one with the germans

--Before I begin let me first explain the drinking rules and regulations in Bavaria. If you are between 16 and 18 you can drink beer and wine and go out to clubs, however you must leave the club by 12 (no later). (This curfew rule is surprisingly followed very well by teenagers, as if you are caught under 18 and in a club past 12 you are brought home in a cop car). If you are 18 and older you can drink whatever you like (including hard liquor) and stay out as long as you like. --
This weekend was an especially exciting weekend here in Germany because not only did I have a great weekend, but I had a great weekend right here in Ingolstadt! (quick reminder, Ingolstadt is the closest main town to Dorndorf.)

This weekend after work on Friday I packed up my overnight bag, grabbed my sleeping bag and headed into Ingolstadt for a weekend full of plans and adventures. Friday night I went to the church youth group as I have done the past few weekends. The youth group is obviously all in German but as I have made a few friends from the church weekend last week I was able to sit and chatt with some of the girls as the night went on. After church Marie (a 16 year old girl I that goes to the youth group) and I headed over to her brothers flat in downtown Ingolstadt to get ready for our evening out (We slept at her brothers flat so we didn’t have to go home the same night).

The two of us first headed out to a small party being held as a school fundraiser at a club nearby. Now for all us Canadians this is a very odd thing. There is no way that a high school would allow a fundraiser to be held at a club, selling alchol, in order to raise funds for the 12th grade end of the year party. But alas this is Germany so why not. To explain this party a little more, anyone could come (you didn’t have to go to the high school), so there was a very mixed crowd. Anywhere from 16 year olds to 20 year olds were there, even a few teachers showed up. (Again a more German thing than Canadian, running into teachers on a night out. Teachers often will go to the same clubs as some of their students, so it isn’t unheard of to end up drinking with your teachers, sometimes your teacher will even buy a round for everyone!) The party only sold beer and wine because OBVIOULY, you shouldn’t encourage young people to drink “hard” alcohol, that would just be irrespirable for a school organized event.
The party was ok but both Marie and I wanted to check out one of the busier clubs so we went back to Niles’ (Marie’s brother) apartment to wait for Sarah (Marie’s sister) so the three of us could all go out together.

Once Sarah was arrived we walked over to Suxul, a club with techno in the basement and hip-hop/dance music on the main floor. Suxul was very fun and we got to dance the night away. The only thing that wasn’t so fun was the mass amounts of smoking. People smoke a lot of cigerattes here, so in the techno part of the club it started to get a little hard to breathe. It being in the basement the air couldn’t really escape as quickly so it just turned into a mass second hand smoke cloud! As a result I smelled like a chain smoker for the rest of the night and even the next day despite my attempts to wash the smell out of my hair. YUM!

Once we decided to call it a night we walked back to Niles’ apartment where we would be sleeping for the night. Niles has a one room flat with a small bathroom. With so little space Marie took the bed and Sarah and I slept on the floor. This was no probable for the three of us, however, when, around 7 in the morning Niles came home with 2 of his friends we then had 4 people sharing the floor and Niles pushed Marie over and they slept head to toe in the bed. Let’s just say it was a little cozy.

When I woke up Saturday morning I packed up my things and left the apartment around 12 with Marie and Sarah. After dropping my things off in my car and saying goodbye to the girls, who had to head back home, I made my way down-town to have breakfast. I sat and had a bagel and read my book as I waited to meet up with two other girls from the church, Johanna and Deborah.

Johanna and Deborah had invited me to go shopping earlier in the week and as I had already made plans to go for coffer with a friend of mine on Saturday it worked out perfectly to go out with them the same day. When the two girls arrived around 1 o’clock we shopped and talked, as girls like to do! Both of the girls speak perfect English, having gone to an international school when they were young, so it was nice to not have to think too much in German.

Before we were done shopping we stopped for a quick bite to eat and then stopped in a few more stores before I had to leave them and meet up with someone else for coffee. Now this may sound like I am Miss.Popular here in Germany, going from friend to friend all weekend but let me make something very clear, this is not only my first time going out with these girls but I really have made very few friends here in Germany up until now. This is not to say I was totally alone, Jutta and Holgar have been great friends but they are a little older than me (they have 2 kids over the age of 13) so going out with girls my age here in Germany is not only a luxury but a “first” for my year abroad.

Last but certainly not least of my adventures of this past weekend was coffee with a girl I randomly met in a bakery a few weeks ago. She was working at the bakery and when she found out I was a girl living in Dorndorf who doesn’t speak German a few questions were raised. After we talked for a while I found out that she also did time abroad only she went to France. She said she understood how it was to have so few friends and gave me her number in case I ever wanted to get together for coffee. So we decided to meet for coffee on this particular Saturday afternoon; and it went very well. Having no real idea of who this girl was I was a little worried that things might not go as well as hoped. However we got along really well and enjoy a lot of the same things, we both run, she skis and I snowboard etc.

After all this excitement I headed home Saturday night to go to bed early. As you can see I once again had a very eventful weekend full of new adventures and new experiences. I can’t yet call Germany home but I can definitely call it a place I love, and I am growing to love more every day.

P.S I’m sorry if this post sounded a little squished together but I wanted to re-cap my weekend as best I could without dragging it out too long.

