T̶w̶o̶ One p̶e̶r̶p̶e̶t̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶a̶t̶s̶ immigrant settling into home country number five.
Whew, that was fun! I feel like I’ve been on vacation for the past two weeks. I think I managed to attend Oktoberfest 8 or 9 times – so at least half of the days. Impressive that I’m still standing, no? The major thing I learned from my marathon of festing is this: if you … Read more
Really? This is a team sport? Practiced by men? OK, listen up Germans. I know how much you like to use English words (such as, say, ‘club’). But sometimes, when you only put part of what you are saying in English, and leave part in German, you can end up with a meaning you never … Read more
This Oktoberfest business is seriously exhausting! I’ve spent 6 of the past 11 days at the Wies’n, and I’m planning to go at least one more time. I’m going to need a vacation once this is all over. The other night we had dinner at the Käfer tent, one of the smaller tents at the … Read more
As fun as Oktoberfest is, there are still some dangers lurking, particularly where beer steins are involved. This friend (who will remain somewhat anonymous) demonstrates a couple common Oktoberfest injuries for us. See this vertical welt on her forehead? Here she reenacts how she got it:My advice: don’t do this. Injury number two: blisters from … Read more
The waitresses at the Wies’n must start training months in advance for all this beer-carrying. Looks like seven liters… not bad. Eight! Even better. One waiter, too: Pretty impressive, no?
This Fräulein was administering breathalyzer tests to the guys at the table behind us in the Hippodrom, but not for the usual reasons. They weren’t interested in finding out whether they were fit to drive (the Premier of Bavaria has already educated them about that). Instead, they were receiving certificates proudly boasting the blood alcohol … Read more
Greetings from Oktoberfest 2008! We are still alive and well. The city is awash with drunken tourists and locals alike, most of them wearing some kind of tracht, or at least funny hats (note to self: take more photos of funny hats). Many precious memories are in the making here, I tell you, and we … Read more
You’ll be pleased to know that the beer was paraded in and arrived safely at the Wies’n. The first keg was successfully tapped by the mayor at the stroke of noon. Here we go!
All over the place I’ve been hearing references to Bayerisch (the Bavarian language) in connection to Oktoberfest. The official website has an English-Bayerisch dictionary. A friend gave me an Oktoberfest song book* which also includes a Bayerisch phrase guide (and an interview with Roberto Blanco, of all people. WTF? All I know is that if … Read more
Ah, our first Oktoberfest as residents of Munich is just around the corner. You can tell it’s the season due to all the stores trying to get you to buy tracht (traditional Bavarian clothing, ie dirndls and lederhosen) these days. It’s in all the shop windows. My one previous trip to Oktoberfest was about 10 … Read more