Want To See My Dojong?

I hope the answer is yes. Yesterday, on the way home from school, I stopped at a store that makes key copies and dojongs. Dojong is the Korean name stamp. Koreans use these stamps to "sign" official documents with red ink. It's very cool. I wanted one.

In the shop I picked out the style handle I wanted. I purchased a carved wooden handle. It has birds and deer and cranes flying and trees carved on it. Ms. Lee informed me that they were all symbols for a long life and good health. I said I'd settle for the good health (still recouping from my weekend of food poisoning). I then wrote my name in Korean for the woman who worked there, she spoke no English.

The woman typed my name into a computer program which made it into the fancy convoluted letters that are on the dojong. She nudged it so it would fit just right. Then she clamped my blank dojong into the machine and the computer went to work. It took about 10 minutes for the machine to slowly and surely carve out the stamp. It was very cool to watch. When the machine was done, she took a chisel and cleaned up the stamp, used a toothbrush on it to get rid of the sawdust, and sanded it down. She used the stamp to show me.

I'm going to use this stamp on all of my letters and things that I send back home. So, if you want a letter with my personal dojong name stamp, you should probably email me your address. Give me some time, and you'll get something from me.