Same Room, Different Minds As soon as Minsu changes into his jjimjilbang clothes and opens the door to the sleeping room, he lies down wherever he finds a spot. Next to him a stranger he doesn't know is sleeping, and across from him an unfamiliar student is asleep. Paul, his foreign friend visiting for the first time, hesitates in front of the door. "Are these people really sleeping? Where do I put my luggage? Isn't it dangerous?" Both are in the same room, but their feelings are completely different. ## Why Minsu Doesn't Seem Bothered Jjimjilbang originally started from neighborhood bathhouses. Washing up and then lying on the hot floor was the natural way to finish, and since it's a place neighbors have been coming and going for a long time, there isn't much of a sense that 'stranger = dangerous person.' Besides, since shoes go into the shoe cabinet at the entrance and clothes and wallets are locked away in a personal locker, you basically go in with just your body. There's nothing worth stealing, and nowhere to steal it, really. The fact that a staff member is always watching the counter also plays a part. ## Steps for first-timers like Paul 1. Put your shoes in the shoe locker at the entrance and take the key. 2. Put your clothes and wallet in a locker in the changing room and change into jjimjilbang clothes. 3. After washing up in the bathhouse, you can freely wander around the different floors in your jjimjilbang clothes. 4. In the sleeping room, you can just lie down in any open spot. Keeping your valuables in the locker at all times and moving around with just your body — this is the real reason you can sleep comfortably next to strangers.