Recipe for relaxation
Trip Start
Oct 23, 2006
1
13
27
Trip End
Oct 25, 2007
Seoul,
Korea Rep.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
"Jimjilbang - what?" I hear you ask. Basically, a jimjilbang is a fancy sauna. Super fancy. Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, it's pretty much a modernised version of a traditional Korean sauna, which are similar to Japanese onsen, Turkish hammam and Russian banya. A jimjilbang has a much more relaxed atmosphere than these other saunas, and they pride themselves on cultivating a "why leave?" atmosphere. But at the end of the day, the goal is the same - to soothe and rejuvenate tired minds and muscles. Koreans dig jimjilbang, and so do I.
Before I go any further, the answer is yes, you do have to nude up in front of total strangers
cute secretary
. The shower and spa room has a strict no clothes policy. But they are not communal, boys and girls are kept seperate. But the saunas and other clothed areas are communal.So, to the facilities at your disposal. High pressure, silly hot showers. A 40C spa bath and an icy cold spa bath. Three saunas - 70C (silly), 50C (bearable) and 20C (comfy). A sleeping room - that's right, a room whose sole purpose is for those wanting to nap-it-up. A huge TV room. A restaurant and a bar. For a little extra, you can also make use of the on-site masseur and hairdresser.
Wait - I forgot my towel. No problem, here you are. I also forgot a second set of clothes for the sauna. No problem - here's a shirt and pair of shorts. No soap - here you are. No toothbrush and toothpaste - here you are. No shampoo and conditioner - here you are. You get the idea. Oh yeah, and it's all free.
Believe it or not, there's a right way and a wrong way to relax. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true. Koreans take their relaxation very seriously, as they don't have alot of time for it. In accordance with this, here is my carefully considered Jimjilbang "Recipe for Rrelaxation" -
1
fellow foreign teachers
. Before hopping in the spa, you gotta have a long, long, long, hot, hot, hot shower. Clean yourself all over. Grab a stool and sit down. 20-30 minutes at least.2. Gradually lower yourself into the 40C spa bath. In the old days this water was naturally heated, from an underground reserve, but only a few places have them these days and they're mainly in the country. 40C is surprisingly hot though - only a couple of degrees hotter than body temperature, but to quote Chris "it's bloody hot". You only last around 5-10 minutes in here full-bodied before you need to call down.
3. Repeat Step 1
4. Repeat step 2
5. Repeat step 1
6. Time for a snack. Maybe some dumplings and a coke. Maybe also watch some TV in a massage chair. Take as much time as you need. By now you should be feeling sleepy.
7
kids 1
. Wander into a sauna. The 70C is much too much for most mortals, including the author, but the 50C sauna is quite reasonable. Find a spot, rest your head on a wooden pillow, close your eyes and drift off.8. When the 50C sauna becomes too much, head next door to the 20C sauna. I forgot to mention earlier that the sauna rooms resemble small caves. Stone floors and the walls and roof are made of rock and quartz. Each room also has a small gravel pit which you can lie in as well. Nice and soft, perfect for napping.
9. Repeat Step 7. Or, head into the enormous dorm room, and have a comfortable sleep on a tatami mat.
10. Finally, repeat Step 1.
I know you are probably thinking, 'sounds like alot of hard work to get relaxed'. It isn't. It's all good. The entire process can take anywhere from 2 hours (bare minimum) to an entire day, including an overnight sleep. You only stop when you feel you are completely relaxed and rejuvenated. The place is such that, once you enter, there is no real reason to leave, except to go home. Brilliant. The price - $10 AUD (6 euro, 4 pound, US$7.50). Brilliant.
Photography is forbidden inside the jimjilbang, for obvious reasons, so all my photos this entry are of my students at school. They are mainly of my kindergarten students. Pretty cute.
Couldn't sign off before the 'Pointless Korean Fact'. 40,000 women in Korea are registered as 'mudang' (female shamans).
