OPINION: A European view of presidential politics, alcohol ages
Oct. 27 marked one month since I’ve arrived in Germany, and my God has it been the most interesting month of my life. There’s nothing quite like being dropped in a place where you literally know no one. It’s been two weeks since my last column, and boy have there been some interesting experiences.
But I would first like to admit, I have fallen for fashion here. I have failed my cultural duty to remain an individual and am now sporting a good-looking scarf whereever I go. I hang my head in shame. But hey, at least I’m looking fashionable in my disgrace.
Now when I attempt to speak German, it becomes apparent to others that I’m not from around here. I completely butcher the grammar, mispronounce the vocabulary and call people by the wrong gender. After responding in fast German and seeing my face turn to one of extreme confusion, we switch to speaking in English. I’ve had many great conversations about the cultural differences between our two countries.
I’m often asked the question, “Who do you support for president?” I respond by saying I detest both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. Why? Well, both kinda support the use of predator drone strikes. Drone strikes that have killed countless children in Pakistan – because nothing stops the rise of terrorism like causing the deaths of innocent kids.
“Well who in the world do you support?” I would go on to say I prefer the Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson. I always love the confused look I end up getting. Most Germans simply have no idea about third-party candidates in the U.S. The media that reaches here simply doesn’t acknowledge them. Not surprising though. What news do we hear from Germany, or even from Europe in general?
What I will say though is Germans here love Obama and would vastly prefer him over Romney. There’s a serious dislike of Romney and Republicans in general: Not because he’s Mormon or anything like that, but because the Germans view Republicans as religious fundamentalists who push their religious beliefs on others, especially in regard to gay rights and women’s reproductive rights. This point in my column would have been the perfect time to make a reference to Utah culture, but I digress.
Last week, I had an experience that showed me just how different German and American cultures are.
A friend of mine invited me to a student group called “InTeam.” I had no idea what their goal was, but I said sure and tagged along. Next thing I knew, I was on campus watching a 15-minute slide show showing drunk college students at crazy parties. It turns out InTeam is a student organization whose entire purpose is to create those parties for students.
The lights went back on and more than six cases of beer were brought in. A bunch of students then proceeded to play a drinking game on campus at a Catholic university. Having lived with Logan’s overzealous police force, I was waiting for police to barge in and tackle helpless college students.
But this is Germany, not the United States. The drinking age here is 16 compared to our ridiculous age requirement of 21. This difference in drinking age helps explain the behavior I saw next. The after-meeting drinking didn’t result in a crazy drunk party. People were not getting drunk, throwing up all over the place or becoming incapacitated. It simply was just a group of students hanging out with each other.
For these students, alcohol has been part
of their lives for years already. The phase of getting wasted and making mistakes was all learned during high school, and now they were responsible drinkers having a good time. It made me really envious that the drinking culture here is much more mature than compared to back home. Here I was enjoying a delicious white Bavarian beer with a group of fun, responsible and mature drinkers.
Back home, I would be underage and almost certainly in a setting where the climate of drinking was to get drunk as fast as you can – not to mention the constant fear of police back in Logan. Our drinking laws are silly. The Germans got it right.
I now prepare myself to board a train to Dieringhausen this week. I’ll be working on training students on student activism and organizing. It should prove to be a fun time. Until then, tschuss!
– Justin Hinh is a senior majoring in political science and economics. He is now on a year-long study abroad in Ingolstadt, Germany. Send comments to justintsn10@gmail.com.