welcome to Bavaria

These past 5 days really can't very well be put into words, but I'll do my best. What a trip.
I just locked myself in Maryia's kitchen for 6 hours to study for my final exam in Konversation tomorrow. I also wrote an essay and drank about 20 cups of coffee, so I doubt I will be getting any sleep tonight...or for the next 4 days. I apologize in advance for the abundance of typos that are about to assault you. And for the ridiculous events of my life.
Today was Tag der deutschen Einheit (Day of German Unity) so we didn't have class and nothing was open. The weather was also absolutely amazing and horrible. Incredibly windy and rainy. Mid-study session Julia decided to go for a run but I opted out, given that a person would have to have been insane to do so. Anyway, onto the main event. Get ready. This will be fast because I don't want to hog the whole Internet.
BECCA AND JULIA'S WEEKEND OF CRAZY
TAG EINS (Day 1)
This all began after class on Friday, or probably even 15 minutes before class ended, when I put my backpack on and started giving my teacher a death glare. Julia and I shot out of the International House, figured out the ticket machine at the train station, and were on board an ICE going northeast at 150 kph. The ICE trains are the "sexy, fast ones", according to Julia. We couldn't find a seat, so instead we hung out on the floor by the 1st class bathroom, which really wasn't so bad. We had to switch trains twice and found seats on the other ones, even though during our last leg (from Stuttgart to Ulm) we had to sit in 2nd class smoking. I'm going to start wearing a gas mask around, because I absolutely cannot stand how much smoke there is in this continent. The problem is, I'm a minority here. Bah. Some girl by us smoked two in a row and Julia and I were glaring at her the entire time.
We somehow made it to Ulm where Tom met us. Such a cutie, with wonderful English and even wearing a Michigan tee! We climbed into his Volkswagen Lupo (officially the smallest car I've ever been in) and were off to Laupheim, which is a small little place near Ulm.
He showed us his house, which was big and very German. After showing us to our room, he offered us mineral water and homemade cake. It was so nice to be in an actual home with a couch and a dishwasher...It's amazing the things I miss.
Quickly Tom whisked us off to Schluessel, which literally means 'key', where we met up with a group of his friends having a little going-away shindig for a French friend of theres. Christoph, the French guy, is leaving for a trip around the world in November (he was leaving Laupheim the next day, however) and will be doing it all on his bike. Something like 17 thousand Kilometers...wow.
Anyway, at first I was incredibly intimidated by this group, but they quickly warmed up to us, asked me ton of questions, and began offering us shots of something called "sambuko". This was a clear liquid served with 3 coffee beans and first had to be lit on fire. It was awful. You think the fact that it's flammable would have alerted me to this fact. But they told me it was a specialty around the region, so I figured I'd give it a go.
After Schluessel we went to some other place where I sat down and had a heated conversation with Christoph over some Cape Town wine. I asked him if he'd ever been to America and he quickly said "No and I have no interest to do so." Now, contrary to many things I write in here, I do love my country and in many ways I'm proud of it. So this statement immediately took me aback, but I proceeded with caution and I think I handled it well. I talked with him about what I personally didn't like about America and we agreed that the ignorance is probably the worst. But I assured him that it's a worthy place to visit and I gave him some cool cities he should visit, like Boston, Chicago, or San Fransisco. Who knows if I made any sort of impression but I hope he changes his mind. After this conversation we took out a present he had just gotten, called an OhneWoerterbuch (dictionary without words). This was a cool little book that only had pictures of things that would be useful for a traveler, so that in a foreign land, one could just walk up to someone and point at the book if they needed anything. Christoph started pointing at things and making me say them in French. I got yelled at, loudly and in French, for mixing up jambon and poisson, but at the end of the night he gave me his business card and told me to definitely e-mail him if I plan on being in Paris in the next two months. He promised to show me the best places, and not the ones filled with tourists.
I just love collecting European connections.
That night I curled up in a real German feather bed.
TAG ZWEI
I got to sleep in (which I personally think is one of the best things in life) and awoke to a sunny German afternoon. For lunch we had coffee and Broetchen (little breads) with all kinds of jam, cream cheese, butter, etc. His mom also brought in wurst, cheese and walnuts from their backyard. I was in heaven.
