Ask HN: How to gain experience in microservices or any new tech

I am in IT for 9 yrs now and have been working for an age-old monolithic application in a company with very old tech stack. I have been upskilling myself since last few months. I have started with microservices and distributed applications. The problem is how do I get hands on experience in it. I thought of joining a company which works in Microservices but they all need experience which I do not have. So, I am rather confused about how to go ahead. I see this as a problem while learning about any new stuff. I can't get into a company without any experience on the technology and I can't get experience without solving real problems in it. This is like a chicken and egg problem for me. So, here are some questions I have -

1. While learning a new skill, how do I put myself in a situation where I will have to solve real world problems. I can think of doing a weekend project. But consider the case of learning about distributed applications. I will need a real customer facing application there to face some real problems.

2. I feel if I get a chance to work in a company which uses those technologies, I will be able to get a good experience. Is that a way? How do I get into it as a beginner?

3. Are there any other ways I can look into? Freelancing, etc?