Kultur 7

     I found the articles for this chapter's Kultur assignment to be very interesting! In the first group of articles with the German blogger writing about USA food items, I read a few of the posts (the ones about the author making an "American Christmas" dinner with the turkey, the article about the cupcakes, and the article about the craw fish boil). In all of the articles in this group that I read, the author is continually in awe at American portion sizes and the "lavishness" of American food, which I found to be interesting. From what I've read from non-American based publications, this doesn't seem to be a common opinion either. I empathize with the author's shock at how much work a traditional American Christmas/Thanksgiving dinner is to prepare, although her menu looked great! Except for the pea and tomato cappuccinos, I'm not so sure about those. Also, a quick note on the craw fish boil article: they aren't really a western United States thing, they're more of a southern U.S. custom (the boil is referred to as a "Wild West" party, but close enough, I guess).
     I also found the article about the lack of queuing in Germany to be very strange, since a large number of customs and traditions in Germany seem to have their root in order and lawfulness. I enjoyed reading the tips on how to assert your dominance in the resulting crowd of Germans, though. The more I read about German culture, the more worried I get that I'll be in a pretty serious culture shock when I'll possibly be going to Germany to study abroad.
     There were some good selections for things to do in the 365 Dinge reading. I especially liked a few of them: I liked the fondue suggestion, as I've only had fondue a few times in my life and I'll always take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy it again. I also liked the suggestion of going to the saunas, since saunas are always nice. I also liked the suggestion for shopping in the stores that primarily carry goods from Southeast Asian countries, that sounds interesting.
     I liked the readings from our textbook as well. I wish that we had more perks as a student here in Ann Arbor like the ones that were described for German students! Although, I know that some of my friends who go to school in major U.S. cities get to enjoy similar perks where they live currently (free/discounted tickets to cultural events in the city, public transportation discounts, etc.). I was surprised to read that it's common for Germans to go food shopping every day. Even though this probably means better food and service, I doubt that this practice would take on in America (too much time and money). It was also interesting to read about the two German cities profiled in the book. My mother and father have visited Stuttgart and toured the Porsche museum before, and they said it was a lovely city with lots to do. I'd really want to see one of the Bach performances in the city, and maybe one of the operas (even though I'm not really into opera). Munich seems like a great city in Germany as well! I've heard of the Glockenspiel before as well as Oktoberfest, both of which I'd gladly go to.