Day Two Hundred and Ninety-Two: Oktober
Mark, my advisor for my Honours project this term said to me
on Friday afternoon “Ah, you are not a Waterloo-ite until you’ve been to
Oktoberfest.” We have great chats, Mark
and I, but this one in particular was about my evening plans which were to get
down at Waterloo Rec and drink beer and have a nice German time uptown
Waterloo. It’s always been a big
festival, and I’ve been aware of it, but it hasn’t been a thing in our family
to go even to the family-friendly events so when I turned nineteen it wasn’t on
the “Top Things” to do as a legal citizen.
So now, three years after my legal birthday, I have graced Oktoberfest
for the first time. What did I think of
it?
It was dark.
I mean there was music and tables and beer, lots of pretzels
and hats and pins, but as a blind girl attending the festivities I didn’t even
know if there were people in their lederhosen or dancing or anything really, it
just felt like a festive evening out in Waterloo. Don’t get me wrong it was a lovely night, but
Oktoberfest in Waterloo sometimes feels like it’s a bit… optimistic. It seems as though people drink a lot more,
make some interesting decisions, and it just happens to be an excuse to drink a
lot, wear short German-esque clothing and do the chicken dance. And does anyone really need a specific excuse
for any of those things? As a seasoned
university student I can tell you that absolutely NO ONE needs an excuse for any
of those things.
What I did enjoy
was the community of it all. I didn’t
feel unsafe, I didn’t feel pressured, it wasn’t too crowded, and all-in-all it was a pleasant evening. Call it nostalgic, sentiment, but I feel very
fond of the moments in my life where I can look around a table and see the
group of people I am with in good spirits at all times. It might’ve gotten quiet, or confusing at
times, but the spirits were generally good.
Vunderful.
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