Sunday, November 23

What a beautiful day! It must have been 60 degrees outside this afternoon. I'm told that the weather fluctuates like that during the winter; a few days really cold then warming up a bit, back and forth. I think I can handle that.



This rather wonderful day consisted of my first webcam visit with Sue and Kathy in Atlanta - what fun, then shopping in the market where I scored an awesome winter coat for just 30,000 won (about $34), then a trip to the Jin je ban (the bathhouse) and then a visit from 2 new Korean friends Jin and Soon.



Let me tell you about the Jin je ban. It has become my Sunday ritual. Today was my 3rd visit and each time I go I've made it a point to experience something new they have to offer. My first visit I had a full massage; man, I needed it. My body was racked from all the hard work it took to get me out of America and then the stress of being here for several weeks with a fairly high learning curve. But it was a GREAT massage. Righteous - but expensive.... about $55. Then I was told that I could basically name my price and they would adjust the massage accordingly, so the next week I got a $35 massage and it was about 1/2 as good as the first one, appropriately! After each of those massage experiences, I would then go downstairs to the women's bath section and take a shower and sit in the whirlpool hot tub. I had noticed a section within this section where two women with bras and panties on (which stands out because everyone else is butt naked) were doing facials and body rubs and light massage, so I resolved to try that today. AWESOME. At one point she took my hand and put it on my belly to get it out of her way and I could feel all the dead skin she had rubbed off. Tons of it. I also got in the sauna today for a bit. But my favorite part about being there is, well, just BEING THERE. I love the feel of it; the community of it. You see all ages, children, teenagers, young women, middle age women, and the very old. Beautiful women's bodies......... at every age. My favorite image today was clearly a 3 generation grouping. Grandmother was being scrubbed by daughter and granddaughter. It was so beautiful. And they scrubbed and they scrubbed and they scrubbed. The women spend hours there. There are 4 large baths: 1 whirlpool, 1 still hot water, 1 still warm water, and 1 still cold water. There are 2 walls of stand up showers and 4 rows of sit down showers. The sit down ones just don't work for me - can't see doing it. But you sit in these cute little pink plastic chairs in front of a mirror with your own shower head and wash away. God how I wish I could take pictures, but of course, that is impossible.



The only downside to this experience is that I have yet to find a buddy to go with. So I not only stand out like a sore thumb as the only white woman in there, but because of the language barrier, I cannot participate in the 'community'. Hopefully that will change, I'm learning the Korean alphabet and hope to get some lessons with Jin and Soon so I can communicate a little more, and one of the other English teachers has a change happening in here schedule in a couple weeks which will allow her to go.



Mostly I'm doing very well. I had one surprise meltdown at school the week before last. I was sitting at lunch (which I generally really like, because it's cooked there and always very good, traditional Korean food), and looked down into the very thin soup, which is not my favorite thing, and just started crying. It came out of nowhere. I couldn't stop, so I had to leave and go back upstairs to the English Center. It just kept coming... I couldn't stop for nearly a half hour. The news spread throughout the school and before you knew it the Kindergarten teacher was by my side taking me for a walk around the school yard and telling me how lonely she is in the evenings because she is a single mom and it's very hard. So I call it my 'melt down over soup' day.



Oh, and today I was visited by the Jehovah Witnesses! Yup, got the Watchtower right here in #502 Ian Village. Ya gotta love it!



Love to all, p.