Call off the Search Party!

Don't worry guys, I'm still alive.  You can call off the search party--I might have a few scarring memories, but I survived my weekend in Munich at Oktoberfest.


Little did I know (though many Germans do), that the second weekend of Oktoberfest is infamously known as "Italian Weekend".  The name and notoriety of "Italian Weekend" come from the (I kid you not) thousands of Italian guys who drive their RVs over for a long-weekend and do nothing but grope/harass non-Italian girls.  They also rip off American songs and turn them into soccer/national songs which they constantly sing at the top of their lungs.  Well, the ripping off of American songs is actually, from what I've experienced, a staple of Oktoberfest not matter the nationality.  Did I mention that a German Oompah band played "Take Me Home, Country Road" and also "Hey! Baby" in the Hofbräuhaus tent?  Very strange.  Also, Italians need to learn better dental hygiene.




So for a more detailed recap, read at your own risk mom, I grabbed my train from Hannover to Munich on Friday morning (which I almost missed), and I arrived in Munich right at 1:00 pm.  I was meeting another Fulbrighter named Patrick (it made introductions throughout the weekend quite easy), and we put our bags in lockers at the train station and went straight to the Wiesn (abbreviation of die Theresienwiese which is the part of Munich that is the site of Oktoberfest). Long story short, got really drunk, fell asleep on the S-Bahn to our hotel, ended up in the Boonies, got on wrong train, got on right train, found hotel, crashed.  Then went out to find food and ended up ordering the spiciest Indian food I've ever had (I had it coming though when I enthusiastically said yes when asked if I wanted it spicy).

Day 1 American Friends

On Saturday I had serious doubts as to whether I could actually drink liters of beer all day (or even start since I felt like crap)--turns out I can.  Ended up meeting a lot of cool people including many Brits, Aussies and Swedes (avoided lots of Italians).  Managed to stay out drinking way later than I expected, but I got döner with extra feta cheese (think of a gyro but better) on the way home so definitely worth it.

Day 2 (Random) German Girls

We ended up making Sunday a half-day since we both had trains to catch, but of course we made it back to the tents for a few more beers and made a few more friends with some Americans and Aussies.  Back at the train station I decided I would cut it close to my train's departure and grab some food, and I ended up missing my train (had to wait an hour for the next one).  I guess I was once again foiled by my choosing food over other things.

Day 3 Aussie Friend

[Mom, this is where you can pretend you skipped to]  All in all it was a good time.  I think we managed to speak to as few Italians as possible, and I only remember meeting about three actual Germans at Oktoberfest.  Also, class at 8:00 am on Monday was not fun.

Hofbräuhaus Tent--and to think this is only one of many

*Edit: Feel free to leave comments, it gives me ideas of what to write and let's me know that at least someone is reading.