Tuesday, January 6, 2015

10. Burien



What can you say about Burien?  It's a strange place that looks like it's several decades behind the rest of the planet.  Of course, it has a lot of rehab clinics for some reason.  It also has many nail salons.  In fact, too many.  Back a while ago, I went to a Russian banya (that was run by a Georgian guy) with some work friends in Burien.  It was something.  They even gave you birch branches to complete the experience.  You're supposed to use them to exorcise evil spirits or some such.  The main thing is that you're supposed to hit your fellow banya enthusiast with them.  I was tasked with hitting my friend Michelle.  She seemed to like it a bit too much.  Of course, the super-best part was getting all overheated and then jumping into the fairly normally-heated pool.  In Russia - or especially in Finland - you're supposed to jump into a hole chopped into a frozen lake or river.  This is supposed to be good for the system - unless it happens to kill you.  The Burien experience was much more agreeable than that.  I did get to see several coworkers at the time in much less clothing than usual.  It was not unpleasant.  Plus, I felt refreshed.  

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