On Tuesday, the Finnish men's national basketball team takes on Spain in the quarterfinals of EuroBasket— one of the most important games in the "Wolf Pack's" history.
An old adage about Finnish culture is that the only place a Finnish person will freely speak to you is in a sauna. However, a Tampere sauna is leaning into the stereotype of the reticent Finn by not allowing any conversation whatsoever.
Finland's oldest city newspaper, the freely distributed Tamperelainen (siirryt toiseen palveluun) , carried a piece on Rauhaniemi hosting a so-called silent sauna, one in which speaking to other sauna-goers is highly frowned upon.
The sauna building itself is a Mongolian-style circular pastoral yurt, heated by two wood-burning stoves and is a joint initiative by promotional outfit Sauna Konkeli and the local Rauhaniemi Folk Spa.
"We want to create a peaceful space to enjoy a relaxing steam. In the yurt sauna, we encourage bathers not to engage in conversation and to contribute to the peace of the sauna. In this sauna you can relax and immerse yourself in the steam," said Juha Kumara from Sauna Konkeli.
The yurt sauna will be heated up for the first time this Friday and continue everyday for the next month from 4pm to 9pm.
As the facilities at the Rauhaniemi Folk Spa are right on the shore of Lake Näsijärvi, it will naturally be possible to take a dip in the waters between sauna sessions, however, it is unclear whether or not speaking will be allowed while swimming.
Helsingin Sanomat (siirryt toiseen palveluun) interviewed Helsinki's Deputy Mayor for Education Nazima Razymar (SDP), who spoke freely on the issues facing certain classrooms in Helsinki.
"I hate to say this, but we have children who have held more knives than pens. Some of these children are also a distraction for the rest of the group if they cannot be given adequate support in the classroom," Razymar told HS.
HS wrote that the elephant in Razymar's office this past year has been school policies of inclusion. These school policies, in principle, are designed to offer all students equal access to education, however, it has resulted in unintended consequences, according to Razymar.
Whereas in the past, students who required more support would have studied in separate classes or schools, but as a result of inclusion policies, these methods have been eliminated.
Over the past year, Razmyar has constructed a picture of chaotic classrooms where teachers find it, at worst, impossible to do their jobs.
Razymar stated that the main areas of concern in the city are those marked by low income, low employment rate and low education levels, but she refrained from naming specific neighbourhoods.
In Razymar's opinion, there is too little public discussion on segregation affecting these areas of Helsinki, due to a fear of populism.
"Sure, we could use more resources from the state, but reversing segregation is the responsibility of the city," she told HS.
While Razymar did not offer any solutions to the current situation, she said that this was a necessary discussion to have, otherwise the quality of education will decline and teachers will leave the field.
The Finnish national men's basketball team takes on Spain in the quarterfinals of EuroBasket on Tuesday. This marks the first time Finland has made the quarterfinals since 1967, when EuroBasket was hosted in Finland.
Coming off a 94-86 victory against Croatia, the Finnish team, nicknamed The Wolf Pack, was led by National Basketball Association (NBA) player Lauri Markkanen'scareer-high of 43 points.
Ilta-Sanomat (siirryt toiseen palveluun) , citing Spanish paper Marca (siirryt toiseen palveluun) , wrote that Markkanen, who was recently traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Utah Jazz in the NBA, caught the attention of the Spanish team's coach Sergio Scariolo.
"Preparing for this match has been particularly difficult. The opponent is a team that plays an atypical but very effective game. Excellent shooters and a world-class star [Markkanen]. He must be defended very wisely and precisely so that gaps do not appear elsewhere." Scariolo said.
The Spanish team is a juggernaut in international basketball having won three gold medals in the tournament since 2009. The last time the Spanish team walked away from the tournament without a medal was 2005.
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Sources: Yle News, Tamperelainen, Helsingin Sanomat, Ilta-Sanomat, Marca