After forcing myself to get up this morning in order combat jet lag, I started to unpack the one piece of luggage that arrived. I set up my sewing machine and rearranged the studio. There is plenty of space for my needs. I went into town with Peter Båsk to check at the airport for my missing bag, buy a battery for new inflatable suits, purchase a change of clothes and to receive my stipend. I had lunch with peter and his son at the Swedish University in Vaasa.
Later in the evening I received an invitation from Peter to a traditional smoke sauna. He said that electric saunas were not real. I accepted the invitation and met him and some of the residents at Stundars at 7:00. A Finnish smoke sauna takes about six hours to heat up a cubic meter of stone. There is no smoke stack so the smoke need time to escape through a small port in the back of the sauna before it can be used. Due to the smoke everything inside is covered in soot. It is a tradition in Finland to use a bundle of birch branches to lash oneself while in the sauna. The smell and the sensation of the leaves enhance the sauna experience as well as help to further open the pores of your skin. Bathers tend to enter and exit multiple times. Having enough time to relax is important. A bit of beer in between baths helps.
I enjoyed the sauna very much. After coming home I needed to take another shower to take away the smell of smoke and ash. The sauna house is more than one hundred and fifty years old. It was built by hand and moved to the Stundars grounds.
