Room to Talk

There was a surprise birthday party after all.

And it was good. Because while it was different and special, it was also relaxed and easy-going with not too many people, but good people. It was held at my wife's workplace, which sounds boring as hell. However, in Finland it is "common-ish" for workplaces to have a sauna area that can be booked by employees for various events, and my wife's has a far better than average space, which includes a well-equipped kitchen, lots of AV options, two saunas for men and women, and a pool - so we went from sauna to swim and back again several times.

It was the small group of friends that made it nice though, and this include children too, so there were games being played between the kids, while the adults talked all kinds of nonsense throughout the night. Catering was kept to chips and candy, with a main of pizza delivery, with drinking kept to a minimum.

Easy.

At least for me.

Despite the "easiness" of it, it still takes a lot to plan these days to really do anything for a group larger than a handful, and it is far more expensive than it used to be. I get why people aren't having many parties these days, because even something like this costs hundreds of euros just to get basics. Put a few drinks on top, and it is not so cheap. But, it is nicer in my opinion to have this kind of thing than going out to a restaurant, paying more, and having a lower quality time.

Quality of engagement.

This matters to me a lot these days, but the setting doesn't matter much at all. The environment does have an impact on engagement though, because it influences the way we interact with each other. For instance, last night we were in the sauna with the guys, and the conversation is far more open and unrestricted than it might be in a restaurant, surrounded by strangers. This was the case even though a couple of the people hadn't met each other prior. In Finland though this doesn't stop them getting naked and sweaty together.

Visitors beware.

And while there were two "foreigners" in the group including myself, we have both been here long enough to be comfortable with this kind of environment. And while Finns tend not to be that talkative with strangers, in the sauna with a beer or cider in hand, there is plenty of engagement, and the conversations can get far deeper than they would otherwise.

Anything to take the focus off the nudity perhaps.

It was just a nice evening, so I don't really have that much to say about it, other than I appreciate the effort my wife made to organise it and spend her "one booking a year" (it is very popular) on me. And also to the guests who took their Saturday evening to spend the time with us. Having the pool and sauna s available made it worthwhile for them too I think, because it was a bit of a different way to spend the evening than normal.