This is Finland

A stand of birch rose from the little hill, cutting across the water of the Baltic Sea behind it.  The wooden cabin off to its right looked inviting, especially after having dodged rain showers off and on all afternoon.   As inviting as it looked however, we couldn't go in yet.  We were conscripted into the "Finnish Olympics" ice breaker games.  While my team did not excel at boot throwing, we were pretty awesome in the timed sack racing, showed off our skills on a Finnish culture quiz, and managed not to quite tumble in a rather dizzying relay race.

Warmed up from the games and glass of wine in hand, we headed down to the porch surrounding the cabin to enjoy the view while we waited for dinner.  The water looked calm and flat as a lake.  A small island nestled a cabin among the pines, while you could see pine covered shores, cabins peeking out almost  surrounding the water.  The only give-away that this was actually on the Baltic Sea, and not a lake, was the giant ferry that passed by, carrying passengers from Sweden to Finland.

Dinner was ready and we filed in, serving ourselves sausages cooked on the grill, potato salad (with pickle chunks.  It was really yummy), salad, and bread and butter.  I sat next to Pirta, my student tutor, who's a Finn, so she know's what she's talking about.  "These sausages" she said, "that's the real Finnish summer food"  Most Finns take their 4 weeks vacation in July at summer cottages where they alternate between swimming, sauna, eating, and sleeping (I think there's usually some drinking involved too).

Still enjoying my second plate of food, Lisa came in to tell us that the sauna was ready for the girls.  The heat that greeted me as I walked in was so great that it burned the inside of my nose.  "You have to breathe through your mouth" I was advised.  "It's probably around 80 degrees" (celcius, I might add.  Or, 176 degrees fahrenheit.  Not hot enough to boil water, but plenty hot that when my earrings that I'd forgotten to take out brushed my shoulder they burned) When the heat got to be too much for me, I headed outside and gingerly stepped down the ladder into the water.  As my toes dipped into the water I slowed down.  As hot as it was in the sauna, I'm too much of a wimp to just jump in.  Slowly, carefully, I eased into the water.  We chatted as we treaded water, enjoying the refreshingly cool water once we were used to it.  Tired out from swimming, and starting to get a bit chilly, I repeated the whole process over again.  Three times in the sauna and 3 dips in the sea, and it was time to shower and change so the boys could have their chance. (Finnish saunas are typically experienced naked, thus the lack of mixed sauna going.  Being as most of us are new to this, and not nearly as comfortable as sitting around naked with near strangers as your average Finn must be, the majority of us opted for swimsuits)

Feeling spectacular after my sauna experience, we headed inside for an evening of dessert, conversation, and tea.  Our conversation was broken up for the presentation of "Finnish sauna diplomas"and awards for the winning olympic team.  Apparently my team was as awesome as I thought since we were the winners.  Our prize was Angry Birds candy, which I promptly opened and shared with everyone (that's my Colombian side showing through)  Nine o'clock arrived too soon and we headed back home.  As I walked into my apartment at 9:45 pm, the sun was just starting to set, painting the sky in beautiful streaks of pink and yellow, a beautiful end to a beautiful day.