Oktoberfest!

On Saturday, October 3, 2009, fourteen days after my 21st birthday, I ordered and consumed my very first beer…at friggin’ Oktoberfest! Now how many people can say that?

So yes, everyone, I went to Oktoberfest, and it was crazy and fun and delicious and a little overwhelming all at the same time. Originally I had no intention of going, but who am I to miss one of the biggest festivals in Europe when I’m only 7€ and a 2-hour train ride away? When we met at 9am at the Salzburg train station, there were people everywhere in lederhosen and dirndls, some carrying six packs and already at various stages of intoxication, who were all on the 9:15 train to Munich. By the time we got off the train, the party was already in full-swing, with people stopping in the middle of the crowd to dance and sing at the top of their lungs. The official site of the festival was actually about a 10-minute walk from the train station, but even though we had no prior knowledge of the city, no map, and no directions, it was impossible not to find —just follow the lederhosen.

The festival itself was little like Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, and a carnival all rolled in to one, and all on a massive scale. Julia and I (yes, I know, it’s Julie and Julia—even I get us confused sometimes) navigated our way through the crowd, trying to take in everything at once, which of course was impossible: there were the wonderful smells emanating from the sausage and candied nut stands, the sound of a thousand voices singing out in unison from the enormous beer tents, the crazy spinning rides that made me ill just watching them, and the masses and masses of people—probably 80% of which fell into some category of interesting, due to their costumes or otherwise—who you simultaneously tried to observe and avoid bumping into, all under the blinding light of the late-morning sun. We made a circle around the place, but by then the crowd was so oppressive that we each decided to grab a bratwurst and make our way to the relative calm of the dead grass patches outside the gates (and let me tell you, it’s no surprise that they sell 650,000 of those wonderful juicy crescents of meat each year).

After lunch, instead of braving the crowds again, we decided to walk the path on the hill around the festival grounds to get a little different perspective. The grassy hill and nearby park were littered with the casualties of Oktoberfest, all sprawled out on the ground in a drunken stupor, some with a half a glass of beer in easy reach, just in case. We saw a couple of policemen strolling in the park stop to check one girl’s pulse. Mind you, that was 2 o’clock in the afternoon—I can’t imagine what that place looks like at 4 in the morning.

So, we had seen Oktoberfest—the good, the bad, and the ugly. It was time for Julia and I to make our small contribution to the 5 million litres of beer consumed there this year. But despite what you might expect, it wasn’t easy—the biergartens and tents were all full, and the only other place we could find that would sell you a beer was swarming with people in no discernable line, with a beer dispenser that was on its last leg. Then Julia and I had to overcome an intense fit of giggles, like we were 12 years old or something. Finally I made it to the front of the swarm, and the young red-headed bar tender asked the three of us at the front, “Was wollt ihr?” I held up my thumb in reply. That was it—no turning back now.

Finally, after an entire day of stalling, after an entire lifetime of apprehension, I took a sip of my very first beer, that I had ordered using my own thumb, and paid with using my own money. And it was…really gross. It didn’t even get better as it went on. It took the pair of us almost an hour and a half to share a single litre. In the meantime, we sat under a tree and talked about life while watching the constant stream of costumed people going to and from the festival. Finally, we had about an inch left in the bottom of the cup, and we were contemplating dumping the rest into the grass, but I couldn’t chicken out now. I decided to try to chug a little bit to get it over with: Bad Idea. Julia and I were both slightly tipsy and very giggly, but that extra big gulp made me dizzy. We walked back to the train station to eat dinner, and I spilled my kebap everywhere and ate a tomato off the ground. My stomach, chest, and face would become alternately warm and cool. I started to slur my words. It was so weird! I’m sure most people reading this are thinking, “Well duh, Julie, that’s what happens,” but I’d never done it before.

Well, that was enough for me. We got on the 7:45 train back to Salzburg just as the sun was setting, with lots of people who were decidedly less sober than we were. The whole experience had been interesting and exciting and fun, and while I’m not sure I’d want to do it again, I’m glad I sucked it up and went. Especially because I can now say that I had my very first beer at Oktoberfest. Prost!

Austrian Oddities, Part 1

This is the beginning of a series of all of the strange things I have seen, heard, and otherwise experienced in Austria. The first installment is a series of photographs from my walks around the city.

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The Wave

Our rafting instructor tells us all to lean over the front of the raft. We soon learn that his intentions were less than noble.

Rollin' on the river. And in the river.

