Plans have changed. This one's a written entry.
Less than a week after I attended Oktoberfest, I was invited to go to the Canstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart, just a few hours north of Freiburg. It’s a nice city with distinctly modern buildings evenly mixed with traditionally extreme architecture.
This dome clearly requires a giant golden stag.
Founded in 1818, the Cannstatter Volksfest is an agricultural festival that got out of hand in the early 1970s. It is the second-largest fair in the world next to Oktoberfest, and attracts between four and five million visitors every year. Notable trademarks of the festival include the world’s largest mobile Ferris wheel and the fruit column, a symbol of thanksgiving.
Like the Munich Oktoberfest, it was similar to an American state fair, with rides and booths but with the added bonus of enormous beer tents. We (four IU students) managed to find a spot in the Hofbräu beer tent – one of my favorite brewers - and took part in the centuries-old tradition of sitting down with a liter of beer and doing absolutely nothing for several hours. While the German youth sang and danced in the main tent, we chilled in the biergarten section and discussed matters of great depth and significance.
That's not a joke. We discussed violence in the media and whether attributing violent real-world behavior to the gratification of aggressive impulses through video games and movies is justifiable. That's because we were sober the whole time, despite the fact that we had access to a huge amount of German beer that's twice as strong as anything you'd get in America.
But you're a college student, Jared! If there's beer to be had, you'll always get drunk out of your mind! That's the most basic part of an American student's M.O. !
I know somebody out there is thinking that right now. First, that's a condescending stereotype that should only be held after observation of an individual or small group. Second, beer has a very different value in Germany: it's not just a drink, it's a cultural treasure that they have been cultivating and celebrating for hundreds upon hundreds of years. If you're a student who loves the culture into which you've been thrown, it is very hard not to respect the new value system regarding beer.
Another effective defense against getting drunk is embarrassment. The people at Oktoberfest and the Cannstatter Volksfest who were obviously drunk were all American tourists, and that terrifies me. Thanks to them, I have to put up with a stereotype thrust upon me by tourists who don't understand anything about the country they're drinking in, and I'm living here for a whole year. There's no way I'm going to allow myself to wallow in that preconception.
Here's a more recent example of German beer culture at work: a few days ago I had a beer with a guy who, for the purposes of this blog, we'll call Mr. A. He spotted me on the street and asked where I was headed, and I told him I was going to hit up the Feierling microbrewery because I remember seeing a dark wheat beer on the menu the last time I was there (I was introduced to dark wheats beers in Austria and have been searching for a perfect specimen ever since). After taking care of his official business, Mr. A and I sat down at the Feierling's bar and had a drink. Over the course of the next hour we discussed internet-based online behavior as it relates to a person's real-world actions and personality, and whether one's inner thoughts and motivations are more important than the tangible good one contributes to society - all in German. Because that's how we roll here in Freiburg.
Yeah, so. . . where was I? Ah - Stuttgart!
On our way out, one of the booths caught my eye: the one selling "fish on a stick," which apparently is German for "some assembly required" because there was definitely no stick with my fish. My companions were disgusted with my choice of food, and I don’t think they were expecting me to eat the whole thing, including the skull, but when they realized what I had in mind, I had their full support:
At first I was amused by their response, since I've eaten fish gills before and I guess it didn't seem that weird to me. But as the fish’s brain case ruptured, sending fluid and brain matter rolling out of its eye sockets and onto my clothes, I thought that maybe their feelings about eating this fish were more rational than my desire to consume it.
Awesome = very yes.
This man was clearly a professional, but he chose not to play his classical repertoire, opting instead for modern pop songs from bands such as ColdPlay and U2. I gave him some spare change and was completely baffled by the 10 and 20 Euro bills in his money basket until I found out he was doing all this for charity, which makes him my all-time favorite street musician.
Good people, good beer, good trip. Here are some photos; click to view full size.
Cheers,
-Jared
No comments:
Post a Comment