NEWS FLASH: The cafeteria had spaghetti with meat sauce for lunch yesterday! (The sauce was Koreanized; it had the infamous red chili paste. But still good.)
찜질방 is a public bath/spa house. Out of respect for myself and the other ETAs who went, no pictures. (No cameras at the 찜질방!)
Besides the Camp Fulbright (see end of post) activity we had to run, we had the weekend to ourselves. For studying, for shopping, for going out, for.......cultural activities. The OCs organized a trip to a jjimjilbang on Sunday. We've heard some things from the former ETAs, mostly they went with their homestay families, and it was awkward, due to the nakedness. Yes, nakedness. Everyone baths together in same-sex baths. Naturally, being American, we were apprehensive. My logic was that I'd rather be uncomforatable with my also uncomfortable friends rather than my homestay family. Besides, if it was super-awkward and charring, I don't have to see them again after orientation.
So I went.
And I would go again.
There isn't as much nudity as you (or as I first) would imagine. We arrived, we paid and received the jjimjilbang garments (loose shirt and shorts), we changed, we altered hot and cold rooms, we tossed our clothes to go to the bath room, we altered cold and hot tubs, we showered, we got dressed in our original clothes, and we left. We were only fully exposed when changing, walking into the bathroom, changing tubs, and showering. Not even for that long.
For 7,000won, you get access to the jjimjilbang and sauna garments (loose shirt & knee-length shorts). The jjimjilbang has two same-sex floors, women on third and men on sixth. These floors have clothes lockers and the bath room. This is where all the nakedness occurs, but it's a locker room atmosphere (not as culturally different as we expected). We changed into our garments and headed to the main floor.
The main floor is co-ed and has hot, hot hot, and cold rooms. The idea is to open and close your pores. We first went in the hot room (very hot and humid), where you sit or lay down and sweat. This first hot room is 75 degress..........degrees Celsius (=167ºF!), then the cold room (10ºC=50ºF), then repeat at your leisure. Besides the hot room, there's also a human kiln at 85ºC. The main room is to relax, to chat, to sleep, to whatever in between the hot/cold rooms. There's also a snack bar available, which sells smoked eggs and sweet drinks (Important for staying hydrated!) After all the sweating, we relaxed in the baths, showered off, and left. Quite relaxing.
(from the top) This weekend we were also responsible for running an activity for Camp Fulbright, an English camp for Korean students. I joined Team Superbowl for 3hrs of sports with the campers. Look how Korean we've all become!
찜질방 is a public bath/spa house. Out of respect for myself and the other ETAs who went, no pictures. (No cameras at the 찜질방!)
Besides the Camp Fulbright (see end of post) activity we had to run, we had the weekend to ourselves. For studying, for shopping, for going out, for.......cultural activities. The OCs organized a trip to a jjimjilbang on Sunday. We've heard some things from the former ETAs, mostly they went with their homestay families, and it was awkward, due to the nakedness. Yes, nakedness. Everyone baths together in same-sex baths. Naturally, being American, we were apprehensive. My logic was that I'd rather be uncomforatable with my also uncomfortable friends rather than my homestay family. Besides, if it was super-awkward and charring, I don't have to see them again after orientation.
So I went.
And I would go again.
There isn't as much nudity as you (or as I first) would imagine. We arrived, we paid and received the jjimjilbang garments (loose shirt and shorts), we changed, we altered hot and cold rooms, we tossed our clothes to go to the bath room, we altered cold and hot tubs, we showered, we got dressed in our original clothes, and we left. We were only fully exposed when changing, walking into the bathroom, changing tubs, and showering. Not even for that long.
For 7,000won, you get access to the jjimjilbang and sauna garments (loose shirt & knee-length shorts). The jjimjilbang has two same-sex floors, women on third and men on sixth. These floors have clothes lockers and the bath room. This is where all the nakedness occurs, but it's a locker room atmosphere (not as culturally different as we expected). We changed into our garments and headed to the main floor.
The main floor is co-ed and has hot, hot hot, and cold rooms. The idea is to open and close your pores. We first went in the hot room (very hot and humid), where you sit or lay down and sweat. This first hot room is 75 degress..........degrees Celsius (=167ºF!), then the cold room (10ºC=50ºF), then repeat at your leisure. Besides the hot room, there's also a human kiln at 85ºC. The main room is to relax, to chat, to sleep, to whatever in between the hot/cold rooms. There's also a snack bar available, which sells smoked eggs and sweet drinks (Important for staying hydrated!) After all the sweating, we relaxed in the baths, showered off, and left. Quite relaxing.
(from the top) This weekend we were also responsible for running an activity for Camp Fulbright, an English camp for Korean students. I joined Team Superbowl for 3hrs of sports with the campers. Look how Korean we've all become!
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