Today—today was one for the record books. Today was the beginning of my hiking and rafting course. We were told to meet in front of the school at 12:45, and that… actually, that was pretty much all we were told. So we get there, and there are three strange young men waiting there for us—one with dreadlocks and some missing teeth—and they tell us to jump into these two beat-up old vans, that they will be taking us…somewhere. Fog surrounds us as we drive up into the mountains, and it starts to rain lightly; had this been the beginning of a movie, there would have been about a 5% chance that any of us would make it out alive.

But no, this is just another day in my life in Salzburg, Austria. In fact, I think it qualifies as one of the best days ever. We rafted down the Salzach River with Christof as our guide, surrounded by grass-green mountains that disappeared into the clouds. We got very wet, both accidentally and on purpose, in the freezing mountain water. We sang “Just Around the River Bend” from Pocahontas, and did cannonballs off a boulder. It all ended too soon. But the fun wasn’t over just yet.

We reach the stopping point and haul our boats out of the river and onto a large pull-off on the side of the road. They tell us, in so many words, “Ok, time to undress: helmets go here, life vests go here, and jackets go there. Then, pull your wetsuit off halfway, and one of us will come around and yank off your pants.” Mind you, we are standing on the side of the highway. Most of us are in our underwear beneath the wet suits. It is currently pouring down rain. Only in Europe.

To get back to school, we hop into another old van with yet another strange man, which by now is commonplace. A pleasant heat warms my frozen toes, and the driver plugs in a CD of songs that he listens to when he climbs mountains, most of which exude a warm and beautiful melancholy. Outside, the setting sun makes the clouds glow pink behind the mountains as we sing along to “Hallelujah.” By then, it didn’t even matter how cold I was, or that all I was wearing under my rain jacket was a wet swimsuit, or that I’d needed to pee for the last 3 hours. I was too overcome with the feeling of how much I loved everybody, and how beautiful the world was, and how my life was more wonderful that I could have ever dreamed it to be.

Next weekend, on my 21st birthday, we are going on a hike in the world’s largest ice caves. I’m not sure how it could ever top today, but at least now I know to prepared for anything.

Pictures

Castles in the Rhine River Valley

Martin Luther, as promised, with a pigeon on his head.

Beautiful Heidelberg from the Schloss.

The (thankfully) never-completed Nazi Kongresshaus. *heebie jeebies*

Nine-nine-nine, ja-ja-ja!

I will first give you a moment to absorb the absolutely ingenious title of my first post:
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Ok, then! Today is the ninth day of the ninth month of the two thousand and ninth year AD, as well as my ninth day in Europe. At the moment I am sitting on the fourth floor of the tiny yet charming Salzburg College, looking out the window at church steeples, the gray-green Salzach River, and the mountains surrounding the city, thinking, "Holy cow, I LIVE here!"

Though it is my 9th day in Europe, it is only my 4th day in Salzburg, as the first week consisted of a sightseeing tour through Germany. The entire college-- all 24 of us-- were shuttled by our valiant bus driver Eddie through Köln, Bonn, Worms, Heidelberg, Rothenburg, and Nürnberg. It was surreal to see all these places that I had learned about in history class and think, "Wow, that actually happened, and it happened right here." It first hit me driving through the Rhine River valley and seeing all those castles that Herr Tweer had us look up for that ridiculous project he never graded. Then in Worms (pronounced WAAAHHHHMS, with the R preferably consisting of a gurgle of spit in the back of the throat) we saw a statue of Martin Luther with a pigeon on his head (pictures to be posted later-- be excited). Probably the eeriest place we visited was the Nazi rally grounds in Nürnberg. There was a museum located in the humungous building Hitler had begun to erect for the congress, which was probably comparable to the congress in Star Wars Episode I. In this case the feeling wasn't necessarily what had happened there, but what could have been, had the Nazis won the war.

Finally on the evening of the 5th we arrived in Salzburg and were greeted by our host families. I live with another girl from the college named Jordan, and we each have our own room in this quaint little town home on the northeast edge of the city. For privacy reasons I am not supposed to discuss my host family in my blog, but I will say that my host mom is about the nicest lady on earth, and she fills us with delicious food every day, for every meal. We also have some illusive host siblings, a boy and a girl, who are both in their twenties and have rarely been around so far. And, of course, our host puppy dog, a boxer mix who is 17 years old and scratches his lumps obsessively when he is not asleep. The only disadvantage of my host family is that they do not have the internet, and the college's internet connection is very weak or something (I obviously have no idea what I'm saying, but they don't want us to download/upload things on it) so I will post pictures later when I go to an internet cafe.

So, that's all of now! If you would like to send me a postcard, or would like a postcard sent to you, my address is :

Julie Bates
Salzburg College
Ursulinenplatz 4
A-5020 Salzburg, Austria
EUROPE (so it doesn't take a detour to Australia)

or email me your address.

And now, to use my new favorite German good-bye, tschüs!