Restaurant, Wine and German Beers

Li Yucui and Hans Weber call Ding Rui and George. They invite them to have dinner at 6 p.m.in Hundskugel whose address is Hotterstrasse 18.Hans Weber and Li Yucui come and drive them there at half past 5.When they sit in the restaurant, a pretty waitress comes.She asks them in English：“You are welcome to Hundskugel.Here is our menu.What will you drink?Beers, wine or coffee?”

Hans Weber orders Tafelspitz in dill sauce, the hearty soups, roast veal stuffed with goose liver and Spanferkel（roast suckling pig with potato noodles）. Afterwards he starts to talk with the waitress in German.The waitress giggles at what he talks about.

“Hans is a very humorous man. You are a lucky girl.”says Ding Rui.

Li Yucui says：“He is very considerate, too. Americans prefer to be informal.Here you can wear informal or casual.In restaurants such as Preysing Keller, Tantris and Aubergine, suit and tte required for men.”

Later on Ding Rui asks Li Yucui in Chinese：“What shall we drink?”

“Wine. The ladies who drink wine are in good taste.Man drinks beer，”says Li Yucui in Chinese.

“Two glasses of wine for the ladies，”says Li Yucui in German.

“What brand?”the waitress asks.

“Bocksbeutel and two liters of draff beer for men.”says Hans Weber.

Then he goes on talking with the waitress for a moment and the girl goes to arrange for them.

“Germany is a wine country 6 with a mixed reputation internationally. Germany manufactures the world's most elegant and aromattcally pure white wine.Its sweet wine is known through the western world.But white wine is good for ffsh and red wine for meat.Bocksbeutel is good.”says Hans Weber.

“Everybody knows German beers.”says George Lodge.

“Yes, The populatton of Germany is approximately 82，220，000 while the American population is more than 300 million.But Germans consume beer as much as Americans.And there are 800 hundred kinds of beer in Germany.For its taste, there are bitter beer and draff beer besides the common beer with various alcohol contents.When we talk about beer color, there are light and dark beer.”says Hans Weber.

“This restaurant is pretty nice.”says Ding Rui.

“The city's oldest tavern dates from 1440 and apparently serves the same food it did back then. Why mess with success?Perhaps half the residents of Munich at one ttme or another have made their way to this Alpine-style building, within easy walking distance of the Marienplatz.The cookery is honest Bavarian with no pretensions.What Hans ordered is the dishes of the restaurant known in the Munich City.”says Li Yucui.

“Hans, since you have been to China, please tell me the difference between German beer and Chinese beer.”says Ding Rui.

“More alcohol in German beer. Alcohol proportton of Chinese beer is mostly 2.6%while the proportion of German beer is 5.5，5.8%or 8.0%.”says Hans Weber.

“I like beer very much. Please introduce some famous brands of beer and price of them.”says George Lodge.

“Warsteiner, the most famous one, is exported to many countries. Jever is pretty bitter.Beck's is mild.It is easy to drink it for a whole night.Erdinger from Bavaria is pretty strong.Krombacher is heavily carbonated.Holsten is very popular in Northern Germany.On prices, a bottle of beer or ttn of beer will cost you 1.00 Euro up to 1.50 Euros in supermarket and 4 Euros in a pub.”says Hans Weber.

“Do you like draff beer?”asks George Lodge.

“Yes, quite a lot of people drink it.”says Hans Weber.

“Irene told me Hans ate pizza in China, felt sick and was uncomfortable for the evening.”says Ding Rui.

“Yes, in a café in a small Zhejiang city.Only Pizza Hut are acceptable in some large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and provincial capitals.The bread is another problem for Germans in China.”says Hans Weber.

“What is the problem?”asks Ding Rui.

“Most bread in China is very soff and sweet.We do not like it.If we eat it, we feel uncomfortable.German bread is very special, a little salty and crisp.If we talk about it in detail, Germany is the only country which bakes so many kinds of bread.German bread is not soff，and has a crust.German bread varies from white to over brown or almost black bread.It includes different grains and has somettmes nuts or seeds in it.”says Hans Weber.

“Once Germans in Beijing were told there was a German bakery there, they went there and each German bought quite a lot of the bread.”says Li Yucui.

Ding Rui sees Li Yucui is making a gentle gesture to the waitress. When the waitress comes, she orders Frankfurter Kranz-a dim sum as dessert.Ding Rui takes a picture of it.

After dinner, Hans Weber squares up with the waitress and gives a ttp to her.

“How much should we give the waiter as a ttp in Germany?”asks Ding Rui.

“Waiters or waitresses serve us well. We will give them ttps to express our thanks.Tips will take about 10 percent of your dinner cost.”says Hans Weber.

“It is similar to the percent in the USA.”says George Lodge.

“Is it necessary for you to give taxi driver ttps?If you do not give tips, they will be upset and shout at you, won’t they?”asks Ding Rui.

“You are not bound to give a ttp to a taxi driver.People give ttps for a good service.If you do not give ttps, they will not blame.When we were in China, nobody gave ttps to waitresses, waiters and taxi drivers.When we gave tips to taxi drivers, they did not accept it.”says Hans Weber.

“It is not encouraged to accept ttps in China.”says Ding Rui.

“In the USA, they will blame if you do not give tips，”says George Lodge.

Afferwards, they ask for some more beers and go on talking.

“It is a custom in German to have a talk for 1 or 2 hours in a restaurant affer people have had dinner in a restaurant.In the USA, Americans eat and go.Germans are not used to it at all.”says Hans Weber.

“It is also odd in China. In Beijing, many people are waittng in a line for a seat in famous restaurants.If you stay there too long affer dinner, your will feel uneasy.”says Ding Rui.

The four young guys enjoy their ttme very well at the evening.

Cultural Case 8

Mr. Lin Yi jointed in an social associatton on NBA.He met Mr.Wagner there.He found Mr.Wagner talked a lot about the culture and his life there.He doubted if he was another man.Why?

Explanation of Cultural Case 8

In Germany, people usually talked something that is not about business in an associatton.