So after a week that seemed to last forever, I finally made the trek via EasyJet to Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest 2009. We left on Thursday evening and arrived in Munich at around 9 p.m. or so. I'd have to say, I was very, very nervous in the car ride to the Munich Marriott where we were staying because of how hard Jessica and I had been working on the hotel situation since March. I was so afraid that something would go wrong with having 21 junior Chi O's sharing only 3 rooms with 2 double beds. I was afraid that the hotel would not be up to par and that everyone would be disappointed. I was afraid that it would be ridiculously far away from Oktoberfest and that people would complain. However, none of the above came true. Upon arriving to the hotel, we found that not only was the hotel gorgeous, but the rooms were absolutely large enough for seven girls each and there was both a cocktail bar and a sports bar like restaurant in the lobby of the hotel. Can you say, perfect? So when I arrived with my travel buddies, we were greeted exuberantly by some of the girls in my pledge class and whisked off into the whirlwind that is Oktoberfest. Thursday night was really great because everyone just convened in the sports bar downstairs at the lobby, well aware of the day we had ahead of us. While it was strange to be in a foreign country surrounded by 30 to 40 of my friends, within the first ten minutes of being together, it seemed as though everyone fell into place.
Friday morning... 545 a.m. .... the wake-up call that Jess arranged for us went off. We all arose in due time from bed and somehow made it into appropriate clothing and downstairs. We quickly discovered that Oktoberfest was relatively easily accessible from our hotel via underground. So we ventured over to the nearby S-Bahn and found the right train. I didn't realize this, but the German underground system is entirely based on the honor system. So, you can hop on and off trains without purchasing a ticket. However, if you get caught, like a few of my comrades did, you will be faced with a hefty fine of 40 euros or so, which really doesn't make it worth the risk. After switching from the U6 to the U4 train at the Odeonsplatz stop, all 20 or 30 of us filtered out into the breaking day... as it was about 630 or 645 am at this point... to find that Oktoberfest was basically empty. We were all quite confused because everyone whom we had spoken to who has gone to Oktoberfest in the past has told us that you have to get there extremely early to get in line for the tents. Otherwise, you won't be able to get in one and find a seat. Yet, there we stood, dumbfounded at how quiet Theresienwiese was. Luckily, a young man in lederhosen had found us and informed us that he worked at Oktoberfest and was just arriving, so we were a little early. He advised that we walk behind the tents and up the hill to the main street in the area and find a place to grab something to eat before coming back down to form a line outside any of the tents. So that we did... our mass of people wandered the streets of Munich, finally finding a small bakery with some beverages and pastries for us to indulge in while we waited. Once we were done fueling up (and had realized that those who came to Oktoberfest in years past had come on weekends, not on Friday mornings), we made our way back down to the festival grounds and walked over to the Hofbrau Haus tent. Luckily, we managed to find some other Wake Forest people there who had basically started the line in front of the tent. So, we merged in with them, waited for the doors to open at 9 a.m. and the rest of the day is history. Now I know I don't need to go into detail about all that occurred that day. For one, the below picture is what the tent eventually looked like after the waitresses began serving at 10 a.m.
And this is what a few American college students look like when holding their first real stein of good ol' Bavarian booze.
The mugs were so big that many of us were even sore the next day, mainly because every 10 minutes or so, the people in the tent would get very loud and all the sudden would start singing "OLE! OLEOLEOLE!" like they were at a footie game, or even better, would sing "heyyyyyy heyyy baby, ooo AHH, I wanna knowwww would you be my girl?". Why these international folk knew that song, I will never know. However, it made us silly American college kids quite giddy when the hundreds, if not thousands, of people raised their oversized glasses of beer above their heads and started belting out a song in English. By the end of the day, I had managed to catch up with all of my friends who were there for the weekend, including those who weren't staying with us at the Marriott, and was able to even make a few new friends. Around 4 p.m. or so, Rock and I decided to venture outside of the tent where we finally realized how much lederhosen there really was at Oktoberfest.
