Cultural Clashes: Mom's Visit to Finland

My mom spent almost 3 weeks in Finland with us and it was quite a ride. I'm thankful for the opportunity, because she's not getting any younger and coming here is such a loooooong journey. She was amazed at how bright it was during the nights and in Lapland she said that the sky felt so close (close enough to make her feel like she could grab the clouds with her bare hands LOL!). She enjoyed good weather for two full weeks (sunny and warm, about 20'C), but then the temperature took a dive and it was rainy/grey for the last week. The good thing about this was that she got to see some autumn colours (mostly some yellow colours). She also got a few chances to see some reindeer in Lapland, so that was cool, too. 

One thing I realized during her visit was that I had taken so many things for granted. There are so many things that have become my new normal that I hadn't anticipated telling/explaining to her. Case in point: the day before she was supposed to fly back to Indo, she asked me why the toilet sprayer (the small spray for your private parts next to the toilet) didn't work well whenever she used it. I had forgotten that back home at her place, her toilet sprayer wasn't connected to the sink, so it would automatically spray water whenever you press the handle. However, here in Finland all the toilet sprayers are connected to the sink, so you have to open the tap at the sink first before you're able to use the toilet sprayer. What surprised me (and made me slightly amused) was the fact that it took her that long to ask me that.

Other than those pragmatic daily stuff (like how to use the stove, how to use the shower, how to open/close the blinds, etc.), lots of cultural differences also appeared. Here are a list of things I can think of right now:

1. Sauna

During the good weather period, I introduced my mom to MIL's sauna in another village. That sauna uses firewood, so I thought it would be a different experience for her. The first time we were there, the weather was so gorgeous and warm, so I told my mom she could just take a bath there in the sauna if she didn't want to stay there too long. She did take a bath, but she said it was way too hot for her. When the weather became cooler, my mom said it was so cold that she didn't want to shower. So I offered her to warm up the sauna at our place. I told her to go inside before the sauna got too hot, so this time she managed to enjoy the sauna experience better. The next time I was warming up the sauna, she was more than ready to jump inside, especially because the weather was cold. So in the beginning she didn't understand the benefits of the sauna at all (esp. when the weather was gorgeous outside), but once it became colder, she began to enjoy going there. 

2. Crossing the Streets

We spent some time in Helsinki with my mom (we ourselves rarely go to Helsinki because it's a long journey from here and it's not cheap to travel in Finland) and in the beginning the way she was crossing the street was Indonesian style. As long as the streets looked empty, regardless of the light, she would automatically start to move forward LOL! 

3. Clearing Your Own Table At Some Places

We spent a day in Rovaniemi at a hotel that offered free breakfast and in that hotel, guests were asked to clear their own table. There were designated places for utensils, bowls, etc. In some cafes in the airport as well, there are usually carts where people can put away their trays. These things were new for my mom. 

4. Seeing Drunk People

My mom was surprised to see some drunk people in the streets/at some parks. In Indonesia, drinking alcoholic drinks isn't customary and you rarely see drunk people in public places in broad daylight (perhaps only at some bars during the wee hours of the day).

I had something else to add to this list, but it has escaped me at the moment. I'll write it down when I remember it later. Here are some photos of us in a collage. The bottom middle pic is when my mom tasted my homemade reindeer meat. :-D

Slow Down!

My new fave type of snow is the kind that falls down very slowly on a colder day (meaning dry snow) with snowflakes big enough that my eyes keep wanting to check their shapes. Because it's dry snow, when the snowflakes pile up, their form is still intact. It's quite disconcerting to ride my bike when my eyes keep on glancing towards the snowflakes that have fallen on the sleeves of my parka, trying to make out their shapes ha ha ha ha ha...But what makes me love it so much is the fact that it feels like it's breathing slowly. I know it's weird to say it like this, but the slowness of the speed reminds me to slow down. Slow down! Why are you in such a hurry? Stop and admire the snowflakes for a change. 

Another thing I love about Finland is their sauna culture. In sauna, you can't exactly do anything much. Besides, even if you want to do many things, it can be way too hot in there that all you want to do is just sit there and enjoy the heat and humidity, especially on dark cold winter days. Sometimes we talk in sauna, sometimes we sing each other crazy songs, sometimes we just sit still and say nothing, but we've been doing one particular thing for sure lately: back scratch. I scratch his back, he scratches mine. And then we purr together HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHH...

