ah yes...time for an update. i forgot to post about my first experience in a bathhouse/spa thingy here in the sk. so we go into the building and pay whatever the fee is and get a locker key, a couple of small towels, and a set of bathhouse clothes (think scrubs). we take our shoes off, of course, and the guys stay on the first floor while the women go up to the third. so i walk into the locker room area and there are many naked women around. i'm led to the first set of lockers where we put our shoes. then the next set of lockers (taller, therefore bigger) and that's where all our clothes end up going into. you leave the scrubs inside the locker with your clothes as well. attached to the locker room, through a set of glass doors, you walk into the big bath room. there's lots of showerhead/spigot combos along the sides of the wall, both standing and sitting. in the middle of the room there are two jacuzzi-like tubs with green water. i have no idea what green additive is, but i assume it's something good for your skin. anyhoo, you start at the standing shower and do the normal shower thing--wash your hair, soap yourself and your face, rinse, and also brush your teeth, if you feel so inclined. then you pop yourself into the green water for a good long soak. after your soak, you do the sitting shower thing. here's where you sit on a little plastic stool and take these hand mitt thingies, rub some soap on, and scrub really hard. the point is to exfoliate really well and all over. there's a mutual scrubbing of each others' backs. yay. rinse off and whatnot. and then you can pop yourself back in the jacuzzi and then get out and scrub some more and/or get yourself a massage. i didn't do the massage, so i can't tell you about that. but it seems to be just as popular in korea as it is in the states. anyways, after awhile you back to the locker room and change into the scrubs before heading upstairs to the floor with the steam room and the ice room. here you can alternate roasting and chilling yourself, resting in between in the big room with the television and the woman from whom you order refreshments. i spent quite a long time here, just roasting myself and resting in the big room. i slowly ate from a big bowl of paht bing soo. this is basically a bowl with shaved ice, sweet red bean, fruit cocktail, a bit of strawberry jam, sweetened condensed milk or maybe it was half and half, soy powder...and i think that was it. it's really varied since there are many topping options. so after roasting in the little sauna room (you crouch walked your way through a short tunnel into a small room shaped like a large oven and sweated for as long as you could stand it), i'd rest in the big room and eat from my bowl. after something like an hour and a half or so, we finally get ready to leave. so back down to the locker room for the final shower cleaning before changing back into your clothes and combing your hair and such, putting the towels and scrubs into the hamper and then turning in your key. phew...it was quite an experience. i felt squeaky clean afterwards, which was very pleasant. and i imagine that the spas in the states are similar with the huge exception of privacy/community. i hope that makes sense. :)
i've been teaching a monday thru friday class in english conversation. it's pretty easy right now, and i've only got 4 students. it's supposed to get busier soon, so i may have around 10 students instead. yikes, i'm trying not to worry. on saturdays, i teach a biology class for two hours. ugh, now this one is not so easy. and i've got three students who will NOT talk. i'm trying to come up with activities to get them more involved in the class...any ideas would be most welcome!
i'm frantically searching for a non-teaching job since i'd prefer to teach on a part-time basis. but we'll see...i may end up teaching full-time. sigh. i hope to reacquaint myself with a cousin of mine this week...one that i may end up living with. she's a year younger than me, and i'm pretty sure she's the one i met during my first trip to seoul with my mom ten years ago. ah yes.
i've got a long to-do list...my next adventure: going to a bank and opening an account! :p
hope everyone is doing well in the ATX!
2 comments:
What excellent adventures, Hannass! I don't know what age the Biology students are. I know you don't want to condescend to them but you could maybe try some relaxed exercises to get everyone involved: something like, go around the room saying your name (unless you already have those down pat) and then everyone's favorite...err...animal? That's loosely bio-related right? :) Worth a shot. :p
teee heee!!! I went to a similar spa in Hot Springs Arkansas, but we didn't share any tubs, and we wore sheets around us as we went from spa thingy to spa thingy. It was lovely to take a bath in a big old tub and have hot towels packed around you on a table. And it was only 40 bucks! Not like rich people spas. Maybe I should bring spas as community back to the states!! I'll make a fortune!! As long as there are separate bath tubs we'll be okay.
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