Alex is abroad in Munich, Germany, until August 2009.

I have definitely been conquered by the outrageously large and drunken German beer fest, and it is only day one, here in Munich. The day started at 8 a.m. with a group of five other Americans, and ended at 6 p.m. with three of us stumbling through the U-Bahn stations.

Oktoberfest is set up a lot differently than I would have expected, so here are some basics. It does not take place throughout the entire city, but rather in a designated area within the city limits, and the breweries set up giant buildings, that are full of nothing but tables as far as the eye can see. There are 14 of these, and then a lot of outdoor areas for “dining” as well. The only rule is that you have to be sitting in order to buy a beer (or multiple beers for your friends, if you can’t find enough seats). They only serve beer by the liter, and it has a higher alcohol content than most beers in Germany. They don’t start serving this beer until noon the first day, when the mayor of the town breaks open the first barrel with a hammer. Most people wear everyday clothing, but there is a large population of people that wear lederhosen and dirndls. Yes, those traditional German outfits that everyone thinks of when they imagine Germany. Surprisingly they are very popular among the local Germans, and not just tourists trying to fit in.

So, my day began at 8:30 a.m.: four of my friends from the program and a friend from NU that was visiting all met up in my room. We were up so early, because in order to actually get inside the tents (which is what they call the beer halls, but they are actually buildings), you have to stand in line, because there are so many people.

We made it to Oktoberfest after a 20-minute train ride and a 10-minute pretzel-buying stop. The first thing we saw when we walked in was the non-drinking area, which is full of cheap souvenirs and roller coasters. My friend remarked, “Man, this is like the state fair,” which is a very good description. But, we were not too concerned with roller coasters, we were just rushing to try to get into one of the tents. After running around finding out that all of the tents were full, we decided to wait it out in front of just one: Augustiner.

11:30 a.m.: We had been waiting about an hour and a half, in a crowd of Italians, Germans, Russians and Americans when a swarm of security guards came out. They pushed us all back and cleared a path for, who the security guard told us was “the boss.” The boss turned out to be a parade of people who were celebrating the opening of this tent, complete with a marching band. After the parade we all pushed to try to get inside, but just ended up smashed, with hardly any breathing room, about three feet from the door. We waited another two hours, hoping that somehow we could get in, but after chatting with a security guard in German (the benefits of knowing the language) we found out that the front door wasn’t opening for at least four more hours, if ever. Yikes! We decided to shoot for an outdoor table, because they seemed to be having more fun anyway.

2 p.m.: We meandered our way over to a rowdy area, with a new plan: get one person sitting at an outdoor table, and order a round for everyone. We found an outdoor seating area packed with wooden tables, overflowing with beer. My friend, Matt, found a seat at the edge of one of the tables farthest from a heating lamp (this was a concern because it was about 50 degrees, and we were wearing lederhosen and dirndls), next to some Australian and American men. The Australians kindly (drunkenly) offered me a seat, but I would have to climb over people, and I was the only one who could have the seat because I was a girl. This was the point at which the guys and I made a pact not to leave each other. I declined their seat and took one at the end. We found a waiter, who was pushing a cart of nothing but liters of beer, and ordered. Finally, some beer!

3 p.m.: So our plan didn’t work out quite as well as we hoped and we divided into two groups. I ended up staying at the original table, and the others went two tables away. The three of us at my table started chatting up these Australian and American men. Naturally, none of them spoke German and were all on vacation from their jobs, hoping for a week of nothing but straight drinking. At the very end of the table were some real German men, who knew the Munich drinking songs, and I would chime in every time they started singing. They perked up when they heard some young people singing along with this song, and happily passed down a bottle of Jagermeister to our end of the table, as a reward of sorts. I declined, as I was already about halfway through my second liter of beer, but it was nice to find at least a few real Germans. I taught the Australians and Americans the German drinking song, and eventually we had the whole table singing.

3:30p.m. – 5:30 p.m.: Though I had to deflect advances every now and then from the English-speaking, mid-30s men, they turned out to be great people to share a table with. They would buy huge pretzels to share with the table, and were curious about where and what we were all studying. Nothing extraordinary happened in this amount of time except for a lot of beer drinking, and a minor mishap with my earring (a cartilage one got pulled out of my ear and it was a little messy, but nothing a trip to the bathroom couldn’t fix).

6 p.m.: The two groups of us had merged again at some point, but now the total was down to three. After 2.5 liters of beer I was ready to hit the U-Bahn. Luckily, we never had to transfer lines and could take the same train all the way home. Once we got back I had just enough time to replace my dirndl with pajamas, and eat a small sandwich, before I fell asleep. My friend who is visiting and I woke up around 9 p.m. when one of my other friends called to see if we made it home okay. Originally we were going to try to do something tonight, but we all ended up sleepily making our way to a pub and buying not more beer, but tea for our headaches.

Hungover and tired, I am now ready to call it a day. Oktoberfest has definitely knocked me to the ground after just one day, but I will be going back for more soon enough.

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