I feel that going to sauna is good for the soul, because it's also a chance to slow down, to stay away from all electronic devices, to connect. 

Here are some photos I've taken on different days. 

First photo: notice how the branches of the trees are curving down so badly due to the weight of the snow.

Second photo: a sunny day when I was on my way to work. Just had to take the photo as it was such a brilliant day.

The next photos were taken yesterday with my mobile again. I should've tried using the automatic setting as well to see if it'll take clearer details compared to this "snow" setting. Oh well, next time.

Notice the difference between this pink sky and the one I took on my previous blog post. :-D

3BT: Random Days

1. Having fun creating an imaginary world in my head. :-D

2. Getting my dose of cat photos or videos every day. Can't stop rewatching this one for example. The ginger cat Marmalade reminds me of our cat back in Indo. SO CUTE!!!!!


3. Watching this makes me feel so relaxed...



4. Reading this post: Ten Things I've Learned About Trauma.

5. Had my yearly work appraisal and it turned out well. The appraisal showed that I neither overestimate nor underestimate myself. Plus we got to discuss what other things I could do to improve myself, which was great! :-D

6. Ginger, herbal tea, Neti pot AKA "sarvikuono nenäkannu", and sauna. I've been feeling under the weather lately and they've all helped.

3BT: Random Days

1. A grandma gave me a bar of chocolate (again). She's just SO sweet and thoughtful! :-D THANK YOUUUU!!!!! And yes, the graphic below described my facial expression very well upon receiving the chocolate bar LOL!!!


2. Another grandma told me that her hubby had been missing me at work 'coz he hadn't seen me in a long time. (Unfortunately I don't know which one her hubby is 'coz I meet too many customers at work each shift, but that means the only thing I can do to make sure that I treat him well is to treat everybody well.) I'm touched!!!

3. Me: "Hey, I've just recently noticed that my buttocks aren't as supple as they were before. Have you noticed, too?"
Hubby smiled wickedly and nodded.
Me: "WHAAAAATTT?????? Are you pulling my leg or have you really noticed the difference?"
Hubby: "Yeah, I've noticed."
Me: "When did you realize that they'd changed?"
Hubby: "Ages ago:"
Me: "WWWHHHHAATTTT????" (short pause) "But you still love them anyway, right?"
Hubby: (nod) "Yep."
Me: (smile) "Good."


4. Taking a holiday from FB has done WONDERS to my brain. I feel like it's been unblocked and now it can breathe freely again. Phew!!!

5. Sauna scent. I love adding some scent (we've mostly used birch or eucalyptus) to the bucket of water we keep in sauna. It's like aromatherapy! Heavenly!


6. Learning to be more assertive at work when needed. It ain't easy but I'll celebrate each little step forward that I make! :-D

Doomed to Love

This conversation happened in sauna yesterday. It hasn't been warm these days outside (plenty of rain and cloudy days), so it was really nice to be able to have sauna together and warm ourselves up. 

Me: (coming closer to R2's face, joking) I think you must be infected by something.
R2: What do you mean?
Me: Well, your eyes are red.
R2: Ah, well, I'm infected by you.
Me: Me? What kind of infection is that? (bracing myself to hear him tease me back)
R2: Doomed to love you.
Me: (nicely surprised) Really? I like the sound of that.
R2: Yeah, I'm doomed to love you.
Me: (grin) Hey, that means I should infect you even more with that virus.
R2: Yeah.
 

Winter Is Coming Soon!

Last Friday we had a chance to finally go to the cabin again. The weather that day was awful (it rained during half the day and it was so windy), but we had a nice, relaxing time there anyway. I bought some fruit-scented candles to make the cabin smell nice. R2 had a tough time lighting the fireplace in the cabin, though he didn't have any trouble making fire to warm up the sauna. When we got there, the weather outside was probably around 3'C and the cabin was 7'C, but after a few hours, the cabin was as warm as 21-22'C.

We ate before heading to sauna and we were in sauna for a LONG time. We got outside a few times to cool down (it didn't take long to cool down 'coz the wind was strong and chilly) and then we got back inside the sauna.

