The jimjibang.

"Do one thing every day that scares you"--Eleanor Roosevelt

I've always loved those wise words from Eleanor Roosevelt, but I'll admit it, I don't do something that scares me every single day.  However, while I've been in Korea I've made a real conscious effort to say "yes" to more things, even to things that I'm inclined (many times for no reason) to say no to naturally.  When I came to Korea I told myself I had to push myself to do as many things as I could, otherwise there's no point to coming to a new country.

Eating weird food?  Sure.  By this point I've had grasshoppers, chicken feet, silk worm larvae, and live octopus to name a few. Talking to random strangers? Yep.  Making a fool of myself by attempting to speak Korean?  Ok.  I've done a whole lot of things that have made me uncomfortable over the past eight months.

However, one thing I hadn't been able to do in my 8 months here was visit the jimjubang.  Instead of describing every detail of a jimjibang, I'll just let you google it for yourself.  Let's just say, there's a lot of nudity involved. Lots and lots of nudity. Hence why it's been something I've been avoiding.

Today I finally faced that fear.  I feel as if it's kind of like my Korean rite of passage. While visiting a jimjibang is routine for Koreans, I'm pretty sure it's strangest experience I've had in Korea.  With that said, I'm glad I had that unique cultural experience.  I'm just not sure if it's an experience I need to have again. But at least if I do it will be a whole lot easier the next time around.