When Getting Used To A New Culture, Just Grin & Bare It

Yes, I meant to write that and, yes, I walked around naked in public.

Last week I tackled the cultural difference that I was most afraid of. Korea has "bath houses" everywhere which are basically half-spas/half-hostels. It costs less than $10 to get into one, you can stay as long as you want, and they're full of hot tubs, pools, saunas, food & drinks and rooms to sleep in. Sounds amazingly relaxing, right? The only catch is that you're not allowed to wear anything -- including bathing suits -- when you're in the hot tub area.

My friend and I had been putting this off since we got here but we finally decided to just go ahead and do it. Of course, making the decision to go was only half the battle. Once inside, we hung out in the coed saunas for a while (where you're allowed to wear clothes) but we knew that since we'd gotten so close, we couldn't leave without fully participating.

I came up with Plan A: Let's get in the hot tub with our clothes on and pretend we thought it was optional. However, that probably would've gotten us kicked out so my friend came up with Plan B: Just strip like we're supposed to and then don't look down. We went with Plan B.

We stood at the lockers giggling like idiots until our faces were the same color as the pink shirt I was supposed to be removing. Eventually we counted down and took everything off. We laughed the whole time and, as I often do when I'm laughing, I said I was going "pee my pants." I only realized the irony after I'd said it.

In the beginning, we were super awkward about everything. We laughed uncontrollably and tried to dart as quickly as possible from tub to tub whenever we switched. After a while though, we got over it. Looking back, it was just like getting used to any other cultural difference. At first it literally seems CRAZY but then you realize that, from the other point of view, your way seems just as ridiculous. People here can't imagine getting in the hot tubs with bathing suits on. It's amazing how much the environment you grow up in controls the way you think (a realization that I have a minimum of ten times a day when I'm living in a foreign country).

Conclusion: Whether you do it the Korean way or the American way, hot tubs are amazing! We're already planning our next trip to the bath house (and I have a feeling it's going to be my new favorite place to hang out)!