It was almost embarrassing to be walking around in civilian clothing simply because you stuck out more than those wearing poofy dresses and German-style overalls. After wandering around, and after somehow being peer pressured in riding a rollercoaster, we eventually headed back to the hotel. Everyone slowly trickled back, reeking of beer, sweat and happiness, but absolutely ready for a little nap. As time passed, we got a little hungry and realized that it would probably be best to have something in our stomachs other than the oversized pretzels we indulged in about 6 hours earlier. With an impending late-night hang-over grumbling in our tummies, Sallie, Rock and I made our way to a local Italian restaurant and feasted on pasta, salad and relatively well-priced carafes of red wine. After that, we went back to the hotel where everyone had gathered in the sports bar in the lobby. While it was tempting to join the few ambitious people who wanted to venture out into the Munich night-life, Rock and I were pretty set on giving ourselves, and our livers, a rest so that we could make the most of the following day. So, we settled into our bed for three and fell asleep to Dazed and Confused on her laptop. Roomies reunited at last =)
On Saturday morning, we were less motivated to jump out of bed at the crack of dawn. However, we did eventually make it outside the hotel and found a cute place to eat near our hotel. After that, a smaller version of the Chi O crew headed to the city center to attempt to find a bike tour so we could see some of the city. After arriving there and circumnavigating the political rally that was taking place, as the German elections were on Sunday, we found a man named Lenny who gave us an offer we couldn't refuse... a 10 euro beer-bike tour. So, the lovely group of ladies you see below hopped onto to the bar on bike wheels and took a tour of the central Munich area with a few other tourists and a tour guide who was nowhere near as funny as he thought he was.
The tour turned out to be really great though because we got to see some of the important locations during World War II, like Odeonsplatz, the original Hofbrau Haus, and a park where there happens to be a nude resting field overflowing with characters by the names of Tripod and Robocock. Thanks for the image, Lenny. We also were able to consume a little more Bavarian beer on the beer bike, which was nice since indulging in the theme of the weekend... booze... was our number one priority. Sorry mom and dad. After the beer bike tour, we all took the S-Bahn back to Oktoberfest and wandered around the rest of the day. It was really overwhelming to be wandering the festival grounds on a weekend afternoon because the crowds were very large, very drunk and very German.
Yet, I was able to try some German sausage and find the cotton candy I had been craving, which ended up being the biggest cotton candy I have ever seen... and I've seen a lot of cotton candy in my day (or is it candy cotton, mom?).
As the afternoon began to die, we headed back to the hotel once again to recuperate from the day's exploits. The rest of the evening was spent in the lobby of our hotel snacking on appetizers and sipping on the cheap red wine that we had found at a nearby grocery store. While it would have been fun to go out and explore Munich at night, we were all so exhausted and knew that what we wanted the most was to relax and just be in each other's presence for the last few hours of our time in Germany.
On Sunday morning, we made our way to the Munich Airport and boarded our plane back to London. As I stood on the transport bus that took us from our terminal to the EasyJet plane on the tarmac, I couldn't help but smile and get a little teary eyed. I know, I know... me, crying, so surprising. Yet, there were so many truly beautiful things about my weekend in Munich that far surpassed the act of drinking liters of beer and singing at the top of our lungs in importance. First of all, I was so absolutely proud to be a part of my pledge class. Almost all of the girls in my pledge class who are studying in Europe this semester had come together to spend a weekend in Munich. Of course it was not just girls from my pledge class that were there, as there were at least 50 or 60 Wake Forest girls and guys that gathered at the Munich Marriott for the weekend after following Jess' and my lead on where we had decided to stay. However, the fact that twenty-one girls were able to step out of their typical friendship boundaries and make their way from Copenhagen, Dublin, London, Barcelona, Madrid, Florence, Rome and Prague to be together and enjoy each other just really made me proud. I'm trying to avoid being sappy here, but that to me is what Chi Omega is really about. At the end of the day, we don't have to be each other's absolute best friends, we don't have to know everything about each other, and we don't have to spend all of our time together. Yet, we do still care about each other a lot and are never afraid to show how much we appreciate the diversity and enthusiasm that each and every other girl in our pledge class brings to our sorority. The other part of the trip that I could not help but fixate on was the fact that I was able to travel for a relatively moderate price to a foreign country and go to THE Oktoberfest with a large crop of my fellow Demon Deacons. I could not help but think of my token phrase of the semester "This is what study abroad is all about." From shouting PROST!!!! (cheers in German) at the top of my lungs, to navigating the S-Bahn without knowing a word of German, to snuggling up next to my best friend in a bed far from Babcock and Crown Oaks, to sharing a long table at the Hofbrau Haus tent with 20 of my Chi O sisters, to surviving on pretzels, sausages, and beer for a weekend, and finally to visiting a foreign city that I never thought I would see in person... all of these things and so many other aspects of my weekend is... say it with me... what studying abroad is all about. I am so unbelievably happy that everything worked out with our plans for Oktoberfest. I'd have to say that if I ever need something to motivate me to plan yet another gathering for my pledge class, I will always look back on my time in Munich. And also, I'll never forget how quickly your perspective on life can change. After being in Europe/the UK for a little over a month now, I cannot believe how much my general mindset has changed. It is going to be so exciting to live out these next few months and see the person that I have finally become when I jet back over the pond on December 12.
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