Michael Jackson in Munich

Munich, Germany

My summary of Munich in one sentence: "A fun, crowded beer-city filled with happy yet constrained Germans (but unusually and exceptionally happy because of the world cup), who walk amongst the historic and glorious streets of the past, but also tainted with the memories of a regretful war."

I've been excited about going to Germany for some time now. Its history intrigues me and I've been aching to see other parts besides my few days spent in Berlin. I wanted to walk the streets of the past and visit the infamous places of the war. I wanted to see it with my own eyes, to better understand and grasp the severity and consequences of its effect.

After arriving in Munich, I waited for my next couchsurfing hosts Zimmi and Gaby. I didn't know too much about them, but one thing I did know was their love for Michael Jackson (according to their profile page on CouchSurfing). With a bit of mix up on where and when to meet up. After one hour of waiting , I took matters into my own hands and decided to go and find them myself. In a previous email I had received some directions. All I had was a subway line, the stop and an address. I crossed my fingers.

By now I was a bit use to how European addresses work, at least for the most part. I would probably still get lost, but I didn't allow myself to panic just yet. I was already used to the confusion of the first day and the consistent routine of walking down the wrong street. As long as I expected it, I was barely phased anymore.

As always I found it, using my internal compass (who knew I had one!), my knack for persistence and the useful process of elimination. Nymphenburger Strasse was my destination and it wouldn't get the best of me, not this time.

After finding the address, I faced another obstacle. What was their last names? I could be randomly knocking on several doors before I found the right one. FYI, European apartments don't seem to have numbers. I saw the name Zimmerman and took a leap of faith that Zimmi meant Zimmerman. Good intuition because I was right. I walked through the heavy doors and was greeted downstairs by Zimmi - a somewhat overweight, bald older man probably in his forties. This was going to be interesting.

He helped me up the stairs with my luggage and he welcomed me into his apartment. Was this going to be my first "odd" experience with couchsurfing? I would soon find out.
Gaby, his wife was lying down apparently exhausted and feeling a bit ill. I greeted her and walked into my new room. It was filled with Michael Jackson memorabilia; posters, Cd's, books - calling them Michael Jackson "fans" would be an understatement. Later I found out how right I was.

Gaby joined us in my room and we proceeded with the usual "Hi. How are you," and the standard getting-to-know you conversation. I was used to these by now.
I found out that Zimmi and Gaby met at a Michael Jackson concert in Mexico. She was of course Mexican and Zimmi was a native Munich-German. Their love for Michael Jackson brought them together and their love for him would extend into a loving and long lasting marriage of seven years.

We talked for the next hour or so about my trip so far, our backgrounds and of course Michael Jackson. Zimmi became extremely passionate about the topic and even got a bit emotional in regards to his death. He's quite convinced he was murdered, but of course in the non-conventional way. "The media killed him, and so did Sony." I haven't talked about Michael Jackson in a while, but this experience reminded me of how loved he was around the world.
They decided to show me around Munich for my first day and helped me plan out the following days to come. We hopped on a subway to the central station and we walked around the main center of Munich.

Zimmi had an extensive knowledge of history and all the main events of Munich. He showed me where Hitler had his first communist rally held, his old apartment before the outbreak of the war, and the former houses of communist officers. I was fascinated with all of this. I tried to imagine what those times were like and how people must have felt walking those streets back in the early 40's. The buildings helped bring the stories to life and I felt history staring me in the face.

We ended our tour with their personal shrine to Michael Jackson, set up in front of a hotel Michael once stayed at for a concert. The photos of Michael Jackson were splattered up on a statue, with letters from fans and candles all around. I had met two girls who visited L.A. to go on a personal "Michael Jackson" tour, visiting his grave in Glendale (yes where I live!) and Neverland. I had quite an interesting talk with them about their passion for him and now I may never view him in the same way.

Zimmi and Gaby had told me that the day Michael died, they ran to this statue and cried together. They put up the first poster of MJ and it continued to grow from there with the help of other fans in Germany. They've been going there almost every day to light candles.

As I said before... calling them "fans" would be an understatement.

TO BE CONTINUED...