Kultur 3

The articles I read for Kultur 3 were pretty entertaining. I did enjoy reading about the different types of German beer, and I had no idea there were so many! I'm interested to talk to my friend living in Vienna to see if she has had any of these as well as suffered from any of the hangovers described. I did not find the article about the Fast Food ordering in Germany interesting though. The process was described as overwhelming, but to me it does not seem so in comparison to ordering at Zingerman's Deli. Also I had no idea that there were all of the different types of Schnitzel and Brotwurst. It's humorous how this is the German equivalent to fast food whereas America's version is hamburgers and chicken fingers. One of the articles mentioned the proper mannerism for drinking, which includes looking in the eyes of the people around you and lifting your glass to cheers. If this is not done its believed one will be cursed with seven years of bad sex. My best friend and her family introduced my family to this superstition over Thanksgiving last year, and now my family over exaggerates it every time someone makes a toast or cheers. The different types of humor that was explained in one article was interesting. I found the fact that there are so many stereotypes of people and their sense of humor more funny than the actual jokes in the article. One part that made me laugh though was when the article discussed the humor of the Hamburger, and how it's all about the irony of those 'up north'. The part about 'up north' reminded me of Michigan and how many people from Michigan say they're going up north for vacation, which really could mean just an hour north of Ann Arbor to 8 hours north. That is still a concept I have difficulty understanding from being out of state. Lastly, the article regarding the pessimism in Germany and German people was kind of redundant. We read an article like that before, and I think there is only so many times one can read about the German stereotype of being overly pessimistic. However, it was still an enjoyable read.

Kultur3

The beer article was dull to me.  They tried to spice it up by adding humorous comments regarding the hangovers, but it failed to redeem the rest of the article.  I did, however appreciate learning about the various types of beers made in Germany.  Weissbiers and Dunkels are already two favorites of mine, and I would love to try a german Bockbier, as I already like American Bocks.
As far as public drinking goes, since we do have laws banning it here in Michigan and I cannot imagine what things would look like without them, it seems like something worth pursuing.  It would help cities stay cleaner, and is proven to discourage violent crime.
It is great to hear that the Germans are excited about local foods, because that is better for everyone.  It was interesting to hear the final sentence.  The Germans, being so interested facts and statistics, I would think would not make a claim like this.  There has not been a large amount of research to substantiate the claim that organic foods' nutrition content is any higher than that of conventionally grown food.
Coming from an American perspective, I would say that the pessimists are the idiots.  Optimism gives you the ability to see the opportunities that are around you and take advantage of them.
Finally, the humor part makes me very curious to go to one of those comedy nights and see how it really sounds.

AMD 3

For my AMD, I watched the movie Europa Europa with English subtitles. It is the story of a young Jewish boy's survival during WWII. His name is Solomon Perel, nicknamed Solek. Early in the movie, he becomes separated from his family and ends up in a communist orphanage in the Soviet Union. When the Nazis invade the Soviet Union, Solek is captured, but he says that his name is Joseph Peters and was captured by the Nazis. He speaks German and Russia and becomes a translator for the Nazi army. He earns the nickname "Jupp" and is called a good luck charm after several victories by the Nazi infantry that he is with. The Nazi commander decides to adopt Jupp because he is childless himself and sends Jupp to the the Nazi Youth school in Berlin. There, Jupp is hailed as a hero. A girl, Leni, becomes close to Jupp, but he rejects her after she makes an extremely anti-semitic remark. Jupp soon fears for his life when a Nazi official comes in who specializes in detecting Jews. The official uses Jupp as a demonstration and after measuring him, claims that Jupp is a perfect Aryan. Jupp then again is fearful when the Gestapo calls him in looking for his papers. He buys some time by saying that the papers are in Grodno, where the orphanage in the Soviet Union was. The building where the Gestapo was is then bombed by the Allied forces and Jupp is safe. Towards the end of the war, Jupp surrenders himself to the Soviet Union during a battle. He tells them his story, but they do not believe him because they claim that he does not look like a Jew. Just as he is about to be executed, Jupp's long-lost brother recognizes him and saves his life. Jupp then moves to the new state of Israel. The movie ends with real Solomon Perel in old age singing a Jewish folk song.
I enjoyed this movie a lot because I like movies about WWII. I thought Solek's life was fascinating because of the lengths that he went to survive the Nazis and Soviet Union. I would definitely recommend it to other people.

