在韩国社会,学业和工作的竞争都异常激烈,许多韩国人都“压力山大”。据外媒报道,现在韩国人很流行到“监狱”里坐牢来释放压力,有一间以监狱为主题的纾压中心就在首尔附近,每天都吸引不少顾客上门。
People in South Korea who feel they can no longer bear the stress of everyday life now have the option to
isolate1 themselves in a prison to relax and
meditate2.
In a society where pressure to do well in school and find highly paid jobs is intense, a former lawyer came up with an extreme
relaxation3 idea. Kwon Yong-seok created the "Prison Inside Me" – a stress-reduction center with a
penal4 theme. People come here to isolate themselves from the outside world and pay to be confined to 60-square-foot (5.6-square-meter) cells.
Located on the
outskirts5 of Hongcheon, about 58 miles (93 km) northeast of Seoul, "Prison Inside Me" came to life after Mr. Kwon voluntarily asked to spend time behind bars for "
therapeutic6 reasons," but his request was denied.
"I didn't know how to stop working back then," he said. "I felt like I was being swept away against my will, and it seemed I couldn't control my own life."
So, Kwon and his wife Roh Ji-hyang
decided7 to take matters into their own hands, and designed and built a prison-like spiritual center. The construction was completed in June last year and cost about 2 billion won ($19 million/€13.8 million).
The facility includes 28
solitary8 confinement9 cells, furnished with only a toilet, a sink and a small table, where guests can spend time alone, reflecting on life and enjoying private
meditation10 sessions. Moreover, clients can also join group sessions in the
auditorium11, where they are given instructions on how to free themselves from what Mr. Kwon calls the "inner prison" to find inner peace.
According to the Wall Street Journal, hundreds of stressed South Koreans are checking in at the stress-reduction facility to reflect on their lives and
regain12 control of it. A two-night stay at "Prison Inside Me" costs 150,000 won ($146/€106).
Mr. Kwon and his wife explained that they
initially13 had a different plan for the "relaxation center," and envisioned a longer stay for their guests, but, given that people weren't able to take more time off, they had to reduce the length of stays to just two days.
Park Woo-sub, a client at "Prinson Inside Me," said the experience helped him a lot.
"This is my third time in prison," he confessed. "Being confined to a prison can be
suffocating14, but it also offers time to focus
solely15 on me and spend some quiet time with myself."
Others said the experience would have been more helpful if the conditions had been poorer, like in a real prison.