Deutsch!

I have been exposed to a lot of German culture through my experiences in German 101 and 102 this year. While in class and in listening to the interactive, I have become more aware of German perspectives on the American culture. I see now that Germans see things I perceive as normal as very strange. For example, Germans see basic American niceties as shallow and superficial. When Germans ask each other how they are doing, the question is a serious one that requires a lengthy, serious answer. I wasn’t really aware of this, but now it makes sense. Whenever I emailed my German friend and asked her how she was doing, her responses were always very long and detailed. Of course, in the medium of email and long-distance communication Americans would consider such detailed answers normal as well. But even so, there was a large amount of specificity given for a simple question of “So how are you doing?.” One thing about American and German culture that I learned and don’t quite 100% agree with is that Americans are more friendly and helpful than Germans. Maybe in some respects this is true, but I think Americans are just culturally more outgoing. When I was in Germany, my friends there were very helpful and friendly. Of course, I’m sure this was partly due to the fact that I knew them very well, but even random people I met didn’t seem to quite fit the stereotypical angry, unfriendly German. Especially the young people I met were very friendly. In class it seems like we are learning these stereotypes, and I know the reason is so that we know kind of what to expect in Germany, but it isn’t 100% accurate in my opinion. I suppose the bottom line is that Germans are a little less outgoing than Americans on the whole, but no less friendly or helpful. At any rate, after learning about a new culture I can understand the difficulty of being in a foreign country. So I will definitely be more accommodating to foreigners trying to get along in America. After all, if the “angry” and “unfriendly” Germans welcomed we with open arms, surely I can do the same thing.