Today,
I’m participating in the Please Re-Introduce Yourself Blogfest. It’s a chance
to tell something about yourself that we don’t already know.
When
I was twenty-one, I decided to spend the summer with my grandparents who live
in Finland, and participate in a work exchange program through my university. I
ended up working at a recreation center for seniors in Helsinki even though I
knew very little Finnish. One of my duties was to clean the sauna at the end of
the day. This was a very hot job, as you can imagine, since the saunas had only
just been turned off for the night.
During
one shift, several gentlemen came in while I was cleaning. I was wearing my uniform
(which was already sweaty) and rubber boots. They were completely naked. I
tried to tell them in Finnish that the sauna was closed, while strategically positioning
myself so the wooden railings covered their, um, man parts. And trust me, my
red face had nothing to do with the heat in the room.
They
eventually got the idea and left. Turns out, they thought I was an Estonia
refuge because of my poor Finnish language skills. They laughed when they found
out I was really Canadian, because, naturally, they spoke perfect English. Groan.
Have
you ever had an embarrassing situation like this? *grins*
69 comments:
Ha - great story, Stina! Definitely gives you lots to draw in creating emotion for teen novels!
I'm dying laughing! What a great story! I don't think I would have handled myself so perfectly.
LOL! I think I would've been yelling CLOSED in any language I could at that point.
That is hilarious! I would have been totally mortified. OMGosh....
Ha! That's awesome! What a great story. :)
Hee hee...thanks for the chuckles :)
That's funny! Although it probably wasn't as funny at the time.
Oh my gosh, that's a wicked funny story. Certainly not something I've ever experienced! Thank goodness you never had to see those men again, eh? ;)
LOL sure can get plenty of inspiration from that story.
Uff. Nothing like that. Never been to Finland either. What a terrific opportunity.
Ha! Oh my goodness, how embarrassing!
Ha ha! That is embarrassing!
The Finnish love their saunas. It seems like a part of the daily routine for them.
Oh that was too funny! Though, I would have been both mortified and a little scared. Glad you can laugh about it now. :D
I don't have anything to compare with that story. But I did have a good laugh!. Thanks for sharing. And thanks for participating in the Re-Introduce Myself Blogfest!
Nope,I don't have any stories like that. Sigh, my life is really too boring. How wonderful that you were able to spend time in Finland though.
LOL Awkward...
Really wonderful story - and great blog. I just started following you! How fun to introduce ourselves to someone new! Check us out at http://citymusecountrymuse2012.blogspot.com/
Two naked Finnish men in a sauna?
Nope. I can't say I've ever had a moment like that.
Haha, great story and thanks for the laugh, Stina. I've never had anything quite -that- embarrassing happen to me...at least that I can remember :)
Nice to meet you!
Thanks for the laugh Stina.... This was a great story.
Oh dear, that would be so awkward! Great story though, embarrassing stories are the best kind!
Love it. And the Finish/Estonian/English language confusion? The icing ion the cake. Details that make the story :)
Oh my gosh, that is too funny! I've had plenty of embarrassing moments but none that involved nudity, thank goodness. How is your Finnish now? Very cool you're bilingual! Or do you know more than two languages? Either way, awesome!
Ha, can't say that I've been in that situation before! There have been plenty of other embarrassments in my past, though. Probably in my future, too :)
Got to watch out for those saunas ;) Glad you survived! Nice to meet you.
Bahahahahahaa! I love it! You'll have to get this into a book somewhere!
Ange
Oh my. Now THAT is hilarious.
That totally made me laugh. I've certainly had embarrassing moments, but now that had to do with nudity.
Hhaaaa! Nope. Pretty sure I can't top that story. :-)
haha...awesome story! And it's so cool that you got to go live in Finland!! Sounds like a great adventure. :)
Many of my most embarrassing moments involve living abroad. Nothing like a slight language barrier to make a strange situation excruciating!
Bahahaha, that's so hilarious! Poor Stina :(
That is too funny!
Too funny! Yikes, embarrassing moments? Yes I have them but I try not to think about them ;)
Funny story. I did accidentally go into the men's bathroom at Court and have a police officer walk in. I was helping another office and was really stressed and distracted. I know the red face feeling.
