Today was my last day at GF. I have to say, while I got a lot out of my time there, I was more than pleased to pull out of that parking lot for the final time and start a new life. With a new, exciting career on the horizon, I wanted to treat myself to something relaxing to begin my 4 1/2 days off and decided to visit Je Ju, a Korean spa near Gwinnett Mall. I have been hearing about Je Ju for the past 3 years. People rave about this place. "The body scrubs are amazing!" "It's open 24 hours a day!" "You just walk around NUDE!"
... It was the last one I was worried about.
Now, I have to tell you. I am a corner-of-the-locker-room-changer. The girl that puts her bra on underneath her shirt. The girl who's butt is only exposed for the 0.65 seconds it takes her to rapidly pull up her gym shorts. Needless to say, nudity in public places is not my thing. And the fact that every woman kept saying, "it's just women!" made me feel even weirder... am I the only woman who feels the need to cover up even around other women? But, after a hilarious and convincing conversation with some fabulous Je Ju-loving girlfriends the night before, I decided I had to give it a try.
I was surprised about the things that were worrying me the most. Was the population mostly going to be very petite Asian women that would be shocked and/or appalled by my gigantic boobs and big butt? While I thought I could easily deal with soaking in the hot tubs and laying in the saunas nude, how was I supposed to just walk around from station to station with a towel only big enough to cover one butt cheek at most? And, my worst fear of all, with all of these water activities going on around me, what would I do is I just completely wiped out and slid across the floor in a naked mess!?
I pushed these fears aside and went anyways... with my own full-sized towel, of course ;). When I got there, I was given a tour of the "Wet Spa" with my clothes on (thank god- I was not ready to strip down) and then started to get naked... once I was without any clothes, one of the women working there came up to me, grabbed my hand and walked me over to the spa..... NAKED... I was totally out of my comfort zone! I quickly hopped into the hot tub and sighed a huge sigh of relief... After a few relaxing minutes, I started to stop feeling so self-conscience and really began to unwind. I signed up for a full body scrub which was without a doubt worth every strange moment that was about to ensue.
I climbed up onto a slippery, wet table and started getting scrubbed down by a older Korean woman wearing black, lacy underwear... I found that to be strange. I pictured them wearing matching black shorts and tank tops or something but, whatever... this isn't regular life, this is Je Ju. A few minutes in, you start to see your excess skin collecting on the table and start realizing the benefit. Well, my first strange moment happened on this table. I was laying face-up having this Korean lady scrub my boobs with hand scrubbers as two fully-dressed women came by taking a tour and look me dead in the eyes. What does one do but say, "...hi"... it was very weird. After every square inch of you has been scrubbed they grab a bucket and throw water on you... I felt a bit like Free Willy but I quickly recovered... they then rub you down with baby oil, give you a massage, and then pour milk all over your body.... it was amazing but I had to keep reminding myself not to worry about my completely naked body awkwardly sliding around the oil-covered table... hahaha.
I was surprised that after being there just an hour, I was walking around towel-free and without a care in the world. When I first arrived a talked with a few women in the hot tub and thought, "wow, these women really don't care about walking around naked! it's amazing!" and, by the end of my time there, anyone could have thought that about me as well! After a short cat nap in the dry sauna, I brushed my teeth and headed home. I conquered a major fear of mine and it felt amazing. I think, as a woman, I spend far too much time thinking about what I don't like about my body and not nearly enough time thinking about what I DO like... which is actually a lot and doing things like this for yourself reminds you of those things. But, with that being said, it will still be quite a while before I'm heading to Je Ju in groups of friends... I love my girls but I don't need them to know me like that! ;)
