When I came to Finland in September 2006, I had never experienced a sauna before, but I had a pretty good idea of it - of how damn awful it must be. ;-) But when I spend the first night on Finnish ground in a Hotel, my brother (who had helped me moving to Finland) and I wanted to do what Finns apparently do - go to the sauna. After all, integration is important for foreigners, everybody knows that! ;-)
The sauna in the Hotel was separated between men and women - first interesting thing to learn! I was alone in the sauna, so there was nobody, who could have explained me a thing or two... From what I had heard in Germany, I thought I had to be in the sauna for a longer time - otherwise it wouldn't be a proper sauna visit. So I was sitting there, totally dry and red and suffering from the heat - not daring to throw any löyly (water to the stove) as it would raise the temperature even more! :-D I don't recall for how long I did this torture to myself, but eventually I decided that sauna wasn't for me! Integration wasn't worth it either. ;-) My brother, on the other hand, he hadn't been alone in the sauna, and he came out totally happy and relaxed, telling me that the Finn had thrown water to the stove all the time and that he really enjoyed himself. I couldn't believe it... ;-)
When my first Winter in Finland came, I had friends and colleagues, who then took me to Avanto sauna and showed me how sauna is actually done (in combination with a hole in the ice). AND I LOVED IT!!! It was the most enjoyable thing to do - I almost had an avanto addiction. :-) And because that's how I got to know the pleasures of sauna for the first time, that's how I still love going to sauna the most - in Winter time, swimming in an ice hole, with a hot drink in my thermos flask, a lot of löyly, and a wood-heated stove with all it's smells and sounds! :-)
But over the years, I have learned to enjoy sauna in every season and under all kinds of circumstances.
I love a short and relaxing Friday sauna in my teeny-tiny sauna at home, being at peace with myself.
I love the sauna in public swimming pools, relaxing and stretching the muscles after a long swim.
I love the "obligatory" (of course you have a choice there ;) ) sauna visit on lab retreats, when everybody - from PI to grad student - enjoys sipping a beer in the sauna, laughing and relaxing.
And I have the most fond memories of Midsummer sauna visits - all day long, with friends, eating, drinking, swimming, dancing, and in between sauna again and again. :-)
Obviously, when I was on my job interview in Bergen, one of my first questions to the new colleagues had been about sauna habbits in Norway. Boy, I didn't like the answer... They said that sauna used to be a thing in Norway, too - a long time ago at least, but they had gotten rid of this "old-fashioned" custom. (On the inside, an indignant voice squeaked "Did he just call sauna old-fashioned?!??", while on the outside, I wore a fake smile saying "oho...!" ;-) ) But there would be a new public swimming pool in Bergen and somebody had seen there a sauna, too...
So maybe that's where I'll go, when I start missing Finland badly... Even though I am already worried about what Norwegians might think what sauna means - I'm afraid they get it all wrong, just like Germans do. ;-) :-D
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