Jimjilbang etiquette
For those of you that don't know, a jimjilbang is a public bath where you get naked and relax. They're rooms where men and women separate from each other and enjoy the relaxing comfort of heated pools, all while wearing your birthday suit (see my Seoul Top Ten). Due to this somewhat cultural confronting experience, I've decided to include an etiquette guide, because let's face it, the last thing you want to do when getting publicly naked in a foreign country is to make a massive faux pas and have your bits react oddly as a result.
1. Pay: When you arrive at a jimjilbang, you of course have to pay. You’ll give them your money and they’ll hand you a change of clothes and a towel. If they don’t hand you these things, they’ll likely be available in the change rooms. They’ll also give you a locker key. This corresponds to two things: your shoe locker and your clothes locker. You won’t be wearing shoes in the jimjilbang, so put them in the locker in the reception area.
2. Head to the lockers: The next part is the nervous bit for the people that are traveling together that aren’t the same gender: you’ll be separated. The men will go to one side of the building and the women the other. But don’t worry, you’ll be reunited! Head to your gender door and proceed to the change room/locker/naked area. Find your locker and put all your valuables in it and you can begin to get undressed. Once naked, you have two options: put on the change of clothes that reception gave you and head to the communal lounge/sauna area. Or stay naked and head to the baths. I’ll start with the first option.
3. The communal lounge: You should’ve been given some baggy shorts and baggy tshirt. Super relaxing stuff, you can head to the lounge area, which shouldn’t be too hard to find. Its basically a large room with mats that you can sleep on and several rooms with saunas of different temperatures. There may also be a room where you can purchase drinks and some food. Lounge and sauna as much as you want before heading to the spas.
4. The spas: At the spa, make sure you’re naked, I can’t stress this enough. Grab a towel and head into the spa area. The first thing you need to do is wash yourself, thoroughly! If you’re in a small jimjilbang, some people might notice that you haven’t bathed and wont be happy about you contaminating their pools. So get a wash clothes and scrub and wash your hair. Soap and shampoo are usually provided. Next, relax and enjoy yourself! There’ll be spas of all different temperatures, more sauna rooms and opportunities to get a massage (for added fee). If you need to, there are toilet facilities as well as primping areas where lotions, earbuds and other beauty needs are provided. Everything has been taken care of.
5. Leaving: When you’ve had all the relaxation you can, go back to your locker, get changed and head back to reception. Collect your shoes, return your keys and go grab yourself a beer and post a status update. You’ve earnt it!
As a side note, do not bring your camera. Phones are allowed, but cameras are frowned upon for obvious reasons. I wouldn’t recommend bringing a phone into the lounge or sauna area either because a) you’re there to relax and b) you don’t want to bring your phone into an 80C room as my friend found out the hard way. For more on jimjilbangs, read my blog post.
1. Pay: When you arrive at a jimjilbang, you of course have to pay. You’ll give them your money and they’ll hand you a change of clothes and a towel. If they don’t hand you these things, they’ll likely be available in the change rooms. They’ll also give you a locker key. This corresponds to two things: your shoe locker and your clothes locker. You won’t be wearing shoes in the jimjilbang, so put them in the locker in the reception area.
2. Head to the lockers: The next part is the nervous bit for the people that are traveling together that aren’t the same gender: you’ll be separated. The men will go to one side of the building and the women the other. But don’t worry, you’ll be reunited! Head to your gender door and proceed to the change room/locker/naked area. Find your locker and put all your valuables in it and you can begin to get undressed. Once naked, you have two options: put on the change of clothes that reception gave you and head to the communal lounge/sauna area. Or stay naked and head to the baths. I’ll start with the first option.
3. The communal lounge: You should’ve been given some baggy shorts and baggy tshirt. Super relaxing stuff, you can head to the lounge area, which shouldn’t be too hard to find. Its basically a large room with mats that you can sleep on and several rooms with saunas of different temperatures. There may also be a room where you can purchase drinks and some food. Lounge and sauna as much as you want before heading to the spas.
4. The spas: At the spa, make sure you’re naked, I can’t stress this enough. Grab a towel and head into the spa area. The first thing you need to do is wash yourself, thoroughly! If you’re in a small jimjilbang, some people might notice that you haven’t bathed and wont be happy about you contaminating their pools. So get a wash clothes and scrub and wash your hair. Soap and shampoo are usually provided. Next, relax and enjoy yourself! There’ll be spas of all different temperatures, more sauna rooms and opportunities to get a massage (for added fee). If you need to, there are toilet facilities as well as primping areas where lotions, earbuds and other beauty needs are provided. Everything has been taken care of.
5. Leaving: When you’ve had all the relaxation you can, go back to your locker, get changed and head back to reception. Collect your shoes, return your keys and go grab yourself a beer and post a status update. You’ve earnt it!
As a side note, do not bring your camera. Phones are allowed, but cameras are frowned upon for obvious reasons. I wouldn’t recommend bringing a phone into the lounge or sauna area either because a) you’re there to relax and b) you don’t want to bring your phone into an 80C room as my friend found out the hard way. For more on jimjilbangs, read my blog post.