Interview with a Real, Live German
March 27, 2008
Since I'm starting to see some signs of spring around here, I figured it might be nice to get a new perspective on things blog and Germany related. Plus, my loyal blog readers (hi mom!) may be a little tired of hearing only one person's angle on what it is like to live in Germany. Thus, my friend (German sense) Wolf kindly agreed to respond o the five questions below:
Kari: Please briefly describe yourself for our audience:
Wolf: Bookwormish historian with an oversized affection for computers, databases and butter, easy going if provided with intellectual stimulation.
Kari: Please describe, in detail, your relationship with butter:
Wolf: I was raised by my father who firmly believed that you could eat anything, provided you chopped it to pieces and fried it in butter, and that any meal not undergoing such treatment is either "haute cousine" (and should therefore be fought as if coming from our arch enemy - the French.) or simply some modern silly idea about healthyness and the need to stay slim. People that work stay slim anyway. Further, I grew up with the notion that some poor people in faraway countries (aka the USA) need to use stuff my father referred to as "war butter", which I was fortunate to only be exposed to while watching TV. Consistent with my German heritage, I will never change my mind about this (or anything else). [Kari's note: 'war butter' = margarine. Also, I'm with you about the French, they are totally stinkpots.]
Kari: Do you agree that Germans are wayyy too pushy on public transportation and would go so far as to push a cute and snuggly grandmother aside if it assured them a slightly better seat on the train/bus/plane? Also, have you noticed that Germans have no shame about picking their noses in public?
Wolf: I'd push her myself, she probably was a member of the BDM in her younger days anyway. [Kari's note: BDM = Bund Deutscher Mädel, Nazi girls organization]
Wolf: Nope, do they? I thought this kind of habit distinguished the Bavarians from the rest of mankind. [Kari's note: Bavaria has been called the Texas of Germany]
Kari: I know that its not very nice to say that Germans are pushy, but I simply find it to be true. Any specific stereotypes about Germans or Americans you care to dispel or support?
Wolf: I support all sorts of stereotypes, as they make it so much easier to dismiss 95% of the people if I'm so inclined - or love them for the charm their native habits radiates, depending on my mood.
Kari: Please detail, to the best of your ability, my feminist theory:
Wolf:
1.) Women are opressed
2.) The opressed are right *per se* (cf. Jesus, Buddha, Wat Tyler, Marx or Foucault)
3.) You are a woman
4.) Therefore, you are always right.
Posted byKari at 2:25 PM
I laughed. It's true, though! Germans are extremely rude on the tram. It drives me insane.
Musings of an Ami in Deutschland