5/6/2019
Morsy, Polish idiotsAt the request of a certain someone who has some influence over this blog I am finally addressing a topic that I have been putting off. This topic is the Polski Morsy. Unfortunately we don't have such a nice term in English so the best equivalent I can think of is cold weather or cold water swimmers. Who are these people? These are people that go swimming in cold weather and cold water. For example, it may be the dead of winter and very cold, but these people go to the Baltic or to lakes and go swimming. The idea is that it helps with blood circulation and to improve cardiovascular circulation and regulation. I am not a scientist, nor a doctor, so I don't know about the possible health benefits of swimming in very cold water. However, I must admit that my first reaction to hearing of this practice was the thought that these people are fairly stupid. However, as I thought more and more on this topic of Morsy, or cold water swimmers, I realized that I have seen a practice like this before. The area I am from in America is in the north. It is cold, snowy, and we have harsh winters. We also have a huge population of Finnish people and those with Finnish descent. This means that winter hobbies and activities are very popular. Now, the Finns are known for the sauna, and we have many of these. Some people have them in their homes, some have them on their property, and there are even some small models that look like big wine barrels with small chimneys on top of them. Saunas are everywhere in my home region and staying in a nice warm sauna on a cold winter's day is quite relaxing. However, to make this hobby more extreme some people also take up the practice of 'Polar bearing'. This is a slang term for going from a nice hot sauna into a cold body of water very quickly. The idea is this: You get very hot and sweaty in the sauna, then you run from the sauna to a lake or body of water, if you live on or near this water. Here, you have a hole in the ice on top of the water, or if there is no ice then you go go right in. So, you jump into the water, and it is very cold. You then scramble out of the water like a fool and run back to the warm sauna. This whole experience is cold 'Polar bearing' and it is usually better if you have some alcohol as well. As much as I make fun of or mock the Morsy or cold water swimmers, I suppose there are some similarities between my region in American and the Polish region near the Baltic. Maybe cold water swimming is healthy, maybe it is unhealthy. I don't quite know. However, it is pretty nice that even though there are many kilometers between these two places mentioned above, they can still have some things in common. |
AuthorBorn and raised in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan David was raised by his parents with his two sisters and brother. Archives
June 2019
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