Ok so I know that you probably want to hear more about WHAT I’m doing rather than my thoughts on things I’m experiencing, but that’s not quite as interesting for me to write about, honestly. Don’t get me wrong, I have had a lot of fun and I’ll write a bit about my time in Stuttgart and München in this post. However, what I find much more fascinating are the cultural differences I’ve been noticing and my own growth and change through these experiences. So I apologize that I haven’t written much about what all I’ve been up to. I just find the actual experiences and thoughts much more substantial and interesting.
That being said, most of you know that that I went to Stuttgart with my abroad program and then to München for Oktoberfest. Stuttgart was a really fun day. One of our professors lives there and he gave us a tour of the city. We got to see the Stadtbibliothek (city library) and the incredible views from its roof, the Altstadt, and the Capital building. For those of you unaware, Stuttgart is the capital of Baden-Württemberg, the state in which Heidelberg lies. Seeing the capital was super fascinating and a great way to learn about Germany’s parliamentary system.
Last weekend I also went to München for Oktoberfest, which was such a fun experience. For everyone who actually knows me well, you know that not only am I not a big drinker, but I also really don’t like beer. So why go to the largest Bier festival in the world? I figure this is probably the only time I’ll be living in Germany so I might as well go. Oktoberfest is essentially a huge amusement park mixed with lots of drunk foreigners. Definitely more for tourists than locals, but it was still fun. I had some amazing roasted almonds and definitely around 3 pretzels in one day. My friend Breanne and I had a delicious German breakfast and the Weißwurst I had was soooo delicious. I still think about it. Breanne and I also did some sight-seeing before going to the fest grounds. We saw the Frauenkirche and Marienplatz. My favorite place, though, was the englischer Garten. Truly a beautiful place. I would wander through it every day if I could. Honestly, I went to München for Oktoberfest but my favorite part was definitely the Garten. LOL.
Ok so back to Oktoberfest. I went with Breanne, and 2 other friends from DU–Jason and Evan. Jason friend Abbie also met up with us. We went on 1 ride when we first got to the fest grounds, just for the heck of it. Then we went and got some delicious Brats for lunch and then found our way to a Brauerei. I honestly do not remember the name of it, and no, that’s not because I was drunk. It just had gross Bier so I didn’t think it was worth remembering. My friends and I all ordered Bier because that’s the only option, and the giant liter sized Mass was intimidating from the start. I am ashamed to admit that I did not finish the whole thing. I drank about 3/4 of it before I tapped out. It wasn’t yummy enough that I wanted to finish it and I am a superrrrrr lightweight so I was feeling the beer pretty quickly. We spent a few more hours at the fest grounds before leaving and getting crappy Mexican food for dinner. We caught an early train home the next day so all of us could catch up on homework before class.
Other than those two outings, I haven’t been doing much other than class. As i mentioned before, we are in the middle of placement exams so that’s taking up a lot of focus. Today was the Heidelberg Herbstfest and I got some delicious food and walked around the renaissance booths with friends. I also hiked this morning so my feet are aching pretty bad as I write this. I have around 11 miles of walking clocked for today already.
After exams are done, we have a break before actual semester classes begin. I am going to the Netherlands to visit Amsterdam with some friends and I will probably do some smaller trips around Germany, but we’ll see how all that turns out.
I still miss home immensely and it is honestly the most mundane things that I miss, like laughing in car rides with my goofy brothers and watching TV with my mom. But I finally feel like I am getting my footing under me and I am so excited for classes to start because those will be much more interesting than my preliminary class was.
Love you all and thanks for checking in! I’ll write again soon.
Meghan
Travels in Germany 