Even though modern homes have indoor plumbing, it is customary for people in Yancheng and other rural cities to regularly go out and bathe at bathing facilities. [Although, some people still do it out of necessity, because, for example, college students' dorms don't have showers. And, during the winter months or times of high pollution, when the sun can't penetrate the cloud cover, home solar water heaters are useless.]
The problem is, in English, the word "bathhouse" doesn't connote just "a place for bathing." So when a student (in a class of adults) told me she and her mother were going to a bathhouse this weekend, I went into the classroom next door to ask Tiffany's opinion on the proper terminology. She uses "spa," except then my students protested that "spa" was used for expensive establishments.
Tiffany recommended I put an end to the problem by explaining just what bathhouse means. I got a kick out writing the following sentence on the whiteboard: a bathhouse: a place where men go to have sex with other men.
The class agreed that "spa" was an appropriate alternative.
packaging for a shower cap
The problem is, in English, the word "bathhouse" doesn't connote just "a place for bathing." So when a student (in a class of adults) told me she and her mother were going to a bathhouse this weekend, I went into the classroom next door to ask Tiffany's opinion on the proper terminology. She uses "spa," except then my students protested that "spa" was used for expensive establishments.
Tiffany recommended I put an end to the problem by explaining just what bathhouse means. I got a kick out writing the following sentence on the whiteboard: a bathhouse: a place where men go to have sex with other men.
The class agreed that "spa" was an appropriate alternative.
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