Soju, Saki, & a Little Late Night Spa Action -- One of the Oddest Nights of My Life

I'm not even sure where to begin this... but here it goes.

After our orientation the boys decided to go to dinner and the girls decided to join for drinks. While we were out Brendan decided to order bai giu which is a traditional Chinese drink-- definitely burns going down. Plus we were chasing the bai gui with soju which wasn't exactly a brilliant plan. The girls all decided to go home (they weren't drinking) and I thought it would be most interesting to tag along with the boys :) At some point I meantion a jjimjilbang (Korean bath house) in the area and one of the guys (Brendan) was super ansy to get to one. I should add at this point that he had already been to a bath house, and I had not. Somehow we decide that we should leave the restaurant and hit up the spa as it's open 24 hours. A couple of other guys were game and so some soju, bai gui, and Cass later we leave. Downstairs all of the boys except Brenden decide that they don't want to go to the bath house right then (probably a smart move) and that they're going to head to another bar. Me and Brenden jump in a cab and here is where the madness begins. I was prepared to get my kit off, but I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into...

We arrive at the bath house and he goes one way and I go the other as it's separated by gender. As I entered the women's area I saw nude Korean women everywhere and not a single foreigner in sight. My worries of sanitation of the 'baths' were quickly relegated to the back of my mind as I realized how different I was going to look naked. Not a single one of these women even trimmed their pubic hair. Being from the land of laser hair removal and bikini waxing I didn't ummmm 'fit in'. As if it weren't enough that I'm blonde, have darker skin than anyone there, and permanently look like I'm wearing a bikini (wretched tanlines!), I was also sans hair. The lady at the desk gave me a rubberized

The first five minutes I had to fight off the giggles because the situation was sooooo awkward. Every single eye in the place was on me, and no I'm not exaggerating. I even had a small boy run up to me and point and giggle! Honestly, I probably would have just left, but I had planned to meet Brenden back out front in one hour. So, I gave myself those five minutes to feel awkward, do my giggling to myself and pull it together. Of course everyone stil stared as I moved from bath to bath, but eventually I got used to it. I should point out for those of you who haven't attended a Korean bath house that it is just one huge room with several baths all of which have different temperatures. There are also steam rooms, etc. So you are never out of the sight of others. Ever.
I was stunned by how comfortable these women were just sitting there nude in the open while vigorously and meticulously scrubbing every part of their bodies. (I didn't bring a scrubber and thus didn't do this, however Koreans are apparently obsessed wtih scrubbing themselves-- I think this helps to get rid of any tanned/dead skin and keep them pale as possible) I noticed quickly that none of them had the stereotypical 'perfect' body by American standards, and furthermore none of them seemed to care. Not a single woman had implants, and in this moment I was never more grateful to not have them myself. Can you even imagine if I had all the aforementioned differences AND implants? I think they'd have ran to their lockers to grab their phones and take pictures of the circus freak!

At some point I became so comfortable in being different and novel that I actually no longer minded the staring. Here these women were baring it all and not thinking twice about their cellulite, excess fat, small breasts, hairy armpits, etc. So, who was I to be the one to ruin this beautiful display of womanly confidence? I simply wouldn't allow myself to do such a thing. As you shower off at the end you do so infront of a mirror-- it seemed very strange for the first 2.5 seconds, but then I recognized the person staring back at me as a friend, confidant, and ally. In that moment I had to question how could I ever even for a moment think of doing anything less than loving myself?