Love this story! Husband has been to Finland and loved it. He traveled through Helsinki, of course, but mostly he worked in Pori and Turku.
New follower here saying hello from the blogfest...Your experience could be the inspiration for a story, and a comedic one at that!
I too am in SCBWI and I am currently writing a YA novel, and am brainstorming a NA story, so we have stuff in common. =)
OMG! LOLOL!!! :D Stina! You have the most hilarious experiences!
I can honestly say, I've never had this experience. I did have a funny partially nude experience trying on a bathing suit once. It had one of those bandeau tops, and I didn't have it hooked properly... I turned around and said, "What do you think?" Just as the top came flying off like a rubber band and hit my poor mom in the face--!!!
LOLOL! *snort* Ahh, we still laugh about that. :D
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!! Hahhahahahhahah!
Oh wow! LOL!!!!! Seriously!??! LOL!!
What a great anecdote! Love it!! Take care
x
That must have been a super interesting exchange program, full of those kinds of experiences. Great story. :)
Love that story, and that they spoke English (and that they left). Thanks for the laugh. It's nice to meet you. I am a new subscriber. My intro is Here
Lol, no I have not had an experience like that! *shudders*
What a funny, unique story! Thanks for sharing. And thanks for stopping by my blog today. :) Good to meet you.
Too funny. I get they still laugh about it too. Nice to meet you.
lol awesome story! :-)
Hahaha! That's hilarious! What a story!
My wife was an exchange student and spent one year in Finland. I don't think she went around oogling old men though! :)
lmfao ...kiva on, stina ;)
ja, olen virulainen... :O lol
That is like one of those language commercials where they show some embarrassing situation to underscore why you need to learn a foreign language or something. Wow. Great story!
Great story, Stina! That must've been so embarrassing. Nice to meet you! *shakes hands*
Ha, no, I definitely don't have any stories like that!
erica
Oh my gosh. Too funny. Can't say that I've ever had an experience like that. :)
Oh gosh. I bet they still tell that to all their locker room buddies.
Thankfully, no situation like that unless you count the number of parked vehicles that I had to check out late at night while policing--I quickly learned to hit the vehicle with all my spotlights to give the innocent romantics a moment to dress themselves before approaching.
Ha ha. I've been in embarrassing situations, but not quite like that. :D
Lol. I don't know if I could've dealt with that. Embarrassing situations? Many! Mostly of my own doing though. Heehee.
Geez, talk about an awkward moment... but you handled it well...
Nice to meet you, Stina!
Funny story! Nice to meet you - love the blog header.
Great story! Me, I haven't really used a sauna, but I would use a towel. Glad you can look back and laugh!
Thanks for the laughs! Nice to meet/re-meet you! :)
hilarious! THanks for making me laugh. Actually snorted my tea a little bit there.
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Oh wow!! LOL. My most embarrassing situation was going through security on the way home from Ghana. The security guy didn't know what tampons were and kept flashing them around, demanding to know what they were in front of all the other passengers. Makes me smile now, but it was embarrassing then!
Oh gosh! I've never had anything QUITE like that.
I did walk around school with sponge curlers in my hair for a week straight. My hair had to be curly for the school musical and that was the only way to do it. I got some interesting looks that week.
LOL! This was priceless. Hmm, I got cussed out by a priest in French at Notre Dame - something to do with him giving me an extra wafer *shrugs*
I don't think I've ever had a moment that was as embarrassing as that. Other than the job, it must've been an amazing experience to spend some time in Finland.
That's awesome. I live in Canada and I remember visiting Montreal and attempting to speak basic French. Clearly the waitress could see I was out of my depth, because she answered me in English. At least everyone kept their clothes on!
oh my....so many language barriers, that weren't even there, but hey, it makes for a great story right?? :D
How embarrassing, I think I would have just been speechless!
New follower here.
BWAHAHAHA I love this story!
Oh my how embarrassing! And so funny that they spoke English, but you didn't know.
I think my brain automatically deletes all my embarrassing moments. I do blush really easily though at sexual jokes. It never fails, even if I've HEARD THEM before!
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