Saturday, January 10, 2004
I was speaking with Veikka the other day - he is one of the teachers at the school, a real Santa Claus looking dude - and he told me that the lake that we go walking on has a portion of it that is devoted to those who want to swim. I thought he was talking about in the summer and I told him that I can't wait to go, but he was talking about right now. There is a sauna near bye and an icebreaker, which is a boat specifically designed to break ice, is kept on hand to create the swimming holes when the previous ones freeze over.
He said that you are first supposed to jump into the water and then go into the sauna. Now this struck me as a little crazy, but I guess it makes sense. It's too dramatic a shock to the body to go from 170-180°F to 35° without experiencing the 35° first. And upon further reflection, if you are standing naked outside in -5°F for more than 30 seconds, stepping into the water, which is 40° warmer than you current conditions, can it actually be warm and soothing? After warming up in the water, the next step is to head into the sauna for the real warmth and then repeat the process.
I know this sounds tempting, but I will admit to being an old-fashioned summer house sauna/lake sort of guy. That being said, if invited to do this I will have to consider it and possibly accept. When in Rome, or Joensuu...wherever.
Our guests are coming this week and it is supposed to get really warm, like -2°C which is almost hot. There are good things and bad things about this and the bad are mostly in my head. I would like to see them here when it is really cold and with a lot of snow, but we will probably have a lot more fun with the weather being pleasant. Oh well, is it wrong of me to think these thoughts?
One saving grace of Finnish television is Conan O'Brien everynight, with all the ads removed. He did a montage of the interviews that he did in 2003 and the one where he is interviewing W in England and mentions the fact that England is 5 hours ahead and W responds, "That's right Conan, I'm talking to you from the future. And Conan, in the future everyone drives on the left side of the road." I'm either going to say goodnight, or tell you about the Arnold interview, but it's too long to write and Good night is only two words, so Good Night.
He said that you are first supposed to jump into the water and then go into the sauna. Now this struck me as a little crazy, but I guess it makes sense. It's too dramatic a shock to the body to go from 170-180°F to 35° without experiencing the 35° first. And upon further reflection, if you are standing naked outside in -5°F for more than 30 seconds, stepping into the water, which is 40° warmer than you current conditions, can it actually be warm and soothing? After warming up in the water, the next step is to head into the sauna for the real warmth and then repeat the process.
I know this sounds tempting, but I will admit to being an old-fashioned summer house sauna/lake sort of guy. That being said, if invited to do this I will have to consider it and possibly accept. When in Rome, or Joensuu...wherever.
Our guests are coming this week and it is supposed to get really warm, like -2°C which is almost hot. There are good things and bad things about this and the bad are mostly in my head. I would like to see them here when it is really cold and with a lot of snow, but we will probably have a lot more fun with the weather being pleasant. Oh well, is it wrong of me to think these thoughts?
One saving grace of Finnish television is Conan O'Brien everynight, with all the ads removed. He did a montage of the interviews that he did in 2003 and the one where he is interviewing W in England and mentions the fact that England is 5 hours ahead and W responds, "That's right Conan, I'm talking to you from the future. And Conan, in the future everyone drives on the left side of the road." I'm either going to say goodnight, or tell you about the Arnold interview, but it's too long to write and Good night is only two words, so Good Night.
// posted by Howard @ 11:48 PM 
