Swimming is cool. I don't think I'm good at it, but I really do love it. So one of my concerns when I moved to Korea was to be able to keep going to the pool at least once a week. Would I be able to go there by myself, knowing the linguistic hurdles mentioned here? Would the pools be so crowded you can barely move? In my hometown in France, swimming pools can be really crowded sometimes. Fortunately there's a website that tells you how many people are in the pool in (almost) real time, so you can avoid heavy traffic. There's no such thing for the two swimming pools that I have been to so far in Korea (in Yangsan and Haeundae). There are specific open swim times, so you don't have much of a choice (however, another pool in Busan, Sajik indoor swimming pool, is open for free swim from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.). Open swim times are 8-9 a.m. and 12-3 p.m. in Yangsan , and 1 to 4 p.m. in Haeundae. In Yangsan, getting in is super easy, since they have ticket vending machines. So I just had to memorize which buttons to press and that was it. Her walked me through it when we went together for the first time and then I could go by myself, without talking to any human being, which may not have been so good for my Korean, though.
Also, 3,500 won looks pretty cheap to me. It's even cheaper in Haeundae (2,800 won), but you need to actually talk to humans to get in. Well, in fact, all I need is my credit card and a 10,000 won bill used as a refundable "deposit" for the locker key and I barely need to talk to the people there. I just say "hello" and "thank you" in Korean (or as close to Korean as possible), which usually makes them smile.
Before going, Her had warned me that I would have to strip in front of strangers in the locker room and shower in my birthday suit (in France, you'd certainly get in trouble if you did that). I felt very uncomfortable the first time, and I still do but I'll finally get used to it I suppose. I was also surprised to see spas and saunas in the shower room, where Korean "ajoshis" relax and chew the fat. The pools I've been to are 25m long (but Sajik has 25 and 50m pools). They can be a little crowded, but not as much as I feared. Not all lanes are open for free swim. There are always noisy aqua fitness classes and/or private lessons, so there are only two to four lanes for lap swimming. In Yangsan there are signs that tell you which lane to use depending on your swimming abilities (beginner, intermediate, and advanced). Good that Her had explained that to me beforehand:
Before going, Her had warned me that I would have to strip in front of strangers in the locker room and shower in my birthday suit (in France, you'd certainly get in trouble if you did that). I felt very uncomfortable the first time, and I still do but I'll finally get used to it I suppose. I was also surprised to see spas and saunas in the shower room, where Korean "ajoshis" relax and chew the fat. The pools I've been to are 25m long (but Sajik has 25 and 50m pools). They can be a little crowded, but not as much as I feared. Not all lanes are open for free swim. There are always noisy aqua fitness classes and/or private lessons, so there are only two to four lanes for lap swimming. In Yangsan there are signs that tell you which lane to use depending on your swimming abilities (beginner, intermediate, and advanced). Good that Her had explained that to me beforehand:
I found this pretty convenient. In Haeundae the signs only say "Free Swim" (in two different ways, 자유 수영 for "free swimming" and 자유 레인 for "free lane", which I found confusing at first), so you may end up swimming with people who are much slower or much faster than you. Yet, in Korea things seem to self regulate and everything goes pretty smoothly (not to say swimmingly), when I'm pretty sure that in France people would soon start yelling and fighting. I was impressed by the numerous "halmeonis" who can actually swim very well. I often have to pull over to let them past. Still, in Haeundae, I find that the lanes are a little narrow, so it happens that I hit or kick someone or that I get hit or kicked, especially since I'm pretty tall and I swim breaststroke. Anyway, people are very kind and don't get mad at me (which I would expect in France) if I kick them accidentally (maybe 영어 마비 helps a little too 😉).
Just a side note, I'm always amused by the constant cacophony of ringtones and phones vibrating or chiming from inside the lockers. That's how you can tell you're living in a hyperconnected country, I guess. But I'll get to that some other time.
Just a side note, I'm always amused by the constant cacophony of ringtones and phones vibrating or chiming from inside the lockers. That's how you can tell you're living in a hyperconnected country, I guess. But I'll get to that some other time.
