A house dug into the mid-slope of Jirisan: Kwak Jung-sik's mountain paradise

The production crew also said the slope was no joke. He met me in that embrace of nature. He climbed the steep mountainside without hesitation, along a path the crew themselves said was no joke.

Kwak Jung-sik said the shiitake are really plump, noting the stems are thick and the caps are dense. He said summer shiitake were not this thick. Since the cool wind came, the shiitake have clearly changed, in his judgment.

He said the aroma and flavor change, and that because they're plump they're chewy, which is why the meat tastes good. The harvest window has passed and some have opened, but they are still fresh.

Other shiitake fields have neatly erected logs, but Jung-sik's field is messy. When asked why, he laughed and said, 'Oh, it's because I'm lazy.' He confessed that it was hard to do this when he got here, and hard to drill through. He calls it his 'free-style farming method.'

Still, he admitted that because the altitude is high, the aroma and taste really are different. He acknowledged that, apart from laziness, altitude affects the mushrooms' quality.

Kwak Jung-sik said fresh mushrooms are white and savory. Sweet flavor forms in between, and he said autumn gives so much. Eating these when bored in winter tastes really good.

He said that for the long winter ahead, you have to work hard this autumn. Partway through the interview, a cool breeze happened to blow in.

Kwak Jung-sik introduced the place as an underground house. He deliberately dug out the existing ground and built the house underground, and he also placed storage-like structures underground.

He gave three reasons for building underground: it seemed cheaper to build, he believed it would be warm in winter and cool in summer, and he wanted to build something a bit different from others. Recently he began making a greenhouse garden on the above-ground level. He said that once the landscaping is done and there is floor-to-ceiling glass looking out at Jirisan, it will be very impressive.

Kwak Jung-sik showed the space he lives in now. This is the bedroom, and it was originally the living room; he deliberately pulled the bed outward to get a view. It had been in the main bedroom, and he brought it out.

He said that seen this way, you can see everything from anywhere. It is a layout where you lie down in the room and look out like this.

This is a spot where a single line passes by on screen without evidence or examples.

As soon as morning broke, Jung-sik headed to the hillside behind to collect soil. He distinguished red soil as jeokto and yellow as hwangto. Winter is approaching, so the earthen walls need repair. Jirisan's winters are unusually long and cold.

He said this spot broke and is cracked nearby, but patching it would be enough. Just plastering over with soil would do, yet the wall's condition looked serious. Because the earthen wall was made to fit the cave house, replacing it is not easy. The subtitle 'because it's a hand-made job' seems to mean it doesn't take much material or effort, rather than being labor-intensive.

Kwak Jung-sik said he had made a temporary earthen wall because he was in a hurry, but once he made it like that, it still didn't work. So he is tearing it out and redoing it. Because the wall is custom-fitted to the cave house, replacing it is difficult, and annual repairs have become part of daily life.

Kwak Jung-sik introduced them as not quite bonsai, but old trees and things he had raised before. Natural stones are hard to find, and he said natural stones are best. He described going around and, whenever he sees a stone, bringing it home like a madman. Others don't care at all, but he brings them back. A small stone with a little wrapping would look pretty.

He said the cypress needs nothing special, just leaving it alone. He started bonkyeong to steady a troubled mind. To place a stone, you have to dig a pit.

Kwak Jung-sik said he didn't imagine at first that it would be this fun. He thought he would only suffer, but as he settled in one by one, he said, 'Oh, it has become so comfortable.'

He summed up that finding joy in small things led him to greater happiness.

He expressed that he doesn't want to go down after living by his own rules.

He said he lives freely in this moment, as his heart tells him to.