Our story

How Goofy Stance began

It was on the drive back to Seoul after my first surf.

I was scared, excited, and felt like something new was starting. All the weight I'd carried from the city washed away into the sea, and before the drive was over I already wanted to come back.

I became a weekend surfer, driving to Yangyang again and again, until I finally settled by the sea. Then she left her life in Canada behind to join me. In the spring of 2026 we fixed up and painted the shop with our own hands, and in June we opened a small café by Namae 3-ri beach.

I hope everyone who stops by leaves with the feeling of that first drive home from the sea.

The owner pouring water over a dripper at the coffee bar — One cup at a time.

Building the shop

Building it by hand

This used to be a shop that sold wetsuits. From spring until summer 2026, we built the café piece by piece ourselves: plastering the walls, running the wiring, laying pipes under the floor and building the counter.

The empty shop with wooden blinds, before construction — The first day we saw it. It used to sell wetsuits.

Shop walls being plastered gray — We plastered the walls gray ourselves.

A table saw and miter saw in the empty shop — Tools came in, and we started cutting wood.

A wooden frame built over pipes and wires under the floor — Sorting out the pipes and wires, then building the frame.

A sink and counter built on a dark painted platform — Painting the wood and putting the counter together.

The owner standing in front of the finished counter — And then the coffee machine arrived.

We painted the round sign out front ourselves too, right over the old one, using leftover materials. I drew Munggae, and she did the lettering.

The original round sign lit up at night — The old round sign.

She holds up the finished lettered sign with a big smile, Munggae lying behind her — The day the lettering was done. Her handwriting.

The owner sitting on the shop floor at night holding the Munggae sign he painted, Munggae lying behind — The night the Munggae drawing was done. The real Munggae watched.

The finished sign leaning against the counter with Munggae resting beside it — A short rest with Munggae before hanging it.

The Munggae-drinking-coffee sign hanging on the shop wall under a blue sky — And up it went.

A painting of a breakwater and lighthouse under a crescent moon, used on our bean card

The name

Why "Goofy Stance"

In surfing, your stance depends on which foot you put forward on the board. Most surfers ride "regular," with the left foot forward. Riding with the right foot forward is called "goofy." I ride goofy.

Goofy isn't wrong. It's just different. To ride a wave, you have to lead with the foot that feels right for your body.

It's okay to lead with a different foot than everyone else. You just need to find the stance that fits you.

So Goofy Stance cheers on people standing on a board for the first time, and people who've lost their way for a while. I was one of them.

Munggae

Munggae, our shop dog

Munggae with a tilted head in front of the shop's wooden wall — Munggae today, guarding the shop

The dog in our logo is Munggae, who used to wander the beach before becoming part of our family. A dog with nowhere to go found a home by the sea. That's part of the Goofy Stance story too, and it's why you're welcome to bring your dog.

A Goofy Stance postcard with 'Heart on the sea' written over a photo of Namae beach at sunset

"The sea is His, for He made it."

Psalm 95:5