German Girl

About a week ago, my friend Tara and I decided that we wanted to go to Oktoberfest. We felt that we could not be in Germany and not check it out--it would be some kind of sin or something. For a week we looked at different deals and travel groups, and finally Tara's HostDad found us a sweet deal. For 30euros each we could go roundtrip to Munich on a Wochenende-Pass. The Wochenende-Pass allows its user(s) to travel from midnight to 3AM the following day ALL over Germany, but only on the RB and RE trains (regional). Basically, this means that instead of taking ONE (fast-moving) train from Hannover to Munich, we took about six. These regional trains chug slowly through the countryside of Germany--Ina & Lars said that we would be seeing 'lots of the backyards of Germany.' It was a great experience for us because we got to get out and walk around in all these small towns--and most towns are a lot nicer than can be assumed from their train stations. While I was travelling with my cousin Kate (and this trip reinforced it) I always felt disappointed when I pulled into a new city--even in the biggest, most beautiful cities, pulling into the train station always made it look like we were about to tour a slum. At the end of our adventure, over hot cocoa & tropea (I think it was some kind of Ovaltine?) during a stopover in Ehrfart, Tara & I compiled a list of memories that we didn't want to forget. This trip was a grand adventure.

At about 4AM Sat my alarm woke me from the 45 minute nap I had managed to squeeze in after Harry-Potter-Nacht and getting all my stuff together. I grabbed my backpack--with my Sudoku, books, knitting, and journal packed--pulled on my gloves and scarf and decided not to take my jacket. Thinking: if it is this nice at 4am in the north of Germany, it must be even nicer in the South. (Lesson learned Germany, thanks.) I walked to Kurze-Kamp-Strasse to catch the 4:38 into town to meet Tara for the 5:30 train to Göttingen and first leg of the adventure. We thought we would be the only fools using a Wochenende Pass to go from Hannover to Munich, but immediately these two guys proved us wrong. Reeking of alcohol (already!) and lugging casses of beer onto the train, these two guys told us that they were French and heading to Oktoberfest. When we got to Göttingen & then followed us to the next train, this old man scoffed at us for (1) believing those guys were French and (2) going all the way to Munich for Oktoberfest when (apparently) he was attending a Göttingen Street Fair that promised to be even better. Okay....

At our second stop we had an hour to kill, so Tara & I went to Storch's Cafe for frühstuck (breakfast). The coolest thing about this stop were the toilets in the cafe--they were self cleaning. This little arm came down on the seat and the seat rotated around! I was scared at first--like some alien was coming out of the toilet--but it was really cool. We got back on the train and had the 'good fortune' of sitting next to some bitchy German HS-ers. Óne of the most amazing things about travelling (for me) is seeing how similarly awful the middle school-age set is no matter which country you are in or what language they are speaking. These girls were mimicking us and making comments and stuff--which is funny because consistently looking at people and laughing or mimicking the way we laugh aren't obvious. These girls were on some kind of school trip; at some point their chaperone came to gather them up to exit the train. They stood in front of the doors with their piles of suitcases in tow; one girl paused before exiting to gather her other bag and the train doors slammed shut and wouldn't open again! The girls banged from the inside and their parents banged from the outside, but this is Germany and the trains are on a tight schedule and away we went. Karma is a bitch.

The trains were running late (probably because all the kids creating mini-frat parties in the cabins were slowing them down) and we arrived in Treuchingen with time to kill--we wanted to ditch some of the people we had been surrounded by and decided to explore the town. It was drizzling and at first it seemed as though the town was merely a post office and a hairdresser. We retraced our steps, growing ever wetter, and found that the town also had a park & a kiosk. Following signs for a schlossmuseum (castle) we came upon this adorable spa-town-like town center and sat down for a hot chocolate (me) and ice cream (Tara). I mention this only because the choice to wait for another train made our experience. On the next train we lucked out by sitting next to this group of guys we gave us some chocolate and invited us to play cards with them. A game of Asshole quickly led to an invitation to hang out during Oktoberfest with Stefan, Nils, Christopher und Mirco. When we got to Munich we met another friend of theirs and then had to find Oktoberfest (they got a little turned around).

Eventually, we found it. Walking up to Oktoberfest was a neat experience for me. My mom had lived in Munich 25 years before and gone to Oktoberfest the same weekend--it was like I was channeling her spirit or something. :) Anyway, Oktoberfest is like a huge drunken carnival. There were roller coasters and a ferris wheel and beer tents and bratwurst. It felt like any carnival you could go to in your hometown--with just more (much more!!) drunken people. For WM-ers, take your local carnival & add blow-out and you get Oktoberfest. It was fun, but also kind of 'Hmmm... so what is the big deal?' Maybe I just wasn't drunk enough :)