We listened to the radio and I realized something. Years back when I first moved to Finland, we went to the cabin and when the radio show hosts were talking about something or even joking with each other, the only person who laughed would be R2, but now I am able to laugh at the jokes as well. It's a nice feeling - looking backward and realizing that I've made it this far. The road ahead is still long and winding, but it's encouraging to see progress. :-D Any kind of progress - no matter how little it is - should be celebrated, don't you think? :-D

Before we went to bed at around midnight, R2 burned some more firewood in the fireplace, but when we got up at around 9 am, the cabin's temperature had dropped down to 14-15'C. No wonder when it's really cold outside, whenever we stay at the cabin, R2 has to get up during the night to burn more firewood to make sure that we won't be freezing in the morning he he...

Anyhow, let me just share some pictures...for some reason I'm in no mood to talk about our Indo/Bangkok holiday yet, so you just have to wait ha ha ha...




Below is a pic of the fruit-scented candle:


Yesterday it snowed a little. I was working when I saw the snow. First snow in Sodankylä this year on October 9th, 2011. SO VERY BEAUTIFUL! Just like the scene of my dream years and years ago - I was inside this room filled with huge windows, looking outside a snowy village. I can't wait to have everything white again (of course the snow didn't last yet 'coz the temperature is still a little above 0'C during the day) 'coz it'll make everything brighter.

Anyhow, take care, people! I think I should start my light therapy again before SAD attacks with full force 'coz I'm starting to get lethargic again (sleepy, not in the mood to do anything).

Btw, I finally got a chance to test my three-legged tripod (the first pic in this post was taken using this tripod below). It's a very light tripod and the three legs can be bent as you please. For the first pic, I wrapped the legs of the tripod to a tree branch. :-D Very handy, eh? :-D And it wasn't expensive at all, either. :-D

3BT: Random Days

1. Exchanging heartfelt emails with my MIL. :-D

2. Beautiful wintery pinkish sky (two days in a row) with a half moon hanging SO LOW above the horizon (it looked SO huge) when I rode my bike to work. Too bad I didn't have time to take a pic of it, but it was just AMAZING.


3. My trusted bike (which is perfect for my height). Without it I wouldn't have been able to do many things in a practical way.

4. Discounts, discounts, discounts for food products!

5. Belgian chocolate with lovely fillings (would have never tried 'em if one customer hadn't told me how delicious they were). Mmmmmhhh...

6. My homemade roast duck tasted HEAVENLY and we had mint-chocolate ice-cream and strawberries for dessert. Yum yum...

7. A friend has sent me a package filled with Indo goodies, so I can't wait to get it 'coz it's filled wish some stuff I haven't even eaten in a LONG time. WOOOHHHOOO!!! THANK GOD for angels on earth!

8. Hubby for warming up my legs and body at night and for scratching my back whenever I need it. :-D



9. I've ordered the light therapy lamp and I'm waiting for it to arrive. ;-D

10. Hubby greeting me at night with hugs and kisses whenever I have an evening shift. :-D

11. SAUNA is one of the GREATEST inventions EVER, esp. for a place like Finland HUE HE HE HE HE HE...

Brief Holiday

So, I've been busy enjoying our brief holiday 'coz R2 has his summer holiday only now. He has a 3-week holiday. Saturday I had work in the morning, so we decided not to go to my in-laws. Instead, we went there on Sunday afternoon 'coz we were also planning to stay at the cabin there. We played cards until almost midnight and I lost every single game. Doh...:-((( Then we went to the cabin to have some burgers and sausages (roasting them in the fireplace) and then we went to sauna. By the time we went to sauna, we were already TOO sleepy HA HA HA HA...It made me feel "aged" somehow - I mean, I remember when I was in High School, I could sleep only 4-5 hours three nights in a row and still I didn't feel like a zombie he he he...

So we didn't stay long in the sauna and we ended up going to bed at around 2.30 am. Every time I go to the cabin, I'm reminded of how blessed I am to be able to enjoy complete silence - there are only sounds of birds or dogs barking in the distance, no traffic sounds, no TV, no computers...just the two of us and some music from the radio. Oh, no electricity as well - just some candles that made everything feel so romantic ha ha ha...ahem...

