My sisters both went to boarding school in Switzerland when my parents lived in Saudi Arabia, and Megan has maintained a friendship with her high school roommate, Sun. Now an actress in Seoul, Sun has met up with Meg a few times in Korea. Knowing how much I wanted to experience a Korean bathhouse (jjimjilbang), Sun offered to take us Friday, Jan. 3, but she warned, “You’ll have to get naked and everyone will stare at you!” Well, that’s nothing new, right?
The Sparex Jjimjilbang was located deep in the bowels of the Good Morning City Mall. We never would have known it was there! We paid the $7 entrance fee and received a locker key and orange pajamas. After stashing our shoes and coats in the lobby locker, we flopped barefoot to the locker room, where we changed into the jammies. The unisex dry sauna was designed to look like a traditional Korean village. A big screen TV sat in the middle of the “courtyard” surrounded by smaller rooms where couples and small groups could hang out in privacy. (These photos were snapped with Sun’s phone.)
Sun said saunas were a popular date destination for young Korean couples. People, old and young, sprawled out on the floor with their heads resting on brick-shaped foam pillows. Archways cut into the walls provided enough space for individuals to stretch out and nap. Sun also showed us how to fold the towel into a traditional style, as I’m modeling here.
Two dome-shaped caves sat at one end of the spacious room. These were the hot saunas. Digital thermometers outside announced the searing temperatures. We bent low to get through the tiny door of the cave heated to 107°C (224°F). Inside, we sat on the wall-to-wall woven straw mat and leaned our backs on wooden planks that were propped against the walls. After baking for a few minutes, we crouched through the door again and popped into the cold room chilled to -7°C (19°F). Posters of polar bears and penguins decorated the room’s outer area, but the interior was lined with ice. We sat on wooden stools while our feet cooled off quickly on the stone floor. It didn’t take long for goosebumps to form on our arms, at which point we dashed back to the hot caves. This time, we crawled into the hotter one: 124°C (255°F). As soon as we entered, I felt my eyeballs start to cook. I quickly pulled out my one contact lens and tossed it aside. I’m sure it disintegrated upon contact with the floor. The mat was so sizzling hot, we had to sit on our folded sweaty towels. Each breath felt like fire broiling my lungs. We didn’t last long; back to the cold room.
The second time in the super hot cave, I began to perspire profusely. Sweat poured down my face, arms and legs. It made me realize how NOT stinky the room was. How was it possible the room didn’t reek of BO? (Sun explained the Korean sauna was an ancient tradition, and the rooms were still built in the ancient fashion – same shape, same stink-fighting materials.)
After chilling once more in the cold room, we realized we had to speed things up. Tony was babysitting William, my 15-month-old nephew, and we had promised to return within three hours. So, we had to bid farewell to the fantastic dry sauna experience, as well as the photo shoot. No cameras allowed in the wet sauna!
In the locker room, we shed our PJs and plodded bare nekkid into the ladies-only wet sauna with only a small towel draped around our necks. “They say single ladies wear their towels like this,” said Sun, letting the ends drape modestly over her boobs. Then she flipped the towel off her chest and laughed, “But married ladies wear it like this.”
The vast space included open showers lining one wall, several steam rooms, a few pools of various temperatures, a small baby pool and a couple rows of sinks and spray faucets, where about 25 ladies busily scrubbed and splashed all their nooks and crannies. We three climbed into a pool with pink-tinted 40+°C (104+°F) water, which smelled faintly of lavender. Next, we stepped into hotter water with a green hue. Sun lamented that none of the Korean signs explained what herbs were infused in to the water. Megan gleefully dove into the cold pool, splashing her head under the running shower. I stepped in tentatively, recoiling at the shock of icy water on my hot skin. Finally, I took a deep breath and let the freezing shower wash over me. Yowza! Megan wanted a hot-cold pool redux, but Sun and I opted for the steam room. The room’s exterior wall was a big window overlooking the ladies at the sinks, and I couldn’t help but notice how it all seemed so … well, I wouldn’t say normal exactly, but it wasn’t totally weird. Despite Sun’s warnings and despite being the only white girls in the room, Meg and I didn’t feel conspicuous. There were no overt stares, and strangely, I didn’t feel compelled to stare at anyone else either. (That said, I can confirm that Korean women have tiny butts. That shouldn’t be news to anyone.)
Given more time, we could have indulged in a massage or scrub, enjoyed a drink at the snack bar, watched a little TV, gotten a manicure and shopped for glittery shoes or lacey underwear at the kiosks. You can even spend the night.
I felt so grateful to have Sun along for my first Korean sauna. She was an informative guide and lots of fun. I only wish I could have stayed another week to attend her wedding, which took place TODAY to Joo (an actor who just finished shooting a movie with Scarlett Johansson). Megan says it was a spectacular event, and William was the ring bearer for about two minutes (until they realized he couldn’t be trusted with the rings, so they found a stand-in)!
