Satu's Birthday

30 years ago I went to Finland as a child lone traveller aged 11 to visit my pen friend Satu. The whole experience was exciting and scary! It was so different to life as I was used to. Satu (also 11) was the only member of the family to speak English and I of course spoke no Finnish. There was no bathroom in the house and the family used the sauna together. I had never even heard of a sauna!! Rugs were washed down the local lake with all the communities women. Their dog slept outside in a kennel and we had the freedom of a beautiful land. Forests and lakes and elks and reindeers. A magical mystical holiday.