If that title didn't peek your interest, you must be crazy.
It just occurred to me today that I have yet to write about this, for it happened more than a month ago.
짐질방. Pronouned "jimjilbang," or public bath and sauna.
Jimjilbangs are a large part of Korean culture, so after many stories from friends and a big deep breath, I decided that it was time I needed to experience it. So one weekend in August after my return from Japan, a few friends and I decided to stay at one while in Busan, instead of booking a hostel or love motel. We chose Haeundae Spa Center, for it was a short 10-minute walk from the beach.
http://www.haeundaespa.com/
First thing we do: Walk in
Second: Freak out.
Okay, no matter how comfortable you are with your body in front of friends and family, it's a whole other ball game when you are a naked foreigner (most times... the only foreigner) amongst 100+ naked Korean women.
A few facts:
1.Men and women are separated by floor. You can't even press the women's floor from the men's floor and the communal floor on the elevator, and vice-versa. They mean business.
2. You can stay overnight or just do a spa day.
3. It cost us a whopping 9,000won, which is not even $8. AMAZING.
So as I said before, I was told countless stories, both involving good and bad experiences. The one major piece of advice I received was to get over and accept the fact that these ahjumma's WILL stare at you. We're westerners. We have hips. They don't. Get over it. And in this place, there is NO where to hide. So as we paid for our stay, we said goodbye to the boys and walked in to the women's floor. We were met by a woman at a desk who gave us our robes (baggy linen capri type sweat pants and a button up shirt. Really fashionable.) She also gave us a locker key and two towels. We thought, oh well at least we have towels to cover ourselves up with. No. They were legit hand towels, more for drying your hair/face. That idea was shot down quickly. We quickly realized we were really going to do this. As we walked to our lockers we had our first sighting of the nakedness. Women, girls, everywhere. Fully comfortable and fully naked. Bizarre is the word that came to mind. We have nothing like this in the States, and I think that's why it was so very interesting more than anything. We actually didn't use the baths until later, but we did decide to do a little bit of exploring before getting ready to go out. This way when we came back that night, we would know exactly what it was all about. Now keep in mind we were fully clothed at this point amongst all the nakedness, so that was a bit uncomfortable. Beyond the lockers were bathrooms, a huge vanity room, with mirrors on three walls, equipped with hairdryers, q-tips, and combs, A t.v. area with benches, and women outstretched, completely carefree in their nakedness watching the Olympics. Then you hit the main attraction- the sauna and bath room. Of course we couldn't go in yet, because we were still clothed, so hold on just a tic...
As we took all this in, I had a feeling of, oh my god I don't think I can walk around like this in front of all these strangers and be okay with it. It's a definite test on how comfortable you really are. It's not like I'm not comfortable with my body. This is was deeper than that. In our case- the stares. And boy did we get them, but surprisingly unlike walking on the streets, in here you're a celebrity for a mere 3 1/2 seconds and then you're just like everyone else. I didn't really experience many lingering looks. Good thing.
So as we came back from our night, we made the great leap. I was a nerd, counted to three and stripped down. I took my 2 towels with me and headed into the spa area. It really was a beautiful sight. Think of an enormous room, with dimmed lights, and water reflecting off each corner. To your right there were about 10 showers and bath areas to your far right (personal stations holding their own shower head, sink, stool to sit on, and a vanity with a large bowl on top.) You bring your shampoo and body wash etc. to these stations or the showers (whatever your preference.) It's a cardinal rule to shower/bathe before stepping into the pools. In the center and all along the left and back walls are pools of differing temperatures. One of them even had 2 waterfall type shower heads above them. You can stand underneath it and a flood of water falls on you for like 3 minute intervals. I actually didn't do that, but it looked intriguing. In the center there are stations where ahjummas who are employed by the jimjilbang will scrub you down. I believe it's an extra expense, and after seeing it done, I plan on doing it the next time I'm at one. I've been told they're pretty rough, but that it feels amazing once you're done. Definitely a twist on what we think of as pampering. I spent a good amount of time in a cold pool and an extremely hot one. As I turned on the jets and sat back, I looked around just taking it all in. First of all, not even believing I was actually doing this, second of all, admiring the stares turned into smiles from ahjummas, third of all lauging at the children who were splashing and playing with their friends/sisters in the pools, and fourth of all, intrigued by the relaxation on everyone's faces. They all seemed like they had not a worry in the world.
