Stereotypes about Germany
All German are blond and wear 'Lederhosen'. Typical things for German are sheepdogs and 'Sauerkraut'. They love their 'Volkstänze', especially after they had some beers and 'Bratwurst'. When they had enough beer and bratwurst, they say hard words like 'Rucksack', 'Krankenbett' and 'Sauerkraut'.
Didn't they used to have that wall in Germany? And also their 'Autobahn'. But they definitely never had any humor, but plenty much discipline. And sheepdogs. And Sauerkraut. And German cars of course, with which they drive to work, to build even more German cars.
That's mostly not true.
Not all Germans are blond. I have brown hair for example, but if it weren't for my American dad, then I would might have dark-blond hair, inherited from my German mother. It's true that there are many blond people here - mostly dark-blond though - but only about 10% of the German population. Also, there are about 2% red-haired people in Germany and the rest (about 88%) has dark hair. I'm pretty sure that half of the people who have blond hair here dyed their hair (natural blondes are still 10%).
Things like 'Lederhosen', 'Dirndel' and 'Volkstänze' are common in southern parts of Germany, for example Bavaria, and only on special occassions. It's not like Bavarians always wear lederhosen or dirndel and personally I think I will never ever even touch a dirndel.
Also, though almost all German drink beer and eat bratwurst, it's not like we don't eat or drink anything else. I personally hate sauerkraut and I don't know anyone who eats it regularly and also likes it. Here in Berlin we eat stuff like Currywurst, Döner and pizza and of course we also eat healthy things like salad and sushi.
Many people of course have sheepdogs, since their most common here, but old people often have doxies or other small dogs.
And I know a lot Germans who have humor and I think I have humor too - though I might be imagining it. We do have many comedians, you know. People like Michael Mittermeier, Oliver Pocher, Mario Barth (he's from Berlin too) and Michael 'Bully' Herbig.
Many German drive German cars, that's true too, but of course not all of them. Some German drive British, French or Japanese cars.
If you ask a German for his favorite sport, most of them would say soccer. Germans are total soccer-maniacs. Not all of them, but many.
The 'wall' we had is called 'Berliner Mauer' and once seperated West Berlin from East Germany (including East Berlin). It went right through Berlin and fell twenty years ago in 1989, when Germany reunited. Even today, twenty years after the wall fell, there are still differences between West and East Berlin. For example: people from west Berlin are called 'Wessies' and people from east Berlin 'Ossies'. But because the younger generation of Berlin didn't witness the seperation (including me) it doesn't really notice the difference.
And just so you know: Hitler is dead and we don't have any nazism here since 1945. We have democracy now and can vote after we reach the age of eight-teen, where we're officially adults. And I'm pretty sure that German people have the most deepest hate against Adolf Hitler.
I tell you that, since it once happened to a friend of mine that some guy from U.S. actually asked her 'If Hitler is still rueling Germany' and we once discussed that in school. I always had the opinion that American people know that not all Germans are Nazis, that Hitler's dead and that we have democracy, but everyone in my class disagreed and explained what they've experienced when they told foreigners they were German. One of them told us, that when they said they were German, while on vacation, that some guy made the 'Hitler-Gruß' which is really rude and offending.
I don't think Americans are stupid, I just think Americans don't learn about something like that in school, since they are busy with their own history and don't know how serious Germans are about the past. People for example from U.S. can make jokes about stuff like that, because they don't take it as serious as we do. Personally I think many German take the past too serious.
I hope I didn't rant or something…
Didn't they used to have that wall in Germany? And also their 'Autobahn'. But they definitely never had any humor, but plenty much discipline. And sheepdogs. And Sauerkraut. And German cars of course, with which they drive to work, to build even more German cars.
That's mostly not true.
Not all Germans are blond. I have brown hair for example, but if it weren't for my American dad, then I would might have dark-blond hair, inherited from my German mother. It's true that there are many blond people here - mostly dark-blond though - but only about 10% of the German population. Also, there are about 2% red-haired people in Germany and the rest (about 88%) has dark hair. I'm pretty sure that half of the people who have blond hair here dyed their hair (natural blondes are still 10%).
Things like 'Lederhosen', 'Dirndel' and 'Volkstänze' are common in southern parts of Germany, for example Bavaria, and only on special occassions. It's not like Bavarians always wear lederhosen or dirndel and personally I think I will never ever even touch a dirndel.
Also, though almost all German drink beer and eat bratwurst, it's not like we don't eat or drink anything else. I personally hate sauerkraut and I don't know anyone who eats it regularly and also likes it. Here in Berlin we eat stuff like Currywurst, Döner and pizza and of course we also eat healthy things like salad and sushi.
Many people of course have sheepdogs, since their most common here, but old people often have doxies or other small dogs.
And I know a lot Germans who have humor and I think I have humor too - though I might be imagining it. We do have many comedians, you know. People like Michael Mittermeier, Oliver Pocher, Mario Barth (he's from Berlin too) and Michael 'Bully' Herbig.
Many German drive German cars, that's true too, but of course not all of them. Some German drive British, French or Japanese cars.
If you ask a German for his favorite sport, most of them would say soccer. Germans are total soccer-maniacs. Not all of them, but many.
The 'wall' we had is called 'Berliner Mauer' and once seperated West Berlin from East Germany (including East Berlin). It went right through Berlin and fell twenty years ago in 1989, when Germany reunited. Even today, twenty years after the wall fell, there are still differences between West and East Berlin. For example: people from west Berlin are called 'Wessies' and people from east Berlin 'Ossies'. But because the younger generation of Berlin didn't witness the seperation (including me) it doesn't really notice the difference.
And just so you know: Hitler is dead and we don't have any nazism here since 1945. We have democracy now and can vote after we reach the age of eight-teen, where we're officially adults. And I'm pretty sure that German people have the most deepest hate against Adolf Hitler.
I tell you that, since it once happened to a friend of mine that some guy from U.S. actually asked her 'If Hitler is still rueling Germany' and we once discussed that in school. I always had the opinion that American people know that not all Germans are Nazis, that Hitler's dead and that we have democracy, but everyone in my class disagreed and explained what they've experienced when they told foreigners they were German. One of them told us, that when they said they were German, while on vacation, that some guy made the 'Hitler-Gruß' which is really rude and offending.
I don't think Americans are stupid, I just think Americans don't learn about something like that in school, since they are busy with their own history and don't know how serious Germans are about the past. People for example from U.S. can make jokes about stuff like that, because they don't take it as serious as we do. Personally I think many German take the past too serious.
I hope I didn't rant or something…