Jimjilbang

I had, what I feel, was a very Korean friday night this weekend. After school, a few of us headed for dinner at an all you can eat Korean BBQ buffet. I love Korean barbeque... bulgogi is by far the best thing I have eaten since I got here, so much so that I have had it four or five times. It's basically thinly sliced marinated beef that you cook at the grill built into your table. You put the meat into a lettuce leaf with ssamjang, a spicy red paste, and some onion that is soaked in the Korean equivalent of soy sauce (I say equivalent because it is sweet, not salty). The buffet has a bunch of other meats, soups and side dishes and it only costs 7500 won. We stayed for almost two hours... until we realized they were closing.

Anna and I then headed to a jimjilbang. In simple terms, it's a bathhouse but without all the sketchiness of the ones in North America. Mostly. The one we went to is in a big hotel on the beach. After you pay (less than ten dollars), they hand you a key, towels and a pair of pyjamas. The men's and women's bathing areas are completely separated. You'll understand why in a second. The key is for a locker for your stuff. ALL your stuff. The baths are all nude. It was pretty bizarre at first, not being a fan of public nudity myself. But it was after midnight and not many people were around. The baths are a room full of different temperature pools from cool to really, really hot. There are tinted glass windows that look out onto the beach. The water was really pretty.

After we were sufficiently pruney, We went back to the change room and put on the pyjamas we'd been given. They were kind of like scrubs, but pink. The men's ones are orange. Once you are dressed, you can move to the coed floors. There are blankets and these headrest things that are supposed to be substitutes for pillows. Then you find a spot somewhere and sleep. There are many different sauna-like rooms in the coed area. Each is at a different temperature. The hottest was sixty degrees celsius and the coldest was minus four. Some rooms have pebbles on the floor and one had salt. The rest of the areas are heated stone or hardwood. We chose to sleep in the ball pit. It's an area filled with about five inches of small stone balls - kind of like an adult fun room. It was surprisingly comfy. People are awake and around at all hours, which was pretty annoying (did I mention Koreans don't sleep?), but I had a fairly decent sleep. It was nice to wake up to an ocean view.

We opted not to go back to the baths in the morning - too many people for my liking. I should say that staying over isn't necessary at jimjilbang, but we did it as part of the adventure. Plus, it costs the same to go if you stay one hour or sixteen. So why not? I had a surprisingly good time, given that I swore I would never set foot in the baths when I first heard about them. I must be becoming Korean after all.

Plans for Christmas have finally been settled. First comes Skype with mom and dad in the morning while I open presents, then brunch at a friend's place around noon. We are going to stuff ourselves full of food until it is time to... eat more food. A place called the Seaman's Club is hosting a huge buffet dinner that night. It's a little pricy, by Korean standards ($25), but it will have turkey, ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc. We all decided it would be worth the money to have a real Christmas dinner in the land of squid and spam.

Finally - we discovered an English library in Busan this afternoon. Lots of books, including pretty current ones, and I can get my library card as soon as I get my alien registration card. Anna borrowed a book for me today, to hold me over. I am so happy - English books cost a fortune here.

I hope the week before Christmas is treating you well. It doesn't quite feel like the holidays for me yet, but all of us here are doing our best to get into the spirit!