1. Nudity: Oman, as well as other Muslim countries, is very conservative when it comes to nudity or sexuality. Sex and nude scenes are censored out of movies and TV here, the Victoria's Secret in the mall only sells makeup/perfume and pornography is completely prohibited. To the contrary, on my very first day in Copenhagen, Denmark I saw a public bus go by with a picture of a woman completely nude from the waist up. Almost everywhere we went there was a casual attitude towards sex and nudity -- from the photography exhibits in public areas to the advertisements to children's theme parks. Yeah, you heard me, children's theme parks -- the below picture was taken at the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, which is an amusement park for kids and appeared to have a fake red light district:
In the US we're pretty comfortable flaunting sexuality in advertisements and TV, but seem to draw the line at nudity. Especially out in public and especially in places where kids might see it. So I'll admit that even I was a bit shocked to see the casual nudity in Northern Europe.
2. Public Displays of Affection (PDA): PDA is really frowned upon in Oman and expats are advised not to show affection in public, even if it's as minor as holding hands in public. Since I'm single, this isn't really something I even noticed until I went to N. Europe and saw PDA everywhere. Maybe it was the nice summer weather, maybe it's the fact that we were in predominantly college towns or maybe Europeans are just more flamboyant with their affections, but I felt like everywhere we went people were making out or groping one another in public.
3. Dress: As I've mentioned before, we're expected to dress somewhat conservatively here (no shoulders, knees or cleavage showing) so as not to offend the locals (many of whom are covered from head to toe in dishdashas or abayas). Obviously there are no similar constraints in Europe, but it was freaking cold while we were there (weather was 40-60 degrees F while we were there) and often raining, so I really didn't expect to see super short mini skirts or midriff tops. And considering how many senior citizen tourists there were (not to mention the hordes of Russian tourists), it was not a pretty sight.
As compared to the US, I've always appreciated Europe's more casual attitude towards sex, drugs, homosexuals and just about everything else. The "live and let live" attitude of most of Europe really suits my own beliefs, but I gotta be honest (and maybe this just means I'm getting old) -- it's kind of nice being in Oman and not seeing people hump each other in public. And it's even better not to see fat old ladies wearing tube tops and mini skirts. So while my personal belief is that a government shouldn't tell me how to dress or who to love or what to do with my own body and while I might think it's silly to censor R-rated movies, I'm actually enjoying the more conservative life over here. Although I think I'm a lot less funny when I don't constantly have ridiculous people to make fun of.
Long story short, Northern Europe was great but I'm glad to be home (and yes, that means Oman)!
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