Frühlingsfest

I wanted to start this post with, "It's finally spring in Germany" but then I realized, hmm. I think I may have not one, but two post already with this beginning. Then I pause and look outside. It's pouring rain, and yet again, freezing cold.


What is with this weather I ask you! One day it's 80 degrees, the next it's 40! My wardrobe is getting confused!

And now the point of this post.

Frühlingsfest. Ah Frühlingsfest. Known to the locals as "Oktoberfest's little sister", it is in fact, just another excuse for German's to get dressed up in lederhosen and dirndls and drink at inappropriate times of the day.

Now, it's not all about drinking. There are also rides. Like the County Fair. And many places to buy greasy German fast food.

So you're thinking, let me get this straight. First you get drunk, then you eat a giant bratwurst followed by a schnitzl, then you go spin around high up in the air?

My answer for you is yes. That's exactly what you do. Until 8pm. If you have managed to stay conscious until around 8pm, then the real fun begins. (or the real fun for me, considering I don't drink) Everyone gathers together in these giant beer tents where there are many tables packed full of people. They cram as many people as they can into on table, and have about 25% of the amount of servers they require. All of them are very cranky. I wonder why? People squish as close as they can, and needless to say you end up making a lot of friends. The fire captain would not be happy about this.

In addition, they decorate them as if it were going out of style. Tons of color everywhere! When the night gets going, they have DJ's come and play popular music, both American and German. People get crazy. They stand up and on the benches and dance like no one is watching. Now. The problem with mixing alcohol, Germany, height, and dancing is, people fall down a lot. Something like this would never happen in America, because frankly, someone would sue. It sure is funny to watch.

On that note. While I was sipping my alcohol free beverage, the waiter came around and brought more beer to our table. In the process, he set a glass on top of my glass and it chipped. I showed him the shards of glass in my drink. He looked at me and said (in German), "what do you want me to do about it?" and walked away. hmm. I'm proud of the American Legal System. And no, I'm not ashamed to say that.

This festival goes on for about three weeks. It sure is a lot of fun. Sadly, like all good things, it came to an end.

126 more days until Oktoberfest.

A little European hospitality

It's Frühlingsfest and the city is full of tourists. For those of you who don't know what Frühlingsfest is... it's basically Oktoberfest. In spring. But that's another story. Tonight I'm telling the story of when Stephanie got drunk off of rage.

Listen. Everybody has their faults. I'm well aware of one of mine. There's a.. special.. side of me that only comes out in very rare occasions. This.. side.. doesn't always make the best decisions. Tonight was one of those. As many of you know, there is one thing you don't do to Stephanie. And that my friends, is mess with people I love. When you mess with someone in my circle.. let me just stop you right there. Don't mess with people I care about. Period.

Frühlingsfest is kind of a nut show. One waitress per 20 people, carrying eight 5lbs beer steins in each arm, people are grabbing as fast as they can. Tonight, my dear friend Sammy thought she ordered a beer, and figured she had to pay up front. She paid the waitress, and watched as the woman set a beer on the table, and an American guy picked it up. Next, she walked away. Sammy waited for her beer. Then the lady came back, and we realized, this American guy had stolen Sammy's beer!! Now you may be thinking, oh buzz off, it's just a beer. But no. These beers cost 8.40 euro..that's roughly $11 American dollars... and you have to wait 15-20min to get one. And so it begins.

We decided we were going to find these guys and ask them to give us money for the beer. I mean, everyone was really drunk, so we, being incredibly naive and having spent too much time around European boys, expected they would see their mistake and kindly give us her money back. Luckily, we found them pretty quickly. Sammy walked up and kindly explained the situation. "um, excuse me. But before, you drank my beer. I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind giving me the money back." They laughed in our faces. "haha good one. How old are you guys anyway. Go away". I started to get a little irritated. "Um, no sorry but I watched you grab her beer. Please just give us the money and we'll go away." They laughed again. "Here, I'll give you three euros if you get out of here." I took the three euros. "Um, no sorry that beer cost almost 9 euros. That isn't enough." One of their friends came up. They all started laughed. Sammy says, "real cool guys, thanks for being so awesome about this." She started to walk away. Oh heck no, I thought. At that point. I was furious. Seriously though. Seriously? They're going to steal beer from a girl?

