Blog 2 -Global Health and Culture

Today marks my first week in Berlin, and let me tell you this was a very fast week. Despite the massive difference in culture between Germans and Americans, one thing that I have noticed to be rather consistent is hygiene. We both put emphasis on handwashing, which can prevent disease from spreading from one person to another. In essence, we both have some value on health, contributing to global health. One thing that I’ve noticed that I did not quite expect was the fact that people here seem to be ignorant on the nuances of black people;  some people here think that if you’re black then you are directly from Africa, which is simply not true given that I’m from America. Also, with the smaller food proportions and frequent walking, I’ve noticed the lack of overweight individuals in German society. America is rather a heavy country so I see overweight people all the time, but when I come here overweight people seem to be scarce. After much thought, there is an abundance of food places near me. Germans seem to be less greedy and wasteful in general, which can explain their rather thinner fit. Americans seem to have the mentality of get as much as you can get, where as Germans think take as needed. For example, everytime we go out to eat, they seem to have more issue with us asking for to go boxes, as if we it was a problem for us to order too much food. Americans and Germans have some similarities in culture, such as hygiene, but differ when it comes to greed.