffee we all left for home; I went back to bed.

Only a few short hours later, I arranged to meet with one of the teachers, Mrs. Kim, from my school. She introduced me to a friend of hers, whom was a Korean wood craftsmen and sculptor. I was very excited at the prospect of getting some free lessons, in exchange for making conversation with him.

I expected someone who probably didn't speak any English, but he spoke quite well for someone who taught himself. We didn't really have any trouble understanding one another, as you learn quickly how to fill in the blanks. Something which comes only natural from being in such an environment.

After an exchange of greetings and a small tour, she left me at his shop for the afternoon. Together with a few other students, some of which also spoke some English, we started working on our projects. Lesson One: How to make a traditional Korean cutting board.



I was promptly given a few pieces of wood and told to sand all the edges off them. Using an electric belt sander, I made quick work of the board and two legs and moved on to step two, gluing the pieces together.

Mr. Young has been working with woodcraft and sculpting for over forty years, and used to work making children's puzzle games. I felt quite honored to be taking a class from someone as skilled as him.

After gluing on the legs (which only slightly raised the height of the board) to the bottom of the board, Mr. Young started shaving some of the pieces, adjusting it so that it was balanced.



Next we stopped to have a noodle snack with some hot tea and sweet-bean paste filled biscuits, of course served with some homemade kimchi. The third and final step to the board was to brush a bit of olive oil onto it, thereby somewhat coating the board with a finish. I asked about possibly putting an engraving onto it, but he recommended that I didn't, since the wood we were using, Jeju cedar, was too soft. However, I decided to try anyway, as I was inspired by his work he had shown me earlier around his home.

After a few trial runs on some spare pieces of wood, I sketched a Dol Hareubang (a grandfather stone, a kind of jeju island mascot and icon) with the symbols for Jeju-do (Jeju island) onto my cutting board. I think I did remarkably well and Mr. Young was impressed with my work. He said none of his students had never really tried doing engraving before, and certainly not in their first lesson. Something I hope to do more of next class...



In all, it was quite an enjoyable afternoon for everyone. It reminded me a lot of junior high wood shop class, and it brought back some good memories. I got to meet his students and Mr. Young has invited me for dinner for next weekend; I've been told that his barbecuing skills are equally impressive...I guess we'll find out soon.