There is a great scene from the original Meet The Parents movie that comes to mind. Ben Stiller's character, Gaylord Focker, is at his fiancé's house prepping for a game of volleyball in the swimming pool. He doesn't have any swim trunks and is offered a pair to borrow... which turns out to be a Speedo style. He sits in the washroom for several minutes before summoning the courage to put them on to show he is a "team player".
Why is this relevant?
So while gathering information about our trip to Europe, Siew found out that the only acceptable bathing suit for men is indeed a Speedo style swim suit. Not normal shorts/trunks that everyone in North America wears. I thought this was her idea of a cruel joke, but it appears to be legit. Before you shake your head, there is logic behind this that does make sense. It comes down to hygiene. They want to prevent people from wearing regular shorts that have been worn outside gathering dirt and instead wear something that is dedicated to swimming. Moreover, a swim cap is also required for everyone to reduce the amount of hair in pools. Apparently they've never heard of chlorine, but that is another story.
I'm not that anxious about it as Speedo's are nothing new to me since I was in a swim club for 6 years. Things have changed a lot though, not only in technology but thank goodness in style. Gone are the days where the only style available resembled an eye-patch. They look like bike shorts - which is something I can definitely live with.