Kapital 3-Kultur-Texte

I found the article "Eco-Centric Germans: Organic Food Obsessions" to be really interesting. In Southern California, where I live, there is a push towards organic food taking place. In the recent years, new small-scale organic markets have appeared while fast-food restaurants and other inorganic places have had trouble keeping business going. One of the main arguments why mass organic food production cannot happen right now is because it costs too much money and our society is not affluent enough to survive off of it. So, it was very interesting to read this article that showed that organic farming is possible, even on a national scale. I am in-favor of organic farming and buying locally-grown foods. I hope to one day be able to visit Germany and participate in a culture that is now the front-runner in this type of farming, production, and consumption.

AMD 1

For AMD1 I stalked the Vienna State Opera and Vienna State Ballet to see what they are up to this season. The Vienna State Opera is like the Metropolitan Opera of Austria except it's far more enriched with tradition.

First I went through the Opera and Ballet season and they it should be a good one! The Vienna State Opera produces so many operas each year. With the excepetion of June and July you can basically go to a performance each night of the year. However, it doesn't look like they will be producing any new works this season. I assume this is because of the economy. It is a far greater risk to produce a new work rather than revamp a classic like Ariadne auf Naxos (the Opera Program at U-M will be doing this opera in March!).

The Ballet could be described as more forward thinking because they present the traditional works as well as  some very new and innovative pieces as well. One is a ballet version of Carmina Burana. This is usually a massive choral and orchestral piece, but companies sometimes create movement to go along with the text. (Michigan Opera Theatre did this last year with a Cirque du Soleil theme and a professor in the School of Music directed it. I heard it was amazing.)  Here is a link to the trailer for the Vienna State Ballet's version:

                                         Carmina Burana

One final thing that I think is so incredible is the Opernball that happens each year at the Vienna State Opera house. They create one massive dance floor by extending the stage all the way out into the audience. They ballet schools do a small presentation as well as the professional company. Then they give a small presentation with some notable opera singers. This event is definitely on my bucket list.

AMD 2

For this amd I read Mark Twain's "The awful German Language". For it to have been written so long most of his humor and annoyances still stand. I must say, I am kind of scared to go further in language. Most of it is caused by the problems he had with the 4 cases. We only learned zwei, and just barely scratched the surface with those. He was an accomplished writer, and still had trouble with the grammar. Something else that was relatable was the part about the gender of each noun. There is no formula, nor rule (if there was a rule, there would be more exceptions than actual uses, as Twain pointed out). So a newcomer must first learn the noun (remember to capitalize it) then learn and remember the gender. The part about the Fishwife was really funny. I also like how he stated that sometimes nouns and people get over described. Zum beispiel: The English woman translates into die Engländerinn, which in turn translates into the English she-woman. What's funny about this is that the adult woman is over described, but if it were a female child, she would be described as it (das Mädchen).  As we haven't gotten this far yet, I found it interesting that each body part has its own gender, it does not take that of its owner. Another part we haven't really explored yet is really long German words. Normally in English, words combined are separated by a hyphen or shortened with an apostrophe. In German, they are just thrown together, and the beginner is left to decipher the word piece by piece. He also touched on adjectives. With only 2 cases, there are soo many forms to learn. But when we learn the other 2 cases....its going to be frightening.

This is just a few pieces that i found interesting. Here is the link for those who didn't get a chance to see it. http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html

AMD 3

For my third AMD post, I watched the German movie "Goodbye Lenin!," which was played on a Sunday night at my residence hall.  The movie tells a story about how a young man named Alex who

in 1990, to protect his fragile mother from a fatal shock after an eight month-long coma, must keep her from learning that her beloved nation of East Germany as she knew it has disappeared.  Taking place during the reunification of East and West Germany, the young man, Alex, tries to portray the world around his mother as one that is still in the control of the Socialist (although there are giant Coca-Cola build boards outside her house).  In the end, she tells her son that she always wanted to go to West Germany with her husband, who left due to harassment by the Socialists, but stayed to keep the remainder of her family safe from "The Party."  As a history buff, I really enjoyed the historical aspect of this movie and its portrayal of a communist world vs. a capitalist one.