We tried to storm into a beer tent (which are a lot like the one in Busch Gardens--you know, where they have that hilarious Halloween show every year) but only half the group made it (tara, stefan, and I did not so we went over to an outdoor tent). Stefan bought us beer and we went and got Bratwurst and talked to these Bavarians. Well, 'talked to' is probably stretching it a little. We drank with these guys decked out in traditional costumes and I (as I like to refer to it) 'put things up my nose.' I smoked the second cigarette of my life (with surprise ease--must be from all the second-hand smoke I am used to! arg!) and then these guys started snorting stuff and offered some around. Now, I like doing things 'as the locals do' (Kate: thing Greek goat guts!) so I'm like 'Bavarians. Oktoberfest. Putting things up my nose! Yes.' They couldn't exactly tell us what the stuff was, but when I said, 'Coke?' They started laughing and saying, 'No! No. No cocaine.' I snorted some kind of grape-sugar which CLEARED my nasal passages & actually kind of hurt and some kind of tobacco--I think. Anyway, if I get nose cancer later in life we know why... :-P

We met up with the other guys and walked around--growing ever wetter and colder. At one point I fended off an 'attack' from some GrossGermans as we made our way to the bathroom. My cousin Kate and I perfected this when we travelled. Likely, most people you meet will speak some English but not everyone speaks Spanish. 'Lo siento. No hablo aleman.' (Sorry, I don't speak German...) We hung out with our trainboys for all the of night, hanging out consisting of following one around as he attempted to get into the pants of every girl at Oktoberfest and then parted ways when they wanted to go clubbing. I would've gone but Tara was feeling tired/sore--all those things you feel when you have been up all night, on the train forever, and then standing outside for another forever in the cold and wet. We missed the first train connection series, so we decided to take any train out of inebriated Munich that would start us out on our journey.

We ended up in Resenberg. Our connecting train wouldn't leave for another 5 hours and we thought we could wait it out in the Hauptbahnhof there. We exited our train--teeth chattering--and saw that the Hbhf was closed :( I wanted to cry--we were freeeeezing. We followed the crowd into a Burger King (sweet commercialism! always opened!) which sheltered us until about 3AM--then they closed. Tara and I walked outside, shivering and wondering what to do... some taxi drivers told us that a club was still open. We walked through the rain to 'Suzie Wong's Lounge' (how un-PC does that sound???) but didn't feel like paying the 5euro to get in. We stumbled around the town and found a DonnerKebab stand and went in. I ordered some Turkish Tea (which the man gave me for free! guess he saw what drowned rats we were!) and then sat down. The owner of the establishment came to chat us up. I told him I was American and he shared that he was from Iraq. Oh sh**. I was like, 'Uhh...sorry...' But, with no common language between us, he managed to communicate that as a Kurd he was sympathetic to the American cause. (Luckily I have been reading the NYtimes and know a bit more about Kurdish oppression than I used to.) It was really neat to have a quasi-political discussion using hand gestures and bits of German.

After awhile we made our way back to the train station where the snack kiosk had opened (to catch all those kids on the way home from Suzie Wong's I guess). We were standing by the lamb roasting for kebabs (sooo warm) when this random German guy started to talk to us. Now, you get to a point where you just don't freaking want to talk to anyone, especially when you have no common language. I don't want to sound ungrateful--I feel really glad when people talk to me in English, but that doesn't always mean I owe you a conversation. I spoke to Tara as fast as I could--about my annoyance with this character--but he persevered. Finally, he invited us to ___ with his friends. He was never specific about what he wanted us to do, but when I pressed on he said, 'Whatever you want' and made some lovely gestures. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. Not only is that a GROSS idea, but his friends were the group of kids that we had nicknamed 'The Freaks.' This one had made freaking ANNOYING bird calls on the train ride from Munich (shut the F-- up!) and there was this girl with her hair dyed pink that continuously shot dirty looks at me after I ended up next to BirdCallGuy in line at BK (no, I do NOT want your boyfriend). They were all dirty and icky and EWWW. So, we were exhausted and wet and I thought I was going to burst out crying so Tara and I FLED and this guy followed us out... 'Please. You are very beautiful.' We just shouted 'NEIN' at him and made our way to the overhang in front of the Hbhf--it would open in 1/2 hour.

Our ride home was pleasant--not supereventful cause we were EXHAUSTED. On one leg we met these sweet East German Granmothers named Heidi & Edith. We saw Edith's granddaughter when they got off at their stop. :) Supercute! They were really friendly--had just come home from a cruise and tour in the Mediterranean. The trip home was also relatively Freak-free.... We did see them briefly in Ehrfart. When we finally pulled into Hannover Tara and I hugged goodbye and I ran downstairs justintime to catch my UBahn home--what a good omen! It was nice to get off and Kurze-Kamp-Strasse and wander through 'my' territory and wonder... How long will I live in Europe? One year? Two...? Forever? I guess it will depend whether or not I meet <3<3Hans<3<3.

It was a great weekend and a grand adventure! Tara and I plan to take at least one or two 'long cuts' per month to different places in Germany--we want to know Germany! Hopefully, we will get to visit our OktoberfestBoys. But, of course, no one will ever replace my cousin Juan as my TravelPartnerInCrime!