Shara Tibken is a reporter from California and went to the Octoberfest in Munich for the first time. How it felt for her and her friends? Like floating through a dream sequence in a weird 1960s musical.

By Shara Tibken

To dirndl or not to dirndl. That is the question. Or at least, that's the question on my mind. While I'm normally based in San Francisco, California, I've been living in Munich for two months. That means I'm here for Oktoberfest, a sort of mecca for college kids from around the world.

Almost everyone in the US has heard of Oktoberfest (except my father, who texted me while I actually was at Oktoberfest and was confused when I told him what I was doing). But there are so many things we don't know. Like that it's called Wiesn in Germany and that it's actually in September. Or that there's a big amusement park area, and families go to the festival, not just drunk college kids. I will find out about all of this, and even the Bavarian finance minister is going to give me some advice.

But first, I have to figure out what to wear. I started seeing people in Bavaria wearing traditional dirndls and lederhosen as soon as I arrived in Germany at the beginning of August. I told myself that I wasn't going to spend the money on a dirndl. I didn't want a cheap-looking outfit, but I also didn't want to spend 100 euros or more on a nicer dirndl I may only wear once.

That resolve lasted about a week and a half. I walked past a dirndl shop near Viktualienmarkt one day and decided to pop in to see the offerings. I couldn't believe the prices: there was almost nothing below 100 euros, and some dirndls were even selling for thousands of euros. That was wedding dress level prices in the US. No way could I afford something like that!

Then I saw the sales rack, which happened to have a nice, black and green dirndl just my size. Perfect.

For a lot of Americans, Oktoberfest is the only reason to come to Munich (clearly they're wrong!). When they think of Germany, what they usually picture is Bavaria. And that tends to mean dirndls and lederhosen, hearty meals of pork knuckles and dumplings, pretzels and giant beers.

Many fly to Europe just to camp out in a tent and drink beer all day. Some even plan and dream for years about a trip to Oktoberfest, and those who went in the past love to talk about how crazy their visits were. For many people, it's a goal to visit Oktoberfest at least once.

Since it's my first, and possibly only Octoberfest, I want to do it right. I ask almost everyone I meet in Munich for advice. Some people tell me to get to the grounds before 8 a.m. to get a spot at a table. Others say I'm probably going to be out of luck entirely if I don't have a reservation (you can make reservations at Oktoberfest?).

Several tell me to avoid the second weekend of Oktoberfest since it's the "Italian Weekend" and gets really crowded. But I'm also told the first weekend is really crowded, that it's best to go in the afternoon during the week. Too bad I have a job...

I'm told to ride the toboggan before I go home for the night and to ride the ferris wheel after I've had a few beers. Both of those scare me.