PROUST!

Warning: This post will probably be long because I haven't updated in a week & I was in Munich for Oktoberfest all weekend(lots to say!) Oh & Proust is how you toast people in Germany...like Cheers!

So last week...my second week of classes was good. I am definitely getting more of a feel for them & they should be good. They are still pretty long but since they are once a week it really isn't bad. Tomorrow I register for my outside course at Queen Mary University so I am pretty excited about that!

Wednesday night a group of us went to see Billy Elliot the musical & OMG it was SOOOOO good! Def the best show I have seen so far here! I never saw the movie but the story is SO good! & the kids in it are so good, esp the lead. He was so little but was such a good dancer. I know that's thezn point of it but it still really was amazing! I also thoroughly enjoyed the kid who played Michael(him dressing/ acting like a girl= genius!) I really want to see it on Broadway now to see the changes/ see it again!!!

Thursday night I saw my first play here, Under the Blue Sky, for class. It was quite interesting. A bit boring towards the end, but it was enjoyable overall. Some really great acting!

After the show, I then headed to London Heathrow Airport to spend the night there to begin my epic journey to Munich. My flight for Munich(well Zurich..I had a layover) was at 6am on Friday but there was no way I could get there early enough in the morning because of the public transportation so I went at night. I slept for a few hours on a bench. It wasn't too bad. There were a good amount of people doing the same thing! hehe! After 3 hours in the air, with a stop in Zurich(& I got swiss chocolate on the flight..woo!), I made it Munich & met Kristin at the airport. It was so good to see her! We hopped right on a train, met her friends Jackie & Stephanie& then hopped on another train to go to Fussen to see pretty castles(most notably Neuschwanstein Castle aka Disney Castle). It was a 2 hour train ride(yea lots of traveling that day) but it was so beautiful! The castle is amazing! We had this really creepy yet amusing tour guide as well. It was kinda rushed though because we wanted to make a pub crawl back at our hostel, so we like trudged our way uphill after the tour to the buses(it's very complicated to get to the castle). After many hours on planes, trains & buses, I was quite exhausted but my day was not even close to being over...

We got back from the castles & went to our hostel where we got ready in like 5 minutes for the pub crawl. I am so glad we made it back though! It was crazy & super fun! There were tons of people & we went to beer gardens(where I got to have my first liter..yes liter..of beer). We met crazy American guys & crazy Australian guys(lots of them come for Oktoberfest) & then my favorite, crazy German guys(such as Wolfgang haha). The night was quite adventurous & hilarious, complete with Kristin trying to steal a road sign & being threatened with being arrested, her arguing with the lady at the pizza place &walking forever to some bar with hot Australian guy, among many other things. Finally at 3am, I got to bed... I survived that long with 3 hours of airport sleep(yea be impressed haha).

However we only slept for about 3 hours because we woke up at 6:30 to get ready to go to Oktoberfest opening day. On the train back from Fussen we met an American guy(who now lives in Germany) who has been to Oktoberfest & told us we should get there at like 6:30 to get in a tent. The beer is not served until noon but you need to be seated to get it so people line up to get into the tents really early. We still thought we would be ok getting up at 6:30, but we weren't. We probably got to Oktoberfest around 8 or 8:30 & the lines were so long & crazy! We still, however stood in them & got very smushed. It was also freezing..quite an experience. They opened the doors & we were so close to getting in, but did not. We finally gave up waiting & walked around a bit. There were so many more people there at that point. We finally were able to get into a tent, though we didn't sit down. Well we did for a bit at a reserved table for Kurz Manfred but we eventually got kicked out when he & his party came. We did, however, get to be in the tent at noon when the beer is served. There's big celebration & then the beermaids carry tons of liters at once to the tables & take no prisoners while doing it. Oh I didn't mention too how so many people are decked out in their traditional garb(beer maid outfits, hats, lederhosen the works!) it's quite fabulous!

We then left Oktoberfest, intending to rest up, but stopped by a bar in order to get beer(since we still didn't & it was past noon now!) The bar stop ended up being such a good idea. We met this crazy 43 year old man Christian, who though ended up being creepy was HILARIOUS! He was a regular at the bar & kept being served drinks & such. He also had the traditional trousers on & traded them with our friend Jon. It was the most hilarious thing. He eventually took them back though cuz they were like 3,500 euros & made of gost skin or whatever he said! haha! We had a great time with him. He kept telling me I looked like some family named Kelly in Holland & he made us guess his age. He also told us some weird drinking game & ordered drinks for some of us. We ended up being there for several hours & it was amazing(though we did leave when he was too creepy).

On our way back to the hostel, we made stops at stores where they were selling the outfits. We had fun trying them on, however none of us bought them. They were pretty expensive! We finally made it back to the hostel where I took a very much needed nap! Woke up a couple hours later &headed to this church next to Oktoberfest where you can look out at the whole thing. It was quite a trek up the tower but it was dark at this point & it was BEAUTIFUL to see Oktoberfest all lit up & such. We then headed back to Oktoberfest & met Seth & Chuck & this is where our night got totally fun!

We met them because they were drinking beer not in a tent, we we didn't think was allowed but there are outside stands so we got some beer there & hung out with them. They were in the air force & super fun! Jackie, Jon & Stephanie also met up with us then & we all drank & ate 3 roasted chickens(which were delicious, but super messy, making for hilarious times, especially since Kristin was so into it). We then decided to start going on some of the rides....

We started with the fun house where you wear these crazy glasses which make everything crazy & it was really hard to go through it all. A super fun time though!! Then we proceeded to ride some crazy in the dark with lights spinning ride & a roller coaster. We also all on the way found liter glasses which we claimed as our free stolen souvenirs..hehe! After leaving Oktoberfest we ended up in some bar for a bit, meeting more fun Germans & then we headed to the hostel. After hanging out a bit, everyone else went out dancing but I was too exhausted & went to bed. It was an incredible day though at Oktoberfest.

In the morning we got up & checked out of the hostel. Then Kristin & Stephanie left & Jackie already did, so I was left a bit on my own in Munich since my flight was not until later. I walked around a bit & saw some of the touristy sights, most notably New Town Hall with the Glockenspiel. I also went on part of a free tour where I learned some cool history about Munich. It was lead by an American which was nice because since I don't know German, I really didn't know much of what was going on all weekend & was glad to learn things! I left the tour early though to head back to the airport to go home. I finally got back to my room in London around 10pm. I was super exhausted but the weekend was super incredible! Today I spent the day resting & catching up on everything else ready for another week of classes. The weekend was totally worth it though!