I have a few random thoughts while I wait for my plane home. They are as follows:
"Highway to Hell" is a popular Oompah band song.
German drinking songs include: "Country Roads," "Sloopy," "Sweet Home Alabama," and "My Way." Occasionally "It's Raining Men" but with verses I've never heard before (and you KNOW I know every word to *that* song).
It's cause for celebration when glass steins of beer are clanked so hard that they shatter.
German men hang on each other like teen-aged lovers when they get drunk. And the women rarely dance with drunk men, they dance with drunk women. At least at Oktoberfest.
Germans are too polite to ask about visible tattoos but not to polite to stare.
In order to look authentic, one must wear a dirndl or lederhosen to
Oktoberfest. Only tourists wear jeans. No shit!
It's
OK to stand on benches to dance at Oktoberfest, but don't dare stand on
a table or you'll be tossed out on your ass. There was a really tall guy
standing on the seats at the table next to me last night. I think every
security guard in the joint ran over to hustle him off the table, only
to see that he's just really, really tall.
Oh, and they think toe socks are absolutely a riot. Take-a-picture, show-my-toes-to-Mabel funny.
In Munich, cyclists ride on the pavements on occasionally well-marked lanes. Intersections are a riot as people try to figure out where to stand to stay out of the way of bikes.
And they take their dogs everywhere. Restaurants, malls, trains etc. Everywhere. Or, you can tie up your dog like so:
Proust!
xoxo
Nancy