Kultur 10- Eric Fix

I found the article about the “Dinner for One” skit that is shown every New Year’s Eve to be interesting and funny. I think it’s cool that in Germany they have this tradition of watching this skit on New Year’s Eve every single year. I guess it is one of those things that never gets old. The first thing I thought of while reading this was a similar show that is shown in marathon form every New Year’s Eve here in America: the black-and-white classic, “The Honeymooners.” I’m not sure if this is shown elsewhere in the world, but I drew similarities to it. I thought it was strange that no one outside of Germany has ever heard of the skit “Dinner for One” and I could only imagine what kind of response they must have whenever they learn that what is so commonplace in their culture is not found anywhere else.

            I can sort of relate to the Sunday shopping woes that Germans face, to a lesser extent. Thankfully, we do not have any such strict laws on any kind of store being open on Sundays, because that would be a nightmare for trying to go out to just pick up a quick snack. In the county I live in, Bergen County in New Jersey, where “blue laws” are still in place, unlike most of the US where these laws prohibiting selling certain things on Sundays have been repealed. But, in Bergen County, no store selling electronics, clothing, or furniture is allowed to be open on Sundays, in an effort to reduce traffic caused by the malls. This means that, unless you are looking to buy food or gas, you can’t find anyplace that would be open. There are four malls located in a close proximity of each other in Bergen County, and they are all closed. When I am home and if we want to go shopping at all on Sundays, it involves going all the way into another county where it is legal for stores to be open. So like I said, I can somewhat relate to the German’s problems, to a lesser extent of course. I could not imagine not being able to go to any store at all on a Sunday. That would be a nightmare.

            I found it entertaining that in Germany, Father’s Day usually means a large amount of alcohol consumption. Be it sad or not, I cannot say that I am that surprised: this is Germany, now. This is a stark contrast to the way we “celebrate” (if you can even call it that) Father’s Day here in the United States. Especially considering it is always on a Sunday, there is usually little to no alcohol consumption, unlike Germany. Finally, I think that the German Christmas markets are awesome, and I wish they had more of that type of thing here in the US. I don’t know why, but this idea just has that Christmas feeling, and I would love to go to one of these Winter festivities in Germany. It is no wonder why there are so many visitors to come to this, because I know if I were in Germany in December, I would be sure to visit the markets. I find the idea amazing, and I could only imagine how wonderful a scene it must be especially when there is snow falling.