A Very Korean Road Trip (Night)

A jimjilbong, Korean bath house, is an inexpensive and relaxing option for many people while traveling. Usually the cost runs around $8-10 per visit, which is a significant savings in comparison to the price of a hotel room. This factor is why we chose to forego the typical overnight stay at a Korean-ized Motel 6, and went right for the "real experience."

After leaving the cherry blossom festival, we decided to head straight to the jimjilbong for the night. Unfortunately, the establishment our friend had been told about was no longer open 24 hours so we were left on our own to find a new place to lay our heads. After making a few calls, Joey was able to secure us a new location. On our way, we spotted an isolated building atop a large hill. Covered in lights and surrounded by neon palm trees, it looked like an oasis.

Joey:     Ah! So sparkly! 

Us:         Woooowwww! 

Joey:     Oh! It's a jimjilbong!

We decided to scope out our newest jimjilbong first and then return to the Las Vegas style one if it didn't work out. Sure enough, the one we were searching for was dark, dirty, and definitely not sparkly. It was unanimous. We were going to the oasis.

After a long while of figuring out how to access our hilltop mecca, we were finally lugging our bags into the spa. This being my second time to a bath house, I knew what to expect and wasn't anxious about the imminent nudity. After paying my $8 and locking up my shoes outside (no shoes indoors), I received a set of co-ed clothing, which was to be worn in the common area. The girls parted ways with the men and entered the locker room area to stow our belongings. Upon entering the jimjilbong bath area, it is a requirement to shower and scrub down as a polite assurance that you are not going to infect the tubs with any wash-preventable diseases. From my experiences, people take significant time during this process as if they've never showered before; all the while giving their teeth an equally impressive brush down. Although big from the outside, the jimjilbong offered very few options when it came to saunas. There were three tubs to choose from: hot, not as hot, freezing cold; and the four of us girls had them all to ourselves while the many Koreans were diligently scrubbing themselves in the shower.

Once we finished and prepped for the night, we were given a blanket and mat to use in the sleeping rooms. Now, when I first visited a jimjilbong in Ansan several months ago, I saw people lounging on the floor on mats that were similar to a reasonably thick yoga mat. Going into this "experience," I knew I would not sleep uber-comfortably; but my hunches were soon realized when I was handed my "mat." A towel. That was it. 

We had 2 rooms to chose from for the night—a large common room where the TV was on and children were playing video games, or a dark room for sleeping only. We settled on the dark room and made our way up the stairs past a loud snoring man who had been banished from either option. Unfortunately, the women's sleeping room was filled to the brim, and unless we were 4-feet tall, there was no room left for our "blankets." We had no choice but to head down to the much larger common room. 

Saunas lining the common room teamed up with the floor's heating system to keep the temperature somewhere near a sweltering 80 degrees. My worries about being chilly that evening were thrown out the window alongside my hopes for a few hours of sleep. My towel-sized blankets didn't pad much against the heated marble floors and I could feel the scorching heat from the pipes directly beneath me. As I looked around, I noticed many people comfortably snoozing without any blankets under them; and I thought—if they could do it, I could, too. 

After 5 minutes

Me:          It's so hot in here.

Andrea:   I know!  How can people sleep like this?

Me:          I'm drowning in sweat. What time is it now?

As more people came in for the evening, the open floor space disappeared and personal space became a hard-to-retain commodity. The second blanket I had was used underneath my legs to prevent floor burn, and marked the space I needed in order to stretch out. As the night wore on, people were inching closer and closer to me; and my old "issue" with personal space began to resurface. However, I felt alone in this internal struggle as the sounds of chainsaw snoring all around me indicated that many others were sleeping peacefully and extremely deeply. 

12:48 am, 1:48 am....

My attempts at meditation and total body relaxation were interrupted by frequent bumps from people passing by. An older woman who had been sleeping at my feet encroached on my leg space several times and received an unintentional tap to the head (it was hard for me to remember to check for clearance) every time I wanted to stretch out my legs. Somewhere around 2 o'clock, as I was desperately willing myself to fall asleep, I felt a tug on the blanket under my legs. Within half a second, the blanket was whisked out from under me like a tablecloth magic trip. I sat up just in time to see the old woman, who had been unintentionally tapped in the head by my foot, scamper away with my blanket into a sauna room. Thief! I was down to one blanket and my legs were now directly on the hot marble, which made my attempts at total body relaxation a bit more difficult.

2:48 am, 3:48 am....

At some point in the evening a man with liquor on his breath had set up camp at the top of my head. I didn't notice him at first until he fell asleep and began to roll around like a ball. His constant movement was annoying, but not as irritating as his deafening snores. Unable to block them out, I sat up defeated and delirious. By this time, the room was filled to capacity; and the television and computers had been turned off. Everywhere I looked people were sleeping peacefully, comfortably curled up with their spouses or sprawled out alone without a care in the world. The only movement and indication of wakefulness came from the five other non-Koreans in the room—my friends. As I sat up massaging my temples and praying for the snoring to stop, a worker walked by and gave the culprit's head a push. The nudge worked and momentarily stopped his snoring. Relieved and grateful, I repositioned myself on the floor in hopes of falling asleep. One minute later, the same worker came over and offered me a pillow (actually, a piece of hard foam in the shape of a brick), which I happily took from my new-found hero. The pillow brick wasn't necessarily comfortable, but it provided my neck with a new position and I was satisfied with the change.

However, as I was getting acquainted with my new neck position, I soon found myself the victim of another crime. The snoring man had awoken and I now felt the pillow brick being tugged out from underneath my head! I turned around and grabbed ahold of the pillow shooting the man a dirty look. He relented and rolled over as if it was all part of a night terror. Feeling victimized and paranoid now, I turned my body around and put my feet in his direction instead of my head. I had already lost a blanket to an old woman, I refused to lose my pillow brick, too!

4:48 am, 5:48 am, 6:48 am...

As early morning approached and people began to wake up, I was annoyed that I had been awake to witness the entire night's events. Always checking the time when it was at the :48 minute mark, I wondered if I had slept for more than ten minutes throughout the night. The heat was no longer an issue since my body temperature had adapted, but my neck was now sore from my enviable pillow brick. A few of my friends had changed locations throughout the evening and I had trouble locating all of them. I noticed my non-friend, the snoring man at my feet, had located a stack of books in the middle of the night to use as a pillow after his efforts were thwarted when trying to steal mine. 

7:48 am...

We had planned to leave the jimjilbong around 8:30 am and when I looked at the clock again at 7:48, I figured it was a suitable time to get off the hard floor and prepare to leave. My body was stiff and a bit of stretching before standing up helped to release some of my tight joints. Without the darkness of night, people were noticing my obvious non-Asian features and I received many stares from early morning risers. Unless perhaps, they were staring at my broken back, crooked neck, and unbendable legs.

After waking the others and getting dressed for the day, I waited for everyone in the reception area. Although admittedly slightly uncomfortable, most everyone else seemed positive about the experience and were able to get a bit of sleep. 

Joey:          Did you sleep well?

Eveyone:    It was okay/ Not too bad, considering/ If only it hadn't been hot... 

Me:             Umm.. no. And, you'll never guess what happened....