Please excuse my shock but I have never done team sports where one is required to shower with others. naked. together. I have never been a gym member who showers in the locker room, or does anything that would allow you to see others and their nakedness. I don't exactly consider myself modest about these things, but when you're surrounded by a naked asian women on all sides, it sort of makes you rethink your choice to move to Korea, and reminds you that being naked is not this sacred thing, but is really just a part of life . I'll get to that in a minute.
Friday was Buddha's Birthday. We had the day off of work and my coworkers and I decided to take a trip to Busan, which is a coastal area of Korea. Apparently the rest of Asia was going to Busan for the three-day weekend as well, because we took a bus, and what should have been a 5 hour bus ride, turned into a 7 and a half hour bus ride (due to traffic). Anyways, we arrived Friday around 3 pm, and made our way to a famous fish market in the middle of the city. I saw many things... lots of fresh fish, but the most shocking thing, was the eels. Never have I felt sorry for an eel, but now, I have great remorse for Korean eels. Poor babies. Here's what they do: They take the eels, alive. They skin them. alive. then they put them in a bowl of ice, still alive. and display them for people to see, skinless and wiggling, their little eel mouths squealing in pain. When some passerby decides to have a nice fresh eel for a snack, they throw the skinned eel on the grill, until it reaches a nice golden brown, no longer alive, because it was grilled to death. Then, people eat it. Can you imagine?! It was so sad! Needless to say, I lost my appetite at the fish market that day. I had a coffee instead. After the fish market, we decided to go to the popular beach for the rest of the evening.
That was awesome because there were people singing and playing instruments. We hung out there for a while, watched the sunset, and went to find dinner of course. We ate at a pizza place that was overpriced, but decent. Then to find somewhere to stay for the evening... which brings me to the title of this post. In Korea, they have these things called Gymjabongs. This means "Spa" which sounds relaxing and awesome right? It's really just full of nakedness. No, but these spas are ideal for the traveler who doesn't want to spend tons of money for a hotel room. You can stay at the gymjabong for less than 10,000 won/ night ($10). You get a mat and blanket to sleep on, and free reign of the 24 hour communal baths and as long as you don't leave, you can stay for however long you want! Sounds too good to be true? Oh, that's because it is. I'll explain. Firstly, you get there and are required to shower with other ladies, scrub your body of excess skin, and detail your hair follicles in case your American-ness rubs off in the hot tubs. Then you're naked, walking around from one big hot swimming pool to another, feeling awkward as anything because you're the only white girl in there, and one that actually eats food, so I looked a little different. OH! and you're with your COWORKERS. being naked. which makes Mondays at the office a little bit awkward. But anywho, we hung out in the baths, got stared at, went into the sauna room and sweated out our toxins, and eventually got more comfortable with ourselves. It was time for bed. They give you really attractive pink shorts and tshirts to wear, to remind you that you're part of the spa, and then you go to the top floor to sleep on your mat. With 200 other people in a giant wharehouse-like room. And it was 85 degrees and the floor was heated. Marissa was not a happy camper. literally. Also, it's a 24 hour spa, so people were coming and going at all hours of the night! I just tried not to get my fingers smushed as people walked over me. So, totaling around 3 hours of sleep that night, we promptly got up and went to the beach at 5:45 am. No one was there of course, so we laid out our mat and went back to sleep, in the cool beachy air where no one was naked.
Saturday was spent at the beach and then a Korean temple to celebrate the birth of a beautiful man, Buddha, who believed in loving all things, and striving for kindness wherever you go. I love what he believed in and I loved being in such a spiritual place next to the sea to enjoy the day in memory of him. (pictures for reference). Saturday night we went to the other popular beach, got a bottle of soju and sat on the sand watching the drunk Koreans throw each other into the ocean clad in business suits. Apparently it's a funny sport there... who can stand up without falling over as the waves crash around you. The answer? No one. They were tooooooo drunk. So that was entertaining. Then we went to a bar, still in celebration of Buddha, called The Happy Monk. Met a lovely Italian man who talked my ear off, and politely excused ourselves to meet up with another friend. He happened to be at the wrong subway stop, so Jaclyn went to meet him, while I waited for them on the corner of another street. While waiting, I got asked twice if I was Russian (meaning, are you a prostitute) and a lot of other interesting stares. Apparently white girls in short dresses standing on street corners has the same meaning everywhere in the world. Ooops. So we stayed at a seedy love motel that night, because going back to the heated floor of the gymjabong was just not an option for me...
Sunday was a leisurely morning spent with Jaclyn. It was raining so we set off in search of shopping of course. When we found nothing spectacular, we sat in a coffee shop drinking lattes and watching the surf competition from the window. Yes, surfing in Korea. Silly I know. Then it was time to go home! Busan, you did good. I would definitely go back. Good memories, lots of laughs, enough naked women to last a lifetime.
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