A Proper Finnish Sauna
Oops - Must Have Forgot
This part of my trip did not turn out as planned - that isn't surprising. Neither is the fact that I had a wonderful time. Joen and Heidi were, as always, gracious hosts, and they again opened their home to me for a visit of unknown length. If you read my itinerary, you know that I planned to go with the Fins to St. Petersburg after celebrating Vaarpu. Because of a mixup regarding my itinerary, we ended up enjoying Helsinki together instead. Joen lost my itinerary, and was still contemplating when I might arrive. When I called him from the airport, he told me that they had just the other day wondered when I was coming. No worries - we proceeded to have a blast.
Joen's Family's Country House
Immediately after arriving at Joen's new beautiful flat, to which he and his girlfried Heidi just purchased and moved, we headed to his family's country house. In Finland it is quite common for people to have a small home in the country to take a sauna and spend time close to nature. So Joen, Anders, Andreas and I went. We brought little more than beer, vodka and a toothbrush. The night started with spaghetti and ended up with me naked in 5 degree (celsius) water.
Explanation??
Ok - this might need some explaining. You see Joen brought some food for dinner, and as he and Andreas began to warm up the sauna, Anders and I began working on dinner. We all sat down and ate, sang and took schnaaps (shots of vodka) together. This is all very Finnish, mind you. So dinner proceeded well - we traded stories, finished most of a liter of vodka, and ate well. For some reason the doorways in this house are way too low, and I repetitively banged my head on one of them. At some point, Andreas was at the front door waiting and I ran through the kitchen door, nearly knocking myself out. Then it became time for sauna, another important Finnish passion. Here's where the explanation comes in.
Proper Finnish Sauna
You see - to have a proper Finnish sauna, you must first have a very hot and wet steam room. Our room was between 175F and 210F the entire time. Actually, whenever Anders had the spoon the temperature hovered closer to 210F. Next, everyone must be naked. So there I am with Joen, Anders and Andreas in 200 degrees naked. Quite a sight, let me tell you. And lastly, no sauna is proper unless you then jump into freezing water or snow. At first I was completely resistant to it. Then Anders goaded me into jumping in water that was 40 degrees (F), and of course we immediately went back to the sauna. Believe it or not, I did this twice. In a strange way it felt good. 
A Bit of Cards
After torturing our bodies, we sat down in the next room for some card games. We each had a stack of cards and tossed them one by one into a pile in the center of the table. Depending on the card, you were required to stand or whistle or say something, and if you made a mistake or were last doing it, you drank a shot of beer. This continued until we were all quite doused. When I woke, my head was ringing, but I am not sure whether it is from the repetitive head knocking or the alcohol.
Day Two - Vappu
As it was explained to me, Vappu is labor day in Finland. I understand it is a Communist Holiday celebrating workers, and therefore it makes sense that it is the most important holiday of the year. In Finland's case, a huge crowd of students, each wearing a white hat, make thier way into a large park in the middle of the city. It looks like a carnival - everyone is drunk and making merry. In my next newsletter I will tell you how I came to sleep in front of Joen's home.
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