Everyone knows that Americans tend to get a little freaked out by the nudity at European beaches. This is because we don't typically run around topless back home and quite frankly neither do you, Europe so yes, it's a little surprising when we suddenly see you lounging in the sand all free. But okay, whatever. It's easy enough to get used to. Years ago, the beaches in Valencia got me over my initial discomfort.
I never did make it to any sort of beach during this trip (sigh) but I did take my friend's son to the neighborhood pool a couple of times. Now, let me just say this: a public pool right smack dab in Mitte does not seem at all synonymous to beach culture if you ask me. In fact, at first I was comforted by how normal and familiar it felt to me. Similar pool set up with requisite snack bar. Yep, seemed all pretty American-like, that is, until I looked up from spreading our blanket down on the grass and was greeted by a man's bare bum in my face.
??????
Okay, first off, being topless is one thing. Bare from the waist down is a totally different, err, ballgame.
I tried not to look surprised but I highly doubt that my face complete with bulging eyes did not reveal utter shock. Was this some sort of flirtation? My God, just buy me an ice cream bar, for God's sake! But no, this young man wasn't even looking at me. He was just simply changing out of his swimming trunks back into his shorts. But wait, weren't we in the middle of a busy poolside park? With people everywhere? And isn't this Germany? Aren't people supposed to be repressed here??
Well, actually I've learned quite a bit about the nudity here and just how free a whole lot of people tend to be with their bodies. How refreshing. And it's not just about adults on the beaches. On many occasions, I've seen groups of kids (and I'm talking 5 or 6-year-olds, not babies) from kindergartens peel off all of their clothes at the neighborhood park to play in the water. Can you imagine, dear American friend, the assumptions if one went to his/her kid's day care and found the whole class naked? Lawsuits aplenty!
And funnily enough, a few minutes after I witnessed dude drop his drawers, I noticed a crowd of kids around him. It then hit me that he was some sort of recreation leader for a group of school aged kids. This about made me howl with laughter. A teacher gets naked in front of his class?? I can just imagine the headline back home: Pervert Teacher Shows His Stuff on Class Trip: Parents say they had no clue of Mr. Schneider's Pedophiliac tendencies.
I promptly asked all of my German friends if parents here would tend to freak out about such behavior. Although they said this wasn't quite the expected behavior of your kid's teacher, they admitted that it would be nothing to get worked up about.
Amazing.
It's also kind of amazing to think that if I want to go sunbathing topless at a public beach back in Wisconsin, I could go to jail. (Because that's where we need to put our tax dollars. I shall stop before a big, huge tangent ensues...)
So soon enough, I will be back to being repressed. Oh well. I can at least put my eyeballs back into their sockets. I prefer other kinds of surprises anyway.
No comments:
Post a Comment