Before I had read anything I had only been able to know about German culture by stereo types which were incorrect, what I had been told by my teacher, and what I have seen on TV. Now since a lot of this information was incorrect or slightly altered some of it held truth. Even today you can still see the effects of the German culture on Cincinnati which was a city in the United States that had many German’s had immigrated to the United States. This tradition of Oktoberfest and the naming of German things such as over the Rhine which refers to the Rhine River in Germany. Even the large amount of German names in Cincinnati makes its large German impact very apparent.
The culture of German speaking countries is different in ours in some ways which is apparent in the celebration of Karneval. Now while Karneval is similar to our own Mardi gras it’s very different at the same time. Such as the making fun of political figures and the colorful costumes which are worn by everyone and just a time where everyone has fun. Mardi gras for us is a time to have fun but is much more sexually related such as the whole deal with the beads that everyone knows about.
Recently the class was told how beer is considered food and everyone drinks it with their meals. This is very different from the United States considering that the drinking age is higher than in Germany. The United States drinking is 21 but originally was change from 18 to where it is now. While in Germany its 18 but kids are allowed to drink with their parents making it much more sociable considering many Americans will binge drink when they have alcohol available. This seemed to me one of the biggest differences in our cultures. Because it shows how responsible the young people in Germany are compared to our young people.
The cultures of the German speaking countries are the same while at the same time different it is apparent that they have an idea of right and wrong such as the homeless man who gave aback a large sum of money when many would have kept it. But overall they seem fairly friendly and welcoming such as with Karneval and though they all don’t have the same form of government such as Lichtenstein’s monarchy and Germany’s democracy. It just goes to show how many people can coexist in such a small amount of area.
Over the last 10 weeks I have learned a good deal of knowledge about the German culture and way of life. I have learned many of our traditions and our ways of doing things have come from German immigrants such as Oktoberfest. I have also learned that it’s just not the United States having economic problems. It more so effecting everyone but some worse than others that are having the problem as well. I have learned about the sociable drinking of Germany and the overall kindness and honesty of the people of Switzerland. Overall the German speaking countries have a lot in common with the United States but there are also a lot of differences. We just have to be aware of our roots and know where we get our traditions for.