Kapital 3-Kultur-Texte

I left reading the article “Germany Looks to Tighten Up Public Drinking Rules,” with a thought of irony and amusement.  As most of the other articles that I have read concerning Germany show, Germany is known for its beer and its people are perhaps second only to the Irish when it comes to the stereotypical drunk foreigner portrayal.  This is the country that is responsible for Oktoberfest, the holiday that in most eyes is seen as an annual party with lots of beer.  I am interested in seeing how this proposed prohibition (no pun intended) on excess amounts of alcohol will play out in the coming months.

Kapitel 1 Kultur-texte

What an enlightening read!

I really appreciated the fact that they included the map of German immigrants across the United States in the article. I expected New York to have a large population of immigrants, but the real surprise are the large numbers of German immigrants in the Midwest, California, Washington, and Texas. One line that was particularly fascinating to me was the fact that Germans sometimes looked for land in America that resembled the land of Germany such as the forests of Wisconsin. Also, the German fascination with Native Americans was interesting to read. The article mentioned the many publications and clubs in Germany that resulted on account of the contact between Native Americans and German speaking immigrants, but I wish it had talked more about why this obsession came about.

The Turner movement around the country and especially in Milwaukee is a great example of how the German culture thrived and continues to thrive in American society. I have always been impressed with the fierce dedication of European countries, especially Germany, in their constant rethinking and innovation in terms of the way we look at ourselves and society.

Another highlight of this article was the brief explanation on the origins of Bambi. Prior to reading this article I had a little knowledge of Bambi even though I have never seen the Disney movie. It is very interesting how this story came from such a dark place yet was molded into something for children.

AMD 1

I watched the first act of The Magic Flute in German on youtube. It was about an hour and 10 minutes. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlhbFk2GbcY It has English subtitles. I give the performance 5 stars but this specific video about a 4 simply because the audio and subtitles are kinda off during the second act.

The most famous part of this opera is in the second act, and is the Queen's second aria, which is "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" (The vengeance of hell boils in my heart) often shortened to "Der Hölle Rache" it starts at about 1:28:00, which includes the 2 minute speech before the actual song. It is sung by Diana Damrau

(SPOILER ALERT) For those who wish to view the opera later.

The first act is about Tamino, a prince, who is tasked with finding the Queen of the Night's daughter who was "abducted" by Sarastro. It opens with the prince being attacked by a snake. He is aided by three witches who serve the Queen. Here we also meet Papageno, a bird catcher. Who lies to Tamino and tells him that he saved him. The witches return, and show the prince a picture of the princess. He falls in love instantly ( Ich bin in Liebe- I am in love.), and is tasked with finding her. The witches reveal Papageno's lie, but he is given a chance to redeem himself by being told to aid the prince. They then herald the Queen's arrival (Sie kommt, Sie kommt, Sie kommt- She comes). Who then tells Tamino about her grief, and then requests his help herself (Rettet meine Tochter- Rescue my daughter). She says if he can find her, then he can have her love. Tamino is then given the flute (Die Zauberflöte), and Papageno is given a chime, which will help them on their journey. We then meet the three boys, which tell Tamino that he will succeed if he fights like a man. Pamina, the princess, is kept by Monostatos, who serves Sarastros. On his journey, Tamino meets a man on holy ground, who tells him that he was bewitched by a woman, and will never find his love if he continues as his, with hate in his heart. While there, Tamino learns that Pamina is alive (sie lebt- She lives). He then plays his flute in the hopes that she will hear it (Pamina mich hören- Pamina hear me). Shortly after we meet Sarastro. Who gives a speech on how women need men. Tamino is then put through the Temple of Trials.

I enjoyed the storyline, except for the subtle, and not so subtle, hints of sexism. I am sure that this is not part of German culture now, as this play was written by Mozart. I also enjoyed being able to pick out and here certain verbs and nouns that we learned, some of which I have listed. This has to be my favorite interpretation of the piece, because of the actors (Frau Damrau ist fantastisch, she has the voice, and acting abilities to pull of the part.), but mainly because of the stage set. It is set up as a moody, dark atmosphere, which it think was originally written for. When it is shown in a more colorful, comedic set, it loses some of the "oomph". And alot of the words can be made out, even if you don't know what they mean yet.

