Oktoberfest

World Series. Super Bowl. Final Four. All are the zenith of their respective sports. If beer drinking were to become any more of a competition, the finals would be held here in munich at Oktoberfest. Started nearly two hundred years ago, Oktoberfest has been an international beer drinking extravaganza, catering to generations of Bavarian beer swillers. Only Munich's 6 breweries are allowed to serve beer there, and they have permanent tents which are flooded by nearly one million visitors over the duration of the festival. For just over two weeks the city shuts down to drink beer. Any more information is redundant. It all has to do with beer, which seems to be fine by me.

I'd been in training literally from the day we got off the plane here. Beer is cheaper than water in this city, and that's is not an exaggeration. My beer intake has never been higher, and with such great beer, how can you say no? There is one difference at Oktoberfest, or the "wiesen" as it's referred to locally. The beer is not only a more potent brew made specially for the occasion, but it's only served in 1L Mas Beers. OK. It looks like I have my work cut out for me. Let's see how it all unfolded...

The plan was to join a group from work on a trip to the wiesen after work. One small problem: I had a project due and had to stay late. So I spent an hour and a half at work before I could get out and meet the rest of the guys there. No problem, right? Wrong. I arrived at the grounds with a cellphone in hand trying to locate my group in the madness. It took some time to navigate the stumbling crowds of drunkards, but once I made it to the tent, I fell right in line.The images which spring to the reader's mind are correct. Lederhosen, dirndls, oom-pah bands, huge beers, huge boobs, and of course thousands of drunks. I wasn't so much surprised by the scene, it's what I thought of too, but I was just take back by the fact that all this exists to drink beer. The atmosphere is chaotic. Tons of people milling around a tent with beers in hand, lots of yelling and singing, and of course dancing on tables. It got out of control really fast. Before I knew it I was singing along with the hordes of beer drinkers and raising my glass at every chance I got. The cheers at Oktoberfest can get violent. Smashed glasses seemed almost common place. The actual process of toasting seemed only in place to encourage the rapid beer swilling.
After 4L of beer, the group of us which was still left got the bright idea to ride the Looping Munchen roller-coaster in the rain. It seemed to do nothing except stir up an absurdly large amount of beer which I had guzzled over the course of 3 hours. Luckily none of us got sick.Oktoberfest was something that I never planed on going to prior to coming here. Living in munich provided the best opportunity to experience the worlds largest drinking festival. If you want to come next year, you need to book your hotel NOW. The entire city is booked. Munich practically doubles in population for these two weeks. Stumbling drinks overrun the streets in the evening. Vomit on the sidewalk is commonplace. But the city, and the world, loves it. Thousands of people drink themselves into a stupor, only to wake up and do it again the next day. All in the name of beer!

PROST! (cheers)