Blogging daily is a complete nonsense…
So I’ll try to make it a weekly thing, unless I’m absolutely bored and I have nothing to do. Which brings my attention to Doogie Houser and Carrie Bradshaw- how do they do it? Maybe because they are fictional characters and have it written in their script to blog daily.
*I’m saving the “best” for last, so if you want to read about my Munchen/Oktoberfest adventure, just scroll down. If you are bored in whatever class you’re in, can’t sleep, or really want to read a blog, then you can read this in it’s entirety. If you do read the entire thing, I applaud because I wouldn’t read my entire blog… -_- I just don’t make sense sometimes.
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Samantha, Kaitlin and I did our laundry yesterday. Yes, the whole day yesterday was dedicated to laundry. Not because we had a lot of clothes, or because they were really dirty, but because they only had 2 working washers and 2 dryers. (I don’t have any pictures of them because I forgot my camera like a stupid Asian tourist)
What equals 1 load in the states has to be separated into 2 maybe 3 loads here. It might be because we’re in a hostel and they have any kind of machine that works, but I think it has more to do with the fact that we’re in Europe and everything here is smaller. It must SUCK to have a kid here because washing would be a daily chore more so than it already is in the US.
We literally sat there staring at the 2 washers, wondering how many times it has to spin one way, then another, then back again as it only poured in enough water to wet the clothes, drained, then poured water in to repeat the cycle. I was seriously afraid that my clothes wouldn’t be washed and that I’d have to pre-hand wash everything -_-
And the 1 load here (which, if you remember, equals roughly 1/2 a load according to what I can fit in my US washer) takes roughly 1 hour to wash. 1 hour for each load. I had 2 loads to begin with, then had to divide my colors into 2 because my load was too big. = 3 hours of washing, not including the drying time.
But thank goodness for dryers here. In most parts of Europe, they hang dry their clothes. How uncomfortable…
Now take my 3 hours of washing and multiply it by 3 people= 9 hours spent on clothes…
Laundry is definitely for a day when nothing is going on = Sundays
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I finally started 1 class: Introduction to Philosophy. I think its interesting to learn Western Philosophy in Western Europe. But my professor has no idea what he’s talking about. Or maybe he does have the idea (in his mind) but the process of him thinking in whatever native tongue in his mind to translating it into English is lost somewhere. I get most of what he’s saying, but he mumbles words to get by sometimes.
And his slides are FILLED to the margins with text. I’m used to PowerPoints being specifically POINTS 1, 2, 3, etc. I think I actually have to do some outside reading for this class in order to follow along with whatever he’s teaching.
One good thing about this school system, my next class isn’t until October 26th with Global Economics (this of course doesn’t include my optional Italian class), so I have the next 2 weeks off [=
The Spanish kids are going to Venice for the weekend, but I don’t know if I remember enough of my 3 years of high school Spanish to hang with those cool kids. I think I should save my excursions for my 2 weeks off and save this weekend for rest.
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Cooking is becoming a daily task for me. I’ve never really cooked, even when I lived at my apartment, I never really cooked. But now, to keep myself from buying food all the time, something maternal (or maybe even primitive) clicked inside of me.
Grocery shopping is a biweekly thing at the least. Everything here comes in such small sizes (I definitely miss the Costco bulk, and even the regular sizes at Staters or Albertsons). I find myself trying out spices and things, hoping to make something edible to digest and provide nutrients for myself.
I’ve recently discovered the mensa (cafeteria) at school that I’ve fallen in love with. You can get a 3 course meal for 3.10euros=roughly $5. That shall be my best friend whenever I have class [= I can seriously eat enough there to last me an entire day.
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Internet here sucks. Don’t expect to video chat with me or a video message from me anytime soon. I’m waiting for my ethernet cable from my parents. Hopefully the internet will get a little better.
