Kultur #3 Kaitlin Baker

      Beer, beer, and more beer. On every corner one can find beer in Germany. They almost drink it like water. One can even find beer at McDonalds. I found the first article "An Obsession Explained: beer, brewskies, and liquid bread" very interesting. The article elaborated on just how popular German beer is, as well as where to find it, how strong each kind is, and how one will feel the next day after consuming it. According to the article the average amount of beer drank per head is 115 liters. All I can say is, wow that's a LOT of beer.

      The second article I read, "Capping the Bottle" was about creating laws to ban public alcohol consumption in some parts of Germany. According to the article, public drunkenness has become an issue for some in Germany- it not only leads to public disturbance, but also and increased crime rate. However, to simply ban alcohol also means having to rewrite regulations and procedures for police authority. Personally, I can see why public drinking could become an issue, as alcohol is a substance that impairs personal judgement. However, for some, drinking is like a civil right, and to take it away leads to other issues. The article gave the example of one town that forbid drinking, so people just moved to the outskirts.....which never really solved the problem.

   The third article I read was title, " Eco-Centric Germans: Organic Food Obsession". This article made me want to grab the next flight to Germany and take part in their healthy green eating habits. As an advocate for more organic and locally grown foods myself, I really enjoyed learning that Germany possesses similar values. When the article talked about fruits and veggies that taste like they should, my mouth watered. Although this article is reminiscent of what some high class American mom's value with their organic food and healthy everything, I enjoyed learning that in Germany, it is for everyone. Maybe America could take a lesson from them as well.....

    The last two articles were quite different. One was about German pessimism, and the other was about German humor. Personally, the article about pessimism turned me off from Germany in a way. I believe that smiling is a great way to light up someones day and that when a friend or acquaintance is excited, its an encouraging act to be excited with them (whether you are actually excited or not). I would personally want the same for myself. However, I can also see that if I grew up around pessimism, I too would be acquainted with the behavior, and find overly-happy and positive people either fake or annoying. For the second piece of the article, German humor, I found the various types of humor for each region intriguing. My favorite was the Berliner, where they are cuttingly sarcastic. As a person who likes to give back what she takes, I can imagine the snarky comments and retorts to be quite satisfying.

Finally, for the Brennpunkt Kulture, I read about German meal-times, the metric system, and Heidelberg and Mannheim.

Meals in Germany: It is common to hold the knife in the right hand and the fork in the left (Yay left-handers!) to push food onto the fork and rest the forearm on the table. The have three meals and often, breakfast is the most important. Then they have a second breakfast later in the moring (sort of like hobbits). Next, there is a large midday meal (like our lunch?) followed with desert (pudding, fruit, icecream). The last meal is around 6pm, like our dinner, and is called abendbrot. It is like a reprise of breakfast, and therefore lighter.

Metric system: Instead of quarts, Germans use liters. For example, their drinks are measured in liteers, and beer is sold often in 1/2 liters. They also use kilos instead of pounds. So buying bread, they may ask for a kilo. Finally, instead of miles, Germans used Kilometers.

Heidelberg vs Mannheim: Mannheim is a city that was very damaged during WW2. Heidelberg did not experience that kind of devastation. Heidelberg is a Romantic city that attracts many tourists. Its museum boast to have some of the oldest human remains found on earth. Mannheim is build on past and current industrial innovations. In Mannheim, the first automobile was invented, and continues to grow in its motor-vehicle industry. Mannheim also boasts to have a large popular music industry.