To cut the story short, we woke up SUPER late on Monday. We went back to my in-laws' place...oh yeah, almost forgot...on Sunday when we arrived there, I gave her the poster and she LOVED it!!! Esp. 'coz she had never seen all the pictures that I put there HA HA HA HA HA...so she spent time looking at each photo. ;-D Here's a pic of the poster before we brought it to my in-laws - I had R2 pose for me to let you know how big it is (R2 is about 176-177 cm and the poster ix 50X70 cm):


We had lunch there and then MIL and I went out to pick some blackcurrants while R2 went to cut some wood (we brought home about 1.5 litres of blackcurrants YAY!!!). Then it started raining, so we had to go back inside. We drank coffee and played cards again - this time I managed to win 2 games out of 3. YIIIHAAAAAAAAAA!!!! ;-D And what did we see while playing cards? RAINBOW!!!



We went back home pretty late on Monday, so we didn't have too much time for anything 'coz we had to prepare ourselves to go to Rovaniemi the next day. When we arrived home, I found out that my handbag was broken (one of the straps came off) - so it was about time to buy a new one. Went to Rovaniemi yesterday and found a suitable handbag on a discount. Here is a pic of my old bag (bought it at a special price of €8 about 3 years ago):



And here's the pic of the new bag (original price €25, discounted price €15):


Notice the long horizontal zipper there? It goes through the whole bag, so if I need to make the bag bigger, I can unzip it. KEWLLL!!!!

We went to different stores and found some things to buy, such as bed sheets, pillow cases, and even one mattress. I bought a Finnish novel that I had been wanting to buy, though I've got a crazy story about it. When we went to that one bookstore, I saw the English version of the novel (it's been translated into many languages 'coz it's such a famous novel in Finnish) and the translated novel costs only €13. I was tempted to buy it due to the price and the fact that it'd be easy for me to read it through. BUT then again I wanted to know if I could read the whole book in Finnish, so I found the Finnish version, but the price is €27. Crazy, isn't it? But I did decide to buy the Finnish one after all with determination that someday I HAVE to read it 'coz it's such an expensive investment he he...If you're curious, here's the English version of the book (you can click on the book to go straight to the amazon page):



Unfortunately we didn't find any place where we could fix the camera, but it was our fault. We should've browsed through the internet first to find it 'coz after we got back home, R2 browsed the internet and found one. That means we'll have to go back to Rovaniemi someday (well, we had actually thought of going there again) - preferably while he's still having his holiday, though I hve to check my schedule first. My working hours will be busier this month 'coz one coworker will soon stop working there - I think maybe she's been accepted in a university or something like that (dunno for sure). So we'll see when we have time to go to Rovaniemi again.

We also went to a Chinese restaurant to buy some takeaway dinner - I ordered some duck, whereas R2 ordered some chicken. Too bad the duck meat has strange texture, though overall the food tastes OK, but I've tasted better duck meat (even the frozen duck meat from Lidl tastes BETTER than that - I mean texture-wise). Oh well...at least now I know that I'll NEVER buy duck from there again. Once we bought lunch buffet there and everything tasted GREAT, so it's just the duck that's the problem.

OK, now I need to blog-hop a little and then exercise (haven't done any exercise for about 5 days or so). Tomorrow and Friday I've got work to do. For those who want to see the pot of flowers I got from a customer at work, here goes:

New Header + 3BT

Yeah, been tinkering with new header designs and I came up with this one. The background was created by Alevtina Design, the butterflies were taken from Debra Anderson Designs and the flower image on the upper right corner of my header was designed by Carola Okeke/FWTS. So THANK YOU to all of them!!!

The flower pictures themselves are all my photos, of course he he he...now that summer's here, I thought it'd be nice to change the header once in a while. Hope you like my new summery header!

**************************

OK, here's my 3BT list:

1. This morning when I woke up I wanted to jump in joy 'coz I saw one little bud coming out in a pot. I almost thought that I had killed all the seeds 'coz the temperature had been so cold. Last night I was just thinking that perhaps they wouldn't germinate at all, so maybe I should use the pot to plant other seeds. Of course until now there's only one tiny bud coming out, but that's better than nothing, right? HE HE HE...Here's the pic of the bud (this is the seed of a climbing plant):


2. Seeing more buds coming out of the pot filled with seeds of chives. YEEEAAAHHHH!!!

3. Having "FUN" in sauna again after we played Wii on Wednesday. Oh yeahhh!!! *wink wink*

4. Having cleaned all the windows on the first floor (remember there are double windows everywhere, but I'm not in a hurry anyway).

