Oktoberfest in Muenchen probably ought to win a place in Guiness World Record of civilization as a paean of non-civilization. The Bavarian tradition traces its roots to a marriage celebration of a certain Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese in 1810. But evidently people had so much fun getting drunk that they decided to uphold this wedding every year - must be a pressure on the couple not to get divorced.

Drinking aside, the festival offers other amusements such as carnivals and rides, but they seem more like they were placed there to make people throw up so they can go back and drink some more. For those who aren't drunk out of their mind, a stroll through the Theresienwiese can be a rather surreal experience - it's like being on a set of Pirates of Caribbean revelry except the costume of choice are dirndls and lederhosen.

I had some fun scrambling the brains of drunk Europeans at my table, especially when they're not too clear about Asian heritage even when sober. An affably slurred fellow at my table shouted at me, "Are you from JAPAN?"

Me: "uh nope"

Dude: "KOREA?"

Me: "ehhhhh. Nope"

Dude: (triumphantly) "CHINA!!"

Me: "mmm. Noh-ope." (honestly. My ancestors were, just I wasn't)

Evidently having reached the end of his limits of "Orientalische" countries, he seemed entirely baffled, then blurted "then WHERE are you FROM?"

Me: "San Francisco."

His expression was priceless. Guess he wasn't expecting that curveball. You see all the criss-crossing dotted lines in his mental globe punctuated with huge question marks boinging like bedsprings gone amok. I let him figure it out. I'm generally not a mean person but you sure get some funny physiognomies from drunk people turning themselves inside out trying to figure things out.

Proust!