Farewell to Munchen (Munich). My stay in Bavaria was exceptional, and also educational. While traveling in Bali, I made friend from Munich. She invited me to come stay once I got to Europe, so I did, and I gained a great deal of insight spending several nights with her and her roommates. I enjoyed my stay very much because I learned a lot through casual conversation about German life and it also reminded me of home, just chatting and laughing with friends over dinner.
Some things I learned about Bavaria:
Life is very structured and punctual. First of all, no one j-walks (I have a feeling this term is politically incorrect, so I apologize if it is and someone is offended). There could be a huge gap in traffic, only one car far away, even, and everyone still stands there and waits for the walk signal. An opposite from life in Asia, but even for life in America that was strange. Also, I caught the bus from Munich to Prague and it was scheduled to leave at 5 p.m. At 16:58 the bus driver turned on the engine and as soon as the clock turned to 17:00 he put the bus in reverse. Good on Germany, structure is nice.
They really like good beer. So first of all, Oktoberfest is Munich specific (not an all over Germany event). When the prince of Bavaria married the princess of somewhere (Austria?), he bought her a field and there they had a two week party with free beer for everyone and horse races. 200 years later the beer is not free and they've done away with the horse races, but the population jumps from ~1.5 million to almost 8 million for this world famous beer fest.
Also about beer. It was originally regulated by law that brewers could only use three ingredients, which is why it is so delicious and pure. Its no longer law, but the Bavarians are proud, so they still brew their beer in the same pure fashion.
More about beer. Bavaria has had two beer revolutions. The first one was when the king tried to raise the price of beer (hundreds of years ago?), and the Bavarians set fire to the beer halls and let the king know, that is the one thing you cannot mess with. More recently (1995?) a man who lived next to a beer hall complained to a lawyer that it was too noisy too late. Since beer halls serve food they should have to stop serving and close by 10 p.m. The lawyer somehow convinced congress to pass this law but again the Bavarians revolted, protesting in the streets, and the law was repealed. Such a beautiful story of unity among citizens of Bavaria.
On drinking today. Beer is part of the culture, kids can have a glass with dinner, it's normal. My friend was a girl scout, she joined around the age of 13 or 14. She joined because all of the events were social drinking activities. Imagine the scouts of America being based around a drinking culture! The thought is laughable!
Ah, and the young adult night life. As an American I just cannot keep up. We went to the club around midnight, and I was quite proud to remain on my feet until 5 in the morning. As my friend said (trying to make me feel better that I dragged her away so 'early'), it is almost like something you have to train for, this staying out until 8 in the morning (one club even remains open until 4 in the afternoon...the next day!).
I did a couple tours in Munich, one city tour where I learned a great deal and the guide was hilarious, and a tour of Dachau, a very somber experience. The tours were fascinating, but I also really enjoyed discussing history with my friends. I felt like a(n) historian getting an inside perspective on German life after the war. The war has been over for almost 70 years now, but the Berlin wall came down so recently, it was during their lifetime (not that my friends really remembered anything as they were so young, but they were still around). I'm not sure I can eloquently paraphrase what I learned, but it was even better than reading a historical novel!
And on food. Traditional Bavarian food is pretty meaty, so I didn't go down that road until my last morning. We got up around one for a post-clubbing, Bavarian-American breakfast of sausage, pretzel, and pancakes. As with every brunch experience in life, it tasted best in the company of friends (and with a very strong cup of coffee).
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