COACHING OUT OF BOUNDS: A True Slice of Finnish Life

This past Saturday the kids, Estalita and myself had the privilege of spending the whole day at a Finnish summer cottage. We were invited by one of our management members Timo along with his family. The Finnish summer cottage is representative of the best time of year in Finland, which most Finns consider the summer season. Thousands of off the beaten path roads lead to yet more thousands of cottages. A good mokki (summer cottage) is generally a bit rustic, yet equipped with modern amenities. Most of them have electricity for appliances, but part of the attraction of these dwellings is their relative simplicity and their serene setting. Most cottages are located in a forest or near one of the more than 188,000 lakes that are a part of the Finnish landscape. The cottages are often shared by a family or passed down from generation to generation. While at the cottage, the focus is on relaxing and spending quality time with family and friends in a peaceful setting away from the everyday stressors of modern life. Finns talk about the summer cottage experience with a gleam in their eye and now I can understand why. It is a chance to enjoy some warm weather and take advantage of the near endless sun that envelopes this part of the world during the summer months. Here are some of the things that you will find at many typical summer cottages. First and foremost is the sauna. A Finn without a Sauna is like a pizza without cheese. The sauna is a great place to sweat away your troubles. The experience is kicked up a notch when you can run back and forth between the heated sauna and the cool waters of the lake. Rowboats are also very common for getting around from lake to lake or used for fishing. Swimming, fishing from the dock, and picking berries are some of the other activities that Finns are fond of while relaxing at their cottage. Soaking up some sun while reading a good book or eating a leisurely meal with family and friends are some other great alternatives. Well, I hope I have given you a decent picture of what this experience is all about. It is certainly one of the best times we have had during our time here this summer. Timo and Mari really made us feel welcome. Our kids spent all day fishing, swimming, picking berries, going back and forth from sauna to the lake, and many other things too numerous to list. We enjoyed some great food there too including some homemade Finnish pastries that Mari had prepared. Timo smoked some salmon for us that his father had caught from the lake and he also made us some Finnish pancakes over the camp fire we enjoyed that evening. Here are some of the pics from this unique day.