SAUNA DIPLOMACY

WHIRLPOOL TUB, SAUNA AND TUKISH STEAM ROOM IN OUT TALLINN APARTMENT




ELYSEE TOOK ME IN THIS UNDIPLOMATIC POSE


Excerpted from my book; OUR SUMMER IN ESTONIA: AMAZON.COM

A famous practitioner of sauna culture was the Cold War Finnish
President, Urho Kerkkonen. He would assemble his Soviet counterparts
in the sauna at his estate and not let them out until agreement was
reached on the items being discussed. A famous story surrounds the visit
of Dean Rusk, at the time US Secretary of State. Rusk had previously
removed from the agenda a visit to the President’s sauna. Perhaps it was
not his sort of activity. Kerkkonen, being the host, persisted, and besides,
it was his sauna time of the day. He showed Rusk around his estate and
they ended up at the sauna. They, along with their ambassadors, sat for
while. The heat came on and Kerkkonen took off his jacket. Naturally,
Rusk did the same, others followed. Soon, off came the shirts, ties, and
other trappings of diplomatic dress. Out came some cold beer, bathing
water, and the American’s experienced a “refreshing” round of Finnish
Sauna Diplomacy.

I don’t want to leave the impression that only the Finns practice the art
of the sauna. It is present throughout the Nordic region. Every hotel Elysee
and I have stayed in, featured their sauna. And, as I have noted earlier when
describing our apartment, we not only have a sauna but a whirlpool bath
and Turkish steam-bath as well. I have become accustomed to taking a
sauna many afternoons, afterwards shaving for the day and showering. It is
very relaxing and sets me up properly for the evening cocktail and the news
of the day. In fact, as part of the bath, I find it much more practical than the
hot-tubs found throughout Florida, which generally are seldom put to use.

THE SAUNA

A CENTURIES OLD ESTONIAN PEASANTS SAUNA THAT WOULD BE FOUND ON AN ESTATE



INSIDE A VERY OLD SMOKE SAUNA. LARGE WATER BARREL WITH INDIVIDUAL BUCKETS. THIS WAS A VERY REVERED PLACE.

Excerpted from my book: OUR SUMMER IN ESTONIA, Amazon.com


If you visit a Nordic country for any amount of time, the sauna will
eventually make an appearance. All decent hotels have them. Most
homes and apartments of any style, and resorts and country cottages
would not be without one. Plus, if you spend any time in Finland, you
will encounter a sauna culture that is prevalent throughout society. The
Finnish language is acknowledged to be one of the most difficult to learn,
but most of us already speak a little. Yes, “sauna” is a Finnish word, and
the Finnish people lay claim to being the guardians of a proper sauna
culture. Any argument about the origins of the sauna is not important
to the Finns. For Finns, today, the correctly constructed Finnish Sauna,
properly used and so ubiquitous in Finland, it supports their claim to be
the leading sauna nation. And why not? In a nation of slightly over five
million people the government confirms more than 1.2 million saunas in
apartments and another eight-hundred thousand in weekend cottages,
public places, and resorts. That’s about one sauna for every 2.5 Finns. It is
even reported that the Finnish embassy in Washington, D.C. claims to be
the only embassy with a sauna. I’d say that the Finns have bragging rights
when it comes to saunas.

An important point about the sauna is the rules of conduct. First of
all, let me dispel the notion some Americans and others have about the
sauna. It is not equated to the “hot-tub,” x-rated image, perpetrated by
Hollywood, which implies that the only reason for a man and a woman to
get into hot water together is to get it on, not get the dirt off. Generally,
except for families, today, the public sauna is not unisex. Nakedness is
part of the tradition, but that has nothing to do with sex.

The culture of the sauna is embedded in the Nordic psyche and
goes back to pre-history and pagan times. Saunas are a quiet place; no
boisterous, loud behavior is tolerated. The experience is almost spiritual.
In former times the doors were made low so one entered the sauna bowed
down as in a reverent position. For some the experience is likened to
being in a womb, with one emerging reenergized as though reborn. In
ancient times they were used for giving birth and as a place for the old to
die. Consider the sauna as a place of peace, a place where one can softly,
but minimally, converse, meditate, and leave the tensions of the world
outside. The sauna was a place, again in ancient times, where one would
communicate with their ancestors. They were, of course, also the place
where one bathed and removed the grime from the hard labor of working
on the landlord’s estate.