insulation speaks best

learning german one word at a time is infuriating, so i got a book and cd on how to learn german in 30 days. it's great. i'm really learning a lot about german culture. for instance, did you know that germans like to drink alcohol at weddings, parties, and family gatherings? or that they are avid cyclists? apparently, there are also different "dialects" of german, which, from what i can infer, means they speak differently in different parts of the country. what a fascinating people! and so different from americans!