Saturday, June 2, 2007

Why I Love Germany

I was in Germany last March, and I'm (probably) going back this summer. Anyways, I'm here trying to recall random factoids or quirks about the country, people or anything else Deutsch in nature that made me love the place. Here are what I have so far, but consider this to be part one in an ongoing series until I can dig up a few more memories.

1. They love beer there. (Very, very obvious)The drinking age is 16. I was 17 when I went. I had a good time.
2. Radio. I swear to god they have The Bloodhound Gang on loop there. If you've ever listened to them, you'd realize that they are actually a really good band. They have some amazing techno music, but the lyrics keep them from playing it on the radio stateside. Over there it's okay, because they can't understand the hilariously vulgar lyrics.
3. Wordplay. The German language is a beautiful thing. You can switch the place of one letter in a word and get a completely different one. An example is "schiesen" and "scheisen." The only difference is the "e" and "i" switching places, but the former means "to shoot" and the latter means "to shit." It's a beautiful thing. Anyways, there is a chain of stores in Germany called "Schlecker," and I was told that the new hobby of the roving gangs of German youths was to place an "AR" in front of the "Schlecker" signs, making it read "Arschlecker." Arschlecker, roughly translated, means "Ass taster" or "Ass licker." I thought it was pretty funny.
4. Clubs. Did you know that Europeans call Clubs "Discos"? For some reason that persuaded me into going. Alas, I got my hopes up. I expected tight pants and afros and I got tilted baseball caps and Sean John. I mean, I still got hammered, but it would have been better with John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever garbs. It would have also been better if I hadn't worn red leather pants. That chafed like a bitch.
5. They love foreigners. Wherever I was, there was a kid shouting "More beer for the American!" Then again, they could have just wanted to kill me. But, I did out-drink a German. The fact that he was a retarded dwarf with pneumonia made victory a little less sweet, though.

Eh, it's way to early on a Saturday for me to be writing. I'll think of more later.

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