Thanks for the emails and messages though. It’s nice to know what’s going on over there. As soon as I figure out how the post office works, I’ll be sending post cards (Lora Lae, I haven’t forgotten. I just haven’t figured out the post office and they only speak Italian, so I need to learn enough to get by first)
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There is something wrong with my Italian phone. Whenever I try to make a call, I get a text/message saying that it is busy and I need to try again. And people can’t call my phone. I tried to go to the Vodafone store here (My plan is with this company. Its like Verizon/AT&T) but they were so shady with their business. I was there for almost an hour waiting to talk to someone. I even took one of those stupid numbers.
Screw you Vodafone, I’m going somewhere else.
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Oktoberfest Adventures
We only spent a weekend in Munchen (Munich in German), but it was enough for Oktoberfest. I want to go back to visit my cousin there though, hopefully sometime soon.
The girls: Samantha, Bronwhyn, Kaitlin, and I, bought our tickets for the bus from Bolzano to Munich, leaving at 5:30am on Saturday. The morning of when we were getting snacks together in the kitchen, Tobi and Steve saw Sam and decided they wanted to come along as well. They were also pretty intoxicated from going out, but hey, the more the merrier. Also, it was a plus that Tobi was going since he is German, therefore he could translate everything for us.
Here, we have the Canadian, Socal, Aussie, German, Norcal, and Washintonian [=
In 4 hours, we were in 3 countries: Italy, Austria, and Germany. I don’t remember much of the ride, because I was asleep.
The bus drop off area was a freaken mess, so we ended up being dropped off a couple of blocks away and walked in.
This was the entrance to Oktoberfest. I would describe it as the OC/LA fairs, but with giant beer tents. The actual thing wasn’t that big. One side had carnival rides, the other side had souvenir stands, food stands and beer tents.
We got there around 10am and started walking around. We tried to get into the Paulaner tent, but we weren’t allowed in with backpacks/bags. So Tobi called his aunt, who he hasn’t seen for 3 years, and asked if we could leave our stuff at her place. She was awesome! When we got there, she gave us a room and we ended up staying the night there, but I digress from the story.
I had one of those on Sunday. (I didn’t take a lot of pictures, so check my facebook tagged photos for more)
There was a giant statue near the location. I’m thinking it has something to do with the history of Oktobefest and the marriage between the people which prompted the start of the celebration.
Gingerbread hearts with messages on them. The tradition is for the guys to give his heart to a girl.
Oktoberfest hats. I swear this place reminded me of Disneyland, but an adult version LOL. I wonder if Disney is German…
Some famous breweries:
Okay, so like I said, we couldn’t get in with our backpacks, so we left Oktoberfest to Tobi’s aunt’s place. The transportation is so convenient there. We took this underground subway system called the U-Bahn I believe.
Gothic Cathedral (I think it was Orthodox) outside of Oktoberfest
We dropped off our stuff and only grabbed the necessities. In an hour or so, we were back. We stood in line to get into our first tent.
Pretty cool sundial on the tent. You look at the shadows for the time (it was 1:15pm)
Trying to take a picture MySpace status
We stood in line for a total of 30 minutes and called it quits. It was just too frustrating, so we walked around the place a bit more. Tried to get into other tents, but to no avail, our attempts were not followed by success. What did we do next? Blow off Oktoberfest completely and decided to do the tourist thing in Munchen for the day. We still had Sunday for Oktoberfest right? [=
We went back on the U-Bahn and ended up what I gathered to be the center of Munchen, but since I was never in Munchen before (much less Germany itself) what did I know? Some locals told us they were going to eat at this cool place, so we decided to follow. Not the smartest idea, but hey, we were a big group. The German spoke German (duh) and the Aussie understood enough to get by, so I felt safe.
Eventually, we were in the English Garden. It is this absolutely BEAUTIFUL garden in the middle of the city. There were people sitting around enjoying the place. Streams, trees…
We were eventually led to the Chinese Tower for a late lunch.
There was a band playing in the tower. The place had a great ambiance [=
The Aussie had this thing for Hofbrau beer. I Wikipedia-ed it last night and learned that it was famous in Australia, go figure. So the table had a round of Hofbrau. The girls opted for dark, while the boys got light.
Poor Steve was still a mess from the previous nights… But when in Rome, do as the Romans do… Or when in Munich in this point…
We ate. I don’t know what exactly I had. But it was a pretzel and some sort of white sausage. Then we chilled in the English Garden for a bit.