After feasting, we packed up the car and took off to Ulm to wander around for an hour or two. I got to see the world's tallest church, which was pretty impressive. We also wandered around the older part of town for a bit and enjoyed walking by the Donau (Danube). I, however, was most impressed with the parking lot. There are places called Frauenparkplaetze, which are spots near the front reserved for women driving alone, so they don't have to walk far at night. HOW COOL IS THAT? I mean, yes, I understand spots reserved for the handicapped, and pregnant women, but finally someone realizes how creepy parking lots are for women walking alone. Finally.
We took off for Muenchen (Munich) after we got our fill of Ulm. I curled up in the backseat with my Ipod and my journal for most of the trip. Antisocial, but necessary. As I get older I'm becoming more introverted.
We got into Muenchen sometime that night and got wonderfully lost. Tom was on the phone with various people, Julia was on the phone with her half-sister that lives in Muenchen, and I was just staring in awe at yet another place in the world that I had never been. We drove by the actual Oktoberfest which looked absolutely insane. Basically Cedar Point on a busy day plus copious amounts of beer, so you can imagine the havoc. Actually, I take that back. You really can't. It was that intense. I was ready to jump out and immediately partake.
We eventually made it to where we were staying, which was a FRAT HOUSE. Now, in the US, I would run from a frat house like killer bees were chasing me, but here I really didn't have a choice. It was a place, and it was free, and I was about to go to Oktoberfest.
That night we went to meet up with our host, Nico, whom Tom knew from Laupheim. I got forwarned about Nico, whom was described to me as "good-looking", "well-dressed", and a guy picky that only went for "10's". This, of course, piqued my interest. I always enjoy a challenge. And, hey, I am a 10. (Dad, stop rolling your eyes)
So, we went to meet up with Nico and his friends and I quickly came to find that Tom was absolutely telling the truth. I was elated and quickly switched into "Becca when she's interested in a boy" mode. Nico was basically the German equivalent of my type, which is basically tall, preppy, and intelligent. Just like my Dad. Oh Lord. He also invented a bottle opener which has a patent on it, and he gets money for every one sold. That's CRAZY. He studies something that has to do with designing things or making furniture. I figured this out by snooping through his homework. Shh.
This was also the first guy that I've even remotely been interested in during my time here. So, take that, all who think I am boy crazy. I made it exactly a month. And he gave me butterflies, which is something I haven't felt in a long time.
That night we ran around Muenchen. We spent most of our time in some crazy Irish bar, singing U2 songs and jumping around. I found some hilarious Irish guys who refused to believe I was American, which was confusing, because they wouldn't tell me why. After dancing circles around each other for a bit it finally became clear to me that Nico liked me back. What a happy, happy moment. He later told me he really liked how confident I was, and my eyes. He was also really gentlemanly about it. Very unlike guys in the US, but then again it's not like American boys treat me horribly. It was just different. But I think it's partially cuz he's just that kind of guy. He was very polished and European. A nice change.
That night I crashed on a mattress in the main room of a frat house in Muenchen. Somehow, I never thought I'd say that.
TAG DREI
I was the first one to wake up the next day, which was very much out of character. Tom yelled at me to let him sleep but I wasn't listening. We took off for the Wiesen (what all the Germans called the festival, which literally means 'fields') shortly thereafter. The closer we got to the fields, the more people we saw in traditional Dirndl and Lederhosen, and the more excited I got. Once there, we wandered around the main part of it for a bit, which basically just looks like an amusement park. I told Tom I wanted to get into a beer tent, which he laughed at. But no, I was a woman on a mission. If I was going to do Oktoberfest, I was going to do it right. I was getting a spot.
We wandered around a few tents, which were gigantic and filled to the brim with people. Each tent was decorated differently but each had a live band in the center playing German drinking songs. People were standing on tables dancing and everyone was singing along. Hundreds of waitresses were running back and forth carrying impossibly amounts of beer in their arms. There were absolutely no free places and the people milling around were aggressive and ready to pounce on any. After getting somewhat discouraged, we decided just to wait in one corner of the Augustiner tent and see if anything happened.
About 5 minutes later, a waitress came up to us and started speaking to Tom in very hurried German that I understood about a word of. He turned to me and said "She's kicking the people out at that table over there. They've been there an hour." So, Maria, our new favorite person, went over and freed us up a table. About 2 seconds after the people left, some very shady looking guys swooped in and stole it, but Maria quickly went over and started yelling at them that it was our spot. And I mean yelling. It was amazing.