After an hour or so, we made our way back out to the lockers to change into our beautiful bed time attire and headed upstairs to the communal sleeping floor. This floor is basically a huge open space where people are relaxing, talking quietly amongst themselves, watching tv in the corner, but mostly sleeping. It literally looks like a hospital ward that had no beds for their patients. You don't know who anyone is because they are all lying down with the same attire. It took us forever to find our friends the next night because the place was so packed. It was like walking on broken glass, stepping in between people's heads and feet. Along the sides of the floor and down short hallways are about 15-20 tiny rooms. They include massage rooms where you can pay for full-body massages; sauna rooms that vary from ice-cold rooms to such intense heat, that I opened the door to one and had to shut it right away because the air was so thick I couldn't breathe. Down the short hallways are private, quiet, sleeping rooms, some unisex, and some seprated. There are no English signs, so we really needed to pay attention as to who were in the rooms. The first night we slept in one of the unisex private rooms and the second night we made our way out to the patio. I have to tell you, waking up to sun shining on you, on a balcony overlooking Haeundae, was pretty amazing.
Yes. I would do it again. This experience is one westerners really can't get bak home. I'm not sure if they exist at all in the States. If they do, I'm sure you really have to go searching. By the end of it, the nakedness was no longer a problem and I became quite accustomed to the whole ordeal. This is a MUST for anyone visiting Korea for an extended period of time. Even if you don't stay... 5,000won or $4 for a day at a spa is pretty damn good. You really can't pass that up.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
How Waygook Teachers Get Through It
One Long Word: KikinitinKorea.
But before I get into that, quick update on the typhoon: Yes, we survived. My school was sent home at noon, due to the forecast and worry of my Principal. My Vice Principal at my school today said that there are some people still missing on Jeju and other small islands down south. My city just experienced heavy rain and winds. Thought it did prove to be much stronger than Typhoon Bolaven that hit us in August, which was also expected to do damage.
So, it hit me today that I hadn't yet shared this blog on here, and I'm really not sure why. Of course almost every waygook teacher here is aware of KikinitinKorea and it is talked about constantly. To people back home- I know you're not going to get most, if not all of it, but it's fun to show you anyway.
The fact that this blog has become such a huge hit, is because every SINGLE thing on here is relatable and without a doubt the truth. Every one of us has experienced about 98% of these things. There have been countless times that I have thrown my head back in laugh out loud, and I mean LOUD laughter. It's also updated frequently, so we're always looking forward to new laughs. Even if you people back home don't understand, laugh, or even smirk..at least you get a fun insight into what my life is like here, along with every other waygook teacher. This blog gets us through a lot of days. If you think some of them are over the top... think again. This is Korea. This is what we go through, and we love every minute of it. Fact- The person who owns this blog is a GENIUS.
http://kikinitinkorea.tumblr.com/
But before I get into that, quick update on the typhoon: Yes, we survived. My school was sent home at noon, due to the forecast and worry of my Principal. My Vice Principal at my school today said that there are some people still missing on Jeju and other small islands down south. My city just experienced heavy rain and winds. Thought it did prove to be much stronger than Typhoon Bolaven that hit us in August, which was also expected to do damage.
So, it hit me today that I hadn't yet shared this blog on here, and I'm really not sure why. Of course almost every waygook teacher here is aware of KikinitinKorea and it is talked about constantly. To people back home- I know you're not going to get most, if not all of it, but it's fun to show you anyway.
The fact that this blog has become such a huge hit, is because every SINGLE thing on here is relatable and without a doubt the truth. Every one of us has experienced about 98% of these things. There have been countless times that I have thrown my head back in laugh out loud, and I mean LOUD laughter. It's also updated frequently, so we're always looking forward to new laughs. Even if you people back home don't understand, laugh, or even smirk..at least you get a fun insight into what my life is like here, along with every other waygook teacher. This blog gets us through a lot of days. If you think some of them are over the top... think again. This is Korea. This is what we go through, and we love every minute of it. Fact- The person who owns this blog is a GENIUS.
http://kikinitinkorea.tumblr.com/
Monday, September 17, 2012
The Rainy Season
So typhoon season has been hitting for a while now, and today is our third major one in two months. The first two barely hit where I live. After hitting Okinawa right off of Japan, they went up the west coast of Korea, hitting Jeju Island and the cities along the coast. All my city saw was a ton of rain and strong winds, but nothing too too bad.
Last night, a bunch of waygook teachers were saying that their schools were cancelled, but teachers still had to go in. Well, my co-teacher has her own unique way of choosing not to communicate with me, so I kind of called it last night. And what do you know, as I came up to school, and saw the lack of boys playing soccer, and mad groups of children walking up the hill.. I knew this was the case for me as well.