We were sitting under a tree talking about our countries/states/randomish, when we realized that there was complete nudity allowed in Germany. Tobi told us that it was allowed until you reach the age of 30.
Seriously, these men were just walking around flaunting themselves. It was freaken gross, but also very funny. I think it’s interesting that no matter how liberal you believe you are, but if you’re from North American/the US, you are very conservative compared to the rest of the world.
Then we decided to venture to the Hofbrauhaus- the actual Hofbrau brewery in Munich. If we couldn’t get into Oktoberfest, might as well go somewhere Oktoberfest-like.
Passed by the center square place. Ran into a Cuban (on the left) and Italian (on the right). I think they were students at some other University too.
Pretty things they don’t have at home…
They were building a giant Lego tower
…and then we arrived…
There was security (of course) and we couldn’t get in at first because there were too many people. They let people in in waves as other people left. But this drunk guy taking a smoke helped us sneak in. Thanks Mister, whoever you are, I’m sending you good vibes.
Oh the happiness…
The Hofbrau Band
We got a table with some other people. At crowded places like these, it is common to share tables with others.
Me and my Liter which was almost half foam anyways. I ended up jacking one of those mugs, which got taken away when we went to the Oktoberfest Hofbrau Tent, but jacked another one, but I digress from my story. Continuing…
Trying to make sense of the German menu…
It was a really cool place, one that you beer drinkers definitely need to come to (BK, Andy, Carl, Cousin David, William anyone else who drinks beer…). A random person would start a beat and others would join in, because why the heck not? Soon the entire place would be making the same beat and then someone would start singing. The band would play and people would sing along. Doesn’t matter if you know German or not, you just can’t help but to sway to the music. If you have the balls, you stand up with your Liter and skull (chug) it. Once you stand up with the mug in your hand, people take notice and instantly cheer you on. BUT you have to finish it because if you take the smallest of small breaths to get yourself going again, you are embarrassingly boo-ed. I swear every other song played was the “Ein Prosit” song- I think its Bavarian German?? Basically you’re toasting everyone, so when it’s played, grab your mug, sing along and share a toast with everyone around you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR8VmCDdt5o&feature=PlayList&p=93C9C6CA8F95D611&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=4
Then the singer/leader of the band would say “Eins, Zwei, Gsufor!” (One, Two, Drink! in Bavarian German) and you clang your mugs with whoever you see. Keep in mind that in Germany, whenever you share a toast, you have to keep eye contact or else you’ll have 7 years of bad sex. And it is also bad luck to cross over another person’s arm to share a toast. Interesting, no?
A song that the Germans seem to love at the Hofbrauhaus was a Bavarian/hip version of “Hey Baby” by Bruce Channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNsmiqmaEWo
You hear the Germans singing the “Ooh Aah” and you can’t help but join along. Soon the band starts up the music, and you just know the song. I don’t know how you know, but the words are simple (and in English lol).
There is a restaurant upstairs, but that was too formal of a place. This room is definitely THE place to be. And you could still order food if you wish [=
I guess the cool thing to do was to build a tower out of your mugs before the security tells you to take it down or the waiters take away the mugs. They’re cool about it though.
We ended the night at around 9 with some desserts there. I’ve noticed that dessert type stuff in Europe aren’t really sweet. But it was good anyways. Since we’ve been up since 4am (and the boys basically had an all-nighter), we were on our way hope after stopping by a Starbucks for a quick night cap. They DO NOT know how to make a Passion Tea Lemonade though. ]=
Getting to his aunt’s house was a mini adventure itself. The boys were drunk and following us to the U-bahn, but they went the wrong way somewhere at one of the stops. We couldn’t call them because Tobi didn’t have his phone and Steve’s phone was dead.
Sam and I stayed where we were SUPPOSED to go while Bronwhyn and Kaitlin went looking for the boys.
Sleeping at Tobi’s aunt’s place.
We woke up at 730am the next day and by 930am, we were back at Oktoberfest, ready to go. Hardcore isn’t it? hahaha
The Hofbrau Tent- the Aussie couldn’t get enough Hofbrau
Early morning and people were already getting smashed. The tent was already half full by the time we got there.