So, we had a table. We ordered beer, which came in this huge 1 Liter glass called a Mass. And we partook in the world's largest festival. After an hour Maria came back to kick us out for the next group, but the guys waiting to take over our table insisted that we come back and join them. So, Julia and I sat back down with Stefan, Rainer, Rudolph, Steffi, and Jan, who were all clad in traditional clothing. After I finished my first Mass there appeared another one in front of me, which was purchased by this rowdy crew. My third was also a gift from them. These hospitable Germans are dangerous, I tell you. They also are continually yelling "Prost!" (cheers) so there's no chance to let up on the drinking.
Needless to say, I was feeling good. They did their best to teach us the words to all the songs. I did the "link arms and sway back and forth" thing, which I learned the verb for but totally forgot. I got up on the table and clapped and jumped around. Julia and I ate a chicken with our hands because "only tourists do it with silverware". We laughed. We danced. We threw pretzels at each other. A random piece of gum even landed on our table but I didn't care because I was too busy singing about being Bavarian while wearing a traditional sweater that Rainer's sister knit.
Around 7 PM, after spending however many hours trapped in this chaos, Julia and I realized that we were not making it back to Freiburg that night. No way at all. But, we needed to get out of there before we died. So, we did. And, don't ask me how we did. That place is like a vortex. It happened simultaneously and I think we were holding hands very tightly when we walked out of there. After all, we are Americans and that was no Budweiser.
Later we found out we were in the tent that only brews beer in old wooden barrels, so therefore, it's the strongest beer at the festival. Of COURSE that's the one we randomly pick.
Back at the frat we just hung out there for the rest of the night. I danced around with Nico and Julia and had countless conversations 'auf Deutsch' with various people from around the world. Julia stayed up til 7:30 having a serious conversation about life with some Croatian guy named Darko who just got back from a vacation where he went harpooning. We ran into 2 German guys who just happened to be from Freiburg and after chatting with them a bit, they asked us if we'd like a ride home the next day. They seemed trustworthy. We said sure. Carpe diem.
That night I slept very well.
TAG VIER
Julia and I both woke up absolutely ready to shoot the hell out of Muenchen. We walked into the kitchen and found a group of guys sitting around, chain smoking and drinking. Literally 10 minutes after waking up, I was offered another beer. I, of course, declined, and began harassing Juergen and Christian to take us home. Juergen, our driver, was very reserved, polite, and sober. Christian was absolutely insane and didn't let us leave for a long time because he had to sit around and help drink all the beer. When we finally did leave, I exchanged numbers with Nico, who looked very sad. He says he'll be in the Schwarzwald in November, so hopefully I can show him around my city then. He was mesmerizing.
About ten minutes into our trip in Juergen's mom's beautiful new Benz, Christian made Juergen stop so he could pick up a 6-pack of Becks. After this, he was all about screaming out the window at elderly German women and offering them beers. For the most part they ignored him. When we got on the Autobahn he held out a beer to some random guy, who began nodding his head eagerly and switched lanes to be closer to us. Julia and I were cracking up. Would you ever see someone holding out an open beer on the highway in the US?
The boys were listening to a mixture of Guns & Roses, horrible German music, and some 80's. Juergen was also getting up to about 220 kph (about 135 mph) which was very exciting. They were fascinated when we bought chips at the gas station, which I guess was very odd to bring into the car. I told him that's what you do on road trips. Christian was also very interested in reading our journals when we brought those out to write in. I had to write 'CHRISTIAN GEH WEG!' (Christian go away!) in mine because he insisted on peeking back to look. He also stole my book and tried to read it aloud. It sounded nothing like English. At all.
We made good time back to Freiburg and had a lot of fun in the process. It was a wonderful chance to practice our German, as Juergen refused to speak English and Christian's was so bad he accidentally called himself a girl at one point.
Once back in Freiburg we tried to throw 20 Euro at Juergen but he absolutely refused. So, we got a free ride home, and didn't get killed. They also let us stop to pee and basically delivered us to our front doorstep. I just love German boys.
THE END

Well, if you made it this far, I have to congratulate you. I don't know how one could get through all of that without thinking I am absolutely insane and giving up. But then again, this was Oktoberfest. And I went and I did it right and am glad. Even though Julia and I had to miss class on Monday and I missed turning in an essay, I have to say it was worth it. Normally I would never do that, but there is a time and a place for studies and then there is a time and a place for taking part in a gigantic party with Germans.
And this was just one of those times.