I love Sweden, it’s a country I will one day call home. I could go all geeky and political if I wanted to explain why the Scandinavian life is much better than the rest of the Western world but won’t bore you too much with my left leaning liberal ways and will instead concentrate in my blog on my time in Sweden, touching upon the little things that make Swedish life that little bit more appealing,
On a daily basis people approach me and say “Ross I cant believe you are almost thirty!” You look so young”. The secret to my boyish good looks are down to three simple things: serums; never working, and last but not least saunas! I love saunas and to a lesser extent steam rooms and can’t think of a period in the last five years where I haven’t been in a sauna on a weekly basis and Sweden is the perfect place to indulge in some sauna action. Sauna’s are originally Finnish but they like to roll around in the snow and bash each other with sticks at the end. I’m game for most things but you have to draw the line somewhere
It’s near impossible to have a good sauna in the UK. If I fancy going for a sauna at my local pool it becomes all rather complicated. I have to check to make sure it’s not ladies night. In the UK there is an assumption that men and women cannot share a sauna together. I am not sure what they expect will happen if decently covered adults all sit in the same room together but it’s certainly not worth taking the risk. I once observed a sign outside a sauna that said ‘The management will be allowing both men and women to use the Sauna between 14:00 – 15:00 this Saturday on a temporary trial basis’. I can only presume that those partaking in this radical social experiment got over-excited at the sight of the opposite sex’s skin and the poor pool boy walked in on something resembling a scene in ‘Basic Instinct’ as the following week it was back to Ladies only. Kill joys!
I hate the awkwardness of it all. British people don’t like the sight of other peoples bodies and most people would prefer a bouncer at the sauna door working a one in, one out policy. Never talk to a stranger in a sauna in the UK. A friendly “Hello, How are you?” can sometimes be met with a look that would normally be reserved for the questioning of your parentage. Finally, British people just don’t know how to sauna. They don’t shower before, they don’t shower in-between to cool down, they don’t take liquid in with them and certainly don’t stay in the sauna for anymore than five minutes before complaining “it’s to hot”. Hot in the sauna; imagine that. It’s almost impossible to actually get any decent heat in the sauna when people are walking in and out after two minutes. Some even stand at the door and attempt to excuse their pathetic efforts and explain that it’s hot, thus letting every bit of heat out of the room. I’m a peaceful natured guy, I read the Guardian AND eat cous cous. However it’s about this point I want the guy standing at the door letting the heat out to drop dead.
This is why having a sauna in Sweden is such a joy. These guys know how it’s done. Sauna’s there are built in scenic locations, over looking lakes and mountains. I am not sure there is a Swedish translation for leisure centre. It can be a social occasion between friends and family. Sauna parties are the Saturday night entertainment in the winter, beer’s are consumed inside, chat flows and hours pass away and it’s done with a proper fire sauna and not the namby bamby electrical ones used elsewhere. People cool down and start again and enjoy the comforting feel of the sauna reheating and wait for this (readers in the UK may want to look away now) they do it naked! I always used to think that group skinny dipping was only something that only happened in bad American teen shows with kids struggling with the harsh realities of being good looking and rich with the typically American low tolerance to alcohol, but it turns out that this is how you cool off in Sweden after a long session in the sauna. Very refreshing it is too!
Now sharing a room with a bunch of naked sweaty strangers maybe some people’s idea of hell but in Sweden it’s the done thing. Many apartment complexes have shared facilities such like laundry and recycle area’s and this also extends to shared saunas. What better way to get to know your new neighbours than a naked chat. I wont forget my first shared apartment sauna in Sweden in a hurry, I sat for thirty minutes in my birthday suit across from a naked chubby pensioner sweating away telling me how wonderful he thought Dundee was.
Dundee!!! What a weirdo. No wonder I couldn’t look him in the eye.
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