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Lunar new year break 08

right now...i just got back from a little vacation...its new years (feb 7th) here on the lunar calendar so i had wed thurs fri off...i headed about 5 hrs south into the mountains (andong city) and spent a few nights in this ancient korean village with a korean fanily and celebrated their new years ceremonies of greeting their ancestors with them. it was really cool to be part of. the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. i slept in a korean style house which means...a square room with a door and windows. the door is about waist high from the outside, and once u got in its at floor level. u cannot wear ur shoes inside and u sleep on the floor. the floors are heated which is a real delight to curl up onto when its cold out. my window facing the lake and the mountains (as well as the sunrise and sunset) was also floor level so i slept with the window opened with my head and arms outside taking in the fresh air. for me, it was an absolute paradise. i real fuckin dream. i cant beleive i only stayed there for 2 nights. the old korean women cooked me delicious meals and i spent most of my time hiking in the woods or napping. the showers were pretty much outside...they were in this metal enclosure, with ceramic floors that werent heated. so, getting undressed felt like u were naked outside in the freezing snow...but once the hot water steemed up the place it wasnt so bad. once i got to andong bus terminal, the owner of the village picked me up and drove me the rest of the way. he was the coolest old man an ever. we obviously talked about school and that, I told him i was a french lit major...and he starts busting out old french authors...from baudelaire, stendhal, marivaux to andre breton...i was incredulous. turns out the man is a poet. so he knows his shit. Koreans take school very seriously. The norm these days is to have 2 or 3 university degrees…which is very impressive. Most educated people I came across were also familiar with old French authors and philosophers, as well as American and British ones too. Part of their high school curriculum is to learn all that and memorize it. Having a conversation with someone educated is mind-blowing.

After Jirye village, i headed down even more south to Pohang. my plan was to crash in a jimjilbang and then head to mount Naeyeon and visit Bogyeongsa temple and the 12 waterfalls throughout the moutains. i never made it there (long story) but let me tell you about the jimjilbangs. There are 3 floors. Usually first floor is for women, second floor is mixed and third floor is for men. u pay $6 and u go in. on the 1st and 3rd floor is where you’re naked. there are about 75 sit down showers, 12 stand up ones, a hot tub, an even hotter tub, a medicated tub, a cold tub, a wet sauna, a dry sauna....and a bunch of naked people... from newborn babies to extremely old grandma. Frequenting jimjilbangs is truly part of their culture. They’re really serious about being clean. Pretty much everyone goes there to scrub themselves down from head to toe with these special exfoliating mits. They usually scrub themselves and then each others backs. At first it looked strange because you can come across a woman scrubbing the front and back of her teenage daughter….which back home would be looked at as a bit unnatural, but it quickly became ordinary to see. If you pay $20 these old korean ladies scrub you down from head to toe, even your bum crack. (I did it last week at the jimjilbang in Gangneung near my place and omg…the excruciating pain… it kills. It feels like they’re rubbing you very very hard and fast with sandpaper. Seriously. I thought my tattoos might come off…But oh my! Once they’re finished, your skin is then oh so soft and beautiful.) They make sure there is no more dead skin or dirt left on you. They are very strong women. So yesterday I spent about 12 hours at the jimjilbang. The beauty of it is, u can crash there...and go into the hotub/sauna part as many times as u want. I went 3 times. on the second floor, where its mixed, people wear their clothes. u can find places to get massages, delicious Korean food, tvs, computer games, arcades, mats for sleeping and wooden blocks to lay your head on, an ice sauna and other saunas. Its very relaxing. It’s nice to see families getting together there and just hanging out. My favourite part is being naked without feeling any shame...nobody cares...sometimes they stare at me because of my tattoos but I’m ok with that.

So far, I really like Koreans. They don’t go out of their way to be extra friendly to you, and they pretty much don’t pay any attention to you if you haven’t been introduced in the past. If you get shoved by someone of the bus or supermarket, its nothing personal, its just they don’t consider you a friend therefore don’t owe you anything…I guess not even courtesy. However, when it comes down to a lonely foreigner looking lost, there’s always a Korean to the rescue, whether you want/need the help. They’re always glad to be there.

Posted by synthesizer on 2008-02-09 08:47:21 | Rating: