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Cultural Differences - Nudity

Submitted by Joel on Tue, 10/16/2018 - 14:11

We've been doing housesitting now since July and we've been to Cyprus, Germany, and Wales (UK). I think the most stark cultural difference hasn't been the food, but the attitude on nudity. 

In Cyprus, we didn't have access to local television, but we did go down to the beach, and the whole time we were there, we never saw anything much different from in the United States as far as nudity. So it was a surprise going to Germany and going to the beach and seeing people (both children and adults) naked! First we noticed some children running around without any clothes on, and we thought, "Those kids are kinda old to be running around without swimsuits, aren't they?" They were all about 5 to 10 years old. But then, as we were walking down the street, there was a man sunbathing without a stitch on! There were also several times that men would change into swimwear right out in the open! 

Going on to Wales, it was already getting a bit colder, so we didn't expect to have much beach time. The one time we did go, most people were wearing full body suits to surf due to the temperature. But we still had a brush with nudity on the local television station. Late one night, we were up watching reruns of Big Bang Theory. Bethany was getting tired, so she went to bed, and I was hoping there would be one more before I went upstairs to join her. Instead I got the show, "Naked Attraction". 

The concept of the show is contestants are vying for the affections of the main person, like any other dating show. But instead of getting to know them, they were 'flipping the script' and starting with getting naked first! All the people (men in this case) were behind screens, and then the screens were raised above their waists and the female contestant had to pick which she would eliminate based on legs and package. They didn't even blur anything out! We're talking about full-frontal nudity! Right after Big Bang Theory! And the commercials weren't even risque, they were for Nabisco and even DISNEY WORLD (Paris)!

After she was down to just a few left, she, then, got completely naked so it could be even. Then she (finally) talked to the remaining contestants to pick one to go on a date. It was surreal! I had called Bethany back because I couldn't believe what I was watching! I'm still a little stunned by it, honestly. I haven't been up late watching since then, so I don't know if there's been anything else as embracing of the human body, but if I happen to catch anything, I'll let you know. And if you've been traveling and seen something that threw you off, let me know in the comments!

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