16 September 2012
A friend we met at orientation came to visit us this weekend. Original plans fell through, so after our visit to the art gallery in Cheonan, which was small but full of some interesting pieces, we decided to make an impromptu visit to the famous hot springs spa for which our Korean hometown, Asan, is well known.
First, perhaps, I should lay out some information on spas in Korea. They are called jimjilbangs, and Koreans frequent them quite often. Here is a little bit on jimjilbangs a la Wikipedia:
"A Jjimjilbang (찜질방) is a large, gender-segregated public bathhouse in Korea, furnished with hot tubs, showers, Finnish-style saunas, and massage tables. Jjimjil is derived from the words meaning heated bath. However, in other areas of the building or on other floors there are unisex areas, usually with a snack bar, ondol-heated floor for lounging and sleeping, wide-screen TVs, exercise rooms, ice rooms, heated salt rooms, PC bang, noraebang (karoake), and sleeping quarters with either bunk beds or sleeping mats. Many of the sleeping rooms can have themes or elements to them. Usually Jjimjilbangs will have various rooms with different temperatures to suit your preferred relaxing temperature. They inlay the walls with different woods, minerals, crystals, stones, and metals. This is to make the ambient mood and smell more natural. Often the elements used have traditional Korean medicinal purposes in the various rooms."
My thoughts were, "Well, that small description will prepare me for what I am about to experience, right?" Come on, folks, this is Korea! Nothing can prepare you for what you will encounter here!
After an incredibly long bus ride, we finally decided to just grab a taxi and head over to the spa. It was a good thing we took a cab, by the way, since the distance between where I thought the spa was and where it actually is was a good seven or eight kilometers (about five miles for you 'Mericans out there). When the taxi driver passed the place where I was sure the spa was supposed to be and headed out for the Asan countryside, I admit that my imagination began to create awful scenarios in which I had led my unsuspecting husband and friend into a foreigner's nightmare. I pictured myself having to carry out swift ninja-like punishments on the gang of cab drivers/thieves who were going to assault us and force us into their lives of organized crime as their English-speaking counterparts. OK. Maybe that's a little extreme. Let's just say I was nervous I had not communicated effectively and we were going to end up in the middle of nowhere with a gigantic fare to pay.
When I saw the sign for the spa, thankfully written in English as well as Hangul, I breathed a sigh of relief and stopped worrying we were going to have to hitchhike our way home, penniless and without a Korean phrase book. We uttered our thanks to the taxi driver, paid about 12 bucks for what would've been a $30 cab ride in NYC, and went inside.
For 8,000 won, about $8, we gained admission and were given some sort of numbered, electronic key card that you wear around your wrist like a watch. With this, we were able to open our first locker, a shoe locker. Remember that, in Korea, you must take off your shoes before entering an indoor area. After we deposited our shoes, we headed out to find the locker rooms. When we found them, we parted company, agreeing to meet in the lobby in two hours. The Hubby went off alone to the men's area, and our friend and I proceeded to join the rest of the women.
We walked into the locker room where rows and rows of numbered lockers greeted us. There had to have been at least 4000 lockers in all. Here's where I started to realize I wasn't in Kansas anymore, Toto. Women of all ages, shapes, sizes, etc. were all walking around. Completely. Stark. Naked. Not a stitch, friends. And no self-consciousness to boot. My friend and I found our lockers, looked at each other, shrugged, and then stripped. Talk about vulnerable! When in Rome, though. When we started for the actual spa area, I saw some small towels, which Koreans use as bath towels, but which are roughly the size of hand towels in the States. About two feet by one foot. As soon as I saw them, I grabbed one to try to preserve a modicum of modesty. It didn't cover much, but it provided the smallest bit of security. Then we went to the shower area. You are supposed to shower before entering the rest of the spa area. Afterwards, I looked around, my eyes huge and mouth gaping, as I saw what looked like an all female nudist colony on vacation. In the larger area were about ten small pools. Some had whirlpools and were called "health baths," some had just still, hot spring water, some were cold (for contracting your pores once the hot baths had opened them), and a couple were filled with green liquid, which we found out (from one woman who was very kind and spoke English with us) were infused with some sort of healing herb. (The Hubby, reading this entry over my shoulder, has just informed me, with chagrin, that the men did not have a healing herb bath. Guess the ladies are special.) We tried a little time in each type of pool and all the saunas as well. There was a "fog room" (steam room), a regular sauna, and a charcoal room in which large logs of charcoal lined the walls and gave off a sort of earthy aroma therapy. In each room was a little hourglass with sand, which you were supposed to flip over when you entered to ensure that you stayed there just the right amount of time.
I have to say, too. I am already stared at in Korea a lot, due to my freckled, fair skin and red hair, but it is really disconcerting for everyone to stare at you while you are totally naked. It was pretty surreal. As I looked around while soaking, though, I realized that this whole naked bathing thing was so not out of the ordinary for everyone - except for me and my American friend. Kids played in the cooler pools, splashing around and having fun; grandmothers and mothers relaxed and chatted while keeping one eye trained on the kids. It was like a normal day at the pool in the U.S. Except for the nakedness.
After about one hour, we decided that two had been a little ambitious, and went to the last area - the scrubbing area. The scrubbing area consisted of faucets with moveable shower heads placed in front of mirrors, giant pump bottles full of body wash, and buckets, which had been turned over to provide seats. Here, the women scrub away to exfoliate their skin, and often the skin of each other. There are even massage tables where you can be professionally scrubbed by a therapist, for a fee. We realized afterward that there were actually vending machines in the locker room to dispense small scrubbing mitts in case you had forgotten to bring your own.
After we dried off, we went back to our lockers to get dressed again and went to meet the hubby in the lobby. We had been waiting about ten minutes before I saw him and flagged him over to where we were sitting. He looked a little shaken, but none the worse for wear. The poor guy had had to experience the whole thing by himself - if you don't count the dozens of Korean men that were in there with him.
We left the spa, hailed a cab, and headed for home. Relaxed? Yes! Enlightened a bit more about Korean culture? Indubitably! Excited about the next jimjilbang experience? Ummmm.... Still weirded out about being naked in front of a plethora of strangers while we lounged together in a hot tub? You bet!!!
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