JimJilBang: A Trip to the Spa

After a morning spent perusing the Yongsan electronics market and a lunch of on kim bap (Korean sushi) and kimchi jjigae (spicy cabbage soup), it was decided that the only thing that could possibly conclude this very ‘Korean’ day would be a trip to the sauna.

Now, if you remember my first Korean sauna experience, you’ll recall the whole the only-clothes-your-wearing-is-your-birthday-suit “thing” about Korean saunas. I was feeling confident, though, and determined to push through with the whole thing. We had done our research, this was a 10 000won sauna (approximately $10.00) so it was pretty much guaranteed to be a good one.

After a few minutes of standing facing my locker, avoiding eye contact with anyone near me, I finally felt brave enough to march down the stairs to the baths area. With a hand towel draped casually over one arm, which also conveniently doubled as full frontal coverage, I made my way to the baths.

My confidence was immediately shattered when a group of 12 year old Korean girls, who were splashing around in the ‘Children’s Bath’, stopped what they were doing and started giggling and pointing at me. I made a hasty retreat to the “36 Celsius” bath (they’re were all labeled by temperature) and plunged in. While relaxing (read: hiding) in the bath, I saw the scrubbing ajumas and decided that it had to be done.

At a sauna/spa/jimjilbang, there are ajumas (older Korean women sporting black undergarments) and ajoshis (older Korean men with no undergarments) who work in the female/male parts of the baths. They offer scrubs (a full body exfoliating treatment), massages and other things that I couldn’t understand from the ‘menu’.

And so I walked over hesitantly. One ajuma took my locker-key wristband while another gestured for me to lie flat on my back on the plastic covered massage table. I laid down and fought hard not to burst out laughing. Here I was, laying stark naked on a plastic table, in a bath house with a nearly stark naked woman about to scrub me down with exfoliating gloves. What had I been thinking?

And so the scrub began. Ankles, calves, thighs and… oh my! Then stomach and something akin to a breast exam. Shoulders, arm pits, arms and hands. Repeat all of this on the left side and then change to lying on my side where there was more scrubbing of legs, thighs and oh dear!! and up to the torso. Repeat while lying on my stomach and then again while lying on my right side. Add some washing with soap and a few buckets of water thrown on me to rinse off and it was a done deal.
I'm still not sure what to think about the whole thing - definitely the most invasive experience I've ever had - but when in Rome...