Kultur 3

I found the food articles to be interessant, aber nicht inspirierend. This might be because ich esse gern alles. (almost...) Nonetheless, I'll definitely make a mental note to try some of the different things discussed. In particular I'd like to try Döner mit die drei Sossen. Also, I'll try to avoid zu viel Bockbier und Helles if I'm ever in Deutschland.

The articles that I did find to be particularly interesting were the two required ones. As much as it absolutely sucks being cut down, I completely understand why Germans take a strange pride in their ability to do it well. My friends (...and I like to think myself...) have a knack for pessimism and just being down right rude to each other at times, but we always incorporate it into our sense of humor. For this reason, I thought that the second article matched really well with the first, which I'm sure was the point. In particular, "The Berliner" and "The Hamburger" humors that they discuss are qualities that I actually enjoy in people. The subtle humor or the mocking jabs might be off-putting to some, I find them particularly amusing.

Another point I found to be intriguing was the when one of the authors mentioned a native German's view on the country's stereotypical pessimism. They explained that perhaps "always looking at the dark side of life may indicate depth, critical thinking and a certain “intelligent” caution –- things that have always been very dear to the security-loving German heart and the logic-loving German head." I thought that this related well to a lot of popular literature and media, in that often cult classics and popular novels don't always have the generic "happy ending."

The articles proved to be pretty informative per usual. It seems like the more I read the more I want to spend ridiculous amounts of time and money just wandering around Germany.