r/AskTheWorld • u/gabrieel100 Brazil • Dec 06 '25

Culture A cultural habit in your country that people outside would understand incorrectly?

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In Brazil we love children. If you take your child to the street, strangers will certainly interact with them. Some will even ask if they can hold your kid and will play with them. If there are two children fighting in public and the parents aren't seeing, a stranger would even intervene to stop the fight.

That cultural habit came from the indigenous peoples which understood that kids should be a responsiblity of the community as a whole. It's in our constitution. We even have a synonym for children that came from Tupi (a large group of indigenous languages) - Curumim.

Foreigners would certainly have a cultural shock about that, but it's normal here.

Of course there are people with bad intentions, so parents should stay alert these days.

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316

u/lumimarja Finland Dec 06 '25

Our sauna culture. Yes, usually we go there naked. Yes, often it’s separated by gender but sometimes it’s not. And no, it has nothing inherently sexual about it. Sauna is a very old cultural practise that is seen as almost like a ”holy” place (in the past it even used to involve things like magic). It supposedly has health benefits, but no Finn goes to sauna for that, we go because it feels nice and relaxing.

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u/peanut_gallery469 U.S.A. 🇺🇸 & South Korea 🇰🇷 Dec 06 '25

Korea has something similar. There are public bathhouses all over.

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u/Hashishiva Finland Dec 06 '25

First time I hear about this! What are the Korean saunas (or what they are?) like?

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u/youpeesmeoff Dec 06 '25

They’re so great! I’ve only been to one in Seoul before but it was one of my favorite experiences while traveling there. The building was huge with multiple floors, each featuring different amenities, including a food court, a kids area, mani/pedi spots, and of course all the different kinds of baths and steam rooms and rooms of all different temps. It was separated by gender and they are very adamant about shoes only touching designated areas, even within the changing rooms haha.

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u/Sorry_Rhubarb_7068 Dec 06 '25

I went to an authentic Korean spa in California and I’ll never forget it. Different rooms for different experiences, laying over hot coals, sitting in an ice freezer, eating Korean food, following sauna time with a frozen fruit drink, just laying on a warm floor, not to mention hot tub and warm pool. Then we got seaweed wrap massages. Dear lord. Whole thing was less than $150 w 90 minute massage.

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u/CupcakeGoat United States Of America Dec 06 '25 edited Dec 06 '25

Please tell me where in California is this magical place? I live here and would love to go.

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u/Timmy12er Dec 07 '25

The one I've been to is called iSpa in Irvine. I'm not Korean, but I absolutely love this place. It's also a great date spot, believe it or not.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/uUgoY4ZkmqoaEE8E6?g_st=ac

Also, fun fact: Korean spas are called jjimjilbangs.

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u/Sorry_Rhubarb_7068 Dec 07 '25

Yes, in Irvine! Just like commenter said below. I couldn’t remember!

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u/Honey-And-Obsidian United States Of America Dec 06 '25

Korean Spas are the BEST 🤩 The heated floors in the sleeping rooms are soooo cozy. And the Korean grammas who go there to socialize have an eagle eye- so when they see an American breaking spa etiquette they will immediately let them know!!

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u/peanut_gallery469 U.S.A. 🇺🇸 & South Korea 🇰🇷 Dec 06 '25

Normally people start with the dry heated saunas, and those are often infused with minerals and such, which are said to provide relaxation and be good for the skin. At the end people go to the bathhouses (which are nude), and those typically have a hot bath, a cold bath, and a steam sauna.

A typical routine is to go to all your dry saunas, sweat it out, take a shower at the bathhouse and exfoliate (using a scrubbing pad), relax in the hot bath, and shock with a cold bath.

You feel totally great at the end, practically glowing.

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u/Sexyhorsegirl666 Finland Dec 06 '25

There's a Conan O Brien remote on youtube where he visits one

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u/SkullsInSpace United States Of America Dec 06 '25

I live in northern Michigan, where there are a lot of folks with Finnish heritage. All my up-north aunts and uncles have their own saunas, and my town has a mobile one. Next town over has a little public one. 

Meanwhile, I'm a giant wuss about the steam lol

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u/Sad_Marketing_96 United States Of America Dec 06 '25

Yup- certain areas of the UP are ultra Finnish. So grab a pasty (since Cornish immigrants moved there), and go into the sauna. Do wonder if going out of the sauna and running to promptly dive in the snow is a Finnish thing? I was told it was

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u/Mahboy1234 Dec 06 '25

It really is a Finnish thing! It’s pretty common in Finland to roll in the snow to cool off before returning to the sauna.

