Apologies for the lack of blogs recently. The weather has been nearly perfect every day & I've been traveling each weekend, so....hunker down for a short novel, kids....it's a good one but no pics, you'll understand why later!
The weekends continue to get better, the weather steadily climbs the thermometer & the sun's been nice enough to hang out in the Western sky just a tad bit longer, which is absolutely why I love the summer months - longer days of natural light in which to play outside & enjoy nature's goodness in all it's delightful little forms! Of course the high speed reality train always has to rear it's ugly head & knock things down a few pegs so as not to get us too comfortable w/the 'good life.' But relatively speaking, things have been cruising along quite nicely in recent weeks....aside from one little public dilemma here in Gumi.
So, it's been about a month ago now but things were motoring along like most other Saturday mornings; taking an hour or two in order to shake the sleep & weekend fog from the brain while contemplating how exactly I wanted to approach the gloriously warm & sunny day.
With the fog lifted & plans in order, I hopped in the shower to be welcomed to a refreshingly chilly cleansing & put the pieces together for the weekend. Having the ever keen senses of a sloth, I finally noticed the shower pressure considerably lower than normal but quickly wrote it off as merely a higher volume of usage or something of the like, nothing to concern myself with given the anticipation of another hike in the low elevation mountains of the Korean peninsula!
Upon returning from the hike & a having ingested a healthy dose of makkli, soju (both are Korean booze) & yet another form of mysteriously edible veggies & animal innards, I was ready for a cool down soak in the shower. This time, however, the pressure had worked itself into a persistent trickle at best but I was able to clean up relatively well given the circumstances.
Unfortunately, by Sunday, I'd have loved the trickle as no water flowed from any of the spigots in the place until maybe four in the after, at which time things seemed to be flowing normally again. I proceeded to throw a load of laundry in the wash & lost myself in lesson plans & grading papers (the weather was less cooperative than the previous day, so it seemed like a no brainer - just relax & be productive).
By seven o'clock, the little machine of convenience was doing it's best to get through the wash cycle & make a last ditch effort for the rinse & spin. Curiosity thoroughly peaked, I checked the water pressure again but things had slowed to a mere drip, drip pace once again.
After cruising down to the neighborhood family mart, picking up a few liters of water, emptying said liters into the wash & urging the modern convenience to make a final push at completion of cleanliness I was finally able to hang the presumably 'so fresh & so clean, clean' clothes randomly around the cavernous abode by about 11 that evening w/no chance of them being dry by work the next day. At that point, I was more curious about the impending shower the next day & the thought of bottle bathing.
In the event of no available water on Monday, I'd worked a contingency plan of getting the real Korean bathhouse experience & heading the couple blocks to what I hoped would be an opportunity to not only experience an interesting part of Korean culture but also get a good full body scrubbing. I can certainly say it was an interesting experience & apparently a very important aspect of life on the fair peninsula.
As fate would have it, I was relegated to walk the couple blocks down the street to the neighborhood bathhouse, paid my 4,000 won & made my way up the stairs, doing my best to decipher the writing on the doors & not burst into the women's area by accident. Finally making it to the third floor & seeing a couple guys walking out, my ability to surmise the situation was that this had to be the spot so I strolled in like I wasn't the only Anglo in the whole place (even though this remains the constant norm most of the time).
After removing my sandals & placing them in the shoe cubby like back in my formative years of early elementary, my little brain struggled to wrap itself around the image unfolding before my eyes....Korean dudes everywhere, just chilling in the buff. To my left there were three or four guys stark naked in front of their lockers looking none to hurried in whatever it was they were doing. Beside them were a couple guys kicked back on a leather couch keeping a close eye on some popular show on the monstrous TV hanging on the wall while debating the plot lines. Straight ahead, three guys standing by the door to the showers & hot tubs, likely discussing the rise in value of the won on the international markets, naked as can be w/no thought of this being out of the ordinary. To my right was a counter w/a crusty old attendant grinning like an idiot who knows a secret I'm not sure I want any part of. Just beyond him were a handful of guys shaving, brushing their teeth, throwing on some smell good & fixing their black locks of hair in the wall of mirrors. Aside from myself & the smiling dope behind the counter, there were nary an article of clothing or towel to be found.
In a most valiant & undeterred effort, I asked smiley for a towel, showed him my receipt & he pointed at a key sitting on the counter. I repeated the word towel (which is pretty much pronounced tawol, so I'm thinking there couldn't have been confusion in what I was asking), only to be directed, once again, toward the key on the counter. Alright, maybe the towel is folded neatly in locker number 83....nope.
