What Germany Really Thinks About America

Germany is completely fascinated with America. Teenagers run around with American flags on everything, from shirts to shoes to pants to phone cases. If you ask someone where they’d most like to visit, New York is always on everyone’s list. No one really understands when I say that Germany is way more interesting than America, because America for me is just everyday life. In fact, coming here and listening to everyone talk about how cool America is makes me realize how great, albeit sometimes a bit strange, it really is to live here. To live in America is embarrassing at times, but to hear others’ impressions is completely entertaining. Since we just listed words we associated with America in German class the other day, I thought I’d share with you a few favorites.

Here's what comes to mind when Germans think about America:

• Barack Obama
• Hollywood
• Coffee shops
• Statue of Liberty
• Golden Gate Bridge
• 9/11
• Terrorism
• Church
• Friendly people
• Fat people
• Gun laws
• Death penalty
• Fast food
• Diversity
• Big country
• American flag
• Patriotism/pride
• The American Dream
• Freedom
• Opportunity

Most Mentioned Cities (in order of how frequently I hear about them):
1. New York
2. Los Angeles
3. Miami

Most common questions people ask me about America:

• Are you a democrat or a republican?
• Do you like Obama?
• Have you ever been to New York?
• Why are your gun laws like that?
• Do you have your driver’s license? (To get a driver’s license in Germany you have to be 18 and pay thousands of euros)
• Is high school like High School Musical?

And that’s a look into what Germans think about America.

Christmas in Germany

When it comes to Christmas, Germany really knows what it’s doing. In the US, Christmas is overhyped, over commercialized, and there’s too much stress leading up to this one day, suddenly to have it be over. Germany has managed to keep the charm and excitement intact. The Christmas season began with the setting up of the Weihnachtsmärkte, or Christmas markets, on the first of December. It was hard to go 100 feet in the city without running into a Christmas market, and they were always full of people drinking Glühwein, eating roasted almonds, and playing music. They were open every day from morning till night, and so charmingly German that it was hard not to stop every few moments and take it in, because I knew nothing even comes close to this back home.

St. Nikolaustag was the next event in the build up to Christmas. On the night before December 6, children in Germany put out one clean shoe. If the shoe is clean enough, St. Nikolaus fills it with candy and little presents.

Christmas here is celebrated on the 24th, not the 25th, although because of the markets and the amount of lights and decorations (in stores, not as much on houses, like in America), it’s like the whole month of December is Christmas. On the 24th, most families attend church during the day, eat nice meals together, and then open presents after dinner. There aren’t stockings, but the amount of treats that go into advent calendars here make up for that. Here, advent calendars consist of small bags, one for every day of December till Christmas, filled with candy and small presents.

Even though I like waking up on Christmas morning to presents, opening stockings, and most of all, spending it with my family, Christmas in Germany was pretty spectacular.

Wichtige Wörter

• der Weihnachtsmarkt - Christmas market (die Weihnachtsmärkte - Christmas markets)
• Glühwein - warm, spiced red wine
• das Geschenk - present
• das Krippenspiel - nativity play
• der Weihnachtsbaum - Christmas tree