German food: what surprised you? What tasted good/bad? What would you recommend to your American family and friends?

So far, I think that I love German food! I haven’t really had anything bad, and I have noticed that the food feels better. It seems American food is so much heavier and hard on the stomach, but German food does not weigh you down half so much. At the host family’s house, they seem to be going out of their way to avoid overly German food. We have had spaghetti and these odd potatoes so far. The potatoes were not fried, but cooked in the oven and were very tasty. There is only one thing they cannot escape feeding us in Germany: bread. There is so much bread! At breakfast there are a million different options to choose from, whether it is bread or butter or jelly to go with it. I like the softer breads, but the hard breads are not for me. They hurt my teeth and take too much time to chew. I have noticed the difference between German butter and American butter: German butter is so much better! It tastes so good, probably because it is real and not fake like at home. The only thing I only slightly dislike is the sparkling water. I can and will drink it because it is what the host family has and because I enjoy the bubbling sensation, but I do not like the flavor. I would recommend everything here to family at home, as it is very good!