I’m having some trouble keeping up with all the amazing things happening in my life right now.  I only moved to Edinburgh a fortnight ago, and I’m already diving into the European lifestyle of traveling, working, and public transportation. Last Wednesday, I left my new home for a five day foray into Germany for a little event known as the Munich Lindy Exchange and Oktoberfest. I traveled to Munich for amazing swing dancing and Bavarian culture shock, only to come back to Edinburgh late Sunday night and begin my classes for the new term.

Here’s how it went down.

Texas isn’t exactly known for our incredible public transit systems; with such a large state and spread out cities, public transit really isn’t all that efficient. Not the case here! I left my flat early Wednesday morning, took a taxi to Waverly Station in Edinburgh, hopped on the twenty-five minute Airlink bus to get to Edinburgh Airport, flew two hours to the Munich Airport, popped into the forty minute S-Bahn ride to the city center of Munich, transferred to the U-Bahn, rode past twelve stops, then took a 10 minute bus to my host’s house within the city. Phew. What, public transport? I’ve got you down now!

Once I was in Munich, the fun began and didn’t stop until I left. I am a very avid swing and blues dancer, and have been in the swing dancing scene since my freshman year in 2005. Munich Lindy Exchange was a four day event, packed full with swing dancing almost every hour of the day…and of course, since it was in Bavaria, some pretty amazing German meals. MLX really started on Thursday night, when the early arrivers met in downtown Munich, in the Stacchus, brought some speakers and some swing music, and started to lindy-hop in the middle of the street. It was incredible—dancers from all over the world came in, and locals would just stop and watch us having fun. The dancing continued until well into the morning hours at The Cord, a nearby swing dancing club, with a live jazz band and excellent Bavarian beer.

Probably my favorite part of MLX was the next day; the local dancers had organized a six hour sightseeing tour of Munich, but not like any typical tour. In this variety, we were followed around by a swing trio who would stop and play swing music for an hour or so in various historical spots around the city. I have now danced in the Beer Gardens, in Diana’s Temple, in Odeonsplatz, which is the site of the infamous Beer Hall Putsch, and so many more unbelievable locations. On this tour, I did the Shim Sham (a swing dance line dance) in a German fountain, and danced in the center of Mariensplatz. I’ve been to Munich before, but this trip defied all expectations. Of course, the dancing continued until about 5 in the morning or so, after a dinner break, and I learned all about the troubles of late night public transit, especially when you can’t understand the local language. My roommate and I ended up waiting 45 minutes for a bus that never came before we finally made it home around 7:00 am. However, we made the best of our time—I now have videos of me blues dancing at the U-Bahn station, and more excited, on a moving U-Bahn itself.

But there’s still two more days of dancing! Hooray!

With much difficulty, Magen and I dragged ourselves out of bed on Saturday to enjoy a traditional Bavarian brunch with (of course) more swing dancing. Yummy bratwursts and other various sausages were to be had all around, and we actually got to learn a traditional Bavarian knee-slapping dance that was WAY harder than it looked. We had a few hours to kill before the late night dance started up, so Magen, two of our American friends, and I started walking around downtown Munich when we found this street band playing some music that we couldn’t help but dance to. With our help drawing in the crowds, the band raked in at least 30 Euros in the next fifteen minutes of us dancing, and the crowds stayed on to watch and take pictures. It was so much fun! The late night dance was excellent as well, and made even better by the fact that we had a section of the dance devoted to blues music, so Magen and I, who are primarily blues dancers, got our fix of our favorite dancing.

This would be all well and good, even if I stopped the story here. But then it wouldn’t be a fantastic story. What makes it truly spectacular is that, in addition to being the last day of MLX, the next day was the first day of the infamous Oktoberfest.

First of all, let me just say that Oktoberfest is nothing like I pictured it, but it certainly did not fail to impress. I don’t think I’ve ever seen more people gathered into one place at one time. Imagine a carnival that comes into town and sets up its Ferris Wheels and Zippers and other familiar rides and stands—overpriced food, drink, and souvenirs. Now imagine that on steroids PLUS tents that easily fit a thousand people, plus kitchens stocked with hordes of food and beer PLUS all the tourists you can fit into Munich. That’s Oktoberfest, and it was, in a word, insane. Included in our MLX registration packet were vouchers for two liters—that’s right, liters—of beer and half of a chicken. No vegetables—this is Germany, after all—but loud oompah bands and locals decked out in full lederhosen and traditional Bavarian garb. The MLX lindy hoppers soaked it up; we had a section of the Lowenbrau tent reserved for us and we actually managed to have a nice little impromptu lindy dance to German music while dancing with our liter steins of beer. I was, and still am, a little confused, as the Germans would stop every five minutes or so, sing a toast to hospitality or something, then clink glasses with everyone in sight, loudly toasting each other with “Prost!” It was quite overwhelming, but an unforgettable experience, without a doubt.

We finished up the day by going back to Diana’s Temple for more outdoor dancing—more dancing continued later that night and into the morning, but I had to rush back to the airport to make it home to Edinburgh for the start of term the next day. It’s Tuesday, and I’m still recovering from the ridiculous dancing antics of this past weekend, and the best part is that I get to do it all again this weekend: Edinburgh is having its first Lindy Exchange from Friday to Sunday--it's going to be amazing.

I’ve started the first week of term, and so far, classes are simply amazing. I’ll fill y’all in as the week progresses—everybody be safe and have a great couple of days!

Peace y’all—erika