Bring on the 온돌 (Ondol)!

A good night's sleep: I've got my "thin mattress," a comforter,
and improving circulation. ^^

Before I came to Korea, in an ill-fated attempt to cheer up a friend through the use of bad comedy, my friend KTB and I were watching a Kdrama called SuperRookie. We watched as one of the main girls returns broken hearted to her little 1-room studio apartment and rolls up her blankets off the floor. While this seemed all perfectly normal to me (note: willing to accept cultural differences and be totally oblivious to the fact that it's different = helps me to better adjust to new environments!), KTB turns to me a says, "Jillian! You're going to have furniture, there? Aren't you?!"
I really couldn't understand why this worried her so. I figured, if the Koreans apparently can live without furniture, so can I. So I think I probably shrugged and said, "Yeahhhhhh....I think I'll have furniture."
Turns out, I do have furniture. Some pieces that are fairly good compared to the other teacher apartments (like my giant couch).
What I have recently discovered, though, is how good life can be without furniture. Koreans, being the forward thinkers that they are, traditionally (as in, for the past 2,000 years or so) heat their homes with 온돌 (Ondol), a system of pipes that run hot water under the floor. A couple of weeks ago, in trying to combat a sore back, I tried sleeping on the floor and thought, huh, that was ok. Now, a couple of weeks later, the temperature has dropped several more degrees and sleeping on the floor has become really good.
Here is how you do it: you put down a thin mattress called a Yo (thin mattress, thick quilt, same-same). And then as you sleep, your mattress and pillows soak up all the warmth and it's like being in an incubator. It's fairly amazing, and I never want to stand up in the mornings. Except, even standing up is not bad, because I don't have to worry about my feet hitting a cold floor. The floor has been heating up all night!
I've done some research as well, as to why 온돌 is so ingenious. 1) It perfectly illustrates the Korean mindset that opposites can exist in harmony with each other. Warm feet, cold head? What? It makes perfect sense here and apparently is the Korean recipe for well-balanced health. They also think it increases your circulation. Apparently, this sort of heating also symbolizes the "coziness and camaraderie" of family. A Korean home without 온돌 means a family is missing warmth.
Physical and emotional health and a good night's sleep all through tiny pipes under the floor? I'm sold! I want this in all of my future homes!