The Light - An Alumni Publication Fall 2015 | Page 19

REFLECTIONS

In addition to the seemingly odd practice of sitting naked peppered with beautiful lakes. Our lovely hotel had a
in a hot room, pouring water onto heated rocks and
men’s sauna and a ladies’ sauna. We wore bath robes into
feeling “healed” by it, my host sister asked me to join
the outer sauna area, where we were met by an attendant
her in the woods, where we trimmed young, leafy birch
who handed us each a round cardboard “butt mat” on
branches off new birch trees. When I asked what in the
which to sit. We hung our robes on the hooks and filed
world we were doing, she
into the extremely large
said we were making vihta.
“I wanted to show them sauna, butt mats in hand.
Great. “What’s that?” I asked.

that a strong American
girl could take the heat.”

“We tie the branches in
bunches, and we beat our
bodies with them when we are
in the sauna,” she explained. Her English was very good.
As if being in our birthday suits weren’t awkward
enough, I thought, now we were going to
beat ourselves with tree branches?
The next time we entered the sauna, sure enough, she
soaked the bunches of branches in the bucket of water
and explained how the tender leaves—when struck on
our bodies—would stimulate blood flow and create a
fresh, herbal-like aroma in the sauna. Trying it out, I
found it surprisingly refreshing and enjoyable, and was
glad I had unearthed that “when in Rome” philosophy.
As for that moment of catharsis—here’s the story. I
traveled with my host family from Söderkulla (just
northeast of Helsinki) to Kuopio, which is in an area

Every lady found her
place to roost (more like
roast), and the sauna ritual
commenced. It is commonly
known among Finns that foreigners are first to flee a
sauna experience, but I wasn’t about to be roasted
out of a sauna—not even by a Finn! I wanted to show
them that a strong American girl could take the heat.

As the minutes ticked by, one after another
exited saying they’d had enough heat for one
evening. Finally, it was down to an elderly Finnish
woman and me, the young foreigner. As we sat in
silence, I could feel my core temperature rising.
Finally, she muttered a few Finnish words, let out
a “Humph!” and exited the sauna in disgust.
Victory was mine! I let out a “Whoop!” of sorts as I sat
there, smiling proudly, realizing I had successfully gained
access to this important part of Finnish culture. ■

Left: During her exchange program, Jill Penafiel visited Q