Day 73- November 8, 2010

So you may be wondering why i'm showing you a picture of this directional arrow. Well, this blog post is going to have to be more writing oriented because if you follow that arrow, the picture gets a little X-rated. So first, I'm going to explain a hot spring. These are natural hot and cold bodies of water that come from the mountains and are full of different beneficial minerals. I went to my first one in Israel:

...well this one was a little different. It did not smell like sulfer was indoors and had a lot of different little pools....But i'm avoiding the point..... Osaek Hot Springs in Korea, was a bathing suit free zone. Yes in Korea it is completely normal for people to strip down and dive in. So when in Rome...I was definitely a little apprehensive about it, but once we got in there, it was surprisingly eye opening and empowering. It was amazing to realize how much women hate their bodies, and are always trying to change and perfect them, yet in this room, fat and imperfections just didn't matter. We also had a nice moment when a bunch of the foreigners got together in the outdoor spring and were just introducing ourselves and saying where we were from like it was no big deal. It was really cool too how there were all different kinds of pools: hot ones, cold ones, iron ones, neon purple ones, a steam room and a ridiculously hot sauna. The girls were joking about how it was like Disneyland and we didn't know which one to ride first. Most importantly, it was just super relaxing and nice to calm our muscles after a long days hike. So Korea continues to offer me experiences that open my mind to new ways of living and seeing the world, and this is one life experience I will never forget.