Kapitel 3 Kultur- Matt

Grüße von Matt,

From the article `"Beer's, Brewskies and Liquid Bread," it's obvious that Germans are much more serious than I initially thought. With about 1,274 breweries (about 3/4 of all the breweries in the European Union!), there has to be something that "separates the men from the boys" in terms of brewery competitions. Though it seems really difficult though to have one beer better than the next because through the German 1516 Purity Law, beer ingredients are limited to containing: water, hops, malt and yeast. Apparently the right ratios of these ingredients will make a difference in how you'll end up the next morning. The article also explains how you should drink your beer with manners (look the mate into their eyes and clank glasses together, saying "Prost!").

The article "Forget the "Mett", Try a "Frikadelle"" seems like it would be an amazing fast-food guide next time I drop by Germany and want a quick bite. Though I have already tried a few food mentioned in the article (e.g., Bratwurst, Pommes Frites mit Essig, Pommes Rot-Weiß), I would really fancy some Schweinshaxe and some Mett.

The third article I choose to read was "An Introduction to Germany's Real Fast Food Joints". It was a cool reminder of the time in Germany I had when I was a child with my parents going to a Döner. Our family became really good friends with the Turkish owners, so good we were actually treated as if we were family :) . I could tell you about the stories we had with them, but it would take to long. There was some similarity between the article and my memories. Like the article, they obviously were big on serving Döner lamb (lamb that spins), though this Döner did not serve chicken. And they served some middle-eastern food like Köfta and "lahma-ajun" (literally "mixed meat," it's basically a meat pizza pie) which our family enjoyed a lot! All-in-all, this place, the Döner, was the best place to catch a quick bite.

Even though I know now that German's like to stare and keep an eye on you, it came to me as a shock to hear that German's are very pessimistic in their everyday lives. How could you be so pessimistic with all that beer?!! Hahaha! No but seriously, I've actually heard about this pessimism being common also in the Chinese culture from one of my Chinese friends. Though I would have to say that being a pessimist and a overly-critical thinker is probably a bad habit to get into, despite however probable the circumstances seem to be.

The Teutonic Humor article was an interesting read because it explains how humor is different depending on where you're from in Germany. Teutonic humor generally consists of irony, wittiness, self-deprecation and sarcasm. I would probably have a laugh in Bavaria or Rhineland, just because in your face slap-stick jokes and punchline comedy stand-ups are my favorites.

Danke schön wieder SPIEGEL ONLINE,

M.K.