You see now what I mean with Oktoberfest crazyness? These people are all dancing on tables!
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Three MBS Students and two Tyrolians whom we met at the Oktoberfest. (Lyonel from Geneva on the left, then Eliezer from Venezuela, the Tyrolian girl, myself and the Tyrolian guy). Notice the size of the beermug!
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Look at my dirndl - the traditional Austrian/Bavarian costume, many girls wear it for the Oktoberfest, and guys come in Lederhosn
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Pre-Wiesn Snack
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Oktoberfest crazyness

Wow! You have to be there to believe it!

I went to the Oktoberfest (Wiesn) last night and it was definitely an experience worth seeing once. You will either love it or hate it.

When my friends and I arrived last night, at around 5 pm, most tents didn't let anymore people in, so we ended up at the Hofbrauhaus tent. Now this is the most famous tent and it is full of Spanish, Italian, North American and British tourists who think that they can behave like the greatest idiots on earth just because it's Oktoberfest and they get served beer in 1 Liter mugs. Because of that girls get many inappropriate comments and are harrassed by drunken guys. Thankfully this did not happen to us last night, we stayed mostly with our friends and only left our table for the short way to the bathroom. Our table was made for 8-10 people, we were 14. That was so tight that it was difficult to take up your beermug and toast every five minutes in good old Oktoberfest tradition.

The atmosphere in the tent was really crazy. By seven o'clock, noone was sitting around the tables anymore, everyone was dancing ON the tables. EVERYONE! Every once in a while one of the benches falls over and everyone lands flat face on the table, beermugs fall all over and everything is soaked in beer. Very disgusting, I tell you!

Finally, at eleven, the lights are turned off and people start leaving the tents. Some people who have passed out are woken up and kicked out by security people, those who are still sober are annoyed at all the drunken people who are unable to walk straight, and girls are especially annoyed at the immoral proposals that drunken guys shout at them.

But if you are with your friends and stick with them it's a whole lot of fun and you can laugh about all those idiot tourists.

Overall, I'd say it was an unbelievable and fun experience, and everyone has to see the Oktoberfest at least once in their lives!

First Impressions of Munich

1. It's Oktoberfest time! This means that people run around Munich in traditional clothing (Lederhosn and Dirndl) with huge white and blue hats that look like beer mugs. Quite interesting... And, of course.. you see drunk people around the city - before noon.
2. People are sooo friendly here! They start talking to you in the cable car, praising their city, talking about nonesense and always smiling. That's the Munich spirit
3. Architecture, architecture, architecture! In Munich, every building is more beautiful than the next one. It's amazing!
4. Traffic is crazy confusing. Especially now with the Oktoberfest, so many streets are blocked, people drive like maniacs and the street system isn't even half as logical as it would be in Montreal. Good luck to everyone driving here!
5. 75% of cars driven here are German ones. AMAZING! During any given minute you'll be passed by a 6 series BMW, Mercedes S-Class and a Porsche - all new ones! It's crazy, where do those people have that money from?!
6. Munich is awesome! The mentality here is great, the architecture beautiful,.... I'm sure I'll have a great time here :)

Yes! I found one! An original dutch windmill!
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At Paul's place in Groningen, Netherlands. With some souveniers from Canada.
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View towards Koblenz
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German Corner in Koblenz - where the Mosel and the Rhine rivers meet
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Kaiserslautern with Anne
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Some of my old friends in Austria at very very fun party! Notice our funky hats :)
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Lake Traunsee - our swimming *tanning* lake
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A lake in the mountains
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Austrian Alps... oh so beautiful!
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...the view
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Me in the grass.. enjoying the gorgeous view
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Austria :)
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My cousin Dietmar and his wife, Anita
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Grandma and me at my cousin's wedding
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A month has passed....

I haven't had Internet for a month, therefore I couldn't update my blog in quite some time.

Spending a month with my family, and going to Germany and the Netherlands for a week inbetween felt really really good.

I spent my time in Austria with quite a few nights out, catching up with my old friends from 'back home'. Also, I went up into the mountains a few times, strolled around Salzburg and Linz, went swimming in the 19 degrees cold lake Traunsee (well.. tanning on the shore, not swimming), quickly visited Munich, and attended my cousin's wedding. Almost every week I went somewhere else to see another family member. *FUN*

A week ago I managed to go to Kaiserslautern to visit Anne, Ioana and Nico, three German exchange students whom I've met at Queen's last year. Although neither of them really likes the city, I do. The interesting thing about Kaiserslautern is that just outside the city is the US's biggest Airbase outside the USA. So whenever you walk around the city of Kaiserslautern, you are sure to hear some American soldiers around. Weird!

After Kaiserslautern I went with Anne to her parents' place in Vallendar, near the beautiful city of Koblenz. Many Austrians (somewhat including myself) think that there are no nice places in Germany North of the Alps. Weeelll... that is SO wrong! Koblenz is one of the nicest cities I have ever visited. Unfortunately my visit was short, as I was due to go to the Netherlands on the following day. However, this was also fun. Much of the Netherlands is below sealevel, and I think that there is not one mountain in this country. Weird, but very, very beautiful. In the Netherlands I spent my time with Bjorn and Paul, two former housemates of mine in Kingston. It was a short, but awesome reunion!

I'd like to thank everyone for their hospitality during my stay with them. Thanks guys, I had an awesome week!!!

And now I have finally arrived in Munich, and school starts in two days. I can't wait :) After all, I have had a lot of vacation now, and it's time to get serious again....