Koreans don’t use the same bath towels we use in America. American bath towels are usually at least 26 inches wide by 50 inches long. The Korean versions, though, are more like what Americans use as hand towels: about 16 by 30 inches.
After researching what to bring to Korea, one of the things I made sure to pack was a bath towel. Nothing like trying to dry off without a proper towel, right?
Once I arrived in Korea, though, I realized that my apartment room, which my school provides and furnishes as part of my contract agreement, came with a Korean style, bath towel.
I was all new to Korea, so I decided to give it a shot. Instead of using the towel I brought with me, I used the one they gave me. At first, it was a little weird, and just plain little. But after a few days, I was pretty used to it.
After a month of using the towel, I washed it for the first time. Since we don’t have dryers here, I hung up the towel to dry afterward and broke out my American towel. That was when I finally realized the benefits of the Korean version:
- A small towel won’t dip into the water on the floor. Korean bathrooms double as showers. Water gets everywhere. It’s much harder to keep a long towel from touching something and getting all nasty.
- A small towel will dry quicker. I didn’t believe this at first. You’d think that a large towel would spread the water around and end up drying faster. That’s not the way it works. My small towel dried in a night.
- A small towel is easier to clean. I can easily throw my small towel in with a load of other clothes. If I’m going to wash my large towel, though, I need to plan ahead so I have enough space for it along with the rest of the load.
- A small towel is cheaper. You could buy a whole pack of small towels for the price of one large one. It doesn’t seem like that big a deal until you consider how much you could help someone by donating the extra money to somewhere like Charity: Water.
- A small towel is smaller. Minimal.
Maybe it’s just the nonconformist in me that appreciates this discovery. Maybe you won’t like this. Still, you won’t know unless you give it a shot. That’s all I’m saying. Maybe you’ll find, like I did, that you use a large towel just because everyone else does, not because it’s actually the best option.
