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Published: September 21st 2010
horse drawn kegs
Every local brewery had one of these outside in the streetsSeptember 19th 2010
Wiesn is what people in Munich call Oktoberfest. Today was the first day I went and it was pretty exciting. It’s like a giant theme park with rides, games, food, and of course beer. There are huge tents set up for different local brewers and some big names too - Augustiner, Paulaner, Löwenbräu - just to name a few of the big local ones. They seat tons and tons of people and they serve food and beer all day.
When you’re outside in the streets it’s just like an American fair or theme park, but when you go inside the beer tents everyone is wasted. There’s usually a live band inside, people dancing on the tables, singing and yelling, and drinking and drinking and drinking. It’s a friendly environment for how many drunken people are inside. A lot of men dressed up in lederhosen and hats and a lot of women dressed in frilly, green, low-cut tops with skirts and pushup bras. I didn’t know those details about Oktoberfest so they kind of surprised me at first…
I’m looking forward to going back with a group of people and riding some rides and trying all
More Rides
and a beautiful clock tower in behind them the different brews. I got a few things to eat in the park that were really good. They have pretzels, sandwiches, popcorn, the usual park/fair stuff but much higher quality. They also had a lot of fish, making some of the streets smell like harbors. They served huge fish sandwiches, grilled fish on a stick, and other fish dishes all over the park, which was different from what I’m used to at fairs. Another popular food was different varieties of sugared nuts.
Tomorrow (Monday) is my first day of German classes. The first day we take a German proficiency test so that they place us in the right level class. Then I think we’re also taking a tour of Munich and they show us how to get around and where to get things we need. I’m glad I got here a bit early though so I don’t have to worry about being overwhelmed with a lot of information. My host family and the residence I’m moving into on October 10th are both in a really convenient location. I’m in Schwabing, which is the student district so there are a lot of restaurants, markets, shops, libraries, and cafés within a
10-minute walk. I’m taking intensive courses at the school so I think I have 5 hours of class each day, with a few breaks in between. The school also provides excursions and other day trips on the weekends. I’m hoping to visit my Aunt and Uncle in Nürnberg in a couple of weeks while they’re on a cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam.
So far it’s been pretty easy getting around Munich and finding everything I need. The public transportation makes it really easy to get around after you get the hang of how it all works.
September 20, 2010
My first class was today. We didn’t have actual classes but we took a German proficiency test and took a tour of the Altstadt. Then at 15:00 we all went to Oktoberfest as a sort of welcoming party. I really like the new students that came today. We have about 50 or 60 students in the school now. They said next we a huge new batch of students get here and we’d have over 100. So there will be lots of new people to meet. My schedule right now is day/day morning/evening classes. I have class
from 9-1:20 on Tuesday and Thursday, then an hour and a half break, then one more class. Then on Wednesday and Friday I have class from 12-1:20, then an hour and a half break, then class from 2:50-5:50. But my schedule changes every week. Next week I will probably have evening classes (12-6 ish) on Tuesday and Thursday, then morning classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. At least I think that’s how it switches. It kind of makes things more complicated but I’m sure it’ll work out fine. We got a ton of information about Munich today too like maps, a list of restaurants, and a list of sights. We also get weekly activity lists like different school parties, historic excursions, and other day trips. Like this Saturday there’s a trip to Schloss Neuschwanstein, the castle that the Disney castle is modeled after.
After the tour all the students walked around Munich and we stopped at Starbucks to introduce ourselves. We have students from Russia, Brazil, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Italy, one other guy from the US, and a few from Belgium. That’s just the new students that I met today. There are still about 50 other students in
the school that I haven’t met.
Oktoberfest was a lot more fun when I went with other people. First one of the administrators from our school took us all around Oktoberfest to show us everything, then she let us decide where to go. Everyone wanted to go to one of the beer tents so we went to the Paulaner tent. The beer here tastes so much better than the beer at home. We shared a few liters (ein Maß = a liter) and played some card drinking games. One of them was almost exactly like “bs”. The drunk people in the tents are so funny to watch. They just randomly stand up all the time and start shouting or start a chorus of their favorite song. We rode a few rides afterwards, which probably wasn’t the smartest idea after drinking so much beer, but luckily no one threw up. A lot of people are also doing the mutli lingual year like I am. The guy from the US is going to Rome next, then Nice, then Paris. I still don’t know which I want to go to. I thought Paris, but I’m not sure.
The students are really
easy to get along with. Everyone was shy at first but at Oktoberfest everyone got more comfortable. Most of the students are my age but we have two that are in their late twenties and one in late thirties.
I really like Munich so far and I’m glad I picked it first. I’m so glad that I’ll never have classes before 9am :D That makes it easy to stay up late and sleep in. I’m still not over the jetlag so I’ll be even happier when I get used to the time change. By the way I still have to get a usb wifi stick (they weren’t very attentive today at the phone store when I asked for one, but at least I got my phone fixed. And I also need to sign up at a gym asap because I’m starting to feel awfulllll.
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Teeney
non-member comment
Love seeing your blog! You are settling in quickly and I could not be happier for you. Next time MumMum and Papa are here, I'll show them! Enjoy your classes, the beer, the pushup bras! LY, Aunt Teeney