Kapitel 2 Kultur Text

I started off with the articles concerning Germain complaints. As an outsider looking in, I would see them as a people who are very ungrateful and take things for granted. But after a little enlightening, i learned that they have their reasons. One of which, the most respectable I think, is that they are always striving for improvement. They see a flaw in something, and they're thinking of a way to fix it. I then looked at the staring blog. My favorite part was "“Late night last night, eh? You got home at 3:08 a.m.”". This was funny, because where I'm from someone watching you like this was never a good thing. I enjoyed the honesty blog the most. Their culture, which may seem, rude to some, I think is more effective socially. It greatly reduces the chances of misunderstandings. It cuts back on the false images put off by people. And most importantly, you don't waste your time with someone or people who don't care about you. You know who your friends are; and you know when someone is being nice, the genuinely mean it.

Kapitel 2 Kulture text

While I was in Germany, I unfortunately did not have much time to spend with the locals since I only had a weekend to experience Munich. However, this trend of not being complacent or appreciative of their surroundings does not surprise me too much. Europeans were in general more concerned about themselves and less concerned about others than we are in the US. It is much more of a dog eat dog world than in the US. Additionally, Europeans do not have all the cultural norms we have - and are much less prude - such as not being completely honest so we don't say something rude, offensive, or politically incorrect. I'd bet they don't even know what the term "politically correct" is. For these two reasons of being much more blunt and more focused on their own well beings than we are here in the US, I can understand how Germans would complain much more than Americans. I however do appreciate this quality much more than what we have in the US. Instead of not being honest to each other for fear of hurting someone's feelings, it would be much more productive if people could learn how to take criticism constructively, or not be so self-conscious that everyone has to refrain from speaking their mind to appease someone's insecurities. However, I would probably get tired of hearing their complaints and in the end voice my own complaints about their complaints, but I still view that situation as better than what we have here in America.

Kapitel 1 Kultur Text

This text tells the story of early the German settlers and how their culture intertwined with the culture already present their. So where is German culture? It may seem to be not as present as say Italian or Irish, but it is still there. The reason it may seem to be not there is because as in Germany, much of the culture is different in many places of the country. As such, when settlers came over here they spread their culture to different parts of the country. With religion for example, many Germans follow different sects of religion, such as episcopalian, lutheran, baptist, and German Reformed. So there are many different things that go along with German culture. Much of it is still present today throughout parts of the country, some of it is just more recognizable than others. Zum Beispiel, the language and culture of the Pennsylvania Dutch. This is rooted in German culture, but isn't as recognizable because the word "Dutch" in America is usually related to the people of Switzerland. Then there is also Oktoberfest. Which has become much more than just the celebration of german heritage over the years.

AMD 2

For the second AMD I chose to read Mark Twain's essay "The Awful German Language." I really enjoyed reading this essay; it was really funny, especially for someone trying to learn the German language. I took a stab at learning German in high school, but got frustrated with all the exceptions and cases, which were something completely new and foreign to me, and gave up pretty quickly.

This time around I'm ready for the challenge, and the way we've been learning in class is proving to be more helpful to me than the methods from my last class. This essay also helped make light of a lot of the frustrations I'm dealing with. Even Mark Twain struggled with case and knowing what "sie" actually means in a sentence.

The direct translations provided by Twain had me laughing out loud, especially the one demonstrating the separable verbs. Although I'm trying to learn not to directly translate in my head, I still do occasionally and the sentences produced from translating German back to English are rather amusing.

For the most part, even though I enjoy studying German, I have to agree with much of what Twain said, although I'm not as big a fan of Schlag and Zug as he is. I find them more confusing than useful.

Kapitel 3 Kultur-Texte

On my trip to Germany my uncle took us to a German restaurant called Waldgeist, which is located in a small german town called Hofheim. In this restaurant all the plates being served were ten times bigger than they actually were at a normal German restaurant. It was quite funny because it seemed like an adaptation from the American culture. Of course the specialty is the Bier, Wiener Schnitzel, und Bratwurst. Obviously I didn't finish my plat but I did enjoy this restaurant who is also very informal and a town delicacy.

