Ein AusLANDER

Around the world outside of Germany we have this view of the Germans that they are overly happy and willing to be naked, and naked a lot. Naked in situations that we reserved Brits are in general a little less used to. Now there is nothing wrong to me with being naked, it can be a fun time, a party time; fireworks between lets say two people. But for us culturally it feels like something that is a bit more private. Perhaps we have a scale where on one side believers of the Muslim faith may believe in covering up a lot, and on the other side we have the Germans who need little excuse or encouragement to take it all off.

Naturally, I feel somewhere between the middle and where the Germans are at. It would still be an amusing, slightly uncomfortable surprise to see that in many parks there are areas where people reveal all, leaving little to the imagination. I can’t imagine that I would ever want to get naked in a park.

My main concern is not being naked myself par se. It is more about saunas and what I have heard about them. In Nottingham, England I used to go to a gym for a couple of years and we had both a sauna and a steam room. They were fantastic relaxing places after my work out. Everyone would wear swimwear in the saunas, no nakedness. This was fine with me. I am told that it is very different and very naked in Germany.

Okay it will perhaps feel weird the first few times but then I’m sure that I’d adjust. My specific concern is if a female that I can’t help but naturally find sexually attractive was to walk it. I am concerned about the potential embarrassment for all parties if something stands to attention, betraying my true secret feelings towards this potential female. I would never be so crass as to go up to a complete stranger and start a conversation with “I find you highly sexually attractive” but I’m concerned that this may represent the body language equivalent.