OKTOBERFEST

Hello everyone!

Once again apologies for the lateness and sporadic nature of my posts but have been enjoying my last week of freedom before lectures begin! It has been pointed out to me that a lot of my blogs seem to be about the bars I am going to and how intoxicated I was. Well this isn't any different :).

Anyway: Oktoberfest.

I can't truly describe how amazing an experience it was. There really is nothing like it and I'd recommend it to everyone. Although a bit on the expensive side, it was completely worth it. We went on the last Saturday of Oktoberfest hoping that it wouldn't be too busy. Oh how we were mistaken. It was a nice sunny day and it seemed the whole of Germany and its friend turned up to Oktoberfest that day. I mean hundreds of thousands of people. Easy. There were around 20 big beer tents which could fit about 10,000 people in each one. Plus all the rides and stalls and food vendors. Mixing German's love of food and beer. Hence thousands of people.

We arrived at around 1pm on the Saturday and decided to just start queueing for a beer tent as soon as we could. As Brits, we were expecting nice orderly queues with barriers and meeting friendly strangers whilst moaning about how our feet hurt. Thats what we do. But oh no. There was not an  ounce of order or decorum. Very unbritish I must say. It was a crazy free-for-all, pack in like sardines until you can't tell if its your friend accidently touching your bum, or the creepy Brazilian man behind you.

However after over 3 hours of painful cattle herding, we finally managed to get to have a table and order some beers. After that waiting, we were all gagging for a drink and the Stein really hit the spot.( A Stein is the big two pint or a litre beer glass. By that point I didn't care how much was in it, as long as it was beer. ) After inhaling our first drinks, we decided to take it a bit slower. Well slower probably isnt the right word. Less rapid is proabably more appriopriate. The next few hours consisted of drinking, singing and general merriment. And of course an Oktoberfest isn't complete without a plate of Wurst. These things are huge. They make even the biggest Adonis feel emasculated.

After several hazy hours and copious amounts of beer, we decided to have a look around and go on some fair rides. Even now, I can't see how that is a good decision but at the time it made perfect sense. Huge amounts of beer and strong G-forces. What could go wrong?

Luckily Miss Sophie Baker took on the role of "Oktoberfest Mum" and advised us that maybe the Ferris Wheel was more suitable to our levels of intoxication. So after this we traipsed back to our hostel and agreed to get up extra early to make sure we got in to a beer tent the next morning.

Well. All I can say is I felt like death warmed up. And probably looked worse. However, we managed to get to a beer tent and spent the rest of the day curing our hangovers with some Bavarian folk music and of course; more beer.

It was an incredible weekend with great people and if you have the chance to go, do. It is the sort of thing that you don't know what you are missing out on until you go. And now I'm already considering missing a week of lectures next year to go to Munich again!

(Disclaimer - If you are from Nottingham Univerisity, please ignore that last sentence. I will be missing that week of lectures due to a prior family commitment. Education rocks. Beer is rubbish.)

Right now here are some pictures. Hit me up with some comments and I hope you enjoy.

Andy C

Heidelberger Herbst

Hello everyone!

I thought it was time to write another blog since so much has happened! I've now finished my course and luckily I passed so thats 8 credits in the bag already! Yesterday on the last saturday of September, there was a festival called "Heidelberger Herbst" or Heidelberg Autumn in English. We were told by our teacher that it was a big flea market down the high street and that it can sometimes get busy.

Well we were in for a shock. It was HUGE. Hundreds of stalls with food and drink and to be honest, a lot of touristy rubbish but it was still amazing. Really great atmosphere but this may have been due to the fact that people were drinking from 10am onwards. Besides all the touristy crap, there were some rather odd trinkets one could purchase. For example, the picture below. Yes, they are penis shaped bottle openers. In various sizes. If your birthday is coming up soon, watch out! One might be coming your way soon (no crudeness intended!).

The night however was even crazier. Throughout the day there had been music and dance acts, mostly children acts who you smiled politely at whilst they tried their hardest to murder some Beatles classics. The night was a whole other deal. There were thousands of people all around the Altstadt going to the various squares to see loads of different acts. It had a real Glastonbury feel to it with the disgusting portaloos and the dancing crowds. Beer was flowing and everyone was loving it. There was even an ice cream shop that had opened its doors to a DJ and created a huge party on the high street. Whilst still selling icecream. Genius.

We saw one band called "The Wright Stuff" who were unbelievable. I'd definitely recommend them. Great vocalists, very talented musicians and up for a laugh. The band who followed them however were definitely on the strange side to say the least. I cant remember their name at all but they were two men, identical twins, who I can only describe as what I'd expect One Direction to look like in 20 years. Still the same crazy hair but time has taken its toll. This is not the most disturbing thing though. They seemed very close. Now I mean really close. Even for twin brothers. They decided to share a microphone and kept staring in to each others eyes for way too long. Hence we christened them: "Twincest" .

Well if anyone gets the chance, I'd recommend coming to Heidelberger Herbst. All the music and bands are free, the drink is relatively cheap, the food is delicious and its a great warm up for Oktoberfest. Oh didn't I mention that? I'm going to Oktoberfest next weekend during my two weeks off from lectures. I hope everyone has a nice week at work/ uni and works hard! :) Sorry about that I just had to rub it in! Will update next week when I'm hungover in bed!

Over and out

Andy C

p.s and yes I'm going to try and get some lederhosen. Here are just a few pictures.  

Best 90s night. EVER.

Hello!

