Kultur 3

I thought that "An Obsession Explained: Beer, Brewskies and Liquid Bread", was a very interesting and informative article that explained the different stereotypes about Germans and their beer. I was not too surprised to learn how important eye contact during a toast is to German's or that there are so many breweries in Germany, but I found it interesting that it takes so long to serve a drink. For the article, "Capping the Bottle: Germany Looks to Tighten Up Public Drinking Rules", I would have to agree that a ban on public drinking may not be the best solution and I think the idea of establishing a room for public drinking is by far the best solution they have come up with so far for this problem. For the article "Eco-Centric Germans: Organic Food Obsessions", I think that it is a good thing that Germans are so health-conscious. I have heard before that Germans' much preferred organic to anything else, but I did not realize that this obsession was so wide spread through out the country. For the two articles on German humor, I found it interesting that happiness is seen as a sign of being less intelligent. I was not too surprised too learn that there are differences in the humor of different regions in Germany, since this seems like something that might occur in most countries, but I thought it was interesting that the regions differ so greatly. I think that the Germans are very smart to use the metric system, since overall its ranges of values make more sense and the conversions are much nicer!

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It was very nice to get more of an understanding of the food culture within Germany. The most interesting part of these reading was first reading the article about the many types of German fast food that seem to be prevalent around the country then reading the article about the growing obsession over organic foods. I guess this shows the two sides of the coin: the tourist side and the resident side. I assume that for those visitors looking for the "authentic" German experience, the fried sausage and stale bread route is the way to go. The Currywurst description is my favorite....

Currywurst

Don’t get your hopes up too much -- this is no Tikka Massala and it doesn’t taste anything like curry. Basically, it's a Bratwurst (see above) which has been sliced up in a special machine with a dollop of luke-warm so-called curry ketchup ladled over it, and if your lucky with a dusting of mild curry powder and the obligatory half slice of dried out white bread.

It is also cool to read about the different taste in humor across the country, yet with all these reading Berlin is starting to sound like a rather heavy city.

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The article that really caught my interest was the Spiegel article "Teutonic Humor". I thought it was incredibly interesting to have a "stereotypical sense of humor" based upon the region of the country. I have not come across this kind of stereotype before. American humor is incredibly diverse, there really aren't stereotypes. Furthermore, when someone says "British humor", I have a fairly good idea of what they mean; however, I don't necessarily recognize that there is a difference between the humor of London and Liverpool. I was able to see many parallels between the humor of the different parts of Germany presented and humor that we recognize in America. The Berliner's humor seems to me most like that of American "city-folk", while the humor of the Bavarian reminds me of what traditional (traditionally rural) Americans would view as funny. One could argue that slapstick, obvious humor is traditional humor, and as such it doesn't surprise me that the Bavarian has this sense of humor. 

After reading the article, I feel like I would most enjoy the humor of The Hamburger. I have been told that I have an incredibly dry sense of humor, and I think it's pretty obvious. My "jokes" (I hate using the word joke because I don't ever have a traditional punchline) are usually based on blunt, sarcastic, or ironic observations that I point out to others in deadpan. This may be the reason why shows like Seinfeld and The Office are some of my favorite, because they are grounded in observational comedy. For me, the most subtle "jokes" are the ones that make me laugh the most. 

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I found the articles about German humor the most interesting. I like to think that I have a good sense of humor, I find mostly everything humorous. I never have gotten the appeal of Marcell the Shell however. Anyways, a lot of people don't even get my humor. For example, whenever my brother and I get into a hot car we always yell "Flames!!" because, you know, it's so hot that it's like fire. It's hilarious, we crack up every time. But whenever I try to explain that to someone else I get the occasional courtesy chuckle, but it's never amusing to them. Maybe it's because I love TV. So much of my humor has been influenced by Jerry Seinfeld, Tina Fey, Louis C.K., etc. I shouldn't even begin to talk about this, I'll never stop. I wish we had Karneval here. That would literally be a dream come true for me. I love jokes. I like to think that I have an extensive repertoire. So extensive that I'd be able to go to Germany and get laughs in any region? Probably not. But I know I have better stuff than that hunting joke.

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There is such  large difference when it comes to Germany and America and the way that they view drinking whether that be underage or public drinking. It is not unusual to see parents ok with their children drinking at a much younger age than most parents here would even dream of there kids drinking at. This does however have a positive affect it reached children to have respect for it and not take advantage of it when they are older like a good majority of kids in the US do which leads to alcohol poisoning, and MIP's...etc. When they said that Germany has 1,274 breweries it kind of blew my mind thinking about the size of Germany. When I was in Germany it was apparent that they are much more comfortable with there alcohol consumption you would see people drinking out in public and kids much younger than me were also drinking as they mentioned in an Obsession Expressed. I did find it a little weird, however, how they are trying to buckle down on the public drinking.

