On a warm and sunny Saturday, around 30 students joined the German Haus to celebrate the Oktoberfest, but with unique twists.
While the Bavarian festival traditionally calls for Dirndl and Lederhosen, Wesleyan students were clad in their typical eclectic fashion. Laughing and smiling, they learned about German culture and language.
An image of German enthusiasts gathering outside of German Haus.
Bright-colored blue and white Bavarian themed table cloths and pennants contrasted the contemporary German Rap and EDM curated by house resident Max Mayer. Attendees remarked “Wow, this is what German music sounds like!”
Students from every class year came excited to play games, eat delicious food, and meet new people. House residents Chloe Green and Ruby Baden-Lasar helped to foster the energetic community spirit and engage the students attending the event. German potato salad, bratwurst,and sauerkraut was served and cooked by house residents Britt Emerick, Oliver Egger and house manager Dennis Law. To accompany the food, a pretzel toss game was set up in the backyard and attendees choose from prizes such as Germany-USA flag pins, flash drives, and pens.
As the late afternoon progressed, Lena Kruzycki and I started the German Gibberish game. The first section comprised of German idioms with English cognates to translate, and the second section asked for translations from the context of a dialogue Lena and I read aloud. Many students were especially accurate with their linguistic intuition, despite only studying German since the start of the semester, or for some, never at all!
An overview of the food displayed at the event.
When the event concluded, our house reflected on the great success of our Oktoberfest and how much fun we all had. Looking forward, German Haus is working on more events to engage our community and celebrate German language and culture.