The climax of the incongruent revelation is the popular nude culture in Bavaria. The nudist bathing in the English Garden and the undisturbed stark naked gathering in Munich’s sauna landscapes. The residents of this city don’t need social media to defoliate themselves.
Munich residents are good at telling their own stories. You don’t have to be a Bavarian’s favorite person to get a taste of their private life. After just one or two meetings, quite a few tell unsolicited what diseases plague them or their family members. They reveal what led to the end of a relationship with a partner. They chat so much, right up to younger adventures in various beds.
A former colleague once told me that her mother once tried to snatch her boyfriend away from her. Another told me frankly how much he hates his father. A colleague also once said that the doctor said his sister would die when she was 35.
In moments like this I ask myself whether this openness is useful? And if so, to whom?
I come from a more open culture in Nigeria, but we believe that you have to draw lines between public and private life. Revealing a lot about one’s private life is seen as a weakness. Like helping the enemy arm their arsenal for battle. We do our dirty laundry behind closed doors.
Following these principles, I hardly ever talk about personal matters at work or at university. Perhaps the fear of being judged also plays a role here. However, I am in a group of people who talk a lot about private matters, it is completely inevitable. A fellow student at university once asked me: Olaleye, why don’t I know anything about you? What an uncomfortable situation. Did the Bavarians actually eat the anus of the chicken, as we say in Nigeria, when the mouth gushes uncontrollably?
I still find it difficult to be a talkative person if I don’t know the other person very well. But I can understand those who find it easy. In the hop state of Bavaria, many people tend to have a rush of talk, even without being bogged down with beer. Telling stressful things has to be like some kind of mental therapy for them to let go of thoughts that are limiting the mind. I like to listen and ask questions. As long as I don’t have to sit naked in a sauna.
Translation from English: Korbinian Eisenberger