Kultur 3... What?

To be a hundred percent honest, I felt like none of these readings in total had much relating to one another... therefore I will jump from topic to topic as they did.

To start off, I thought it was interesting to begin on several readings about the German way of life regarding foods and drink. Beer, as mentioned a lot in these articles, is both a past-time and a problem. Food is generally carefully inspected before ingested, and the people seem to all have these feelings worked into mainstream Germany. To me, these articles were fairly hilarious to read about. I have never grown up in a culture celebrating beer as a drink of choice unless you are an alcoholic. Many people where I am from frown on drinking in general because it leads to stupid accidents and people acting like fools. However, in Germany it seems as though beer can be both a public nuisance and a pat on the back after a long days work. However, with having an ungodly amount of breweries in the country, it's no wonder it is the drink of choice for many. The right to have a beer in hand is almost similar to the American freedom to carry a gun most anywhere. It's just a part of a culture I will never truly understand, but will take for fact and move on with my life. As for the food, I can understand the movement towards organic substances. Most of America is becoming the same way with a whole foods market popping up on almost every corner of every city (especially a town such as Ann Arbor). However, this is again a cultural thing I will never understand. I grew up on a farm eating from chemically protected foods and practically living off the land more than the average person. If I'm not dead yet from all the chemicals I've been exposed to in my live, I don't think there is a major concern of the general public... but whatever floats your boat...

Now onto the next topic of German humor and hopelessness. I can understand why most German people can see on the dark side of things. It is preparing yourself for failure. If something you try that seems wild and crazy doesn't work out, the least you can agree with yourself is that you knew it was bad to begin with. The mindset bringing you to such conclusions before you even begin may be a terrible way to live your life, but in all honesty, its being smart about the strangest and most absurd ideas that could save you from being in a debt of time for nothing gained. Yes, many people move on to become bagillionaires for coming up with ideas; but many more will fail. It kind of goes back on the statistics article that we read before: chances are you probably wont make it as a small fish in a really big pond. But as the article ends, even if you shoot down an idea to begin with, you could be one of the few to make it and enjoy what you have done. On the flip side of this pessimism, is German humor! It was interesting seeing that humor varies between areas of Germany and different cultures. To be honest, I have only lived in one place where I haven't had the chance to notice humor varying by region. It is an interesting concept and I would love to have a conversation with someone from another country just to see if their jokes were funny to me. I did find it a bit uneasy reading that WWII is becoming a joke. I mean, it seems to be a touchy subject that I wouldn't dive into. If I was ever asked about what I thought about it, I would shy away or change the subject in order to not offend people. On that note... I will move on.

The last readings were about a bunch of eating and a few different cities. To be honest, I would love 5 well balanced meals a day. However, I can't even get 3 let alone the occasional 2... so as a sore subject I will move on. The cities are interesting contrasting how they were built around certain historical aspects. This can easily be seen in many American cities as well. There are cities built around industry such as Detroit, and there are cities built around History, like Washington DC. It is a concept generated anywhere you may go, but I'm glad I have a growing list of places to visit when I make my way to Germany.