[sandypossum]

A friend of mine married a Swedish guy and moved to Sweden. One winter when their first kid, Jesper, was about 2 he was at a birthday party. At some point all the kids went out into the snow, and - as kids do - they started stripping off their clothes and running around naked. None of the Swedish mothers seemed concerned. She said surely the kids should come in or put their clothes on, as otherwise they'd catch a cold. They all gave her a bemused look and carefully explained to her that colds are caused by a virus and not by temperatures. She said she felt like shouting "yes, I know that, but... but...!!" but instead she just bit her lip and let it go. And Jesper didn't catch a cold.

Here in Australia it's considered healthy for your feet if you walk around barefoot, even if it's cold (toughens you up, that sort of thing). I lived in Germany for 7 years, and my flatmates would have a fit if I walked around - in our carpetted, centrally heated, third floor flat - in bare feet. They said it would kill my kidneys if I did that. Another one that upset Germans was opening a window in a moving vehicle: car, bus or train. Again, because it would kill your kidneys. It didn't matter if it was stiflingly hot inside AND outside the vehicle. "Better to suffocate than to die like THAT!" an old lady screamed at me one day. Even doctors there told me that was a fact.

Makes you wonder just how many of our ailments really are psychosomatic - I'm SURE if I jumped through a hole in the ice for a swim it would kill me!