Kocherlbal 2012

Despite being surrounded by Germans, nay, Bavarians, at work, there is a running joke that I'm the one who spends the most time in tracht. Actually, this is not a joke - it's the truth! As I said to my boss, "Just give me the smallest reason to put it on and I'm there!" Well this past weekend there was a reason - she had an old friend visiting from Ohio and we decided to show him Munich via the Kocherlbal!


Like many other things in Munich, the Kocherlbal (Cook's Ball) comes from a 19th century event that just kinda kept on going (except it was banned for a bit). In ye olden days, rich people only let their servants have the wee hours of the morning off because, after all, all those servants need to be awake when the 1% are having their own balls. This gave the servants only a few hours to themselves to party, and thus, a tradition was begun - the Kocherlbal is a Summer food, beer, and dancing party that takes place in July between the hours of SIX AND TEN AM. 


And this is why I was dragging my sorry ass out of bed at 4am to put on my dirndl and watch the sun come up with friends while eating a Leberkaesemmel and then later some hazelnut cake for breakfast. Alas, I didn't have a beer because drinking at 6am is even a little too weird for me. This didn't stop Michael (our visitor) though - he sank two weissbiers (a cumulative volume of 1L!!!) before 10am! Also, because it was so cold and rainy, Christine suggested that the best way to warm up was to join the traditional Bavarian dances! This was incredibly hilarious because, forming a partnership with Michael, I am too small to see the demonstrations of the steps and he couldn't understand the instructions, leaving Christine and Philipp to translate and demonstrate the formation dancing. Hilarity ensued but it didn't matter because I think most people didn't know the steps either. Or were drunk. Believe it or not, I have actually managed to find the exact dance we did on youtube!

We also did some waltzing that was a bit like what I imagine being inside a washing machine would be like. Having said that, Christine and I found that the best way to navigate through the crowd to get back to our seats was to dance! Much easier than trying to walk through!


Unfortunately, with the early morning rise, I forgot to pack my camera so you'll have to look at this entry by another blogger but imagine the scenes with more rain.