Getting Naked at the Jjim Jil Bang
Written by Kyle on Sunday, November 29, 2009 in Korea, Republic of
Feelin' normal
Before we begin, let me give a brief shout out to Evan, who came and visited us for a little over a week. If you see another white dude hanging out with us in some recent pictures, it's probably him.Feelin' normal
And he was a good sport, too. Usually when I ask people if they want to get naked and sit in a hot bath together, they say no. But, we're close like that, as you can see from this picture:
Just 2 dudes sharing a desert
Of course, it wasn't like I was asking him to draw a bubble bath for us to soak in or anything. Instead, we were going to a traditional Korean bath house, also known as the Jjim jil bang (literally "steam room").
A Jjim jil bang is an essential Korean experience. It is a place that most Koreans go to with their friends, family, or significant others. Quite often, it is also a place used for people to clean up and get over their hangovers before heading to work or home. We didn't have a hangover, but I could definitely see the appeal.
The first time at a jjim jil bang can be quite a baffling experience, so let's go through it. First, you walk into a shoe locker room. Pick a locker, put your shoes in and take out the key. Easy enough. Also, make sure you are going into the right side unless you want to be oggled or killed. Men on one side, women on the other.
Don't get naked...yet.
This way if you can't stand and pee. (i.e. Women)
Now, go inside the next room where you will exchange your shoe locker key for another key. This locker is for a key where you will put all of your clothes. Go to that locker, put on your birthday suit and put the clothes into the locker. Try not to look like an akward niddle school student as you now walk around naked. (there are no pictures of this portion due to the number of bare Richards)
Ok, now you have to get clean before getting into the pools. No one likes a dirty person muddying up the hot waters. Grab the thin, pink towel that is about the size of your face. I know it's small, but you'll just have to wash your whole body with it. Now grab a shower and wash yourself for a really long time. How long? I'm not sure. I just make sure that I'm taking about as much time as the people around me. Maybe 20 minutes. It may seem like a long time, but you're probably the only naked white person there, so just wash yourself throughly as to not draw any more stares. Most people are obsessed with getting squeaky clean, so just go with it. Also, don't worry about those guys scrubbing each other's backs. That's normal, so don't go thinking that you stumbled into one of those kinds of bath houses.
Now that you are naked and clean, you can head into the hot baths. These are like any other jacuzzis back home. You just have to sit in them and relax. If that's too relaxing for you, you can head into one of the saunas. At nearly 200 degrees Farenheit, they will make you feel like a turkey on Thanksgiving day. If you can stay for more than 2 minutes, then you have beaten my personal record.
Ok, maybe at this point you are tired of being naked and want to dress like a prisoner. Well, jjim jil bang has that for you. For $1, you get color-coded prison wear. As you can guess, boys are blue and girls are pink. Now you can head into the common areas.
As far as I can tell, the common areas are like a public living room sans furniture. Most people seem to buy a snack, lie on the floor and watch TV.
If only they showed Jerry Springer.
If you want your TV to be a little hotter, no need to change the channel, either. Many of the saunas have TVs inside of them so that you can sweat and watch your favorite Korean dramas at the same time.
If the hot waters weren't enough for you, though, there are the relaxing message chairs. I'm thinking that they were put in the common area for a reason: we wouldn't want naked people sitting on them.
If you're still not relaxed, or if you are too relaxed/hungover, just take a nap. You can nap on the floor or pick your very own sleeping cave. I like the sleeping cave myself.
I can kind of feel like a monk in this rock cave.
Lastly, if you're worried about making it home for lunch or dinner, relax. The jjim jil bang has you covered. There is a full restaurant inside to meet all of your kimchi needs.
This may be the one and only post we have about the jjim jil bang, but you can bet that we will be back. At only $6 per person, it is a nice way to pass the time on a lazy Sunday afternoon. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we don't see any of our students in there, though... That would be an akward day.
Comments on "Getting Naked at the Jjim Jil Bang"
LOVE the sleeping caves. I think every office building needs those.
And I thought running into students in the Walmart was bad enough. :)
There is a jimjilbang down the street from me that I really want to try but...it's also next to my school and the only thing worse than getting intensely stared at in a jimjilbang by everyone is getting stared at by your students while naked. ~shudders~
That's too bad, 'cause the jjimjilbang is pretty awesome. Maybe there's another?
Very nice spa... love the pinks and blues... why not everybody in white?!
I get the therapeutic experience of a hot bath, sauna, and massage. I'm trying to figure out why anyone would choose to lay on a bare floor with strangers and watch television when they could do that at home on a comfy couch with friends and family.
I did see my student in there - luckily it was in the clothed area. I don't know what I'd do if she'd seen me in my birthday suit.
by bessie the wife at December 10, 2009 07:51 AM