I'm really frustrated with the American youth of my generation. They think they can do anything. It's guys like these that give American's a bad rep. "Stop right there." I said to Sammy. Having already thoroughly checked these guys out, I knew where his wallet was, but I also knew he was wearing $200 sunglasses. *Swipe! I grabbed them. "I'll give you your sunglasses back when you give me my money back" Instant regret. Before I knew it, I was cornered by three American men who were extremely close to my face. This may sound scary, but I was in a crowd of people. Nothing was going to happen. One grabbed my phone out of my hand. At that moment, I didn't care. I start to think. I have a beer stein full of non-alcoholic beverage in my head. How hard do I have to hit them to knock them out? Which one do I kick in the groin first? If I punch this one, will that punch me back? All of these thoughts are running through my head. A split second later, I hear this, "Oy, lady, you alright?" I look. A fine British gentlemen. "Absolutely not." I said back. My new friend sticks his face in the circle. "You better give her her phone back right now." He said in a British accent. "Not until she gives me my sunglasses back," They reply. "Alright then" my new friend says. "Oy boys. C'mere. This lady needs our help." And with that... several very large British gentlemen start walking towards me. The American guys freeze. I have never seen somebody reach for their wallet so fast. He gave me Sammy's money back, we exchanged phone for sunglasses, and I was escorted out of there.


I honestly couldn't believe what had just happened. Americans ae? I'm really sick of my generation. Have a little respect. And for goodness sake. Learn how to hold your liquor.

Here's a picture of the guy who saved us. Looking back, I should have just let it go. But I guess everyone goes Dr. Dirndl and Mrs. Hyde and some points in their life....

Footloosin' it Around Munich

Happy Ash Wednesday everyone, and welcome to my first Tanzverbot. Germany, the rule-loving country that it is, officially bans dancing on high-holy days, where no music is allowed to be played, and people are not allowed to dance. Burn the sinners!! After seeing the movie Footloose starring Kevin Wormwald, I was really excited. I mean, I'm no Juliane Hughes, but I've been known to shake my booty on the dance floor when the mood strikes. I was imagining these secret meetings that started at mid-night Tuesday, where all the rebellious youth of my generation was going to gather together and have a big dance off in the high school parking lot... Obviously protesting this hideously archaic rule. So I put my dancing shoes on, and dressed for the occasion:

Officially the end of "Fasching", everyone dresses up as if it were Halloween. Some people get really into it, and it's great. Eagerly awaiting the stroke of mid-night, we went out to a club and started dancing while it was still legal.

 Wahoo! We were stoaked. Quite a few people were out at first, and we were having a really good time.

But lets get back to reality. I'm in Germany. GERMANY Stephanie. The land of the U-bahn where no one checks to see if you bought you ticket.. because why wouldn't you buy a ticket? So sadly, mid-night came and went, and nothing exciting happened at all.... Who knows. Maybe all the German Youth went home and prayed.

Carnival, German-Style

Many people are familiar with the Latin-American tradition of "Carnival". It takes place from the end of February to the beginning of March, and basically is an excuse to party all the time. Well, Germany decided they didn't want to be left out, and started their own version of Carnival. It's basically like Halloween, with lots of alcohol.

Serving Cocktails on the streets

Alcoholic Crepes. Serving at 11 am

Booths set up in the street, people dress up as vikings, and everyone throws confetti at one another. There is live music, and live dancing, and thank goodness, men in Lederhosen. This guy was selling fish on a stick. Literally. Fish. On a stick. Even he thought it was funny because he smiled when I took a picture of him.

Despite the hail, it was really fun to walk around. We saw lots of great costumes, and it was fun to see the city decorated festively.

 

 This is just the beginning. On Tuesday the real "Carnival" events begin. My host made made it clear to me that I did not have to work that night, because it was in fact, necessary to me to be out partying. Okay, I told her. You don't have to tell me twice!!