So here I am, sitting in my office, being really productive! NOT. Honestly. What is the reasoning? I'm not complaining because I'm lazy and don't want to be here. I'm complaining because if this really is the "worst typhoon Korea has seen in 60 years.." why do they think adults should risk their safety, and can maybe handle it better. I'm sorry, but typhoons are part of mother nature, and she is not one you can really control. Schools are supposed to protect every single person in them, including students, faculty, and staff. One of the fifth grade teachers saw me in the hallway, and told me how the students weren't coming in today, and how her mom said, "What about you? What if something happens?" So clearly, there is some understanding going on some place.
The worst part is that I forgot my book, so being that all of my lesson planning is done, I will most likely resort to sidereel, pinterest, and the never ending world of facebook. I'm also waiting on my new Macbok Pro that I just bought for myself. It should've been here today, so I'm hoping the mail is just late.. Spending the next eight hours playing around with it would make this day quite perfect actually.
Wish me luck!
Last night, a bunch of waygook teachers were saying that their schools were cancelled, but teachers still had to go in. Well, my co-teacher has her own unique way of choosing not to communicate with me, so I kind of called it last night. And what do you know, as I came up to school, and saw the lack of boys playing soccer, and mad groups of children walking up the hill.. I knew this was the case for me as well.
So here I am, sitting in my office, being really productive! NOT. Honestly. What is the reasoning? I'm not complaining because I'm lazy and don't want to be here. I'm complaining because if this really is the "worst typhoon Korea has seen in 60 years.." why do they think adults should risk their safety, and can maybe handle it better. I'm sorry, but typhoons are part of mother nature, and she is not one you can really control. Schools are supposed to protect every single person in them, including students, faculty, and staff. One of the fifth grade teachers saw me in the hallway, and told me how the students weren't coming in today, and how her mom said, "What about you? What if something happens?" So clearly, there is some understanding going on some place.
The worst part is that I forgot my book, so being that all of my lesson planning is done, I will most likely resort to sidereel, pinterest, and the never ending world of facebook. I'm also waiting on my new Macbok Pro that I just bought for myself. It should've been here today, so I'm hoping the mail is just late.. Spending the next eight hours playing around with it would make this day quite perfect actually.
Wish me luck!
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The next 5 months..
So I have approximately 5 1/2 months left in this beautiful country, (crazy!) and I've made a few changes
We all recently got back from our summer vacations and are already three weeks into the new semester. Our students have their own versions of senioritis, the humidity is THANKGOD gone! The fall season is coming in full swing.. which means my birthday! And I am ready to take on a new side of Korea, figuratively and literally.
I have been doing less traveling, less partying, less shopping, and because of that, I've bonded with my fellow Andong teachers more and more. My liver, my bank account, and my conscience is thanking me. Andong has finally set up formal Korean classes for its foreign teachers, so we've had one week of that so far. It's every Thursday night for about an hour and it couldn't be more lovely. It's made me realize how much I actually have learned and retained in the past six months, but how much I still need to learn to be happy with where I want to be.
I have made a conscious effort to see more of Korea, in the cultural sense. Today I made a list of festivals I want to attend. I think I've brought this up before, but Korea LOVES their festivals. They usually last for two weeks, and there's always free food, cool gifts, and plenty to do and see. Some of the ones coming up include, an Autum Apple Festival, Jinju Namgang Lantern Festival, Busan International Film Festival, and Namdo Food Festival. (And that's just the next three months.) The great thing about these, is it's a reason to see another part of Korea. Some of these cities would never be on your list of places to go, but the fact that they're hosting festivals is all the more reason to get off your ass and explore.
I hiked a bit in the beginning of my time here, but then it got to be way too humid. I can't really begin to explain the humidity we all went through here. New York gets pretty damn humid, but this was on an entirely new level. It was brutal, to the point where stepping out of your air conditioned apartment was something you dreaded and taking taxis to places you were always able to walk to before, was a necessity just to escape the heat. Getting off my tangent... I'm going to start hiking again before it gets drastically bitter cold.
I want to walk away in February knowing I accomplished as much as I could in twelve months. (Still deciding whether to renew my contract or not.) Korea may be small, but it's still a country, so of course it is far beyond anyone's reach to see everything in one year's time. It's really quite impossible. There's too much to learn, too much too see, and too much to really take in.
