Korean spas

Korea has the greatest spas... that is, if you are willing to take your clothes off! The spas are all over the place, and they are kind of like a bath house. The Korean name is jimjibang They are separated into men's and women's, and then a combined room. So, basically you can go, shower, hang out in the hot tubs or sauna, and then get dressed and meet the guys in the middle. I have been to the one in my building a few times, and it is really great. I have to say that it is pretty strange, especially for my conservative American background, to walk around naked - but you get over it. Tonight, I did a scrub. Basically you pay about $15 to have someone scrub your body. It is amazing how much dead skin I had. It was kind of like a rough massage - but it felt really great, and my skin is soooo soft now. Definitely doing that again!
 I am sure some of you are reading this and are thinking - what?! That is what I thought when I first came to Korea, but now I really wish that we had these back home. At home, it is expensive to go to a spa, and they aren't always that available. These spas are designed for people to take their time and really just relax. You can watch TV, take a nap, get on a computer, eat...pretty much whatever you want in addition to the spa, and they are usually open 24 hours - or at least pretty late. Here is a picture of the inside of a jimjibang (the shared room)- this is not the one I go to - mine is really simple - but it is similar. I stole this photo from flickr. ;-)