By this point I was completely confused, there was a bin full of used towels near the door by the guys discussing Korean financials (at least that's what I'm gonna go with) but not a single one to be found. Upon another visual sweep of the locker room, I put my toiletries in number 83, motioned to the key master that I'd be right back, grabbed my sandals & made my was back down to the reception guy.
I asked the nice fellow for a towel & he pointed me toward the stairs & back to an another opportunity to interact w/dopey. I could clearly see a pile of clean folded towels in the corner of his little office....mind you, a Korean towel is basically a big, thin hand towel with about the same absorbancy of a paper towel; in my opinion relatively useless.
After some great internal jostling, I informed the reception guy I'd be right back, even though I'm assuming he had no idea what I was saying as he, too, smiled like an idiot, politely bowed his head and cordially offered me a 'gamsahabnida' (thank you). The decision had been made, so I strolled the two blocks home, grabbed my towel & walked back into the bath house like nothing had happened. Again, reception guy smiled, gestured toward the stairs & offered another 'gamsahabnida.'
Alright, back in business. Towel in hand, sandals back in their cubby & ready to get clean. Of course everyone was still hanging out like they're waiting for a tee time at the golf course, absolutely no immediacy in their action; spending the day naked at the bath house watching TV & joking about the silly foreigner who seems completely lost by the whole thing.
I made my way back to 83, grabbed the necessary cleansing supplies, disrobed & made my way to the showers, towel casually thrown over my shoulder - you know, just doing what I can to blend in w/the locals, well, except for the towel.
Upon entering the shower facilities, a multitude of options lay before me. I could hop into one of the hot tubs, a cold tub or pop a squat on a plastic stool that stood about eight inches off the ground and go about showering in a most peculiar manner. Now, I'm all for kicking back and relaxing but it was a bit awkward sitting there and lathering up, shampooing & brushing my teeth surrounded by the same scene on either side of me & a mirror mounted on a wall directly in front of me & not a bit of insecurity amongst the natives. It wasn't until I was finished w/the process that I got up, wandered over to a hot tub & slipped in to soak for a few minutes when I noticed, tucked away in the corner a few 'Western style' shower heads on the wall. Of course, wanting to get the most for my money, I proceeded to the normal showers for good measure & repeated the process....why not, it was certainly gonna be a bizarre day, just as well be extra clean!
Completely cleansed, I ventured back to the locker area (obviously greeted by the doling dope at the counter providing necessary provisions for the patrons, i.e. keys). The toweling process complete & adequately dressed in fresh clothes for the walk back to the apartment, I couldn't help but notice there were still a fair number of guys just hanging out, doing a whole lot of nothing but being naked & enjoying the masculine camaraderie of it all. For good measure & to at least be able to laugh at the situation, as I was leaving, I said to no one in particular, 'You guys hanging out? I'll hang out!' Of course, my genius & wit were lost on the lot of them but at least I was able to get a good chuckle as the eyes of a dozen naked Korean men & the elderly key master gazed back at me with confusion & probably a bit of disdain towards the bizarre Anglo who was finally taking his awkward bathing habits & leaving them to get back to being the good, unclothed Koreans they were before this experience.
As luck would have it, I was provided with the opportunity to revisit the bath house the following day as water stilled failed to make it's way to the common folk...although, I was told construction workers had busted the main water line on Saturday & pretty much the whole city of Gumi & it's neighboring villages were w/out running water. I found it interesting & nobody knew quite why the bath houses, restaurants & many of the important government buildings all had water but the rest of us were to go w/out.
Finally, after nearly a week of bottled water, witty comments lost on natives as I entered the locker rooms, honing my bath house etiquette & a seriously disgusting toilet situation, the fine people of Gumi were once again thrust into the 20th century - water once again flowing for the masses!
Since my initial experience & the subsequent days relegated to 'hanging out w/the guys,' I've had the opportunity to enjoy this culturally enriching, if not downright peculiar act of utilizing a public bath house in both Seoul (I was also able to use it as a place to sleep one night) & Busan, where I felt it should probably be done if for no other reason than the comparison factor & truly experiencing all Korea had to offer. Sure enough, they are very common throughout Korea & the scene is pretty much the same. Naked folks, going about their business like it's no big deal to parade around naked for long periods of time amongst complete strangers.
I guess it's all about the journey & getting a flavor for how the rest of the world lives. I am happy to report that in Busan & Seoul, towels were provided, although still rather inadequate....and now I've got a couple souvenirs in which to remind me of the great Korean bath house experience!
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