Oktoberfest

From September 18th till October 3rd, the Theresienwiese is transformed into the biggest Volksfest in the world. A huge sign welcomes you to rows of booths, tents, and rides. The tents are beautifully decorated and serve beers from the local breweries that are too good to ever drink responsibly. The food is traditional of the region and delicious. Everywhere people are wearing Dirndls and Lederhosen singing along to Blasmusik.

It takes visiting the fest to really grasp how amazing and crazy it is. Therefore, I will share a small story of my experience. As we sang Ein Prosit once again accompanied by the brass band, a friend, with an overzealous prost, breaks my three pound, seemingly indestructible krug. A chunk of glass slightly bigger than my palm slices open my right thumb and skims upper arm. I watch as my beer spills over the table into my lap and blood starts running down my wrist. All the napkins are passed over to wipe up the spill and cover my wound. The guy who did it rushes me off to find the first-aid and get me a real bandage. We find the German Red Cross and he waits outside while I see the doctor. I tell them that I only need a band-aid, but they insist I get a stitch or two. No more than one stitch for my small deep cut from a beer mug.

I felt so silly explaining to the doctor how I cut open my thumb. Then I read the form and realized there was no need. On the side were check boxes for three typical reasons for coming to this Red Cross; injured by a beer mug was the first, followed by alcohol involvement and a work accident. It is nice to see that none of the possibilities put anyone at fault, and interesting that these are among the expected. The Oktoberfest is excessive in the best way possible, and I can understand how people get so carried away. Maybe it was not necessary to drink so much or bother with a single stitch, but in such a wild atmosphere like Oktoberfest who is to say what is appropriate?