Living and working here is completely different than being a tourist. So that's why when my mom and Dennis came, I was able to show them the "real" Korea, the ins and outs (things tourists don't know about because they don't live here), as well as the touristy things that I had never done before. We came across things that I had never noticed in my own city. As someone living in Korea, your mindest is in a different place. So I believe we have to make more of an effort to really explore what this country has to offer. My friend from home is flying in at the end of the month and I plan to go to the DMZ (de-militarized zone at the 38th parallel, North Korean border) as well as a templestay, something my friend Dayna and I have been wanting to do for a while now.
More than six months have gone by and it's really unbelievable. I have no regrets from the first six. I discovered what my conservative, but kind city is all about, I explored parts of Seoul, I swam at the most populated beach in Busan, I traveled across the country to a mud festival, I spent countless weekends in one of my favorite cities- Daegu, I took on Korean fashion, I made Korean friends, I taught myself Hangul, I bonded with co-teachers while out for coffee and lunch, I stayed in beach huts on an island off of Incheon, I hiked the most difficult mountain in Andong, I went on a church group outing to Danyang caves and witnessed beautiful scenery. I've gotten physically and mentally lost, and have found my way back. Classes have made me cry and laugh. I've figured out what this culture is all about, and have found explanations as to why it's so hard for westerners to assimilate. It's been quite a rollercoaster and quite an adjustment, but I've accomplished and am still accomplishing all of the goals I set for myself when I came here.
We all recently got back from our summer vacations and are already three weeks into the new semester. Our students have their own versions of senioritis, the humidity is THANKGOD gone! The fall season is coming in full swing.. which means my birthday! And I am ready to take on a new side of Korea, figuratively and literally.
I have been doing less traveling, less partying, less shopping, and because of that, I've bonded with my fellow Andong teachers more and more. My liver, my bank account, and my conscience is thanking me. Andong has finally set up formal Korean classes for its foreign teachers, so we've had one week of that so far. It's every Thursday night for about an hour and it couldn't be more lovely. It's made me realize how much I actually have learned and retained in the past six months, but how much I still need to learn to be happy with where I want to be.
I have made a conscious effort to see more of Korea, in the cultural sense. Today I made a list of festivals I want to attend. I think I've brought this up before, but Korea LOVES their festivals. They usually last for two weeks, and there's always free food, cool gifts, and plenty to do and see. Some of the ones coming up include, an Autum Apple Festival, Jinju Namgang Lantern Festival, Busan International Film Festival, and Namdo Food Festival. (And that's just the next three months.) The great thing about these, is it's a reason to see another part of Korea. Some of these cities would never be on your list of places to go, but the fact that they're hosting festivals is all the more reason to get off your ass and explore.
I hiked a bit in the beginning of my time here, but then it got to be way too humid. I can't really begin to explain the humidity we all went through here. New York gets pretty damn humid, but this was on an entirely new level. It was brutal, to the point where stepping out of your air conditioned apartment was something you dreaded and taking taxis to places you were always able to walk to before, was a necessity just to escape the heat. Getting off my tangent... I'm going to start hiking again before it gets drastically bitter cold.
I want to walk away in February knowing I accomplished as much as I could in twelve months. (Still deciding whether to renew my contract or not.) Korea may be small, but it's still a country, so of course it is far beyond anyone's reach to see everything in one year's time. It's really quite impossible. There's too much to learn, too much too see, and too much to really take in.
Living and working here is completely different than being a tourist. So that's why when my mom and Dennis came, I was able to show them the "real" Korea, the ins and outs (things tourists don't know about because they don't live here), as well as the touristy things that I had never done before. We came across things that I had never noticed in my own city. As someone living in Korea, your mindest is in a different place. So I believe we have to make more of an effort to really explore what this country has to offer. My friend from home is flying in at the end of the month and I plan to go to the DMZ (de-militarized zone at the 38th parallel, North Korean border) as well as a templestay, something my friend Dayna and I have been wanting to do for a while now.
More than six months have gone by and it's really unbelievable. I have no regrets from the first six. I discovered what my conservative, but kind city is all about, I explored parts of Seoul, I swam at the most populated beach in Busan, I traveled across the country to a mud festival, I spent countless weekends in one of my favorite cities- Daegu, I took on Korean fashion, I made Korean friends, I taught myself Hangul, I bonded with co-teachers while out for coffee and lunch, I stayed in beach huts on an island off of Incheon, I hiked the most difficult mountain in Andong, I went on a church group outing to Danyang caves and witnessed beautiful scenery. I've gotten physically and mentally lost, and have found my way back. Classes have made me cry and laugh. I've figured out what this culture is all about, and have found explanations as to why it's so hard for westerners to assimilate. It's been quite a rollercoaster and quite an adjustment, but I've accomplished and am still accomplishing all of the goals I set for myself when I came here.
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