5. Holding hands with hubby and listening to his heartbeat. Thump, thump, thump...the precious sign of life...

6. Music. Listening to music is really relaxing.

7. Chatting with different friends around the world. ;-D

glitter-graphics.com

8. Watering the plants while listening to birds singing outside. Mmmm...what a life!!!

Gardening Question + Buds!!!

BUDS! I see BUDS in my garden patch!!! Here are some pics:





YIIIPPPPPPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIEEE!!! Hope they grow! I haven't seen too many buds in the front row, though. I hope they'll come later. :-D

Now I have a question to those plant lovers. What do I have to do with this patch of dead roses??? Any advice would be MUCH appreciated, THANK YOU!!!



Should I just water it, pull everything out, or what?

The other day I also took some photos of Kitinen River area (it's very near from the daycare) - LOVE that spot he he he he...




Today we've been raking dead leaves from the yard for hours. Now we're tired and we're going to sauna later. WOOOHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I'll blog-hop some more later on. ;-D

3BT: Random Days

1. Having warm-hearted in-laws that always accept me as who I am and they never make me feel like a stranger. They never get involved in our affairs and they always accept our visits lovingly and warmly. I LOVE the homey atmosphere I always feel when I'm there. The house is never filled with angry voices or criticism. Instead, it's filled with laughter and comfort.

2. Having a hubby that never raises his voice at me. This morning before he left for his trip (I was still sleeping - BLESS him for accepting me for who I am!!!), he left me a love note. It's been a while since he did that and I was secretly hoping that I'd get one this morning...and I DID!!!!!! HURRAHHHH!!! ;-D

3. A few times hubby warmed my foot up with his big hand (my shoe size is only 35-36) when he realizes that it's rather cold. Mmmmm...I LOVE it when he does things for me when I don't ask him to do!!!



4. My own family (my parents and brother and his wife) always support me. My Mom even supported our going to Singapore even though that meant that our time together in Bandung would be shorter. What would I do without them, without her?

5. Found out from Mom when I called her yesterday that my brother's wife's Dad has volunteered to take us to one mall in Bandung at around 4 am later on to catch the bus to go Cengkareng Airport when it's time for us to go to Singapore. He's not even my Dad, but he volunteers to do it for us???????? GOD BLESS THAT MAN AND HIS FAMILY!!! My brother's LUCKY to have in-laws like that!!!

6. Missing hubby. It is good that he's away like this for one day...so tomorrow I can run to the door and shower him with kisses and wag my tail HE HE HE hE HE HE HE...

7. Hearing birds chirping loudly outside this morning. The sound was so loud and clear.

8. Excitement to meet my family, my friends, and (hopefully) my Singaporean blogger friends SOON HO HO HO HO HO HO...And excitement to eat Asian food again, of course. Yum yummmm...Foodvaganza, here I come!!!!!!!!!! ----> The other day when I was rather stressed, I didn't feel excited, I just wanted to stare at the floor all day and do nothing hi hi hi...that's why I count "excitement" as a beautiful thing he he...

9. Sauna on a cold night (it was 0'C already yesterday when we got back from Kelujärvi).

10. Since it was already so cold, the sky shown beautiful pink color near the horizon...mmm...I LOVE staring at that type of sky. Wish someday I could capture the moment with my camera, though photos won't do any justice to its beauty.

11. Anticipating some kind of spa activity either in Bandung or Singapore. OH OH OH I MISS having a massage!!! Especially a side-by-side massage with hubby ho ho ho ho ho...

Taps4Less

Taps are important in our lives since they're connected with water, something we can't live without. I found the above site that sells a variety of bathroom and kitchen taps, ranging from the minimalist style, modern style, classic style, traditional style, etc. They also sell hot tubs, sauna, bathroom furniture, showers, and accessories. Since they're based in the UK, they offer free shipping to any mainland UK address.

