It's another morning in Munich and at 7:30am I am wondering whether all Munich works on or around the Oktoberfest. The subways are full with people wearing Dirndl and Lederhosen, but also carry Laptops and big purses.
Coming to the Munich office for the first time this week, the mystery of all the Dirndls and Lederhosen is being solved. People go to work already in preparation to go to the 'Wiesn' afterwards or ideally before 12 in order to still get a table in one of the tents and to have an excuse to start excessive drinking before it gets dark outside.
Around 6pm I make my way towards the Wiesn to meet a friend and his colleagues for free beer and "Hendl" (chicken). Sometimes I have wondered how foreign people know how to get there since all announcements in the station and the subways are in German or more Bavarian. But there is no way you could miss it since everyone seems to head in the same direction any time after 10am.
The Hacker tent is as popular as any other and considering that the rain is pouring down - am I glad I am not wearing a Dirndl now - the queues to get in are long and the tent full.
Here I am with an almost empty battery in my cell and nowhere dry to go to. It takes 20min before they let another group of people in and I make sure I am one of them. Inside I run into a friend from Eichstätt who even took a day off from work to come.
At the tables everyone is standing on the benches although I have to say this is a safety hazard since all the beer makes everyone so dizzy that standing on the solid floor is already a job some of them can't handle anymore. But the music is good, everyone is singing and drinking and eating and laughing and dancing and kissing and having a good time.
After some food and two sips of beer I am ready to do some bench-dancing and flirting myself. Being the only woman at the table was a privilege I only enjoy for about an hour. Suddenly a norwegian Dirndl-maid jumps up and dances with us. We have a lot of fun, especially me when I listen to the drunks trying to speak to her in English. The translation of one of the guys is just fabulous. I am really amazed how one can come up with such a story out of the blue on what the Norwegian is actually talking about.
That is an experience I haven't had in a few years since I am not the biggest fan of beer festivals! But it is fun - once a year. :)