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I read the articles "Capping the bottle" "German Fast Food" and "Yo dude what about the Turks?"
The first article surprised me, since drinking is a big part of German culture I figured it was a natural habit that did not cause problems to society, From the reading I learn that isn't quite the situation. Now that I am aware of the consequences of drinking heavily in Germany I agree that regulations should be established. Limits should be set on how much is fine to drink in public, like the occasional beer and what is just unacceptable, and leads to misconduct. I'm not a big fan of American fast food and after reading the second article I doubt I'll be a fan of German food, Fried sausage does not seem appealing to me and neither do vinegar fries. The third article demonstrated the type of Turkish food there is and Germany and how to order it. Turkish food consisted of large amounts of meat and also did not seem something I'd look forward to trying. Well maybe just a Doner.

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I read "An Obsession Explained," "Capping the Bottle," und "German Fast Food."  I thought the two articles about drinking were particularly interesting because they took ideas I already had about German culture and either reinforced or modified them.  For example, I knew that Germans prized their beer, but I wasn't aware of a lot of the subtleties in production and in consumption that the articles pointed out.  I'm not a huge expert on different types of beer either, so it was interesting to read their tongue in cheek descriptions of the German varieties.  I found it pretty amusing to read their description of Berliner Weisse in particular, because that was the drink I zeroed in on when I was in Berlin (hey, it was cheap) and now I'm a little embarrassed at having ordered it (repeatedly).

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For the 3 Kultur articles I decided to read An Obsession Explained, Capping the Bottle, and Illogical Logic. I thought that it was interesting reading about the Bier culture in Germany. I knew that the German stereotype of drinking is existed but I never realized how many breweries they had; 1,274 breweries churning out over 5,000 beers? Sign me up please! It was also fun to read about how lax the German law are in regards to public drinking and the resistance the public had to regulating public drinking. As someone who enjoys drinking Bier it was baffling to read how liberally the German's take drinking, even allowing for drinking in public. The final article, Illogical Logic really amused me. It seemed to really fit into the previously learned stereotype that German's take everything seriously and at face value. I couldn't help but think of the YouTube video of the Party Pooper we were shown in class when I read that German's would tell you the literal next train, not the next train that your ticket was valid for.

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The readings are presenting the eating and drinking habits of th Germans. I really like the sentences how it describes Germans waddling around with a glass of beer. Only after I read the articles, have I realized how much Germans love beers. They take it nearly as a substitution of Wasser. The first article also mentioned how FIFA attrats Germans but also gives a wrong information to visitors that es gibt merely a couple of beers in Germany. Honestly, I don't like the feeling with hangover so my favorite beer must be Kölsch. However it is risky as well since it is usually served in small size cups, which, to some extent, is encouraging people to drink more by substituting cups more frequently.
And I really like the fourth article which is talking about "fast food culture" of the Germans. I would love to try Bratwurst if I go to Germany for World Cups. Pommes looks interesting to me. It's equivalent to the fries in U.S. But no Essig is offered and we pay for the ketchup and mayonnaise if we want, which is quite different from here. I would love to try Zigeuner Schnitzel und Spätzle too. It makes me feel hungry to read these articles in the morning.
From the article "Official! World's funniest joke", I did not get it why people would rate "very funny" for the joke in the beginning...But the Europeans do laugh for this joke? It's sound understandable when the article claims that they more enjoy jokes with serious topics such as death... I think I should go there at least once to see how different their "laugh points" are from mine. :)

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For the three articles of choice I decided to read an Obsession Explained, Capping the Bottle, and Eco-Centric Germans. I knew Bier played a big part in Deutsch Kultur but I had no idea there were certain niceties to be observed before drinking or so many different breweries and types of Bier in Deutschland. I skimmed of the list of Biers since I do not plan on drinking any. After reading the first article I thought it would be interesting to see how they could possibly be trying to ban public drinking. It seems impossible since Bier plays such a big part in the Kultur, but it was interesting to discover that not everyone in Deutschland drinks. A stereotype got to me there! The last article I actually found the most interesting because I believe that the Germans have this right. I wish that America was set up more like Deutschland and that organic foods were readily available and eaten by everyone. Actually I'm quite jealous of them, though it was sad finding out the other options are often moldy. Yuck!

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The three articles I chose to read were "An Obsession Explained: Beer, Brewskies and Liquid Bread", "Eco-Centric Germans: Organic Food Obsessions", and "German Fast Food: Forget the "Mett," Try a "Frikadelle." 

From these articles, plus the information from "Mealtimes in German-speaking countries", it's pretty obvious to me that I'd have a hard time eating much in Germany as a vegetarian. However, since the Germans are also so into organic food and sustainable eating, I feel like I'd have less of a moral struggle giving up my vegetarianism for German eating than I would for meat eating in America.

I love how much the Germans love organic food. Here, I still get eye rolls and scoffs for my organic preference, although since moving to Ann Arbor I have way more people on my side than I did at home. I've often dreamed of living somewhere where everyone else shares my love of all things organic and where organic is the norm. It seems Germany is the place of my dreams!

I also know how the Germans must feel, having people think they're not funny just because their humor is missed. I, much like the people in north Germany, love dry wit and deadpan humor. I appreciate understated humor, and I know what a disappointment it is when its missed and mistaken for a lack of funny bone.

