Oktoberfest (28th September)

I went to the Oktoberfest which takes place in Munich in 28th September with a group from my exchange school. Actually Oktoberfest takes place all over Europe but the one in Munich is the most famous. My guess is that originally it was celebration of harvest and provided welcome gaiety before the onset of the harsh European winter. Today it’s a festival of unbridled beer drinking.

Oktoberfest is a fair in which breweries set up huge tents which can seat up to 10, 000 people. Beer is sold in one liter mugs, nothing less. The beer is very good and even though quite expensive is worth it for its quality and the ambience. There is lot of local Bavarian music and one can see lots of people dressed in traditional Bavarian costumes. An amusement park is also set up and there are stalls selling food and memorabilia.

The visit to the Oktoberfest has been the highlight of my stay in Europe so far. Since us Indians have been traveling a lot it hasn’t been possible to mix with other exchange students so well. This trip was perfect for it as many exchange students went and, of course, alcohol is always the best ice breaker. And break the ice it did, I remember spending all my time with girls who surely don’t remember my name now that we have been absent from the school for ten days owing to our trip to Scandinavia. It was a truly multinational effort ranging from Germany to Hungary to Mexico to Russia to Turkey to China and even India. Guys before you get all excited it was all very platonic. Our tight schedules don’t allow for anything more at all. Okay, I am being both vain and presumptous.

An Indian friend of mine had a little too much too quickly and passed out by three in the afternoon. The security carried him to the bus and he slept peacefully for the next three hours. We had to catch a train to Copenhagen at seven and in between waking him up, our bus getting stuck in the evening traffic and us losing ourselves; by the time we got to the train there were less than two minutes remaining. Some adventure. We hadn’t taken any water along and with alcohol working its effects we were both bone- thirty soon. The water on the train was 3 euros for half a liter. Earlier we had been teasing somebody for buying water for 5 euros a liter at the Oktoberfest. Talk about poetic justice. It is funny how in Europe water is as expensive as beer, juice and milk; sometimes even more.