A love of German culture + a Gatsby Party = Oktoberfest

      I have always had a fascination with German culture. It started early because my dad would yell at me and my sisters in German whenever we were in trouble. So when I got the chance to take German classes in ninth grade I signed up. I learned right away that my dad was really just yelling at us in "gibberish German" having only taken part of a semester in high school before his parents moved him to a school that didn't offer German language classes. Coincidentally, I also yell at my kids in German. Not quite "gibberish" becuase I have taken 4 years of German classes across High School and College.

     When I say "yell" I don't mean scream or berate I mean that when we are at the store and the kids aren't keeping up or are acting up we like to break out the German. I actually started this after I took a Psychology of Language class in college and I remember one lesson where we talked about if you know two languages say English and German but you live with people that only speak English you will most likely only use German as a point of emphasis. So when we are out and the kids aren't keeping up I like to yell "schnell" meaning "quickly"  it's what my 9th grade German teacher used to yell at us when we slacking off in class.

    My other great fascination has been that I have always wanted to throw what I call a "Gatsby Party". When I was in tenth grade we had to read "The Great Gatsby" in an English class. I loved it, I remember summarizing it to other people in my class who hadn't read it before a test one day. In the book Gatsby throws huge parties where people dress up in their finest clothes, dancing and alcohol abound and people party until the sun comes up. In the book Gatsby throws these parties as a way of trying to attract Daisy his great love so that he might see her again. Ever since I was a teenager I have wanted to throw a party like this.

     Since I have such a fascination with German culture and with throwing a big party with lots of dancing and alcohol I find it really puzzling that it could take me until after my 31st birthday to get the idea of throwing an Oktoberfest party. I got the idea when I was having coffee with my friend Jeffery and he was showing me pictures of the yearly Oktoberfest party his family throws. Complete with men in Lederhosen, women in Dirndle's , German language signs, German food and of course German Beer.

     As soon as I got home that day I started to put a plan in place, I started cooking German recipes and looked all around town to see if I could buy Oktoberfest party supplies. I found lots of things online but nothing in stores. When it became apparent that time (and money) were running out I decided to throw a combination birthday party for me / Risk night (because it takes all night to finish)/ Oktoberfest party. I actually hand drew some signs and had my kids color them with markers. One said "Willkommen zum Oktoberfest" and I had a large German flag  also. My daughter made the one that says "Risk Nacht"



      I cooked a very tasty pork chop meal for dinner at our party. I combined sourkraut, brown sugar, onions and apples and cooked it over the pork chops, the left over juices made a great gravy on my mashed potatoes too. I don't know how authentic it was but it was delicious. I had started a fast from alcohol a few days before the party though, I'm fasting from alcohol until I get a job, so I wasn't able to drink any delicious German Beer, we even had some Bitburger which is a very yummy beer I first had in a pub in German town in Chicago this past summer. It was the first time that I had been involved in a party where I wasn't drinking. It was actually fun being the stone cold sober one. I do feel bad for forcing a friend of mine to drink from a stein that I had though. It took 3 beers to fill it up and I filled up his stein at least twice. I still have several beers left over from that party that I will try when I get a job. I do hope that I get a job soon. I really, really want a beer!

     This year the party was pretty tame but I have a solid 5 year plan. Next year I want to invite several more people and have a nice tent that we can set up outside. I want to eventually start brewing our own beer and having the men dress up in Lederhosen and the women in Dirndles, my friend and I have a theory that any woman is more attractive as soon as she puts on a Dirndle.

     We have a year to get some more professional looking signs and to figure out where to get authentic Lederhosen and to perfect a few more German dishes. Got any ideas for me?