I think it was a restaurant type thing upstairs.
Me and my giant sugar/cinnamon coated donut [=
Doesn’t Steve look ready for the day? hahaha After 3 straight nights of alcohol (I think it was actually 4 nights), he’s still up and good to go. He said “I think I’m just going to buy my 1 Liter of beer and let it sit there for the rest of the day. I’m done for this weekend.” Did he really stick to that? C’mon, it’s Oktoberfest. What do you think?.. lol
Cheers!
There were a couple girls who tried to skull their Liters, but they didn’t really succeed. The crowd was a bit lenient on the girls, but if you’re a guy who can’t skull, then don’t even try standing up.
By noon, more people came and it was definitely a party. The band was up playing music and these Italians near us were going crazy. 
Crazy Italians… haha
Put one of those babies in my bag to take home as a souvenir [= haha
Old lady was selling those stunna shades and devil’s horns
We loved our brezel and bier (actually, I liked the brezel; not very fond of the beer, but hey, it was Oktoberfest.)
These people next to us were dressed up. I guess it was Halloween for them…
Around 1, Jeremy and the Spanish kids met up with us. When they heard we were going to Oktoberfest, they bought tickets for the midnight train.
Sam and I decided to leave the tent around 2 because we needed fresh air and wanted to do some souvenir shopping.
On our way to the restroom, the crazy Italians were trying to catch girls under their flag. We ended up pushing the drunks. Those guys remind me of Tuan; but Tuan on a daily basis, not drunk… haha
First thing we bought were those gingerbread hearts. We bought 1 each to take home and another one to eat and try.
I really wanted to get a meter long bratwurst, but decided a 1/2 meter would suffice.
yummm.. With ketchup and mustard…
Then we went searching for Sam’s pickles. I will never understand why/how people would eat straight up pickles. Or what’s the deal with fizzy water? aka sparkling water?
Her pickle… haha
Walked around more. Sam bought couple shirts for herself and her sister. I bought these lighter holders for my brothers. Took a while to meet up with Bronwhyn and Kaitlin. Took even longer for Steve, Tobi and Diego to join us.
Toby was the only person who could speak German, so he was the only one who knew where to meet the bus. But that dude was all over the place -_-
I got a bit annoyed with the drunk “but I’m not drunk” people… let’s leave it at that…
We were waiting for a while for the bus, so Kaitling decided to get a pretzel. I don’t know what the heck she was doing that took her so long because there are pretzel stands everywhere, but while she was gone, this random guy came up to us and started talking. I swear he was on something because everything he was saying didn’t make sense. Here’s how the conversation went: (he’s bold and we’re italicized)
Do you speak English?
Yea. Do you speak English?
Yea. I’m from Canada and they’re from the States.
Oh so you speak English.
Yea
So like do you speak Italian?
Not really. We’re going to learn.
So you don’t speak Italian?
No, we speak English.
Oh, so like you speak Italian?
…
Where are you from?
I’m from California, you know. The US… South America… Socal.. like in LA.
You mean North America?
Oh yea… like LA. You know LA?
-_- Don’t do drugs kids…
After a while of waiting (Italians are never on time…), the bus finally came around 7 (and they were supposed to pick us up at 6). It was a double decker. The girls got seats on the bottom deck and the boys were sitting at the top.
We find out at the pit stop that Steve threw up on himself. That’s what happens when you party for 4 nights straight.. lol poor guy… haha
One of the men who left at one of the stops forgot his wallet. It took me a while to try to translate that to the bus driver. By the time I ran out to try to give the wallet to the man, he was already gone.
When we got to our stop, I asked Tobi to return the wallet to the man since there was a number in it and he spoke German. Because the man was so grateful, he gave me a 20euro reward. It isn’t much, but hey, 20euros can last me a week here [=
It was 11 when we got back to our rooms at Kolping. I took a shower and went down to the kitchen to eat a late dinner that Tobi promised to cook us.
By midnight, my Oktoberfest excursion was over [=
