This weekend was Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving, so things were closed for most of the weekend. I stayed in a lot though on Saturday I did go out to the movies again at the World Cup stadium. There is actually a mall in a circular shape around the stadium, it’s kind of crazy. People here shop constantly. Everywhere you go there is stuff to buy in front of your face, people harassing you etc. I am constantly amazed at the vast quantity of STUFF everywhere and wonder how people buy enough of it to make it all worthwhile.
On Sunday, the day that is officially Chuseok, one thing that was open was the public bath. The one we went to is by the Yonsei east gate, is open 24 hours, and you can stay all day. You can get specific information and directions here. I went with my roommate and two other friends to check it out and it was so much more than I thought it would be. When we arrived we turned in our shoes and things in exchange for two small towels (think decorative hand towel size) and one-size-fits-all drawstring pants and shirt. It was only 8,000 won (roughly $7.50) in order to access all of their facilities for free (excepting massages and dead-skin scraping). We were escorted downstairs where a woman explained to us what to do and we just nodded and didn’t really catch any of it. We put our personal items in a locker and received a key on an elastic band that everyone fastens to their ankle. Men and women are separated before this point, and we undress completely in order to take the bath. My roommate was explaining that this is not strange at all for asian people but it was definitely the first time I’ve been completely nude in front of friends (and it wasn’t accidental).
