Holiday cultures

Have you ever come across the British zoologist Desmond Morris? As children, we were fascinated by his TV series called Zoo Time. Among other things, the programme showed how apes could ingeniously get grapes out of highly complex machines.

Later, he turned his attention to the behaviour of human beings and produced bestsellers like The Naked Ape and Manwatching, which was later renamed Peoplewatching. Once, he appeared in advertisements for airports. In the ads, he explained that he never got bored while waiting at airports — because he could always watch people’s body language.

I feel the same about holidays.

For many years, I have enjoyed courses in Chinese movement therapy, Qi Gong, run by a German teacher on the Greek island of Corfu. Not only is the course multicultural, but so too is the world outside the German-run seminar centre. The British are offered "full English breakfast" and sport TV at the bar; the Splish Splash supermarket is well-stocked with English delicacies like Branston’s pickle and Cadbury’s chocolate. The Germans seem to prefer to buy esoteric clothes at Mona’s boutique and drink café latte with their muesli and fresh orange juice. Even the beach is divided into sectors. The wilder part is inhabited by German nudists and the British sector by those who prefer swimsuits and sun loungers close to the bars.

In the last few years, there have been more and more visitors from central and eastern Europe, which has confused this clear division of territory and led some local restaurant owners to provide menus in Czech and to offer Czech beer. Traces of Greek culture are rather hard to find.

This kind of holiday provides plenty of opportunity for intercultural people-watching. Have a good holiday!