Oktoberfest. Something that every college kid associates with study abroad. It also happens to be on my bucket list, a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and an event I attended last weekend. Oktoberfest is the Carnival of Fall. Something every student wants to experience and will travel from everywhere to get to. Last weekend I travelled from Vienna, Austria and met up with friends from France, Spain, Scotland, and London in Munich, Germany. No place was too far, no plane ticket was too expensive to miss out on Oktoberfest.
To quickly sum it up, it’s an amusement park…but with Bier. Not just any beer, but strong German Bier that only comes by the Maß (a liter). It’s not your average Natty Boh. It’s roughly three cans of beer on steroids. Oktoberfest is also a place where you get to dress up as a stereotypical Hansel or Gretel in lederhosen or dirndls with hair braids and you can eat a pretzel that’s bigger than your head. What’s not to love? It’s your typical German frat party. The downside? It’ll be a miracle if you survive the trip well rested, without throwing up, and without losing someone or something. But it’s also a great chance to do some people watching. Since the tents open around 9:00 in the morning and the number one thing to order at the tents is Bier, things get pretty interesting at 10:00. But it’s not until around 12:00 when the music starts and people begin dancing on the tables, that people start getting kicked out of the tents, and the bathroom lines become unbearable.
I spent my morning and early afternoon in the Augustiner Festhalle, a tent that seats around 6,000. We ordered our Maß of Bier at 9:00 and were on our second by 10:00. That’s when we started ordering Bratwurst, giant pretzels, and Apfelstrudel. We spent the afternoon yelling “Prost” and clinking our mugs with our lederhosen clad neighbors. Oktoberfest is so ridiculous that you can’t help but love it. It’s is also where the kooks come out. Maybe it’s because everyone feels invincible in traditional German clothing or everyone is attracted to girls in dirndls and men in lederhosen. Or maybe it’s the Bier. Either way it is a place where you will make new friends even if you aren’t trying. You also will end up in at least one strangers Facebook photo with the title “Our new Oktoberfest friends!!!” because you’ll spend the afternoon becoming besties with people from Romania to Canada. You might also spend part of your day running from the creepy Italian man you “really likes your braids”.
The fun doesn’t stop at the Bier tents. Because once you’ve had your fun of dancing and have spent enough money on Bier (hard to do) there’re all the rides to try and the carnival food to taste. There’s even a carousel with a bar in the middle and tables instead of horses. The whole park is a playground for adults. And it gets even more fun after a Maß or three.
All in all it’s a great experience. What other time are you able to meet up with your friends from home and your friends studying abroad at a giant German festival? The answer’s never. But that’s the case with a lot of your experiences when you study abroad. Everything is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure and that outlook allows you to make the most of every day you’re abroad.