What the Wednesday: The Naked Edition

This “WTW” is probably going to be my favorite. People, get ready. It’s going to be such a read, stretching what you thought you knew about the world to the outer limits. What you will learn today forces your perceived thoughts to shatter and bends your cognition to a higher power’s will. You thought it was only in tales, some folklore passed down by the mystics. It can’t possibly be real. 

Have I completely reeled you in?
Excellent.

I do not speak of some tall tale. No Loch Ness Monster or alien ships. Oh no.
I speak of nakedness. Whole masses of people. Naked. Bathing and scrubbing. Soaking and showering.
 It’s not a nudist colony. It’s a jimjilbang. 

Before I go on, let me give some context. I went to Wando beach for some camping on Buddha’s birthday weekend with some friends. Things went exactly as planned, meaning almost nothing went right. Buddha’s bday is a national holiday which results in the mass migration of Koreans across the country. They flock to the beaches or up the mountains, wherever is popular that year. So when I arrived at the bus terminal “early” to buy our 10:55am tickets to Wando, I, of course, had to buy the 2:10pm tickets. Everything else was sold out. We waited. We chatted in the sun, then took the 2.5 hour ride to the beach. We tried to head to another island once we got there, but found out there was no campgrounds. After some taxi rides we had finally arrived! Our long awaited camping adventure could begin! Excitement runs through our group as we talk about the camp fires that will be had, the breakfast we'll eat over looking the ocean and falling asleep to the sound of the waves. We found our way to the beach where we spent the night on a raised tent platform. It was hard. It was cold. That cool sea breeze turned into a frigid ocean tundra gale at night. It was cramped. One of the tents was very very tiny and my tall tall friend slept in the fetal position all night long, longing to stretch his lengthy limbs. The ocean waves were incredibly loud. Waking me with their incessant crashing. At 4:30am half of the company was awake. That morning we found out there were no showers. It was low season. The facilities hadn’t opened yet. Our bodies, which had been smothered with campfire smoke the night before, were starting to reek. No worries. We will take the ferry to that island we wanted to see, rent a pension for the night, and shower in luxury (ish). Two hours and a ferry ride later the man at the ticket counter tells me,

“No ferry Sunday. Rest.” 

Sorry, what? You mean to tell me we're stuck here or we can turn right around and go back now?! I turn to my tired, smelly friends who gaze back with bags under their eyes. Everyone takes a breath. What do we do? Do we go back now? Sightsee a bit? We have all our gear. What will we do with this mass? Are there lockers? One girl starts to slump forward a bit at the thought of taking another 45 minute ferry ride just to go back to where we started. Our spirits drop. The storm is starting to descend. Then someone suggests, 
“What if we go to the jimjilbang?"
Spirits lift. Smiles appear. Yes oh yes is the joyous cry from the group. We will go to the jimjilbang! Our saving grace has appeared. The weekend is saved. No longer do we look to the ferry ride back with dismay. No no, this ship is a vessel of hope, steering us toward glory. 

The Jimjibang. It’s a sauna. Not any sort of sauna that westerners are used to. There are no candles lit with soft music playing. This is a public bathhouse. 
Here’s how it works.
There are two levels: men and women. Walk through the front door pay your $4-8 grab a pajamas set and go to your respective floors. The men and women are separate and don’t see each other at all. (If it’s a sauna then you get no outfit. It’s just a bathhouse. If it’s a jimjilbang then you get the outfit set because it’s also a place to sleep. Men and women can meet back on the shared floor clad in the given pajamas.) Once inside you grab a locker and strip. Shocked? Worried? Don’t bother. Everyone’s doing it. The elderly, middle schoolers, children, moms and daughters, fathers and sons. Usually there are at least three large baths, large enough to fit 10-15 people comfortably. Well, as comfortable as one can get with a naked stranger beside them. One is filled with boiling hot water, one with luke warm water, and at least one has water taken straight from the arctic circle. The routine is to shower first then go from hot tub to cold tub. Sit in the steam room. Have your body scrubbed (by what feels like a brillo pad) down by an old woman wearing nothing but her underwear. She's easy to spot. She has the most clothes on in the place. Cleanse the body, rejuvinate the spirit, get the blood pumping, and open the pores. People, it feels. So. Good. 

Now, the nakedness. Sigh. Most foreigners downright refuse to go when they learn of this queer cultural ritual. An entire room filled with naked people? Naked strangers?! You think I’m stared at while walking down the street? Just wait till they see me in all my glory. No. Absolutely not. 

That’s what they say until they try it anyway. 

People stare at first. It’s a foreigner. It’s naked. Give it a once over and move on. I confess, I waited until my eleventh month mark had passed in Korea before I checked out a sauna, but once I did, I was hooked. Our culture teaches us to hide our bodies, be ashamed of our form. It’s not perfect. There are so many mistakes, too many scars and imperfections on our bodies. However true that might be, the sauna teaches me one lesson: no body is perfect. Nobody chats about how ugly someone is or points out what's wrong with you. This isn't some sorority initiation. Nobody cares what your body looks like. It's the most freeing experience and biggest confidence boost I've ever experienced. And it's so simple. We sit gathered in the tub with towels around our heads. We gossip, and eat hard boiled eggs (jimjilbang food of choice). Kids play, and the women scrub their skin until they gleam red and raw. It’s the sauna. It’s Korea. It’s the way of life. 

After our hour long trip to the sauna the guys and girls in our group reconvened. We were calm and clean. We sipped our cappuccinos and tea while smiling, remembering how that hot watery nakedness cleansed away the stress and soothed the ache in our bones. A sigh of contentment was passed around the table. 

And we went back again the next day.