However, despite all the wonderful experiences I have had thus far, I must admit that I don't think my Finnish experience would be complete without the adventure I had this past Wednesday afternoon. The sun was shining brightly and I had just settled into doing some homework when my flatmate innocently asked, "wanna go ice swimming?" While I had anticipated having just another Wednesday afternoon, this simple question fueled an adventure in temperature extremes.
After a 45 minute bike ride, I found myself in the Joensuun Jääkarhut Ry parking lot. While waiting for a few more friends to arrive, Maria and I carefully observed the Finns to learn proper ice swimming technique. Go to the sauna. Stay there until you can no longer handle the heat. Proceed outside, and down the dock in a slow but determined fashion. Climb down the down-ladder into the hole in the lake. Swim until you can no longer handle the cold. Then, climb back up the up-ladder before heading back to sauna (again, in a slow but determined fashion). It all seemed simple enough, so after a few minutes, off we went to have a go at it.
 |
| First, we watched the locals ice swim. (If you look carefully, you can see the skiers in the background.) |
For the next two hours, I hustled between sauna and icy waters in a hilarious and futile attempt to not become too hot or too cold. While I can't say I enjoyed either the hot, hot sauna or the cold, cold water, I did appreciate having the cultural experience. It was fun to watch the expressions of the Finns as they watched us foreigners try to engage in their sport. Even more exciting was being able to use the small amount of Finnish I've learned to communicate with the locals. All-in-all, ice swimming was a great adventure—an adventure that brought me one step closer to obtaining a complete Finnish experience.
 |
| I could only stay in the water for about 45 seconds. |
No comments:
Post a Comment