Sunday, October 14, 2007

Showering in Korea


Quick survey here, who likes smelling bad?

Yeah, me neither.

When taking a shower here you need to wrap your brain around a few things. First of all, the ENTIRE bathroom is the shower stall. Most modern bathrooms have a bathtub, but some of the older homes don't. They expect you to shower right there, in between the sink and toilet bowl which is more than a little unsettling at first. However, this also means you can spray the water pretty much ANYWHERE which makes cleanup a snap! Except you have to watch out not to hit the toilet paper, and, more importantly, THE POWER OUTLET!!!! That's right, every time you take a shower here in Korea you run the risk of electrocuting yourself. Okay, that may not be true in all households but it certainly was the case Chez my Uncle. His house in Seoul has a power outlet right under the shower head. So far, I'm still alive but I've been showering VERY carefully.

Shower & Outlet 2
Korea is still down with Capital Punishment

Second thing is that once you survive the electric shower of potential death, all you get is ONE MEASLY HAND TOWEL to dry off with. Seriously, the thing's the size of legal paper. How is a person, who is taller than 2'1", supposed to dry off with a terry cloth post it note? By the time I dry my hair, the things completely soaked with water that there's really no point in trying to dry off the rest of my body. Anyways, I been taking two towels to the shower with me to get the job done (barely).

Hand Towel Gets the Thumbs Down
The hand towel gets the thumbs down

However, Korea is still awesome.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I totally agree about the whole no bathtub thing and the towels~~hahaha but didn't have no power outlet in my grandma's place~ Korean Shower system RULES!!!

yoosillyness said...

I remember thinking where's the shower curtain when we first got there. hehe Also, when you go in not to shower, don't you have to wear those silly rubber slippers?
So, you're starting tomorrow?

Anonymous said...

man, korea is so far ahead of us on everything.