How German is American?

Like so many bloggers before me, I too was surprised by the subtle influences of German culture on America.

But then again, not really. Many people from the Midwest are of German descent. My history teacher in high school was a full-blooded German American from Wisconsin, and many of my friends were of German heritage. I am even of part German descent from my dad's side.

"How German is American?" is still a great brochure, even if some of the facts didn't come as a surprise. Even though it was obvious, I never knew "frank(furter)" (like the city in Germany) was German. Oscar Mayer was a genius when it came to sausages and mobiles.

Another thing that I didn't know about was the use of accordions in German polka music, and its eventual permeation into Mexican music.

Though I'm only skimming over a few parts of the brochure to write about here, I want to at least acknowledge and compliment how the brochure ends. First of all, I like how the article highlighted the German influence in our everyday lives, and then went in depth about the history of German immigrants given the American dream. The article in itself would have been fine ending with the brief summary of German influences, but it doesn't. It goes on to show the other side of the interaction, the German side. Which is the second thing I like about the article: the ability for English (the language) to fuse with the German language, and to show how things from America influence Germany, just as the people from Germany influenced America.

Thanks for taking the time to read what I thought about "How German is American?"!