warauduati

Meanwhile a sincere friend of mine has started his own blog called Traveling Asia. His story is quite interesting. About three years ago he decided to leave everything behind, fed up with his work and his living in Boston, USA. He decided to reorganize his life in three phases.

First, according to his motto „The things that are most important aren’t things at all„, he sold everything he had, left his job and began not to make further plans.
Then, secondly it was „not the destination, but the journey“ that counted and he left traveling the world. During this time it was when we once met in Madrid in 2004 (part of the formerly known „The Fellowship“). Since then he has travelled a long way through North America, Europe, Siberia and Asia, worked at an orphanage in Nepal ending up in Japan as an English teacher.
I am not sure if he has already stepped into phase 3 „The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes“ (quotes taken from his website at I Think Not), which would signify to move to a foreign country, to become conversational in the local language, and to take no ladder jobs that might end him up back at Phase 1.

However, he has been publishing various stories of his travels, new impressions of his new life in Japan, his continuous work at the orphanage in Nepal, as well as his new sidetrips throughout Asia. Please pay him a visit at his new blog Traveling Asia…

After one month travel(l)ing Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, and a very few days of re-organization, I headed to Toronto right before starting the first part of my doctoral field research in Honduras. I simply had to take this opportunity to finally visit some old friends again, once met about nine years ago in a bluff called Port MacKenzie, Australia. Besides a wonderful time in general, long talks, updates, downtown Toronto sidetrips, a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, the experience of goat-cheese pasta ;-), and a spendid autumn weather, I finally got a chance to go to the, believe it or not, Oktoberfest!

I hadn’t had a chance to go in Munich. But what the heck if there’s Oktoberfest throughout the world, right? So 2006 I went to the „Wies’n“ Canadian style. Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest is „Canada’s Great Bavarian Festival“!

„In Kitchener we are equally proud of our Germanic heritage as we are of the diverse multicultural community into which we have grown.“ states Kitchener’s Mayor Carl Zehr in the official Fest Guide. „Experience first hand the spirit of ‚Gemuetlichkeit‘.“ says Herb Epp, Mayor of Waterloo.

Without misjudging honestly Kitchener’s and Waterloo’s effort and respect, my friends Son and Kev had visited the original Oktoberfest with me a few years ago, and … this time was somehow different!

I still can see Kev’s sparkle joining the atmosphere in Munich’s beer tents back then, in Kitchener we all felt kind of odd. But interesting enough, the Oktoberfest in Kitchener seems to be a big thing … otherwise they wouldn’t have celebrated for the 38th time last year.

A lot of Canadians with German roots have settled in this area, there are various organisations and communities like the Alpine Club, the Concordia Club, the Hubertushaus, and the Schwaben Club involved. Oktoberfest for sure is somehow different and adapted to North-American lifestyle. Here the festival is spread over the whole city, there are events like the Oktoberfest Grand Prix, an outdoor go kart race, a Chess Open, a Water Polo Tournament, a Barrel Race, and Toy and Collectibles Shows just to name a few. The Council’s Grillefest, the Bogen- schuetzenfest, and a small parade along King Street might be the most „traditional“ elements. Funny enough, in the Hans Haus, the Official Oktoberfest Headquarters in Downtown Kitchener, you can „get your Tracht on“! Souvenirs, Lederhosen, Pewter and Ceramic Stein mugs, Trachten shirts and hats make the greatest deal.

SchneiderS, Onkel Hans Food Drive, and Piller’s, but also Molson Canadian and Brick provide the guests with „authentic“ sausages and beer in almost the only Bavarian style beer tent accompanied by German and Hungarian polka bands. „The best of Oktoberfest – A truely AUTHENTIC experience“ the Transylvania Club promotes. Except for the fact, that the tent only held about two hundred people instead of 2.000 and that there wasn’t actually a lot of Oktoberfest life and spirit in the party.

Thanks to my dear friends Son and Kev we had a blast anyway within this rather odd event about one hour outside of Toronto. Quiet an experience but quite an attraction … I came up with several ethnological questions right away.

The last picture within this entry is actually not taken at Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest but in downtown Toronto. Makes me wonder again and again why Bavaria is that famous everywhere throughout the world for it’s Bratwurst?

Well, I have been back for quite a few days now. I heard that some people were disappointed by anthronaut and me about not blogging during field research in the actually promised way. But … to be honest, during the last months I sure would have loved to keep you posted more … being on the road and deep into qualitative field research, taking interviews, observating culture, asking the right questions, writing notes, and living within difficult conditions sometimes made it difficult to stay tuned and updated on blogosphere.

Nevertheless, rather late than never, I am back now. I became acclimatized once again, passed the fringe of „Kyrill“ and the final resignation of a long-term political leader in Bavaria (see odd-fish), and am promising at this very moment to reflect, study-up and publish various topics of what has been happening throughout the last days, weeks, and months. Forgive me for taking my time. Affected by electrical breakdowns, floodings, hurricane fringes, limited time, travels, hackers, personal life, and a tremendous amount of investigative ethnological field research, I simply haven’t been able at all to keep my promise.

But … warauduati ain’t put done, he keeps on blogging!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007 …
and
… MY BEST WISHES FROM TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS !

… Lucky Charms … in La Ceiba, Honduras …
… or territorial marks of youth gangs? …

„Shoe flinging“ or „Shoefiti“ and urban legends … see Wikipedia for more!

Click pic for more…

Click pic for more…

Click pic for more…