February 3, 2009: Becoming More European . . . Maybe?

I got off the bus after a fun day at work a stop before I usually do and walked through the shopping district on the way home. I was planning on going swimming today but did not have a suit. I stopped by a quite large sports store and asked the guy where the swim suits were. He pointed me upstairs and because the store was rather empty guided me upstairs to help me out.

I have to say that before coming to Germany I had always pictured the country as the home of the Speedo. A country where men wore tiny swimsuits instead of large because they allowed more speed and took up less space in a bag, a practical approach. When I arrived at the swimsuit rack it told the same story, three racks of Speedos and one of swimming trunks. I told the guy to give me some time to think about it and thought to myself: Speedo, or not Speedo. Speedo, I thought eventually I mean when in Rome. I got one with racing stripes to make me swim faster.

I ran to the pool got through the hi-tech automated entry machine and bravely entered a change room. Change rooms are one of those places in the world that signs are really important and not being able to read can hamper the experience. Thankfully I followed another guy in and did not have to figure it out for myself. I got Speedoed up and headed into the pool area. So it turns out that I was the only one in a Speedo . . . huh. But I rocked it anyways and made them look like fools with my blazing swimming speed, thanks to the racing stripes of course.