Shower with an Audience

I was washing up after a nice work out at the gym, when an older Korean gentleman came in and sat in the sauna. The sauna at the gym is pretty much inside the shower and all the walls are glass. This man sat down, turned on the sauna, and made no effort to hide the fact that he was just drinking in the opportunity to get a chance to watch a white guy taking a shower. I didn't hurry. I didn't hide. Just goes to show how used to the staring I've really gotten since I've been in Korea. We're spectacles here.

Staring is bad anywhere, but it's the worst in the gym. The first time I went to the gym, I felt like everyone else was watching my every move. I felt that way because they were. Sure, I might be a little paranoid, but still. I'm sure it didn't help that I was wearing a shirt two sizes too small, but that's no excuse.

See, I didn't realize how Korean sizing on shirts went the first time I went to the gym. In Korea, the gyms provide clothes for you: shirts, shorts, now my gym even provides shoes if you want to use them (I don't). I picked up a large thinking the sizes would be the same. I thought I was actually erring on the side of comfort, because I wear a medium back home. Somehow, I managed to get into the shirt, but when my workout was over, I had a lot harder time getting out of it. I actually ripped a seam. If you're ever in Korea, get much bigger shirts (I wear an XXL in Korean sizes).

But even with my form fitting shirt, I didn't expect to be on exhibition. People didn't hide that they were staring either. If I looked up and caught someone, they most likely would smile and keep on staring.

I try not to stare at Koreans, even when they are doing weird stuff, but sometimes it's hard. In the locker room, the men are far from modest. They'll come out of the shower, plop a leg up on the counter, and dry in a way that I hesitant to describe here because children might read this. One man at the gym even goes so far as to take the oscillating fan down off the counter, put it on the floor, and use it to dry out. He even gets on all fours and wiggles his butt in front of it, drying out those hard to reach places.

And when you walk in on it, he just says hello and continues with the wiggling. He's grown used to me now: he doesn't even say hello anymore, just nods and wiggles away.

The gym is nice, though. It has top of the line equipment, nice showers, a tanning bed, and massage chairs. But what's funny is that it also has those vibrating belts that you see boxers and body builders using in old time movies. I tried one once. It feels like someone is grabbing a hold of your muscles and trying to jump rope with them. It's not entirely pleasant.

The stares have calmed a little since I've been going to the gym here for over three months now, but if I go at a different time than I usually do, I still get them. Luckily, not often when I'm in the shower.

Ryan