Siegmund
King
The habit has spread to Alaska, but not to the extent that everyone has to have their own. I do know friends who have them and have even built their own.
Do you have a sauna?
- Thread starter Rheinmetall
- Start date
Of course, being Finnish 
However... I wish a fellow Finn wouldn't give Swedes, Norwegians etc credit for the sauna by saying it spread from "Scandinavia". First of all -- my pet peeve -- Finland is not really in Scandinavia and second, those folks I would consider "Scandinavians" (Nordic people minus Finns) definitely don't have a clue when it comes to the sauna...
However... I wish a fellow Finn wouldn't give Swedes, Norwegians etc credit for the sauna by saying it spread from "Scandinavia". First of all -- my pet peeve -- Finland is not really in Scandinavia and second, those folks I would consider "Scandinavians" (Nordic people minus Finns) definitely don't have a clue when it comes to the sauna...
G-Force Junkie
Old Vulcan Guy
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2003
- Messages
- 405
I live a mile from the Gulf of Mexico, and it is a sauna to go outside. But there is a thing called a redneck sauna where you stuff towels at the crack at the bottom of the door and you turn on the shower with the heat all the way up but you don't turn on the vents. I've never done this but it seems a whole lot cheaper than installing a sauna in your house.
Rheinmetall
Interplanetary Assassin
Oops... [Dang hotmail]
Rheinmetall
Interplanetary Assassin
HuckFinn: Actually I have read sauna originates from scandinavia, Sweden actually, not from Finland. But my sources are known to be unreliable. Thats why I said scandinavia. I welcome you to prove me wrong .
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Perfection
The Great Head.
No, I hate saunas, they cause headaches.
funxus
Orange Cycloptic Blob
Yes, but we seldom use it anymore. Down at the town's pool, I use it every time I go for a swim there. They say you lose weight in there too, not that I need it now, but maybe it could substitute excersize sometimes in the future...
I don't have any sources to argue this with, so I won't, but while there isn't proof either way, I refuse to believe any of it because it would make the Finn in me scream in agony
Anyway, the point was just to make the Scandinavia vs. Nordic distinction...
EDIT: and in any case, Finland is the country over here that most cherishes the sauna as a core part of the culture...
funxus
Orange Cycloptic Blob
I thought Iceland also wasn't part of Scandinavia, but a part of the Nordic countries, now that you mention Scandinavia vs. Nordic?
funxus,
depends on what kind of a definition you want to follow. The strictest geographical definition that I prefer relies on the fact that Scandinavia is the peninsula with Sweden and Norway on it; this would only include those two countries.
Some people like to include Denmark because it is so close. You might or might not also include Iceland. This kind of grouping of countries relies more on linguistic and cultural-historical boundaries... those countries were the "Viking" countries and speak languages that resemble each other a great deal.
Finland on the other hand is quite a different animal in the lot despite having been greatly influenced by the proximity of Sweden and the fact that they conquered us in 1100-1300 and kicked us in the head as much as they could for the next 600 years before Russia managed to snatch us away from them. We're separated from the "Viking Scandinavia" by language and ethnicity (despite much cross-breeding across the gulf), even if in modern days all the Nordic Countries (Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland) are very close to each other in the ways they have organized their societies.
Anyway, it is my impression that especially most Americans think of Scandinavia as "anything north of Germany where gorgeous tall blondes with horned helmets sail Viking boats in fjords and have wild sex in saunas"...
depends on what kind of a definition you want to follow. The strictest geographical definition that I prefer relies on the fact that Scandinavia is the peninsula with Sweden and Norway on it; this would only include those two countries.
Some people like to include Denmark because it is so close. You might or might not also include Iceland. This kind of grouping of countries relies more on linguistic and cultural-historical boundaries... those countries were the "Viking" countries and speak languages that resemble each other a great deal.
Finland on the other hand is quite a different animal in the lot despite having been greatly influenced by the proximity of Sweden and the fact that they conquered us in 1100-1300 and kicked us in the head as much as they could for the next 600 years before Russia managed to snatch us away from them. We're separated from the "Viking Scandinavia" by language and ethnicity (despite much cross-breeding across the gulf), even if in modern days all the Nordic Countries (Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland) are very close to each other in the ways they have organized their societies.
Anyway, it is my impression that especially most Americans think of Scandinavia as "anything north of Germany where gorgeous tall blondes with horned helmets sail Viking boats in fjords and have wild sex in saunas"...
Rheinmetall
Interplanetary Assassin
Well I have to agree that. I'll bathe in sauna almost daily.
It is indeed true that Finland isn't part of scandinavic countries but most finns I know tend to think that. Actually I remember my 7th class teacher claiming so too
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