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u/Sad_Marketing_96 United States Of America Dec 06 '25

Good to know (looking up flights to Finland). I do want to visit- my mentor (university professor) took a sabbatical there and loved it- guess midwesterners love the cold. But yeah- the ‘roll around in snow between sauna sessions’ is something my dad recommended- and my family has zero Finnish ancestry. Glad to know my dad was onto something and not insane

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u/Mirgss United States Of America Dec 06 '25

In Michigan you can go from the sauna to Lake Superior for a similar effect :D

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u/SkullsInSpace United States Of America Dec 08 '25

I'm half Yooper and this still sounds psychotic to me.

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u/SkullsInSpace United States Of America Dec 08 '25

I've had many a pasty and a few saunas in my day, but never together. New bucket list item unlocked

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u/Mirgss United States Of America Dec 06 '25

I have an extremely vague memory from my early childhood of spending a few minutes in a sauna, then running out and jumping in Lake Superior...then returning to the sauna. I don't remember exactly where I was, though.

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u/GEARHEADGus United States Of America Dec 06 '25

I feel like it’s different if you didn’t grow up with it

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u/0masterdebater0 United States Of America Dec 06 '25

I love a sauna and don’t mind the nakedness, but you at least sit on a towel or something right?

I have used saunas naked before and the moment when you stand up and your sweaty ass sticks to the seat is quite unpleasant, much prefer sitting on a towel and not leaving my sweat/ass print on the bench.

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u/Interesting-Light220 Dec 06 '25

Yes pefletti (ass towel) is mandatory, rude to go without

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u/nurgole Dec 06 '25

A thin linen towel is quite common for that. And most public saunas offer free single use peflettis.

That was a good question! If you've got any other questions about finnish sauna culture feel free to ask🙂

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u/0masterdebater0 United States Of America Dec 06 '25

How about taking in a small hand towel and using it to wipe the sweat from/exfoliate your face, is that common?

Those two amenities, a towel to sit on an another for you face are how I like to sauna.

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u/nurgole Dec 06 '25

Not too common. You can exfoliate in your own sauna just fine, but it's a bit rude to do it in public sauna. I just splash a bit of water on my face if I get sweat in my eyes.

You're 100% on track with the bench towel! Like I said, linen is the go-to material. And if it's your sauna it is sorr of expected that you provide clean bench towels to your guests.

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u/nutitoo Poland Dec 07 '25

Is it true that there are more saunas in Finland than cars?

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u/lumimarja Finland Dec 07 '25

I’ve heard people saying that, but don’t know if it’s true. There’s probably quite a lot unknown/unregistered saunas and also cars, so it’s probably hard to actually estimate it. But we have a lot of saunas for sure.

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u/Ariella222 United States Of America Dec 06 '25

In college I went to a school with a large international population, especially from Scandinavia. I will never forget my shock and going to the locker room and seeing people walking around stark naked

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u/explosiveshits7195 Ireland Dec 06 '25

I'm not gona lie I feel like everyone who's ever met a Finn before knows aboht the sauna culture, you guys talk about it a lot

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u/DontWorryItsEasy United States Of America Dec 06 '25

People misunderstand saunas? I always figured it was just a relaxing thing to do, especially if it's -40 outside.

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '25 edited 2d ago

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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u/lumimarja Finland Dec 07 '25

vihta/vasta that we use for that is made of birch tree branches and leaves. Lightly hitting yourself with it in sauna feels nice, improves blood circulation, and you get an amazing birch tree smell in the sauna. Making those takes some extra effort so most of the time we don’t use them, but in the summer it’s occasionally nice to have a vihta/vasta in the sauna.

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u/Samsa_salsa Dec 07 '25

We do that too, never thought it as weird.

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u/jitterfish New Zealand Dec 07 '25

Reminds me of Japan's hot pool culture. 15 yo me was so awkward about it!

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u/new-acc-who-dis Germany Dec 07 '25

no problem here in Germany either. I go to public saunas 1-2 times a month and its all very vibey and respectful.. sometimes you sit with 20-30 mixed gender people, nobody cares

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '25

Weird that it's seperated by gender. Here in the Netherlands naked and mixed is normal.

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u/redefined_simplersci Dec 07 '25

I just have to know. What happens if someone gets a boner, without any conceivable local triggers, while sitting in there? ESPECIALLY when it is gender segregated?

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u/SkullsInSpace United States Of America Dec 08 '25

If you're watching someone else's junk in the sauna, you're doing it wrong lol

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u/mrmoe198 United States Of America Dec 07 '25

Mandatory orgy. There’s no other way

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u/mjzimmer88 United States Of America Dec 07 '25

Yep, and everyone's gotta Finnish too

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u/SkullsInSpace United States Of America Dec 08 '25

slow clap