Jjimjilbangs

Jjimjilbangs (Korean saunas) are places where one can go to relax and perspire in heat generated by different kinds of stones (jade, charcoal, etc). Jjimjilbangs use thermo-therapy which causes you to perspire, excreting internal wastes and toxins, increasing metabolism and relaxing your body. They are much more than just saunas though. They are huge, 24 hour, partially gender-segregated public bathhouses. The segregated portions have hot tubs, showers, and various spa treatments such as massages. The unisex portions include snack bars, large common areas with heated floors and massage chairs, flat-screen TVs, PC rooms, sleeping quarters and the actual sauna. Jjimjilbangs are a popular activity for entire families, groups of teenagers, groups of women or men, and couples.

So Wednesday was my first time going to one of these Korean saunas. I went with my friend Dan from work. As soon as we got there and paid ($8 to get in), we headed toward our respective gender areas of the building. Men and women each have their own floor and then there are several floors where men and women can both go. After I was issued my sauna clothes - a cotton, loose fitting t-shirt and shorts (pink for girls, blue for boys) I went to the women's floor. This consisted of a huge open room with a snack bar, a place to buy hair and body products, lots of mirrors and vanity stations, and lots of lockers. I put my things in a locker and changed into my sauna clothes. Then I headed to the common area to meet Dan. The common area was this huge room with heated floors. There was a snack shop where you could get fruity drinks and healthy snacks. There were some TVs. People were just lying on the floor with cushions under their heads, relaxing, sleeping, or watching TV. There was a group of 5 middle aged women sitting in a circle just chatting and eating oranges. There were also a row of those big, leather massaging recliners. Dan and I headed downstairs to the actual sauna portion. There were 5 sauna rooms of varying heat levels. They looked like this:

The walls and ceilings were made of beautiful stone mosaics and the floors were covered with bamboo mats. There are certain rooms where you can lie on special flat, heated stones or on some kind of gravel. We chose a moderately hot room (49 C/120F). We had each brought a book and they give you these hard pillow things for under your head so we just laid down and read and sweated for as long as we could stand it. After about 15 minutes we went and got mango juice and sat in the massage chairs for a while. We repeated that cycle 2 more times. After an hour of that, we headed off to our respective floors again for the really unique part. After all the sweating, you go shower and bathe. With dozens of other Korean women. No clothing allowed.

American culture doesnt really have any activities where you hang out naked for extended periods of time with members of the same sex. In Korea, it's no big deal and they don't think twice about it. There were women of all ages, just walking around, bathing, showering, talking, watching TV. Not a shred of clothing.

From the women's locker area there is a glass door leading to the women's bath house. This area is large and open and consists of jacuzzis and tubs of varying temperatures, rows of sit down and stand up showers (just open, no stalls or anything), more saunas, heat lamps for lounging under, small swimming pools and massage tables. Two cardinal cultural rules: no bathing suits or clothing of any kind allowed in this room, and ALWAYS shower before getting into a tub or jacuzzi.

After showering and soaking for a while you head back to the locker room area where there are vanity tables stocked with hair dryers, cotton swabs, hair spray, lotions, etc. You clean up, get changed and head back out the way you came in. All in all its an incredibly relaxing experience and if you can get past the culture shock of hanging around with no clothes in front of total strangers, it ends up being a really nice time.