In the hands of a master

Anyone can take a piece of wood and attempt to make something out of it, but it takes someone with a lot of skill and creativity to turn that wood into a masterpiece. Whether it be carpentry, sculpting, carving, or any type of craftsmen work, Mr. Young is the answer to them all.

His works are pretty popular around the island and sell upwards of 30,000,000 won. It takes a lot of time and patience to do what he does, and that's probably why he is so good at it. He's a very laid back individual, who doesn't mind taking his time with his work so that it gets done right the first time.

I consider myself to be a lucky individual as normally I would be paying tens of thousands of won for the lesson...instead, all he asks is that I help him with his English, and believe me, its a lot easier than a classroom full of kindergartens. Most of his students speak English as well, so as far as making conversation goes, its pretty easy.



Its only my second lesson and I'm already thinking about all the things I could make for my apartment or my family back home, but first, I have to learn the ways of woodworking. This week we took it a bit easier, as Mr. Young wanted to learn more about me and my interests. Due to the fact that I arrived just shortly before dinner, I only had time enough to do some quick engraving. Earlier in the week, I had received some pieces of an orange tree that had been fashioned into key chains. I took one and started drawing...



He invited me out to his place for dinner, and together with some of his other students, we sat around a traditional Korean table that was shaped like the island of Jeju. It was a cross section of a tree that just naturally took that shape and it was probably around 150 years old. We started out the evening with some popular Korean wine, makgeolli (pronounced mac-ko-li).

Its sort of an off white colour and tastes somewhat like sparkling water, and has about the same amount of alcohol as a beer. Traditionally you shake the bottle vigorously before pouring, and when you do pour it, usually its put into a teapot and then poured into these tin bowls. However, not everyone has a teapot on hand, so straight to the bowl from bottle is acceptable when out drinking in public. When a Korean sees you drinking makgeolli, especially an elderly male, they will be quite impressed by your choice; Naturally, Mr. Young was happy to see me show up with a bottle of it in my hands.

Looking around his living quarters, the room is almost completely filled with various tables and pieces of work, some still unfinished.



After spending a few moments to take a look around, it was time to rejoin my host and his other guests for some dinner. Mrs. Young made up a delicious winter salad and a kind of red chili sauce squid dish. I never tried squid before, so I thought this might be a good time. It didn't really have much taste, but it was rather chewy. The rest of the dish had sauteed onions, carrots, and peppers in it, so it made a nice balance. With a bowl of makgeolli's, it was a delightful meal.

Besides being a master craftsmen, apparently he is also champion dog breeder, as well as a music collector. He showed me some pictures from his dog breeding days (he still has four dogs around the house, all cute and cuddly) and put on a Kenny Rogers LP album; it sounded fantastic. Looking around at his stereo, he boasts quite the impressive collection of analogue stereo components.



We listened to some wonderful Gaelic music, which from the lyrics I assume was from somewhere on the east coast of Canada; it made me feel right at home. He also put on some French music which also sounded Canadian, I did some translating for everyone...well, the best I could. He put on some Korean music next, which had a very Santana feel to it, he was even kind enough to give me a CD of the artist.



We chatted for a couple of hours about various interests and cultural differences; it was a good way to start off our relationship. Next week is New Years, so we're taking a break, but the following week I'll be back again for another lesson with the master. Here's a little video of the finished key chain, Mr. Young did the maple leaf while I engraved the Dol Hareubang on the other side.