If I own a house one day, I'd love to have a white acrylic bathtub, a white toilet seat, and a white vanity unit with ceramic basin, mirror, lights, and shaver socket. I just LOVE a clean look for my bathroom. Anyway, let me show you the picture of the vanity unit that I like in the above site. Here it is:




However, since sometimes we'd probably need to have a quick shower, I prefer to have a modern one. For taps, I love the minimalist design with a single lever that I can turn to the left or the right. However, what's also important for me is to have a sauna at home. Yes, I'm REALLY addicted to sauna! The site also offers a variety of sauna which can hold 1 up to 5 people. So if you're looking for taps or bathroom furniture and accessories, don't forget to visit this site!

Top of the Range Garden Offices

I came across this UK site that sells garden offices with breathtaking pictures. I had never seen such a thing before in Indonesia, but I can imagine already how wonderful it must be to have a garden home office if you work from home. The Garden Escape is a company that builds garden offices by combining the use of wood and glass with contemporary designs. Even if you don't need a home office, you can also use the building for different purposes, for example: for a gym or a painting studio or just your getaway place where you can relax.

All the buildings they make are equipped with electric heating and glass wool insulation, so you can use them even in winter without freezing inside. The regular sizes range from 8 square metres until 30 square metres, but you can also ask for a specific size that you want. The quoted prices include laying down the foundation, installation in mainland UK, different electrical installations, internal decoration, and additional finishing touches until the building is ready to use.

Let me show you a picture of their latest design "The Curve". What do you think? I think it looks very cosy and I'd love to enjoy myself in that whirlpool with my hubby. *wink* Plus I love the fact that everything's made of wood. It just looks so classy and homey at the same time.




Anyway, if I were to imagine myself using such a building, I would probably use it as a getaway place. I'll arrange my book collection there and add some comfortable sofa and DVD player so I can enjoy music while reading. And since I'm addicted to sauna, I'd put a small sauna and shower there, as well. I can invite my female friends to have a barbecue party during summer. That means I'll have a garden table and chairs outside he he he...

Here's another picture that resembles what I have in mind. What do you think? Does it make you want to have one? Yeah, me too! *grin*

3BT: Saturday, December 8th, 2007

1. Blueberry porridge made by my mother-in-law. YUM YUM and healthy too!!! ;-D

2. Mother-in-law caressed my hair and said, "Oh, so long and thick..." It was the first time she had ever done it. I guess she must've been curious about Asian hair, just as I was curious about how it felt like to touch blonde hair he he he he...

3. Hearing my hubby's laughter and giggle and his crazy songs and joking about his songs and his "albums". (Yes, sometimes he creates crazy songs, esp. in sauna HA HA HA HA HA HA)

4. Sauna, sauna, saunaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! I can NEVER get enough of sauna, especially in winter HUE HE HE HE HE HE HE...

5. Getting a chance to make another snowmannnnnnnnnnnnn. YEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!! I LOVED the exercise, too! *wink wink*

6. Watching my mother-in-law helping her hubby put on a long-sleeved shirt and buttoning it up and watching my father-in-law being humble enough to let his wife do such a thing. Then they talked about something and laughed together. Mmmm...such a loving atmosphere!!!

Vote for My Blog at Blog Interviewer

Mike Thomas from bloginterviewer.com (THANKS, Mike) has kindly asked me to do this interview, so if you like my blog, please check out this link and vote for me, will you? He he he he...




Well, let me just ramble on as well here a bit. My hubby has a day off today since he'd worked long hours the past few days. YIIIHHHAAAA!!! He didn't tell me about it until I found out about it myself. So that's one beautiful thing today.

The second beautiful thing was this: I woke up earlier due to hunger, so I had sandwich and a cinnamon bun with hot milk. It was only 0'C outside so drinking hot milk felt SOOOO good, babyyyy!!!! Then I did my "morning routine" at the toilet, brushed my teeth, and got back to sleep HO HO HO HO HO HO HO...

Tomorrow we're not going to my in-laws since there's my hubby's cousin's birthday party. He turned 40 two days ago and over here in Finland the big 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 is celebrated at least by the closest family members or friends. The party'll start at 3 pm. He says he'll provide snacks and drinks, then at around 6 pm we'll all go to the army building to have sauna separately (men with men, women with women) and then he may invite us all to go to a bar. I have NO idea how many people are invited there, but this is gonna be my first time going to such a birthday party, so I'm pretty excited. So this anticipation is the third beautiful thing this morning he he he he he he he he he...

