Korean Spa

After work today I met up with some friends for sushi in Gangnam and then for the third time since I've been here in Korea, I came again to the Gangnam Spa to relax and enjoy a "real shower". I've actually grown quite accustomed to the "shower" in my room which is only a drain in the middle of my bathroom a hand-held shower nozzle over the sink, but it is really relaxing and wonderful to go to a spa every couple weeks. It was a bit strange at first being completely naked in front of a bunch of Korean's but you get used to it quick and besides the few stares and kids pointing no one really pays you much attention. This spa costs 8,000W($8) and it's open 24 hours. It has several different spas (hot, cold, mud, ginseng?, kryptonite green???) I really don't know what they all are because I can never remember the Korean once I have pen and paper handy! There's also several different sauna rooms including a jimjilbang which is a traditional Korean sauna room. You can see women enjoying (or enduring) massages from the spa room and at some times it looks more like I'm witnessing some crazy Korean sadomasochism... seriously, I'm surprised these women don't come out with huge bruises beginning to form. There is also a movie room, a cafe, tanning beds and a PC Bang (where I am now) and then the sleeping room downstairs. The sleeping room is a large room with several long, low cubicles where you lay out a sleeping mat, a blanket and a pillow. Now I just need to find a nice spa closer to where I live...

Tomorrow's Wednesday, which means 'Ladies night' in Hongdae. I haven't gone since I've been here and a lot of my co-workers are going tomorrow so I thought I'd check it out. Luckily, we have a field trip Thursday so it should be an easy day in case it ends up being a late one tomorrow.

Korean Jimjilbang