It is actually really funny that I was introduced to the "Korea...f**k yeah!" youtube video this week because a couple of weeks ago, I started to write this blog post. I wanted to talk about all the things here in Korea which help make it home to me and completely foreign to y'all. The YouTube video is pretty much(as Ben Warner put it) a crash course in Korea. It really does cover almost all of the things that I experience here a on daily/weekly basis. These are some of my favorites; soju, noraebang and jjimjilbang. Even with the video, you are probably still wondering what the heck I am talking about.
Soju is the new vodka....well, for me in Korea. As you all know, I am a vodka water with lemon sort of a girl, and while I have actually started to drink beer here in Korea( Hite, Cass and Maxx are the most popular), clear spirits really hold the key to my heart. Soju fits that bill. Soju is a clear Korean spirit which is most commonly distilled from sweet potatoes. It has a taste similar to vodka, but a price out of this world. Usually you can buy a bottle of Soju(about the size of a 12oz. glass bottle) for 1,000-2,000 won in the stores and around 3,000-4,000won at a restaurant or bar. With the exchange rate running approximately $.90USD to 1,000 won...that is about $1-$4USD for a bottle. And trust me, this stuff creeps up on you b/c it goes down so smoothly...especially if you are shooting it, the most common way here in SoKo, you don't need much more than a bottle.
After a night of soju drinking and well into the night, it is usually time to head to the norebang sometime around 3 or 4, maybe 5 or 6(depending on the night) and belt out your favorite tunes. Norebang literally translates into "singing room", and that it is. Norebangs are a place that have a couple or sometimes several private rooms which you and your group go into for karaoke. You can buy snacks and beer and even soju at some. Most norebangs are open 24hrs./day, 7 days per week. Why??? Because Koreans love them...and they love to drink soju first and go to them...yes, even during the week Koreans love to go out drinking. In fact, it is completely common to see a man in a suit completely wasted, like to the point of sleeping in the subway station, on a Monday or Tuesday night. It is also very common to see little piles of vomit all over the streets/sidewalks in the morning...in fact, there is rarely a day that goes by that I don't see the remnants of last night's fun. With all that being said, it is also rumored that norebangs sometime function as a place for couples to go and get some alone time. Since it is common for Koreans to live with their parents well into their 20's and maybe even 30's, I think we can all understand why they would want somewhere "cheap" to go.
Now, on to my favorite thing in Korea....the jjimjilbang. The jjimjilbang is my sanctuary here. It is so relaxing and amazingly inexpensive. So what is the jjimjilbang??? Well, it is many things....but in the most simple form, it is a giant bathhouse/spa. A naked spa at that. Naked??? Yes, you read that right. So basically there are 2 different sides/floors where you are naked...a women's area and a men's area. Now I don't know about the men's side. but here is what it is like on the women's side. You walk in to a big, open locker room area where you undress down to your birthday suit. From there, you head into the bathing/sauna area. The bathing is serious and there are probably 100 or so bathing areas in combination with around 30-40 showers. You MUST bathe before you enter any of the pools or saunas. So here I am the first time, a little unsure and completely naked . So naturally, I just sort of follow what all the Korean women are doing. Give myself a good scrub down with some exfoliating gloves and then embark into the first pool. There are probably about 15 pools in all in this area. Each one is supposed to do something different, but I don't know what they do b/c it is entirely in Korean other than the name of the bath. So I try out all 10 so so indoors...my favorite one by far is the one that sits at about 46 degree Celsius on a regular basis and is designed in the shapes of reclining chairs with jets hitting your shoulders, back, butt, hammies, calves and feet....AMAZING!! Then I head into the 2 saunas...there is a wet, aromatherapy sauna, which is awesome and then a dry, wood-bruning one which makes me feel like I am being cooked in a pizza-oven. From there I head outside to try out the pools out there. There is something lovely about being completely naked, outside where the air is a bit cooler, but you are nice and warm in the hot bath. So as you can see, I frequent the jjimjilbang...I have been 6 times since my first experience 2 months ago, so this is now my routine there and there is nothing uncomfortable about it for me. There was, however, the first time where I was a bit uncomfortable.
In addition to all the tubs, bathing stations, showers and saunas, they also have an area for getting massages. There are 5 tables set up over there, so I thought to myself I am going to get a massage. Sounds great, right??/ So with the woman's broken English, we establish that I am to get on the table and lay face down. Nothing unusual about that, but please keep in mind that I am still entirely naked. So the massage starts off with an exfoliation. So there I am laying face down getting my entire back side exfoliated by an ajuma(old, out of shape Korean woman) who is in her bra and underwear(sometimes they are topless) with her saggy skin and boobs resting on me....hahaha!! Then she tells me "turn over", so I turn to lay face-up. "No, side". I turn to my side and she gets back to work exfoliating. This is where it starts to get a little uncomfortable for me. She lifts up my leg and starts scrubbing my inner thighs....interesting. Then we move on and it is time for me to lay face up. She proceeds to exfoliate my ENTIRE front, being only slightly more gentle on certain areas. And when I say entire front, I really do mean entire front. In my head, all I could think is...I have had boyfriends whom I was less intimate with...hahaha!! After doing this twice over, it is time for the massage which is also interesting. You are lathered in baby oil, the massage starts with the ajuma walking on your back. It then moves to what I would term a normal massage, until the end....when some sort of slapping occurs. It doesn't feel bad, but is just different. So after my massage, I decided to was time to head back to the locker room, get dressed and check out the rest of the jjimjilbang.
You see, the jjimjilbang is not just a sauna separated for men and women, there are also common areas. The particular jjimjilbang that I like to visit has 7, yes 7, floors. There is a floor with a gym, various floors with other places to get skin services, cupping, acupuncture, etc....there is a floor that has food and arcades, This floor also has a common area, where you see many couples/families strewn about just laying out the ground relaxing; in addition there are more sauna rooms like the salt room, the jade room and the snow room which has artificial snow and even a snow man. There is a floor with a movie theater and then a floor with a men's sleep room and a women's sleeping room. Yup, sleeping rooms with the lights out, some sort of aroma therapy and sleeping mats and seemingly sound-proof. They are a great alternative to hostels for some travelers as you can stay at the jjimjilbang for up to 12 hrs. and it is merely 12,000won. So, if you are even planning on visiting Korea, see if there is a jjimjilbang near you and experience what will have to be the most relaxing overnight stay you could have for that price. I brought my sisters and Jac to the jjimjilbang and they all loved it, but more to come about their visits in my next posts.
Now that you have heard some more about my life here in SoKo, watch the video again and you will have a better idea about some of the things they reference.
