Oktoberfest and More!

I’ve almost hit the 2 month mark for my time here in Vienna, and I can’t believe how fast everything has gone by. Classes seem to make the days go by faster, but the chilly weather makes all of my walks to and from the institute go by so much slower. Luckily, Mom gave me the go-ahead to stock up on some sweaters from H&M so I’m winter-weather ready! All I need now is a cute hat. Though the weather is chilly, we finally got 3-4 days of pure sunlight this week. It was wonderful; I had almost forgotten what the sun looked like!

Two weekends ago, I went with 10 other girls from my program to Oktoberfest in Munich. It was an incredibly experience, but not one I care to repeat. We took the 11:56pm train from Vienna and arrived in Munich at about 6am, just in time to watch the sun rise over the city as we walked to the fair grounds. We had heard from previous Oktoberfest-goers that we needed to get in line for a tent early so that we could get a table, since you only get served in the tents if you’re sitting at a table. We chose Hippodrom; it was colorful and we really weren’t that discriminating at 7am in the morning…We were close to the front of the line, and then they told us that the line started at the side door. We made a mad dash for the side door, during which we learned that the tent wouldn’t even be opening until 10am. Great. So we stood in line for another 20 minutes or so, and then they decided that no, the entrance wasn’t on the side, it was in the  back. So we sprinted to the back, because we were determined to keep our places towards the front of the line. The back was less of a line and more of a mob. We were towards the front, but everyone else wanted to be towards the front as well, so I slowly became smothered by crowds of drunken idiots wearing lederhosen and singing Journey. Because everyone in Europe knows “Don’t Stop Believing.” After two and a half hours, I had given up trying to move my limbs and was slumped against a strange man in front of me. When they FINALLY opened the doors, the crowd moved as one towards the entrance, and I nearly died. My purse got stuck between two people and my body got stuck between two other people about 7 feet away, so death by asphyxiation was definitely an option. Fortunately, we made it into the tent and started running around like crazy people looking for a table. One of my friends zeroed in on an Italian couple that had claimed an entire table for themselves and called over a security guard to point out that they weren’t drinking and, if given the chance, we certainly would be. So, the Italians got kicked out and we got an entire table! The rest of the day was a blur of pretzels, beer steins, wandering around Munich, and then waiting for the midnight train back to Vienna. I slept the next day until 3pm.

This weekend, though not as exciting as Oktoberfest, was still a lot of fun. On Thursday, my friends and I went to a club called Prater Dome that’s in the middle of the amusement park. It’s a little bit creepy at night. The club was really cool, but the drinks were priced at 18.50 Euros. I couldn’t believe it. I’d never seen a drink that expensive! The club played the typical American music we’ve gotten used to hearing: the YMCA, the Macarena…etc. Saturday was a friend’s birthday, so we went to a couple places to celebrate. The night ended at 2:30am on the subway, where I fell asleep against the window.

I know the next week is going to fly by, because on Friday I’m leaving for Paris! And then on the following Monday, my parents arrive! I can’t wait for them to take me out for some delicious dinners, I’m a little wary when it comes to cooking at the moment. I almost caused a kitchen fire today when I boiled pasta. I had the stove on too hot of a setting, and all the water boiled over and the pasta burnt the entire bottom of the pot. The whole incident is pretty typical if you know my kitchen track-record (setting a cutting board on fire, blowing up sugar in the microwave…). Well, once again I’m off to do German homework. We just learned the past-tense, so now I can say even more to cab drivers, who seem to be the only people willing to put up with my intolerable German. Probably because they’re being paid…

Auf Wiedersehen!