I'll surely try tell you all later on how it goes. The only minus is probably the doubt if I'll be able to talk to anyone at the party since most Finns are shy about practicing their English. We'll see he he he...I'm a good observer, anyway. I'm not really looking forward to going to the bars, though, since it's gonna be COOOOOLLLLDDDDDD when it's time to go home. BRRRRR!!!! But sauna? BRING IT ON, BABBBYYYY!!!! ME LOVE SAUNA SUPER DUPER MUCH he he he he...

Finnish Sauna

Kathy from Kathy's Klavier has asked me about sauna in Finland.

Finns LOVE their sauna, though I don't know if they go there every day or not. I don't think so, since if you have an electric sauna and you go there every day, then you'll end up paying a HUGE amount of electricity bill later on. And if you have a wooden sauna, then you need LOADS of firewood if you go there every single day.

Anyway, in my hubby's office there's even a sauna room complete with two showers and a changing room, can you believe it? I mean, the office isn't THAT big, yet they have two showers, a changing room, and a sauna room? Tsk tsk tsk...

I think to read the complete sauna guide, you can just go here: Finnish Sauna.

I especially like being whipped by vasta or "birch twigs" (click the Finnish Sauna link to see the pic) during sauna. It's SO fragrant and it makes me feel GOOD.

My in-laws have a portable wooden sauna. It consists of two rooms. One is the changing room (or cooling down room) and the second one is the sauna. Decades ago they didn't have an indoor bathroom, so they went to sauna twice a week to shower (as well as to enjoy sauna). I can't imagine not having an indoor bathroom during harsh winter days since the distance between the house and the sauna was approx. 6-8 metres. BRRRRRRRRRR...

Anyway, here are some pics of my in-laws' sauna. First pic: the sauna from outside.



The second pic is the changing room. I took the pic from the doorway. There's the Pefletti box next to the table. (Pefletti = a disposable tissue designed to endure heat and humidity, we sit on it in the sauna room)



This third pic is the left part of the changing room. As you can see there are some clothes hangers on the wall for us to hang our clothes.



There you go: the sauna room itself. The white "tissue-like" stuff hanging is the Pefletti he he he he...Don't ask me why it's there. I took the pics when the sauna wasn't being used.



The stove and buckets of water!!!



Our regular sauna session goes like this:
1. Father-in-law warms up the sauna before we can go in (they use firewood to heat the sauna), then after about an hour we can go inside.
2. Bring some cider and towels and put them in the changing room, then we'd get undressed.
3. Soak ourselves up first with warm water before sitting down on Pefletti towels in the sauna room and throw some water on the stove. Steam, steam, steam!!!
4. Use the birch twigs (vasta) if my in-laws have it prepared in the sauna room.
5. After a while, we cool down in the changing room while drinking COLD cider. YUM YUM!!!
6. We go inside again and then throw more water to produce steam.
7. Then we go out again a bit to drink COLD cider in the changing room (usually by now the temp. inside the sauna room has gotten up to 70'C)
8. We go inside the sauna room again to wash ourselves and wash our hair.
9. We dry ourselves in the changing room while sipping more cider.

An exception to this order was made the last time we went to stay in the cabin. The cabin is located right in front of a lake, so in between sauna, my hubby decided to jump into the lake twice. The water was TOO cold for me, though. My hubby said that once he did it in September, when the lake water was colder than August. YIKES!!! No, thank you.

This has something to do with ice swimming. This is what I found in wikipedia:

It is common to have a sauna near such a swimming hole, and to cycle from the sauna into the water and back.

I also found a nice set of pics of (crazy) people going ice-swimming here: Avanto.

Here are some info about public saunas (I've never been to one, so I can't share any personal experiences): Sauna. There are also some links on this site about sauna and ice-swimming.

Some hot-blooded people may not like sauna since their bodies have a hard time cooling down. Their bodies are so easily heated up. Two friends of mine are like that and they both dislike going to sauna.

All in all, I LOVE sauna since it's TRULY relaxing for me. You can't really do anything much while in sauna as it's SO hot, so you can only enjoy yourself and relax. Plus, I get to drink COLD cider. YUMMY!!!



I think I'd DEFINITELY enjoy sauna more in winter when it's cold outside. Last March when I first arrived here, there was still some snow outside and it was cold for me, yet sauna was always a welcome experience. I salute the inventor of sauna: THANK YOU for creating such a MAGNIFICENT thing!!!

