What I Bought Yesterday

What is this? Lipstick? No, I should wear lipstick but I don't. Pencil sharpener? Nope. Give up?
It's a dojong, a Korean name stamp. Curt calls them chops but I think he got name from his travels in Asia.



This is a picture of my friend, Ji Young as we watch the guy design the dojong. First, he types my name in Hangul (Korean written language) into a computer and the program gives me several fonts for me to choose from.


A picture of the different fonts for my donjong. I chose the one in the second row, third in from the left. I thought it was the coolest looking.

This is the machine that laser cut out my name. It took about a minute. The dojong was plastic but you can get them out of wood and even jade.

Here it is done.

This is my name in Hangul. I found it funny that they only use red ink when they stamp their names and since writing your name in red is taboo, I wondered at the contradiction. I asked Ji Young about it and she hadn't thought about it until I mentioned it and she too thought it was strange.

The dojong is how Koreans sign important papers such as bank documents. I did notice when I went to the bank that the counter had red ink pads and now I know why. I also know why the size for a signature even when you use your VISA is so tiny, use your dojong.

Cost for my dojong: 23,000 WON (approximately $23.00 U.S.) but truly priceless for the memories it created. What a great way to spend my Thanksgiving Day! Dinner was Japanese and it made me miss my turkey dinner at least for a little while.