Choppin Wood...

So this weekend was kinda interesting. A while back ago, I got a call from one of the upperclassmen who asked me to go to Prof. Lee's studio/house on Sat. I thought that this was a pretty standard thing and thought that, perhaps, it was a mini-field trip to check out the studio and the wood-kiln that he has. I was wrong...oh soo wrong.

I later found out that it was just the guys from the ceramics program (5 guys out of 41 students) and so i thought that there was something kinda funny about that. We were to meet at the school studio at 6:30 in the AM and make our 1.5 hr drive out of Seoul to Prof Lee's studio. We were going to be choppin' wood.

We had to pick up some students on the way, but at about 9:30, we arrived at the ol' prof's studio where we were greeted by the man himself with a nice big grin...as he was sharpening axes that is. Quick little tour of the studio was given to me by one of the upperclassmen and we were fed our breakfast of lumberjackian proportions. and it was off to wack the wood.

i never really chopped wood before. actually i do recall splitting some logs, but these pieces of wood were no joke - huge. but i threw my back into it and starting to chop away...chopped for a few hours until about 1, where we were to eat our second huge-ass meal. and again...back to chopping wood. until about dinner which was at about 7:30. so all day we chopped wood. and although it sounds kinda sucky, it actually was pretty nice. we were in the country with some fresh air, releasing stress choppin wood...and yes i even got to feel a little bit more manly as i swung my ax and split the wood with a crack. a great bonding experience as I learned who my male classmates were.

but...it didn't stop there. after dinner, we had to mix up some clay and get it ready for the prof's use the next day. another few hours in the clay room churning out pounds and pounds (or should i say kilos and kilos) of clay.

but finally at 12:30 AM we were relieved of our duty and started our drive home. that night was hard. if i moved in my sleep my body reminded me that i was totally used and if i didn't move, the blisters on my hand (some of which were already popped and very raw) pulsed pain which surprisingly reverberated through my body. i had gotten great work-out...

but during that time, i thought that this was actually a good experience. i guess i felt like Peter (Office Space) in the last few minutes of the movie as he had left his job at a high-tech firm and was working as a construction-man. Fuckin'-A.