For a Christmas present, my friend Jennie had gotten me a gift card for a Korean Spa in Koreatown. I had been warned about this place. At the time, I never had a formal massage. I’ve been given a massage by guys I had dated, but generally it was half ass, and their goal was more to see your naked back than to push out any knots you may be having. I always thought massages were out of my price range, and for a graduate student, they were. But I had always heard if you step out of the salons that have licensed massage therapists, and into hole in the wall Asian spas, where no certification is needed, than you could get a better deal. Same as restaurants. Good food, okay service, minimal atmosphere, but bang for your buck. None was better than this salon in Korea town. Jennie was adamant at how great it was, how effectively rough the massages and body scrubs were, hot and cold pools, saunas, and how it felt like a true spa at the price for all these services of $70. Jennie knew that although it sounded attractive, it was still out of my budget and so she purchased a gift card to use at my disposal. Yet, there was more than one catch that accompanied this proposal.
The women who were doing the scrubs and massages were not dressed in professional covered attire. They were right next to the pool and were middle aged Korean women who stood together in their uniform of white bras and underwear. At least they all matched. They scrubbed just like they talked: loud, fast, hard, and indistinguishable. Secondly, as a customer, you must be fully naked. I was comfortable with my body alone, or even with a guy I had been dating for some time. Yet, being completely nude in front of multitudes of women, creeped me out. I had previously been in a saunas with friends or female strangers that were topless. I didn’t have enough confidence in myself at that time to do this, but had experienced the environment. But I wasn’t a nudist. Wasn’t there a common nightmare about this type of incident? Occassionally I had dreams where I was back in high school, walking towards my locker in the crowded hallways, but somehow realized later in the dream I was naked. I spent the rest of the dream trying to cover myself up with anything I could find. If I couldn’t be comfortable being naked in my dreams, how would it work in reality?
Jennie had bought me this gift card, meaning she had gone before. So had some of her friends. If they could do, so could I. I was willing to bear witness to see some other ladies birthday suits, shaved and unshaved. Plus now I was given a gift card, which sparked some initiative. And so I chose a weekday that I was off to do this, ensuring that I spoke about this to nobody until afterwards. I didn’t want any friends joining me, and seeing more than I had expected to share. If I was naked with strangers I could handle this, but to be naked with friends was brining a whole other level of intimacy, which I was not prepared for.
I gave my gift card at the door. I walked into the sauna changing room, was given a white robe towel, and Asian sandals. They informed me the one main rule of showering before entering one of the hot or cold pools. I stuffed all my sacred belongings into a locker, put the bracelet key around my wrist, and headed to the spa area. Minutes after undressing, I already missed my bra and underwear. I thought of how much those undergarments actually did cover. I stepped in the spa, and it smelled like it would be healing.
Eucalyptus filled my senses. It reminded me of my great-grandfather’s cough drops that he would carry around in his pockets, and offer as candy to the grandchildren. The smell of eucalyptus, salompas, tiger balm, and even icy hot felt like it would detox my senses. Yet, when I walked in this room, my grandfather was not what came to my head. Everywhere I saw women of all ages and ethnicities, walking around full frontal, unashamed with what they were given. I must be the only newbie. This must have been obvious as I kept the robe on for as long as possible. I took a deep breath in and reminded myself this is normal and natural, imagine the caveman days. As I exhaled, I disrobed and showered in front of everyone.
Showers lined up the spa. In between each sauna or pool you went into, you showered in front of everyone. After the gritty massage and scrubdown you showered. This was my first of many cleansings that day. As I took my shower, my fear of everyone staring at my body parts subsided. Nobody seemed to look at me. Perhaps they were all thinking of their own exposed body. Or maybe they were regulars here. This wasn’t as bad as I thought.
Although I did not run out of the spa, I tried to minimize my eye contact and conversation, with other customers and staff. I realized minimal is better, my eyes tried to avert the nakedness around me. I began to accept my body and the normality of it. I saw super skinny women, voluptuous women, fat women, in between. All was normal, and I’m sure here in the nude we were briefly all equal. Nobody could tell if you wore trendy clothes, had a designer purse, or your fashion was stuck in the 90’s. For a moment we were all women who simultaneously taking a day to relax and be pampered by middle aged Korean women.
Years later I told a friend about this experience. She previously lived in LA, and was now visiting again. She had several days left and wanted to squeeze in as many experiences as possible during this trip. Upon hearing about this experience, she was sold. She felt she needed to go to this same Korean spa, but with her friends, which included me. I mentioned it, told my crazy story, and now I felt I couldn’t back out of it. Why should I rob her out of the naked Korean spa experience? And so we did. It was pre-job, and I think her intentions were not just to enjoy a relaxing day of being pampered, but to check out potential products. What size would fit her body type? What size was attractive but not overly noticeable? And so we went, and I know our boobs were slightly under scrutiny if they would fit her next purchase. In the beginning it was uncomfortable, sitting amidst your friends in a spa fully naked. I had only gone skinny dipping once and this was during the late night hours in the Mediterranean. I was punished with jellyfish bites, five of them. Being naked in front of friends felt like a punishment would be luring. As we sat there completely exposed, the embarrassment began to release, along with the stress. We all were in the same place naked in front of each other and strangers.
The familiarity of the scents and middle aged Korean women returned, just like home. I admit I have not returned since, I’m not that confident yet with the experience. But there is potential for this to be an annual cathartic cleanse.
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