Today i will be talking about what appears to be another classic staple of the Finnish culture, the sauna.
Before I went to Finland, i had read that the sauna was a big cultural thing, but you do not really put much thought into something like that untill you get confronted in a more direct manner with it. The fact that my apartment complex had its own sauna room was an interesting concept to me, seeing as to the Dutch people, the sauna is concidered a thing of luxury, something you do if you go out for a weekend or something of the like. But for the Finns, it seems about as normal as biking is to the Dutchies. My apartment is not the only place with a sauna, a lot of complexes seem to have a sauna either inside the building, or close by. Heck, even my workplace has a sauna! It is currently being renovated, but i am already making the invitation poster for its grand re-opening. But back to the sauna in my apartment building, it appears that every apartment has their own timeslot over the course over the week, so people can steam in private alone or with their family (or maybe even friends). I got invited to try the sauna on my very first day in Finland, but i passed the first time since i was not sure how saunas worked, seeing as i had never been in one, and i would of had to go alone.

However the week following up to that my roommate had time to go with me, and this time i did decide to try the sauna, and it was quite the experience! It was hot sure, but not so much that you are uncomfortable (which i kind of expected). It was a bit hard to breathe if water was tossed on the hot stones, but that was easily remedied by sitting a bit lower to the ground. I wondered though if it was normal to be that dark inside, and after asking, it appeared that it was. I am not sure why, but my guess would be for more optimal relaxing perhaps? After a while of warming up it was customary to hop under the shower for a short while to cool off, in lieu of throwing yourself into the snow outside, and then back into the sauna.

After my first experience of a sauna, i now finally understand why some people find it so addicting. The heat feels really nice, and afterwards you feel oddly clean and relaxed. I almost felt a little bit TOO relaxed as i almost fell asleep at 8:30 on a friday night! But if possible i am definitly going to make this a frequent event in my weeks, and i will probably miss it terribly once i am back home!