Jjimjilbang (traditional Korean spa)

"Let's go into a dark hot cave, and sit until it's uncomfortable."

"Oh, that sounds like a great idea. I'll bring snacks."

"Jjim" as a syllable is also used in "jjim hada," "to smother." "Jil" can mean "the act of doing." ("Jjimjil" also means "compress," as in, "We put a cold 'compress' on his sprained ankle.") "Bang" is used to mean room in many contexts, such as the ubiquitous PC Bangs or PC rooms where many a Korean teenager (or young adult) avoids sunshine and masterfully plays away the day in a Starcraft, WoW, or Batoo-induced haze.

So, as some of you knew, and some have guessed, Jjimjilbang are spas.

Modernly, men and women have separate rooms where they, au natural, enjoy the hot steam, typically after a massage. For rather cheap one can sleep the night in a bunkbed (or so I've read, I haven't been).

Traditional Jjimjilbang, like the one I had the pleasure of visiting last night, are quite different. Stone and mud caves are sealed with wood burning in them. Once the cave is hot enough, the entrance is broken open. Over the course of the next four days the "room" is gradually downgraded from "very hot" to "low heat" as it naturally cools. A wooden platform is placed on the floor allowing you to sit comfortably (well ... more comfortably) and sometimes people will also sit atop blankets to keep their "eongdongi" (buttocks) from becoming too uncomfortable as they pour sweat out of themselves.

Men and women both wear a sort of light terrycloth outfit and share whatever room suits their momentary fancy. Outside the rooms, there are small wooden seating areas where you can lie down and cool off in the open air, and have snacks and beverages as you wish.

At the jjimjilbang I went to last night, there were four rooms (one "very hot," one "hot," one "medium heat," and one "low heat") and a new room (presumably "OH MY THAT'S HOT") being broken into.

"Very hot" means VERY HOT. And scary. A blanket covers the entrance to the cave to keep the heat in, so you are basically blindly stumbling into smoldering heat. The floor is so hot that your buttocks (or at least mine) become uncomfortable even if you are in a swimsuit covered by a jjimjilbok (I'm guessing that's what they call the outfit as "bok" means outfit) and put a blanket down. A "very hot" traditional jjimjilbang would be a great way of disabusing any knight of the notion that he should enter the dragon's cave and attempt to slay it.

"Hot," on the other hand. is bearable and rather enjoyable, if for a short time.

Most people I saw, including myself and those in my group, stayed in the "medium" room, which is hot enough to leave you pouring in sweat but mild enough that you can sit and wait for the sweat to pour, like a "just-right" jacuzzi.

The five of us--myself, Caroline, Park Geun-Yeong (our workout instructor and one of the kindest people I know), her friend and her friend's daughter spent several hours cave-hopping. We'd generally sit in the medium cave, drip in sweat (us westerners more then the Koreans), then have a snack or two, try the "very hot," realize it was a bad idea, and go back to the medium cave.

The uncomfortable heat gives a sense of euphoria and cleanliness, and creates and instant bond between you and whomever you're with. I feel as though my friendship with Park was greatly accelerated by the jjimjilbang, and the usual awkwardness of a new introduction faded between myself and the two other women rather quickly. We also had brief chats with a group from Suwon (outside of Seoul) who joined us in the medium room and then we saw waiting outside a cave as the entry was broken open. (Good luck to them.)

We left in a heat-induced stupor and slept well (admittedly after a bit more wine at Park's house).

Pictures will follow.

(Picture: Left to right: Me, Caroline, Park Geun Yeong)