Prost!!

   Tonight was my first experience with a Bavarian Gaust Haus (Guest House).  All I have to say is "WOW!!!!!!"  When I first walked in, I was alone.  I sat by myself at the bar, ordered myself a beer, and observed my surroundings.  At the tables, a group of Bavarian wives sat and chatted quite happily, a group of people my age drank quietly in the corner, and extraneous patrons (typically old Bavarian men) drank their beers while chatting about the unusual weather.  I felt like a loner, an outsider, with nothing but the sharks jersey on my back and the Wiesse (wheat) beer in my hand.  I was hopelessly intimidated.  I spoke no German, I had no friends, and clearly I did not belong.  After my first beer, I decided that I needed to meet some people.  In a desperate plea for friends, I ordered the three young people my age shots of vodka.  Anxiously, I watched them as the bartender (Patrick, as I later learned) brought the drinks I ordered them to their table.  They glanced at me suspiciously, smelled the clear liquid in front of them, then drank.  I then migrated from my lonely post at the bar to their table and asked if I could have a seat.  To my surprise, they said yes!  What a moment of first contact!  I politely explained that I knew very little German, and that I apologized for interrupting their conversation.  I told them that I was fairly lonely at the bar, and that I needed some friends.  Again, the Bavarian hospitality pushed through the cloud barrier of shyness, and I became acquainted with Klaus, Aylin, and Vanessa.
   From that point, the night took off like a firework.  My new friends and I discussed music, California, the drinking age in the USA, and the differences between Bavaria and the States.  Despite the fact that I was speaking English and only bits of German like "Ein beir bitte" the other patrons of Vis a Vis (the bar/lounge) flocked me like a batch of seagulls to a pile of Cheetos.  Soon the Bavarian wives were all over me, asking me how I could be so young and teaching high school; not to mention they kept on buying me shots of Jagermiester ... I was quite dizzy by the end of the encounter.  The pictures I got with them are priceless, and as soon as I figure out how to get them off my phone and onto my computer, you (the reader) will begin to comprehend the madness that ensued.  Despite the fact that they wanted me to stay and drink through the night, I told them that my host family was expecting me at home and that I had an early morning.  It was a pretty good decision if you ask me, because if I had endured more shots of Jagermiester, I surely would not have made the walk back home to the Hofbauer household.  Bavarian hospitality is unmatched, and I promised them I would come back to have more drinks.  I intend to.  These people are the best, and I hope to come back to my newfound friends at Vis a Vis.  Good lord, am I drunk now!! Until next time...