AMD 1

My Trip to Germany

       I spent some time clicking around the Germany page on lonelyplanet.com and found myself growing increasingly excited by the idea of actually taking a trip there. I've always toyed with the idea, but now with the resources to study abroad, toying with the idea can become putting the idea into action.
       From what I read, I think I'd most enjoy Germany in the off season, traveling mid-September because how can you travel to Germany without attending Oktoberfest? I'd also love to attend the Frankfurt Book Fair. Conveniently, when I'd most enjoy Germany corresponds nicely with the school year and although I don't know where exactly I'd like to study yet, I know no matter where I end up I'll have a wonderful time and of course I'd do a lot of traveling within the country in a feeble attempt to see it all.
     'An Evening at Charlottenburg Palace' Palace Tour, Dinner and Concert by the Berlin Residence Orchestra is an event in Berlin that sounds right up my alley. I'm a big fan of shopping and an even bigger fan of chocolate, so both Alexa, the giant mall and Fassbender & Rausch, the chocolate shop are on my to-do list.
       I think what I'm most excited for is the natural beauty of Germany. I love spending time outside, and Germany has plenty of breathtaking nature to explore. And because the Germans work so hard to preserve this nature there are plenty opportunities for me to study Environmental Science in a beautiful, new, and exciting country.

AMD 2 James Murphy

For my second AMD assignment I did some reserch on Germany's most famous "Komponist", Ludwig van Beethoven. As a listener of classical music, i have always been a big admirer of Beethoven's work. Beethoven was born on the 16th of December 1770 in Bonn, Bonn is a city on the banks of the Rhine River and was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990, however it was in Vienna that Beethoven's music carrer began to take off, and he began composing. His best known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 concertos for piano, 32 piano sonatas, and 16 string quartets. He died on 26 March 1827 at the age of 56, however his legacy has lived on, and is commonly reguarded in not only Germany but the rest of the world as being one of the best and most successful composers of all time.

AMD 2

For my AMD post I decided to watch a recording of  a fußball game between Duetschland and Argentinien on 15 August 2012. I've never been a big soccer fan but it was very interesting watching the match between the two countries. It was hard to make out a lot of what was being said but I was able to pick up on a few key words. Despite the difficulty understanding the announcers it was very interesting to see the Germans react to the game and view the camera pans over the crowd. Soccer culture seems much different from Football culture here in the US and it was fun getting a view of the predominant sport in Germany and around the world. Unfortunately Germany lost the friendly 1-3 but it was still fun to watch and learn a little about Soccer and the Germans in the process!

AMD2

This weekend, since the marching band did not travel to Purdue for the football game , several of us went in small groups. I went with several other clarinets. While in the car for the 5 hour drive there, I brought along one of my all time favorite books: Also sprach Zarathustra: Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen (Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None), by Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche was born in 1844 near Leipzig in the German Kingdom of Prussia. He is probably the most well known German philosopher for his notable work in existentialism. However, many people who are unfamiliar with his work do not realize that he is also one of the greatest writers of both prose and poetry Germany has ever produced. His writing is somewhat dry- it isn't a book I would recommend, simply because it can be not understand any of what he means.

I much prefer the book he published previous to Zarathustra, Die fröliche Wissenschaft (The Gay/Joyous Science). While Zarathustra is written in a manner that is similar to a novel (in fact, many compare its layout to that of the Bible- a mock Gospel, in a way). Die fröliche Wissenschaft, on the other hand, it written entirely in "sections" that are aphorisms- short, pithy statements that are easy to remember. Each section has a heading number, a topic sentence or question, and a response. For example, one of my favorite aphorisms is "Section 270: What Saith Thy Conscience? "Thou shalt become what Thou art." While many of these aphorisms can be several paragraphs long, many are also one sentence long. I much preferred the format of Die fröliche Wissenschaft and I feel like I was able to learn more in reading it compared to Zarathustra. I would indeed recommend it.

AMD 1

For my first AMD assignment i watched various Fusßall videos of the German national Mannshaft! I found these videos incredibly intriguing as they show just how big Fusßall is within the German culture this is highlighted in the video which shows german fans supporting and cheering for their team along with none other than chancellor Angela Merkal!(who is an honory member of division 2 side FC Energie Cottbus). This craze for the sport has been imbedded in the culture for many years, just like basketball and american football has been in the US, and i find it interesting to compare the two sporting cultures as well as the dedication of fans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjCoUvqSqBs

AMD zwei

The downside to being a history major, and in all of my wisdom taking 3 300-level history courses at once, is that every weekend we have hundreds upon hundreds of pages of reading to do. This Donnerstag, as a respite from a very light hearted (sarcasam) autobiography of a woman who worked as nurse during WWI, and after my New England Patriots had given Peyton Manning the thrashing which he deserved, I found myself on the German Channel of the campus cable.  The show that was on was something about supped-up drag racing cars. Now, I know next to nothing about cars (my extent being one pushes the pedel on the right and if nothing happens, one calls AAA), but I was shocked by what I saw on this show: A West-Virginia redneck, who's name, no lie, was Billy-Bob, who spoke fluent German.  Apparently this man so specialized in supping-up old Volkswagon's that he has taught himself German in order to connect and discus with other automobile lovers like himself. Just goes to show you never know how people will surprise you.

