End of class and other assorted events!!

After four weeks of taking a language intensive course, I have taken the closing exam and received my grade.  I received a 2, which is typically equivalent to a B in American school systems, and with it I received confirmation that I could potentially receive some credit back at my university in the States, which would be nice.

After our exam, that Wednesday, the majority of my language group and I went to a nice restaurant to celebrate the end of the course and the friends we have made along the way!  Then we returned to the building, in which I live, for there was also an event being held by one of the international groups, and that was a meeting point.  We then went down into the inner city to visit a very popular night club, which unfortunately only a portion of our large group was able to enter, my not being part of it, but another group of friends and I were able to go to another bar and enjoy the night!!

The following day, I spent mostly resting from the night before, and then on Friday I met early in the morning for a follow up lecture with the language course.  After the lecture concluded, I met with a few other students from the course, and we took a day trip to Wiesbaden, which is near Frankfurt.

We enjoyed walking around the city, having some frozen yoghurt, and grabbing some coffee before heading back to Frankfurt.

That day I turned in a bit early because on Saturday...
I woke up at 6:00 to prepare for a day trip to Munich to visit Oktoberfest on its last weekend!!  Two friends and I met up with our ride share at 8:00 to begin the three-ish hour drive, by car, to Munich.  When we arrived slightly after 11:00, the three of us walked to the festival grounds!  We waited in line at one of the beer tents, in which all manner of fun Oktoberfest music could be heard.  My two friends were able to get into the building when the first large group was let in, but I, unfortunately, did not make the cut, and was forced to wait in line.  I waited for several hours, hoping they would let us in soon, but eventually was tired of waiting, so I decided to take off, grab a bite to eat, and it was then that I was informed that two of my friends, one from America, Erin, and one an old GAPP buddy, Lupo, were excited to meet up with me!  I informed my two friends, who were in the beer tent, that I was going, and we had made plans to meet up with the ride share guy at the end of the night.

I then spent several hours warming up, eating dinner, and conversing with Erin about her experiences in Bonn for the last month and catching up with Lupo about his studies!  Erin then took Lupo and me to meet some of her international friends, whom she met in Bonn and with whom she was staying in Munich.  At around 21:40 (9:40pm), I parted with Lupo and Erin at the main Hauptbahnhof (main train station) and met with one of my friends at our meeting point.  We had unfortunately lost our other buddy, but the two of us made it back to Frankfurt at around 1:45am Sunday morning, and our friend was able to get home as well, by train.

Tips for those wishing to visit Oktoberfest: plan very far ahead; reserve a place, so you do not have to wait in line; and prepare thoroughly for the weather.