I spent a relaxing New Year's Day with some friends at Spa World, a fancy but not expensive Korean-style sauna and bathhouse. Those of us who hadn't been there before—myself included—felt some anxiety about the mandatory nudity in the gender-segregated sauna part of the facility. Hanging out naked with our same-gender friends (or family, or strangers for that matter) has not been part of our range of experience. For an American, it's easy to get the message from society that an "imperfect" body should be covered up, not only in public but also in private. Seeing people blissfully ignorant of that message is refreshing. You probably won't be surprised to read that I found the actual experience comfortable and not difficult to get used to.

The "naked area" there isn't just the saunas (steam and dry) but a bade pool, hot and cool tubs, a "sunflower shower", a heat-radiating stone relaxation area, and a corner where you can get an exfoliating scrub. We spent a good while there before returning to the locker room to don our issued loungewear and head to the main, gender-integrated rest area where families were spread out on the heated floor. We got some refreshments from the juice bar before heading into the poultice rooms, which felt a little redundant to me since I'd already used the saunas in the other part of the facility and was skeptical of the therapeutic benefits attributed to the hot, mineral-lined poultice rooms. I tried out most of them, but after a while I'd had enough heat; I did enjoy the one cold poultice room. The place was quite busy yesterday, so I didn't get a chance to have a massage. Between the facility's restaurant, sleeping areas, 24-hour access, and free wi-fi, I could envision coming at a less-crowded time, perhaps with a book, and making an even more leisurely day of it.