Muchen Mag Dich!

Translation: Munich Loves You! Kind of like the I Love NY slogan. Well, at least somebody loves me b/c pretty much after this trip nobody does anymore. You'll see what I mean.

Oktoberfest was not at what I expected, both in a good way and bad. I decided on a whim to go to Munich for Oktoberfest and stay until my birthday. I've been wanting to put my six month Europe visa to use again since this summer anyway. Sounds cool right? Well, not if you leave the way I did. The following abbreviated dialogue sums up what I had and will have to deal with now that I'm back.

Mom & Dad: "What about work?"
Me: [stuffing clothes in backpack] "That's a chance I'm willing to take."

Mom & Dad: "Who's going to pay for this?"

Me: "You will, or I will. I don't care if I have to spend the rest of my life paying this off."

HR Personnel: "Well, you're a new trader Jason. It is really recommended that you be at your desk and get over this learning curve as fast as possible."
Me: "I know that. But it's not like I'm on salary. I'm paid based on performance. I know my opportunity cost. I'm gonna go."
HR Personnel: "Well, I'm disappointed in your decision, but you can't just go like this."
Me: "I'm sorry but I have to. You can fire me when I get back if you want.

Cute girl: "But what about me?"
Me: "What about you?"

Cute girl: "You're so selfish. You're just going to leave like this?"

Me: "Me? Selfish? You attention whore. I can't spend all of my time on you."

So why did I go? Honestly? I just heard my calling. Maybe like how God called out to Joan of Arc. Something was talking to me. Something just tells me that I need to go. Everywhere I go I see signs. Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest. My mind is completely obsessed with it. Well, let me be the prophet or discipline to the Beer God. This is my pilgrimage.

I shoot a msg over to Bobo who's working in Munich. Bobo both interned in New York. He was on the Deutsche Bank audit and I was on BNP Paribas. We've always joked about visiting each other in Germany or France if we sign on to PwC full time and do the foreign rotation. Well, he signed and I had a occupational revelation. He is south of Munich said he'd have a place for me to crash.

Well, I left Thursday afternoon and by the time I get into Munich it was morning but technically it was like 3, 4am in the morning back home. I called Bobo with my calling card but he didn't pick up at all... turned out later the bastard was at work. I tried to get to his place in Fasanengarten or Fasanengpark or whatever... fucking German, I don't know a lick of it. I ended up wondering around Munich that entire day with my stupid backpack filled with what felt like fucking boulders. I shoot him msgs on facebook and his email at the internet cafe but got no responses. This went on until about 6pm. Still no contact with Bobo. At least the sun goes down later here in Germany... I had to start looking for a hotel or hostel, just a roof over my head for the day until I get in touch with Bobo. This was Friday afternoon/night now... during what feels like the climax of Oktoberfest. There's not a single vacant room in this city. Not even a stable. If this was Bethlehem I could at least get a stable w/ the horses, man (sorry for all the religious/blibical references... they just kind of fit with the story).

What happens after that is a little hazy now... b/c I started drinking. Hey, I'm in Munich for Oktoberfest, what did you think I was going to do? Throw tomatoes at strangers? I'll leave that for the Spaniards. I took the metro down to my beloved Hofbrauhaus, ordered some food and a drink... which quickly became 2, and then 4. I literally walked or take the metro all over Munich while every hour or so I'd find a internet cafe to check if Bobo msged me back or try to call him. And drink. I exhausted the 40 euros or so I had left from the summer Europe trip and tried to get some more out of the ATM but the damn thing ate my card. WTF!!!!!!! I guess I forgot to tell the bank that I was going to Germany. Well, screw you, Bank of America! Can't a guy take an impulsive trip out of the country without credit card fraud suspicion? It must have been at least 2 or 3am before I found a nice big discrete tree in the English Garten and fell asleep under it.

I must have not rested for more than a few hours before the polizei woke me up. Talk about a wake up call. And by wake up I mean I really woke up. I don't think I've ever gone from zombei state to alert so quick. I guess they've became familiar w/ people random passed out drunk in the city b/c I thought they'd take me in for questioning or arrest me (or I've just been a goody goody kid my whole life I didn't know what to expect). I get to the internet cafe again... FINALLY!! Thank god, Bobo msged me on facebook that his phone was out of commission due to a beer accident, which his phone accident went skinny dipping in a giant mug of beer. He told me to wait for him under this gold statue in the big square in Marienplatz and he'll come find me at 10am. Find me he did! Geez... pray the Lord! I don't know how it worked w/ all the shit load of people in the city but it worked out. We took the metro down south to his place. I showered up and decided that I was in no shape to parttake in the festivities so he left while I slept the entire afternoon.

That Saturday night and the rest of Sunday and Monday is not as interesting... well, it is interesting but it's pretty much what you expected. Oktoberfest is 100x better than Mardi Gras, New Years, Halloween and the night when we beat Ohio State and won the first Rose Bowl on 6th street combined. Oh, the tents, beers, sausage... especially this white kind that I could eat for breakfast the rest of my life. Even pretzel. I don't like pretzel at all but with beer, it goes down all smooth. I hate to say it but I really don't remember a lot of it. I remember thinking to myself that German girls are either super hot (like Heidi Klum) or they're fugly, big and strong as if they're ready to do hard labor like chopping wood, hauling hay or change my oil (they'd fit in well at A&M). What sucks even more, is what was suppose to help me remember, my camera, managed to disappear from my possession. I'm pretty sure I left it at the Hofbrauhaus. They did hav some kind of lost & found but I came back the next day there was nothing... Boooooooo.

Anyway, I'm back now... so tired. I'm going to pay hell for this trip and I'm not just talking about financially with the credit card but I have to patch things back up with my folks, I'll probably find out in the morning if I still have a computer at my desk to see if I still have a job. As for the girl... whatever, I didn't like her that much anyway and it wasn't that serious. I joked with a few people that if my car broke down and my dog died or ran away this would be one hell of a country song.