Last night the Erasmus students hit up one of the big "clubs" in Heidelberg which was offering a 90's night. Whilst we all had low expectations, we all had predrinks and made our way over there. What we did not expect was how AWESOME it truly was. One of the best nights in Germany yet. The music was just tune after tune after tune. I'm talking about all the classics like Blink 182, Aqua, The Spice Girls, Vengaboys, Green Day, Macarena, the list goes on and on. If any of you know me personally, then you know that I was in my element. :)

I did make a funny observation about Germans and clubbing last night. In the UK, if you don't have any money for drinks but still want to get drunk, you normally go minesweeping (Munners) where you in effect steal unattended drinks and drink them yourselves, preferably without the person noticing. However in Germany, because they are big time recycling eager beavers, for every bottle or glass you return to the bar, you get 1 Euro. So if you are in Halle02, the club we were at last night and you have no money, just find any empty bottle and run to the bar, your night is already paid for!

I must now apologise for not mentioning my beautiful co-star Abigail "Mannheim" Packer who has been my solid rock since being here. Also I did steal my awesome German joke from her so all credit must be given where it is due!

Much love

Andy C

Heidelberg 1.0

Hello readers!

I've been in Heidelberg for over a week now so I feel I should actually start blogging again! Especially since some friends back home were afraid I was going to be eaten by cannabalistic Germans. Anyway, :

Heidelberg is such an amazing place. It's right beside the river and the Altstadt (Old City) is full of cobbled stones and old buildings. Although this may not appeal to most students don't fret. There are tons of bars and pubs with incredibly cheap alcohol and probably some of the best beer I've tasted in my life. Heaven.

So a few observations I've made so far about Germany since I've moved here:

1)  It doesnt matter how many times you ask for it whether in German or English, you will always get Sparkling water instead of still water. And apparently drinking tap water is taboo. Even though I'm not exactly filling my water bottle out of the toilet, its still better not to mention drinking tap water. Otherwise cue the disgusted looks.

2) Drinking alcohol on public transport whatever time of day is completely acceptable. Cracking open beers on the bus was a bit daunting for my Croydon upbringing, normally used to just downing it before getting in to any mode of transport so this was a novelty to me. Also having a  60 year old woman downing what I can only assume was straight whisky at 11am was a bit of an eye opener but no one batted an eyelid. Whereas my tap water confession made me a pariah on the 31 bus.

3) Everyone here rides bikes. I mean everyone. And no there isnt a specific cycle lane or cycle free zones, they just go anywhere and everywhere and if youre walking in the way, well to them, you are just collateral damage. Or Roadkill.

4) Germans aren't as efficient as we make them out to be. Yes you could practically set your clock by the public transport but in reality, even though bureaucracy and paperwork are their "Gott in Himmel", I've had to struggle to get most things organised here. Getting a phone was hectic. Opening a bank account was worse and even 10 days in, I'm still waiting to here back from my "Hausmeister", the Cavendish Warden to you from Notts Uni for my apartment block. He says "I'll be round in an hour". 4 hours later he says that he will arrange another appointment with me....and I'm still waiting.

5) Although my friends may have joked about how I'll fit in great because I look slightly Aryan, I was not prepared for how many people, Germans and Brits alike mistake me for a German. Not that I have anything against Germans or looking like one but the fact that I look German and my German skills are a bit rusty gives off the impression that I am German, but just a moron.

6) Being drunk does improve your foreign language skills. Trust me I've had lots of practice this week.

7) If you are a vegetarian, don't even bother living in Germany. They have whole aisles dedicated to meat and some pretty questionable ones at that. Meat is their life.

And whilst on the topic of German meats: German jokes are the Wurst.

I apologise for the standard of that joke but I couldn't resist. Well I hope you enjoy this and I'll keep updating you on whats going on in Deutschland.  Also thanks for people who actually read this! I apparently have a lot of Russian readers who are being routed here from a Russian porn site. Sorry lads.

Andy C

Brazil Visas?

Hello everyone! Another pretty self explanatory title. I'm going away to study in Brazil in about 6 months and I dont know whether I need a visa or not! My uni is being very uncooperative and I'm not finding anything useful on the internet. I'm going to the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte for their first semester so also if anyone knows any definite dates for that, I would be very grateful if you left a comment!

Whilst the Year Abroad Office has been incredibly helpful before, in this instance I'm getting nothing from the SPLAS department! (Thats Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies for all you non-linguists! Yer quite a mouthful :P) Emailed again and again and had no response so hopefully there is someone out there who can fill me in and hopefully I can sort it out before I head off to Germany in 2 weeks! Scary stuff!

Well if you are out there, Helpful Brazilian Studing Person, I would love for you to get in contact.

Laters

Andy C

xx

So those jabs hurt....

The title is pretty self explanatory. If you are going to South America and need to get your jabs done be warned: they hurt like a bitch.

Don't get me wrong when you actually get the jabs, doesn't really hurt that much, barely a scratch. As long as you don't look, they're not too bad at all. However, getting 4 jabs across 2 arms.........the next day kills. Muscles felt absolutely destroyed the next day! Not ideal for a single man :P I kid, I kid. But seriously.....not good. haha oh well at least I'll be safe from all those diseases when I go to Brazil. Except if I get rabies.....or malaria. So pretty much I'll be avoiding animals like the plague....so that I don't catch it!

Not a very interesting entry I know, but filling the void until I can actually do exciting things on my Year Abroad. Watch this space!

Andy C

Jabs for Brazil.......painful or not?

Anyone had jabs for going to Brazil? I'm getting a whole array of nasty diseases jabbed in to me today. Not sure how everyone else feels about them but I don't like the thought of bits of Tetanus, Typhoid, Hepatitus A and some casual Yellow Fever going around my body! If I have some adverse reaction and end up with wings or something, I'm not going to be a happy bunny.

Well I'll let you know how it goes!

Andy C

xx