Food and Being Funny - Kultur3

Hallo,

While doing the kultur reading, I found it interesting that Germans are thought to be some of the funniest people in the world. I was also a little surprised at how low on the list Amerikaner were. In the article which described how the humor styles of the different regions of Deutscheland compared, I would have to say I am most like the Rhinelander. Granted, i'm really not the best joke teller myself, but when I hear a joke, its always good when it has a funny punchline.

According to the Eco-Centric article, most Germans prefer natural,organic food over genetically modified food. I think that it is great and wish more Amerikaner felt the same way. Like the USA, however, non organic products still exist in supermarkets across Deutscheland.

After reading the article on fast-food, I really want to eat in Deutscheland. Almost all of the foods listed in the article sounded really good. The Mett was the only one I didn't particularly like, mostly because I don't like onions. Ketchup and Mayonaisse on fries, or chips as they are called, sounds like an interesting, yet possibly delicious combination that I would definitely be willing to try.

Tschüss!

Kultur 3

The articles that I read seemed to contradict each other. The beer one made it seem like Germany was proud of its beer and drinking a lot, but the ban on public drinking article showed that some people aren't happy with it. While reading the one about the ban, I was thinking about how you aren't supposed to drink in the streets here, but some people still got super drunk and obnoxious. It's something that is inevitable as long as alcohol is around, so going through all the effort of a ban seems pointless. Then I got to the end and it basically said that.

The other articles that contradicted each other were the ones about how Germans are so serious and only see the negative, but then the other article said Germans have a good sense of humor. Both of these seem really generalized. There are some Americans that are extremely pessimistic and too serious, but that doesn't mean all Americans are. Some people are just that way. To say that all Germans are funny or that all of them are pessimistic would be incorrect. When we read about how saying someone gained weight would not be offensive (in Kultur 2), our GSI who is from Germany said that to her it would be. Maybe these articles are talking more about the older generation instead of the younger one.

Kapitel 3 Kultur - Emily Seidel

I found this set of articles very interesting. Having roommates that consider themselves quite the beer aficionados, it was interesting to read in "An Obsession Explained: Beer, Brewskies and Liquid Bread" about the different types of German beer and the characteristics of each. It was also neat to find out that only certain areas and breweries have permission to make certain beers (such as the Kölsch).

The second article I read was "Eco-Centric Germans: Organic Food Obsessions". It was entertaining to read about how much Germans prefer organic foods. I think, in general, not just in Germany, this is becoming a more and more popular trend. While here in the U.S., organic foods generally are a little more expensive, it sounds like Germany is trying to cut down on the prices for everyone to enjoy.

The last article I read was "German Fast Food: Forget the "Mett," Try a "Frikadelle". This article I found particularly interesting as I have had several of the foods on the list before, Bratwurst, Wiener Schnitzel, and Schweinshaxe (yes, I have tried pig's foot before and yes, it looks like they literally just cut off a leg of a pig and serve it to you). When my parents come to visit, we often go to Metzger's (a German restaurant a little off campus). They serve many of the items on the list in this article and everything I've had was very delicious.

Kapitel Drei Kultur - Kyle O'Meara

Once again reading about German has helped enlightened me into learning on how Germans are like. I chose the following three articles out of the five: An Obsession Explained: Beer, Brewskies and Liquid Bread,Capping the Bottle: Germany Looks to Tighten Up Public Drinking Rules, and German Fast Food: Forget the "Mett," Try a "Frikadelle". I also read the last two articles on German pessimism and also how different groups in German express their humor.

Things I felt were particularly interesting were how Germans were very selective and descriptive of their beer. The article that gave many beer reviews I felt clashed entirely with America and our beer culture, due to the fact that the article described each specific beer in such great detail and showed how each region had their own way of making particular types of beer. In America it seems we usually just describe beer as beer and do not define its taste in specific terms just as in strong or not that strong. I was also very surprised to find out that Germans were allowed to drink in public places and I generally viewed Germany as a very orderly place, but it seems like they have some public drunkenness problems.

I also felt Germany had a wider variety of fast food selections than Americans have and also I was surprised to learn you could buy beer in German fast food outlets. I have also found it interesting the strong regional differences in German humor. I did not know Germany was a pessimistic country and thought it was always positive due to its economic successes. However, no I infer that the pessimism may aid Germans in output because they always want to constantly improve.

Kapitel Drei Kultur

Guten Abend,

The Germans love their beer, there is no doubt about that. With over 1,000 breweries in the country, they have plenty of options when it comes to drinks. One thing you don't expect, however, is for Germans to abuse alcohol. Because they treat beer as just another drink that is available to almost everyone, one wouldn't expect them to have these problems. To solve these problems, German officials have tried to ban alcohol in public. Germany doesn't seem to be that different from the USA in the fact that attempts to ban drinking has not pleased the public. Similarly, attempts to give people their own personal area to drink has in fact lead to a decrease in public intoxication.

I was somewhat surprised to find out how obsessed with organic food Germans are. I knew that most Europeans lead healthier lives that Americans, but I thought it was just because they strayed away from fast food. However, it seems that its more than just that. Germans refuse to touch any genetically modified food (a habit some Americans are beginning to develop) and prefer to shop exclusively at organic supermarkets.

As far as Germans being bland pessimists, I completely disagree. I agree that Americans can be somewhat enthusiastic all the time, but that doesn't mean that Germans are pessimists. Well, I suppose that they may tend to view their glasses as half empty, but still. Even Germans can make jokes. Although when they do, its less obvious and more subtle. This is something many other countries don't know much about. After reading about the different region's type of humor, it seems my sense of humor is very similar to that of a Berliner. Es ist sehr toll.

also Ich bin fertig. Auf Wiederschreiben!

Kultur-Texte Kapitel 3 - Jeremy Kohtz

At the time I read these articles, I was particularly hungry. So I made sure to read the ones about the German/Turkish food. Although most of the stuff they talked about was really unfamiliar, it still got my stomach grumbling.
I definitely need to try some schnitzel; that one sounded delish. Wiener schnitzel particularly caught my eye. Ich gern esse Schweinefleisch.


I also enjoyed the article about the different types of humor in Germany. I enjoy hearing things that break all conceptions of something that I previously had. I mean, I didn't think that Germans had no sense of humor, but I'd always heard that in Germany, things weren't particularly funny like they are here. It seems that Germans, to an extent, think all the same things are funny that we do. People are people, I guess. Who can not laugh at the Three Stooges? C'mon. Classic.


Another preconception I had of Germans was enforced with the pessimism article, but at least they kind of explained how that's normal for them. One thing I didn't know, though, was how health-obsessed they are. I thought they just drank beer all day. My bad.

Kultur 3

The articles for this week were again very interesting. They are teaching me a lot about the culture of the German people and also about how to act if I were to ever take a trip to Germany.

My favorite article of all the ones that I read was the one about the beer in Germany. I was amazed to read that there were over 1500 breweries in the country. It was also interesting to read that most Germans consider beers from America to be bad.

The article about the fast food was also very interesting. There seems to be so many different kinds of fast food in German and each kind of food seems to have multiple variations that you can order.

Overall I found the articles very interesting and entertaining to read and I am looking forward to reading more of the articles for the future culture blogs.

Willkommen!!

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