Korevium

More Than a Korean Sauna You step out of the changing room wearing a loose T-shirt and shorts. A family nearby is peeling eggs at a low table. Two friends are leaning over bowls of noodles. Someone is asleep against the wall with a folded towel under their head, while another person walks past wearing a towel folded into the shape of a sheep’s head. Around your wrist is the one thing you keep with you throughout the visit: a wristband key. This is often the moment when a first-time visitor realizes that a jjimjilbang is not simply a Korean sauna. The heated rooms are only one part of it. A Korean jjimjilbang brings together bathing, food, rest, entertainment, and time with other people under one roof. You can wash, sweat, cool down in an ice room, eat, talk, watch television, lie down in a shared lounge, and even fall asleep without leaving the building. It is less like a spa where you receive a scheduled treatment and leave, and more like a place where you can stay and res...