OKTOBERFEST!

Imagine a world where drinking massive amounts of beer before 10am is not only accepted, but encouraged. Imagine a place where men and women, of all ages, some in t-shirts, some in heels, some in full-out lederhosen, can come together to enjoy the same activity. Imagine the most chaotic mess of people and beer and pretzels and laughter.

Imagine Oktoberfest, in Munich, Germany. It was completely different from what I expected, probably because I didn't really know what to expect. Unlike some of the other girls, I didn't do any research on Oktoberfest, and was semi-excited to go. This whole trip I've been very go-with-the flow, which is very unlike me. It's a new experience, and I'm definitely enjoying it. Anyway, back to Oktoberfest.

Oktoberfest is a month long celebration of binge drinking and crazy-good times. We planned our trip back in April; the only trip we planned so far in advance. It was extremely expensive, for both the flight and the hostel, but completely worth it. We arrived in Munich on Friday, September 30th around 2ish, and decided to check out Dachu, the first concentration camp in Germany. When I walked through the gates, my heart stopped. Obviously I had learned about the horrors of the Holocaust and the concentration camps in school, but it was completely different seeing it in real life. I believe in the good in everyone, that if you look hard enough, you can find that one good quality in all people. Seeing Dachu and how the Jews were treated made it hard for me to believe in that philosophy. Hitler was an evil man, and the way his men treated the people forced to live in the concentration camp makes me nauseous. They were treated like animals, humiliated and tortured on a daily basis. I'm struggling to find the words to accurately express how Dachu made me feel. It was a life-changing experience, and even though the trip was planned around Oktoberfest, I'm glad we stopped at Dachu.

After Dachu, we went to the hostel to check in. We booked with a company called Hostival, a traveling hostel company that specializes in large events like Oktoberfest. Again, I hadn't researched the place, but some of the girls had, and were very hesitant to spend the night there. They told me that people suggested bringing lots of layers, because it got really cold at night. It made sense when we saw Hostival, because the rooms were literally tarps placed over a platform. There were no real walls. Half the girls stopped dead when they saw the place, and refused to even walk inside to talk to the receptionist (a teenage girl dressed in a lowcut leopard-print dress, spike heels and scrubs). Katie and I were brave, and we checked in while the rest of the group frantically tried to contact the closes Marriott. Checking in was a hassle, because there were a bunch of drunk guests lounging around on the couch, yelling and stumbling around. I was a little taken aback when I realized the drunk idiots were part of the staff, but I kept thinking "it's all part of the experience". We decided to at least LOOK at our rooms before going to a hotel, and Katie and I managed to convince the other girls to try it out for the night. A good meal of authentic German food and a large pint of beer helped encourage everyone to try to be positive about our crappy situation, and we spent a restless and freezing cold night at the hostel. We slept two to a bed, partly for warmth, and partly for protection.

I woke up at 6 relatively well rested, ready to go get our spots at the beer tent. We waited in a line for about a half hour, and then literally flowed with the crowd inside the tent. It was a huge building crammed with benches, and we managed to snag one for our little group. Then the beers starting coming. It was 9:23am. Oktoberfest had officially begun. The rest of the morning was a blur of camera flashes and soft pretzels the size of my head, singing and chanting USA chants. It was an experience I'll never forget.