Today: laundry, pumpkin waffles, missin’ my homeland

God, Beer and Greece

This past weekend I spent at a church weekend/get-together with my host family. It was interesting to say the least but all in all I had a great time. I got to practice my German (A LOT!) and I got to meet some other girls my age.
The weekend consisted of games and sermons and free time etc. and because it’s a church weekend in Germany is obviously involved drinking! Although I didn’t drink (as memories from octoberfest are still a little to fresh) I hung out in the church’s bar area on Friday night. (The bar isn’t actually in the church; it is just on the church grounds; in the same building as the sleeping arrangements). The weekend was really fun but as the weather gets colder more and more activities are moved indoors and people like to enjoy the warmth of a heated room and a good German beer.

Speaking of it getting colder, I AM GOING TO GREECE IN 12 days! Only moly! I really can’t even write this post without wanting to talk about Greece. I have been in Germany for 2 and half months and although I love it here, I am so excited to move on to my next European country. It is crazy to think but by January I will have been in 6 different European countries. How crazy is that? I am just too excited, I am sure you can see why it is difficult to recap a good but rather lack luster weekend when all you want to do is talk about all the truly fantastic plans you have ahead. But don’t worry I plan on giving full updates about Greece while I am there. I will be in Greece for a week so I am sure I will find time to go on the internet for a little while and brag!

Today: Hanna Montana in German, apple cake, giant work vests

Oktoberfest

This past weekend was the weekend of Oktoberfest in Munich. 4 of the other Intermenno kids came down to stay with me and we crashed at a friend’s house in Ingolstadt (about an hour train ride outside of Munich).

To explain Oktoberfest, it is a bit like Vegas, there are drunken people everywhere, there are tits popping out of about every girls shirt, it’s pretty over-rated and well… what happens at Oktoberfest stays at Oktoberfest!

First let me explain the drunks, the first day we went into Munich we got there around 9 in the morning on the Friday and the crowd wasn’t too big but the tents were all already nearing maximum capacity. There were quite a few drunk people but no one has passed out on the street yet and people have refrained from puking their guts out in public at this point. Later on when we came back at night that is when the drunk people were stumbling around, puking and talking to themselves.

Boobs. If anyone has ever seen a Dirndl (the typical Bavarian dress, (Bavaria is a state inside of Germany)) then you know it does amazing things for the female form. However the people at Oktoberfest are not all young and beautiful, so when you get to see a bit of a show from some aging women, the dirndl somewhat loses its charm.

Overrated. Oktoberfest is over rated simply because the crowds are too big and no gets to see the real Munich. When people see Munich during Oktoberfest they often see it when it is jam packed with people and it super load, and if those two distractions aren’t enough to bother you, you are probably seeing Munich through drunk eyes. No matter how you see Munich during Oktoberfest, be sure to come back and see it again when it is calm and quiet and you have time to explore the city. Also a word of advice, if you want to see Munich and still want the Oktoberfest feel, almost every major town in Bavaria has Volksfests, where they serve beer by the liter, there are roller coasters, Dirndl and lederhosen. It’s pretty much everything you would get out of Oktoberfest, just in a smaller atmosphere, and where everything is cheaper!

What happens at Oktoberfest stay at Oktoberfest. This saying is not made because of embarrassing or risky things that happen at this festival it is simply because if you are drinking Oktoberfest beer (which is brewed to have a higher alcohol content) you probably won’t remember a whole lot of your night the next morning.

Now to quickly highlight my weekend! I had an amazing time hanging out with my friends from Intermenno. Three of them came Thursday night and we all spent the day in Munich on Friday, doing a walking tour, checking out Oktoberfest and trying to get into a beer tent. Jodi was coming Friday night so we gave up our hope or being let into a beer tent and headed back to Ingolstadt early to pick her up. Not wanting to trek all the way back to Munich (Oktoberfest shuts down around 12 anyway) we decided to explore the night life of Ingolstadt. In Ingolstadt we actually ended up at this dance club/ rec center/ community art project/ techno dj event/ random place where we got to go dancing which was quite interesting to say the least. Later we came back to the house we were staying to crash in the tent in the back yard. Saturday, again, we headed back to Oktoberfest to explore and check things out however it was crazy busy by the time we got there and it was obvious that the only way we could get into a beer tent would involve waiting in line for at least 3 hours. Instead of waiting in line we decided to go explore more of Munich. Rebecca, Andrew and Nolan all went to Dachau (a town a few subway stops away) and Jodi and I did a walking tour of Munich. (Side note: I love Munich a lot, so going on my third walking tour I am getting the hang of where things are and what their significance is. I’m hoping by the time my sister comes to visit I will be able to give the tour myself!) We all met up again around 6 and decided to hit up the Augustiner beer hall in Munich. Augustiner beer is wonderful like many German beers. (Germans’ truly don’t joke around when it comes to all things Beer!) Afterward we went to another bar where we had some more beer and later on we eventually found our way back to the train station and home. Although we all had moments that were not in our finest state, over all the weekend was a success and I can officially say I conquered Oktoberfest.

p.s the picture is of the 5 of us in my friends backyard where we camped out for the weekend! Thanks again Jutta and Holger!

today: train stations, sleep, officially 2 months in germany