The Sauna

 
 
 
 

Vocabulary

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Man in Sauna: “Every second day, I go to the sauna.”
Woman, two: “I go to the sauna once or twice a week.”
Man Outside by Forest: “I try to do sauna bathing every day.”
Man Outside in Snow: “I have four saunas. I go to the sauna three, sometimes four times a week.”

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In most parts of the world, saunas are considered a luxury. But in some parts of Lapland, a region that stretches across northern Europe, saunas are as common as street signs.

You can pretty much find a sauna anywhere, like in a small town. Or a this person’s back yard. Or in the middle of the woods. Or even near a river.

Mathias Spolander, Sauna Enthusiast: “We have a cold climate. So it’s nice to have something warm to get into and get the warmth into the bones.

The sauna culture here is really quite unique. If you build a new house, you start with a sauna — and you build the house around the saunas.”

People in Finland own more saunas per capita than anywhere else in the world. There are two million saunas here, or about one per household. Some homes have even more than that.

And in this region, people aren’t just building houses around saunas. There’s even a sauna academy and a sauna museum.

Svante Svolander, Director of Sauna Academy: “Here in our culture, the sauna is a clean room, so a good place to give birth to babies.

The first saunas that we have are from the 1200 hundred century. When you have a flu and you don’t feel so good, they always said, ‘go to the sauna.’ You can say that the sauna is the poor man’s pharmacy.

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The old sauna is where you heat the stones, and when the stones get hot, you can pour water on the stones — and then comes the nice steam.”

Mathias Spolander, Sauna Enthusiast: “For me, the sauna process is like a small ritual. It should be like an ice hockey game, at least three periods.

So you start by going into the sauna, and have some heat.

Then go outside, have some fresh air, maybe roll in the snow.

Then go into the relaxation room. You eat something and sit and talk in there.

Time for the second period: in again, eat, drink, and so on.

You should take your time in the sauna.”

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But that’s not all. In Lapland, saunas are used as a sign of hospitality. And to discuss political matters.

Sven-Erek Bucot, Former Sauna Minister: “There’s a thing called sauna diplomacy. Because we have a lot of saunas, we use saunas for speaking and discussing problems and deciding how to go forward.”

Mathias Spolander, Sauna Enthusiast: “Finland used sauna diplomacy The president saved Finland from Russia. He took off the clothes of the Russian generals and took them into the saunas.

It was two men talking to each other. There were no medals or anything. They were just sitting there talking and — that was sauna diplomacy.

The sauna is like a vent; it’s the place where you have discussions on family matters: if something’s going on, we talk about it in the saunas.

Anything goes in the sauna.”

Journalist: “If you don’t have a sauna, what should you do?”
Mathias Spolander, Sauna Enthusiast: “If I didn’t have a sauna?

That’s unthinkable.

I don’t know.

I don’t know.

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Questions

Finland, Lapland. In Lapland, people usually go to a sauna once a month. True or false?

Denmark, Norway, Sweden. Are saunas common all over the world? Are saunas very popular all over the world?

Belarus, Russia, Ukraine. In Lapland, you can find saunas only in health clubs and fitness centers. Is this right or wrong? Why are saunas so popular in Finland, especially Lapland?

Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia. In Finland, is the sauna the last part of a new house to be constructed?

England, Ireland, Scotland. Do only rich Finns have private saunas? Are saunas new in Finland or are saunas an old tradition?

Belgium, France, Switzerland. In Finland, saunas are only for relaxing. While in saunas, Finnish people only relax. Is this correct or incorrect?

Austria, Germany, Switzerland. If there are no saunas in Finland, no problem: people will just surf the internet, chat and play video games. What do you think?
 
 
 
Spain, Italy, Greece. Are there saunas in your town, city, region and country? Are saunas popular?

Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia. What do health experts say about saunas?

Turkey, Iran, Iraq. Do you and your friends have saunas? Do you and your friends want to have a sauna? Do a few, some, many or most people own saunas?

Afghanistan, Pakistan, India. Are there famous spa towns, spa resorts or spa centers? Have you been there?

China, Japan, Korea. What might happen in the future?

Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand. What could or should people and businesses do?