During a trip to Germany to scatter their grandfather's ashes, German-American brothers Todd and Jan discover Beerfest, the secret Olympics of downing stout, and want to enter the contest to defend their family's beer-guzzling honor. Their Old Country cousins sneer at the Yanks' chances, prompting the siblings to return to America to prepare for a showdown the following year.

A girl goes to Harvard and joins the debate team. She has to deal with a ton of issues, from boyfriends, to ethnicity, to religion, to sexual assault.