The Naturals:
Students bare it all to go native in a Finnish spa
By Ashley Joyce
During my first week in Finland, at a language camp to help foreigners learn Finnish, I risked the dreaded sauna. Three fellow students and I were assigned a time to venture to the hot room worshipped by all Finns. At first we were eager to immerse ourselves in the culture, but then we discovered a hitch in the plan: Finns lounge in the sauna naked.
We trekked to the building by the lake, swimsuits and towels in hand: “So who’s going to do it?” After dodging the sandals covering the floor of the clubhouse lobby, we made it to the entrance of the women’s sauna. Upon entering the deserted changing room, we made the pact: we promised to go the “real way.” We spotted a pile of clothes on the farthest bench, yet our tutors, two Finnish girls who had shyly introduced themselves the night before, were missing. We assumed they were waiting inside for us.
We discarded our clothes, wrapped ourselves in the camp-issued miniscule towels, and shuffled into the shower room. Tentatively, we rinsed under the cold water.
Covered in goosebumps and craving the warmth ahead, I hugged myself and danced in place. My three companions bickered over who would open the door and spot our tutors’ proud expressions first. ”
A number of our fellow campers, covered by bathing suits, gasped at us as they filed out. We self-consciously peeked around the door and hoped the tutors would be proud of our quick adaptation to Finnish ways. Instead, two rows of non-Finns, all equipped with bathing suits, turned toward us and gasped. Their eyes judged every flaw on our bodies.
In the overcrowded room, our tutors became aware of the commotion. They laughed as we stood shyly in the doorway. Although the other exchange students were too embarrassed to remove their attire, the tutors reacted as we had hoped. They invited us to join them on the top benches, where the heat was strongest, and where only the mightiest sauna-goers sit. I hiked up the steps, feeling the gazes of Americans, French, Japanese, and Germans, all safely covered in bathing suits, secretly envious of our quick adaptation. We placed our paper mats under our butts and attempted to make ourselves comfortable; we took turns throwing water on the rocks, feeling the instant rush of heat fill the room, and joined in the chorus of traditional sauna songs.
At the time of this writing, Ashley Joyce was a senior at Brandeis Univer-sity. Contact her at ashleyjoyce@mac.com.