Additional info: Finnish people love going to their summer cottages in the long summer holiday. I've seen SO many trailers during summer coming to Lapland and then they leave this village with their skin SO red like tomatoes he he he...so I guess they sunbathe a lot, swim a lot, and go to sauna a lot during summer.

Sauna

Kathy from Kathy's Klavier has asked me about sauna in Finland.

Finns LOVE their sauna, though I don't know if they go there every day or not. I don't think so, since if you have an electric sauna and you go there every day, then you'll end up paying a HUGE amount of electricity bill later on. And if you have a wooden sauna, then you need LOADS of firewood if you go there every single day.

Anyway, in my hubby's office there's even a sauna room complete with two showers and a changing room, can you believe it? I mean, the office isn't THAT big, yet they have two showers, a changing room, and a sauna room? Tsk tsk tsk...

I think to read the complete sauna guide, you can just go here: Finnish Sauna.

I especially like being whipped by vasta or "birch twigs" (click the Finnish Sauna link to see the pic) during sauna. It's SO fragrant and it makes me feel GOOD.

My in-laws have a portable wooden sauna. It consists of two rooms. One is the changing room (or cooling down room) and the second one is the sauna. Decades ago they didn't have an indoor bathroom, so they went to sauna twice a week to shower (as well as to enjoy sauna). I can't imagine not having an indoor bathroom during harsh winter days since the distance between the house and the sauna was approx. 6-8 metres. BRRRRRRRRRR...

Anyway, here are some pics of my in-laws' sauna. First pic: the sauna from outside.



The second pic is the changing room. I took the pic from the doorway. There's the Pefletti box next to the table. (Pefletti = a disposable tissue designed to endure heat and humidity, we sit on it in the sauna room)



This third pic is the left part of the changing room. As you can see there are some clothes hangers on the wall for us to hang our clothes.



There you go: the sauna room itself. The white "tissue-like" stuff hanging is the Pefletti he he he he...Don't ask me why it's there. I took the pics when the sauna wasn't being used.



The stove and buckets of water!!!



Our regular sauna session goes like this:
1. Father-in-law warms up the sauna before we can go in (they use firewood to heat the sauna), then after about an hour we can go inside.
2. Bring some cider and towels and put them in the changing room, then we'd get undressed.
3. Soak ourselves up first with warm water before sitting down on Pefletti towels in the sauna room and throw some water on the stove. Steam, steam, steam!!!
4. Use the birch twigs (vasta) if my in-laws have it prepared in the sauna room.
5. After a while, we cool down in the changing room while drinking COLD cider. YUM YUM!!!
6. We go inside again and then throw more water to produce steam.
7. Then we go out again a bit to drink COLD cider in the changing room (usually by now the temp. inside the sauna room has gotten up to 70'C)
8. We go inside the sauna room again to wash ourselves and wash our hair.
9. We dry ourselves in the changing room while sipping more cider.

An exception to this order was made the last time we went to stay in the cabin. The cabin is located right in front of a lake, so in between sauna, my hubby decided to jump into the lake twice. The water was TOO cold for me, though. My hubby said that once he did it in September, when the lake water was colder than August. YIKES!!! No, thank you.

This has something to do with ice swimming. This is what I found in wikipedia:

It is common to have a sauna near such a swimming hole, and to cycle from the sauna into the water and back.

I also found a nice set of pics of (crazy) people going ice-swimming here: Avanto. Here are some info about public saunas (I've never been to one, so I can't share any personal experiences): Sauna. There are also some links on this site about sauna and ice-swimming.

Some hot-blooded people may not like sauna since their bodies have a hard time cooling down. Their bodies are so easily heated up. Two friends of mine are like that and they both dislike going to sauna.

All in all, I LOVE sauna since it's TRULY relaxing for me. You can't really do anything much while in sauna as it's SO hot, so you can only enjoy yourself and relax. Plus, I get to drink COLD cider. YUMMY!!!



I think I'd DEFINITELY enjoy sauna more in winter when it's cold outside. Last March when I first arrived here, there was still some snow outside and it was cold for me, yet sauna was always a welcome experience. I salute the inventor of sauna: THANK YOU for creating such a MAGNIFICENT thing!!!