Rules?

If you go to sauna in Germany, you tend to follow a lot of rules. (Germans have rules and regulations for everything.)
So, in Germany you can stay in the sauna room for 15 minutes (when it's 90 degrees Celsius hot). After that you have to take a break, preferably for about half an hour. Then you can go in for another 15 minutes. After that you should have a break of about an hour. Lots of people actually take a nap. You may go in for another 15 minutes then. However, you should never go more than 4 times even with long breaks. It's supposedly is bad for your health if you break the rules.
Well, tell that a Finnish person and he or she will think you are crazy! Finns go into the sauna for as long as they want. They'll stay in for up to 30 minutes in one go, have a 5 minute break and go back in. The guys even stay longer and repeat it much more often. And the Finns are still alive and are probably healthier than the Germans who go to sauna.
And this is definitely a stereotype about Finns that is true: They go to sauna a lot!!! Whenever they are with their extended families or with their friends, they go to sauna with a beer in their hand; it is a part of their parties. When we are home, we don't go every day, but at least twice a week. And kids start going when they are only half a year old.
Sari told me a very funny story about her friend in Great Britain. She and her husband tried to have a child, but she couldn't get pregnant. And when her husband went to a doctor, he said that he couldn't reproduce because he goes to sauna regularly. Well, now I seriously wonder how Finns are able to reproduce!? Do they have especially robust semen that doesn't get cooked? *lol*