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The beer article was interesting. The stereotype of Germans walking around with a beer in their hand has always been what I thought Germany would look like. I never knew that Germany made so many types of beer. 5,000 different types seems insane. Its funny how the first food quality act passed in Germany (or the Holy Roman Empire since that included the German states in 1516) was to make sure the quality of beer was good. Even then they appear to be obsessed with beer!
It seems like tightening public drinking laws would be a good idea. Is there a drinking age in Germany like here in America? I've always been curious about this.
I now see why Germans complain so much. They are so pessimistic that the it would make anyone think their country bad. They need to lighten up and be a little bit happier,

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The articles I read for Kultur 3 were pretty entertaining. I did enjoy reading about the different types of German beer, and I had no idea there were so many! I'm interested to talk to my friend living in Vienna to see if she has had any of these as well as suffered from any of the hangovers described. I did not find the article about the Fast Food ordering in Germany interesting though. The process was described as overwhelming, but to me it does not seem so in comparison to ordering at Zingerman's Deli. Also I had no idea that there were all of the different types of Schnitzel and Brotwurst. It's humorous how this is the German equivalent to fast food whereas America's version is hamburgers and chicken fingers. One of the articles mentioned the proper mannerism for drinking, which includes looking in the eyes of the people around you and lifting your glass to cheers. If this is not done its believed one will be cursed with seven years of bad sex. My best friend and her family introduced my family to this superstition over Thanksgiving last year, and now my family over exaggerates it every time someone makes a toast or cheers. The different types of humor that was explained in one article was interesting. I found the fact that there are so many stereotypes of people and their sense of humor more funny than the actual jokes in the article. One part that made me laugh though was when the article discussed the humor of the Hamburger, and how it's all about the irony of those 'up north'. The part about 'up north' reminded me of Michigan and how many people from Michigan say they're going up north for vacation, which really could mean just an hour north of Ann Arbor to 8 hours north. That is still a concept I have difficulty understanding from being out of state. Lastly, the article regarding the pessimism in Germany and German people was kind of redundant. We read an article like that before, and I think there is only so many times one can read about the German stereotype of being overly pessimistic. However, it was still an enjoyable read.

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The beer article was dull to me.  They tried to spice it up by adding humorous comments regarding the hangovers, but it failed to redeem the rest of the article.  I did, however appreciate learning about the various types of beers made in Germany.  Weissbiers and Dunkels are already two favorites of mine, and I would love to try a german Bockbier, as I already like American Bocks.
As far as public drinking goes, since we do have laws banning it here in Michigan and I cannot imagine what things would look like without them, it seems like something worth pursuing.  It would help cities stay cleaner, and is proven to discourage violent crime.
It is great to hear that the Germans are excited about local foods, because that is better for everyone.  It was interesting to hear the final sentence.  The Germans, being so interested facts and statistics, I would think would not make a claim like this.  There has not been a large amount of research to substantiate the claim that organic foods' nutrition content is any higher than that of conventionally grown food.
Coming from an American perspective, I would say that the pessimists are the idiots.  Optimism gives you the ability to see the opportunities that are around you and take advantage of them.
Finally, the humor part makes me very curious to go to one of those comedy nights and see how it really sounds.

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I found the article "Eco-Centric Germans: Organic Food Obsessions" to be really interesting. In Southern California, where I live, there is a push towards organic food taking place. In the recent years, new small-scale organic markets have appeared while fast-food restaurants and other inorganic places have had trouble keeping business going. One of the main arguments why mass organic food production cannot happen right now is because it costs too much money and our society is not affluent enough to survive off of it. So, it was very interesting to read this article that showed that organic farming is possible, even on a national scale. I am in-favor of organic farming and buying locally-grown foods. I hope to one day be able to visit Germany and participate in a culture that is now the front-runner in this type of farming, production, and consumption.

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I left reading the article “Germany Looks to Tighten Up Public Drinking Rules,” with a thought of irony and amusement.  As most of the other articles that I have read concerning Germany show, Germany is known for its beer and its people are perhaps second only to the Irish when it comes to the stereotypical drunk foreigner portrayal.  This is the country that is responsible for Oktoberfest, the holiday that in most eyes is seen as an annual party with lots of beer.  I am interested in seeing how this proposed prohibition (no pun intended) on excess amounts of alcohol will play out in the coming months.

Willkommen!!

Welcome to our class blog!

We will be using this blog throughout the semester for two kinds of assignments:

1. Once per chapter, the homework plan will direct you to post a response to the culture readings for the chapter on the blog.

2. Roughly every other week, the homework plan will direct you to post here for your Abenteuer mit Deutsch (AMD) assignment. First you do a fun activity that involves German, then you post about it. You should spend an hour total on this (maybe 45-55 minutes doing something, 5-15 minutes posting about it). See Was ist ein AMD, AMD Ideen and Beispiele for ideas. This should get you excited about the kinds of things you can do!

Whenever you post something, please include your name and the name of the assignment (e.g. AMD2, Kultur5) as labels. See "Blog: How To" for more details!