The Scandalous Spa!!

Early Saturday afternoon I joined my friends Dorrial and Amanda for an afternoon of shopping madness. We went to Centum city which is home to the world’s largest department store: Shinsegae. Apparently the size of the store is 293, 904 square meters and it has a huge variety of North American stores including The Gap, The Body Shop, Nike and even some high roller stores like Chanel and Louis Vuitton.

We (or course) began in the food court. This is not the average food court though, it was so extravagant and had every type of food under the sun. There were so many choices but I finally narrowed it down to the chicken stir-fry. Unfortunately I’ve discovered that 90% of food in korea has one main flavor--- spicy! I’m not thrilled about this but all of the foreigners I’ve talked to have told me that soon I’ll get adjusted to it and I’ll start to crave the burn… we’ll see!

After our lunch we set off shopping… not that I had so much money to burn or anything; but it was interesting to see all of the different stores. My friend Dorrial had learned that foreigners get a special ‘welcome package’ at the mall so we went to check it out. We received a little envelope filled with coupons for free stuff and discounts for many of the stores. Also when we brought a receipt back to show that we bought something, they gave us a very nice Shinsegae tote (this will come in very handy for grocery shopping, as many places do not provide bags).

The major merchandise that I bought was for my pantry--- tuna, salt, pepper… just the basics. One thing I felt so blessed to find was butter! It’s not as common here and lately I’ve been making my eggs with canola oil—not the best for flavor. I also bought some stuff for furnishing my apartment that was a bit awkward to carry, but well needed.

Once we had completed our shopping we headed back home to drop off our purchases. Then we decided to try a very cultural experience—the spa. Now, in Korea the spa is not the same as back home. Here, people do not have bath tubs (only showers) so there is not a lot of time to sit back and enjoy or relax. SO, they have these ‘bath houses’ or spas where one can relax in hot water and jump into a cold pool or enjoy the heat of the sauna.

As we entered the spa, which was at Hotel Homer’s, the woman at the front desk could not understand us and we were having a difficult time communicating. Luckily a kind Korean woman stepped in and began interpreting for us. She helped us get into the spa and then was nice enough to show us around. Here’s how it went….

So, you begin by removing all of your clothes (I mean everything!). You are given a towel the size of a dish cloth, but this is for after you’re done, to dry yourself. Next, you go into the showers and wash yourself and shampoo your hair. After you are thouroughly cleaned, you may enter the baths. There were about six different baths (rather like huge hot tubs) which all differed in temperatures. The temperatures were digitally displayed above so you could make an informed decision about which one you wanted to go into.

The entire area was beautifully decorated and very well maintained. It was made of stone and marble, with many sculptures throughout and a few sky lights. The one wall was completely glass windows and you could see out onto the beach and look out at the ocean… it was very beautiful.

Once we got in, my friends and I were quite self conscious about being so exposed. Many of the Koreans would look at us (probably because we looked quite different from them) and it was slightly nerve racking. After about a half hour though, you completely forgot that you were naked (well almost completely). We rotated between the hot tub and the cold water. Then we went into the hot sauna, which was very hot. We spent much of the evening talking to our new Korean friend and she told us the background information about the spa.

Apparently kids start coming to the spa at a very young age and it is a regular part of their bathing routine. This woman (her name is Sharon) said that she came almost every day. They believe that it is very good for your skin to be constantly exfoliating in the baths and sweating in the saunas and also that it is good for overall health (you release many toxins when you sweat).

After our time in the spa we got dressed in shorts and t-shirts that were provided and headed up to the Jjingiban, which is an area where both men and women can socialize, eat, drink, watch TV, sleep and use the saunas. Sharon was helpful enough to order food for us so that it wouldn’t be too spicy and we enjoyed dinner together. Afterwards, we spent a bit more time in the saunas before showering and going home.

Overall, it was an amazing experience—a little weird at first, but totally adjustable and very culturally enlightening. We are planning on going back soon for some well deserved R and R.