It was mid-October, halfway through my time abroad, and I was exhausted. Classes were getting busier, and I had a lot of homework to complete every day. I needed a break! And something that didn't require me to get on a train for several hours but would still lift my spirits and put me in the right mood to finish the semester strong. Then the news broke that Freimarkt was starting soon. Everyone in my host university was talking about it, yet I didn't even know what in the world this "Freimarkt" was! Luckily, the division of campus life sent out an email with enough information to make me interested in checking out this tantalizing event!
The moment I entered the fairgrounds, I knew this was an experience I would remember for years to come. Stalls were set up advertising all kinds of food, from buttery corn on the cob to jelly-filled crepes to piping hot pizza. I passed haunted houses with mechanical goblins that turned their heads eerily to look at visitors. There were rides ranging from bumper cars to roller coasters to gravity-defying mechanisms that swung people up into the air with their legs dangling into empty space. It was a carnival unlike anything I had seen before, and I made full advantage of it by going twice, once with my German host family and again with a friend.
