And there were the self-conscious white boys like me, eyes darting around the room. There were black guys, mostly ignoring everyone else. There were Russians, Turkish, and Polish men of a certain age pow wowing in the nude, enjoying their after-work excursion. There were Koreans, of course, including father and sons engaging in the custom of hanging out naked together and bonding (something my Dad and I never would have even thought of doing). The specimens of men in the same-sex sauna could not have varied more: all body shapes and types, and many different ethnicities. I undressed, self-conscious of my less-than-fit body. I wanted to experience it safely with strangers, so if - God forbid - I got a hard-on in the steam room, I’d never have to see any potential onlookers again in my life. Maybe it’s because I’m gay and attracted to men, but I had no wish to bring along my real life guy friends on this first visit. In my pre-visit research, I’d discovered that King Spa was divided into two halves - a co-ed dry sauna and a same-sex wet sauna where I’d be buck-ass naked with my fellow gentlemen. “Even overnight,” she muttered, without a wink or smile or anything but an effort to move me along. She gave me a numbered wristband with an electronic code imprinted in it - this would scan and open my two lockers (one for my shoes, one for the rest) and allow me to make purchases while on-premises. I checked in at the front desk with a lady I would discover as the only person who spoke fluent English in the establishment. Now, my Groupon in hand, I approached the entrance where two stone lions resembling those outside the downtown Chicago Public Library guarded it. My friend Thrisa (yes, that’s spelled correctly) had told me of the wonders inside King Spa - a temple of rejuvenation for the tired and weary. I pulled up into King Spa’s parking lot on a cold February Tuesday afternoon in 2011, feeling disheveled, body begging for relaxation. Be it King Spa in Illinois and New Jersey or the multiple Spa Castle establishments in New York, the name transports you to the Middle Ages, promising a pampering fit for a Queen. The immediate thing that’s great about Korean spas is their use of medieval terminology.
The first Korean spa I went to was King Spa in Niles, IL. You can blame this on me being a Capricorn at heart, though my astrological chart is complicated.īut there’s one place in the world where I suspend my disbelief and buy into everything I’m promised: Korean spas. I believe in possibility but don’t like wishing on a star. I don’t like getting my hopes up for something that isn’t feasible or attainable. Read this story on so you can see all the pretty pictures in it!
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