AMD2

Ich höre Musik in Deutsch am Wochenende.

Ich finde ein Weihnachtslied although Chritsmas is two months away from now. It's called "Schnuffels Weihnachtslied". Since it was sung by kids, the song sounds very sweet and is full of happiness. I think it might be a good way to learn German by listening to the songs sung by kids cuz they pronounce clearly.

Part of the lyrics are
"Ich bin happy, wenn Du an mich denkst
Ich hab für Dich ein ganz tolles Geschenk
Und ich zünde eine Kerze an
Und dann wart' ich auf den Weihnachtsmann "
I could  feel the excitement that kids have, waiting for the Santa Claus!

The second song I recommend is "Das Beste" from Silbermond. Very different from the first one. This song is somewhat moving cuz the singer is singing to express her gratefulness for her lover. My favorite sentence is: Du bist das Beste was mir je pasisert ist, es tut so gut wie du mich liebst! It's been so exciting to listen to the German songs and I was so surprised when I found so many words that I've learnt!!

AMD 2

Well when I was in 9th grade I went on a trip to Germany. During this trip the World Cup was going on. One of my favorite soccer players, Michael Ballack, is from Germany. I was so excited that I was in his country. More than anything I wanted to watch him play, but of course it was sold out. That year I also remember that Germany played Italy. Since my family is italian and my neighbors our german we decided to watch the game together. I have never felt so much tension in one house. Well let me finish by telling you that Italy won that world cup. But, I do remember my german neighbors screaming "Scheiße."That was my first german word :)

AMD 2

For my activity, I decided to try and learn German vocabulary by writing lyrics with a German friend, Carly.  It turned out to be extremely fun, but our lyrics didn't seem to make sense.  We tried to have rhyming lyrics, but with our limited vocabularies, we came up with a few nonsensical songs.  Most of them seemed to be a cluster of random nouns and colors...

Wir haben ein rote Hund
er isst das Ananas... und
ich sage "Guten Morgen!"
er sagt "das Lied ist beschissen."

To be completely honest, this is probably the best we've come up with... and it probably doesn't even use proper grammar.  However, we figured that a lot of songs we knew didn't really use proper grammar and our lyric writing exercise could help us with learning vocabulary.

It didn't...

...BUT it was extremely fun, and I hope to write some better songs in German by the end of the semester!

AMD 2

Ich spiele das Darts dies Wochenende.  I played with my friend who studies German here.  We made a point of only speaking German during the matches.  My contribution was counting the score after each round, which required me to call out numbers von nul bis zwanzig, and mark down numbers von dreihunderteins bis nul.  I used phrases like, "gut Schuss" (good shot) und "schlecter Schuss"(bad shot).  I would go for the dreimalig zwanzig during the early rounds.  The game must be won on a double, I won the final game on a Doppeleins.  Meine Freundin had the best single turn with a score of fünfundneunzig.  My favorite phrase was, "Ich habe gewonnen!"

While playing, I only listened to what she said in German, and was able to pick up a few cool phrases unrelated to the game.  I learned that "diese Wiedergabeliste ist fantastisch" means, this playlist is fantastic.  And, "wann ist Ihr Vorstellungsgespräch" means, when is your interview.  It was great to have a chance to practice in such a low pressure environment.

AMD2

Mittwoch Abend my friend Samantha and I went to the Berlin There, Done That event hosted by the Max Kade House. I truthfully think it would be scary to live in a place that's dedicated to speaking only German, but my friend doesn't. I do suppose if I were to become better at speaking German it wouldn't be as scary. The food that they had at the event was some of the best food I've had since I've been at U of M. The mac and cheese was delicious and the potato cakes were amazing. I'm not really a sauerkraut person but the bratwurst in it was really good. We had to go around to different stations, I found the tie-dying fun and interestingly enough I found out that I've been pronouncing "Tschüss" with too much a "T" sound. There was one station that involved trivia about many famous German people, and surprisingly I recognized a lot of them from class! Overall I had a lot of fun at the event and I learned not only more about German, but German here at U of M.