Difference #945

In certain quiet moments, I am reminded of how much Vancouver is NOT like Japan. Take, for example, public bath houses and pools. I doubt if anyone in Japan could find a man standing naked on a change room bench, afraid to get his drying feet dirty, yet not afraid to "hang out" (at eye level) all over his fellow patrons. Nor could anyone possibly spot a similarly elusive creature in the Land of the Rising Sun: a 300+ pound elderly gentleman drying his manhood underneath the lower blow dryer I had just previously placed my son under. I can see now how the fear of public communal bathing could be burned into the subconscious of so many of my Western friends. Can't wait to take Max to his next swimming lesson (last sentence written in 42 point Sarcastica font).