I just got back from München (Munich) and Oktoberfest. It was crazyyy, but so much fun! Other than that, I had a pretty uneventful week. I don't mind though because it gave me time to adjust to starting classes again and getting back in the swing of things in Vienna. I've gotten to really like all of my classes, so I'm relieved! And I don't think they'll be too much work. It is such a welcome change to get to learn about something that I always understand and have always loved. Today in my Mahler class, we were lectured about what Mahler's intentions and thoughts were when he wrote his second symphony, and then a bunch of people from my class went to a performance tonight of the symphony in this beautiful Konzerthaus. The concert actually turned out to be a youth orchestra, but they were AMAZING. Youth orchestra in Vienna is a whole different level from the United States, that's for sure!
das Kanzerthaus for the Mahler concert
Ian and I at the concert
But the highlight of my week was DEFINITELY Oktoberfest. I didn't think I would have that much fun since I don't particularly like beer, but it was amazing! On Friday night, Carrie, my friend Amanda (who is from Minnesota and has an accent even thicker than Grandma and Grandpa and Anne's!!) and I went over to Ian's apartment to put on our dirndls and braid our hair. It turned out that Ian's roommates were on the same train as we were, so we all got ready together and ate and waited for our train. We took the midnight train out of Vienna and into Munich. That in itself was an experience! None of us were sitting together and we were each in a compartment with 5 other strangers. I just went to sleep until about 5 in the morning when I couldn't sleep anymore. It actually turned out to be really fun though because 3 of the people in my compartment couldn't sleep anymore either and they turned out to be really interesting. They were 3 Colombian students studying abroad in England, so they wanted to practice their English with me. It is so fun meeting so many interesting foreign people all the time!
After the train, we got to Munich at about 6:15 in the morning. We headed straight for the festival since we didn't have any reservations or anything. It was pouring rain and freezing cold, but we didn't care because we were all dressed up and ready to be in a tent for the rest of the day! We were some of the very first people in line for the tent, so we didn't have a problem getting in, but it turns out that the first tent we were in is one of the most famous ones and one of the hardest to get into, the Hofbräuhaus. It was absolute chaos when they opened the doors of the tent and everyone tried to rush in. At one point, I'm pretty sure my feet were not on the ground and I was just being carried by the crowd! But we finally all made it inside and found each other and sat at a table.
After we sat down, the tent filled up with hundreds and hundreds of people within about 30 minutes. People were chanting and music was playing and everybody was impatiently waiting for the beer to be served starting at 9:00. (We got into the tent around 8:00.) The waitress came and we all ordered a liter of beer (the smallest amount you can get!) for a hefty 10 Euros. Finally, the first tray of beer was served and everyone went CRAZY singing all kinds of songs and chugging their first beers. Our table did not participate in the chugging, but we were all pretty excited, too. After we got our drinks, we ordered two of these HUGE pretzels that were so enormous that they fed all 9 of us! Over the course of an hour, we downed the pretzels and I even finished my liter of beer! We saw a couple of people from our program in our tent, so we said hi for a little bit and then moved onto another tent.
the Hofbräuhaus
some of us with our liters of beer!
Amanda and I in our dirndls :)
part of the giant pretzels
das Bier
We waited for about 30 minutes to get to another tent, but it had stopped raining by this point so it wasn't too big of a deal. We went to the Paulaner tent and could only get in if we ordered more beer, so we sat down and immediately paid 10 Euros. I couldn't drink that one, but it was still fun to sit at a different tent. I even saw somebody from Emory when I was waiting in line to go to the bathroom! (It took about 30 minutes in the lines for the bathrooms!) We met a couple of Austrian people at the Paulaner tent, too, so it was really fun. After the second tent, we went to a famous church right by the fair grounds, but none of knew what it was because we didn't have a tour or anything. After the church, we got some dinner and were so exhausted from being up all night that we fell asleep in the train station waiting for our train home. Finally, we got back on the train at midnight. This train was not nearly as smooth as the way to Munich. First of all, the lady across from my friend had a dog that climbed all over us, so we were constantly waking up to a wet nose and the dog jumping on our legs. Secondly, the ediquette for the midnight train is to turn the lights off and not to talk, but apparently the dog lady and the weird guy across from me were unaware of this. They jabbered on and on in a strange combination of German and English from midnight until 5:30 in the morning! But finally, we got back to Vienna around 6:00. I took the subway and made the cold, rainy walk back to my apartment (still in my dirndl!) and was home by about 7:00. I brushed my teeth (since I hadn't been able to since Friday night!), took a much-needed shower, and slept until 1:00 in the afternoon the next day!
the Paulaner tent
our Austrian friends in their lederhosen
I am totally rested now and ready for another week in Vienna! Our first week here, they gave us a presentation about culture shock and told us that we were in our "honeymoon" stage of our trip and that we would soon go through a homesick and depressed stage. But I am still waiting for the honeymoon stage to end because I still feel so lucky and so happy every day that I am here! I can't wait for Mom and Dad to come, and hopefully Sarah and/or Leah, too!! (Keep your fingers crossed!!!!) I miss you all lots and lots and wish that you could be here with me! Hope everything is going well in Amerika! As we say at Oktoberfest, "brost!" Auf Wiedersehen!!
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