AMD 1

For this AMD I decided to write a letter to my uncle Karl in Gütersloh Germany. I found this to AMD to be much more enjoyable than my previous AMDs because it allowed me to apply what I have learnt throughout the semester to contacting someone I haven't seen in almost a decade. It also allowed me practice with the Dativ and converstational past forms which is always good practice. In my letter I wrote about what I was doing in school, where I lived, how old I was now, etc. I also asked him to write back and asked how he liked his city, what the culture was like there, and if he drank lots of bier. A happy consequence of my letter was that I was also able to learn a little bit about the city of Gütersloh while researching things to ask about. Hopefully I will hear back from him and he doesn't criticize my Duetsch too much!

AMD 6

For my activity, I decided to do some intensive research on Berlin for my trip this Winter.  I will be visiting my parents in Abu Dhabi this upcoming break, and my father and I will be flying to Berlin and Istanbul sometime within the month.  Of course, I decided to look up the more popular bars in the city.  My father mentioned the Bauhaus Museum, which contains art from the times when the Weimar Republic was present.  One thing I wanted to see was the remnants of the Berlin Wall.  I think this would be cool since my high school history class primarily focused on Nazi Germany.  The recent Olympic games reminded me that we should probably visit the Olympic stadium in Germany as well.

Kultur 6

I thought it was humorous, but not unexpected, that Germans typically knock loudly and assert themselves into a room.  I imagine that every door in Germany has some sort of locking mechanism in case privacy is a pertinent issue.  This information in this article probably coincides with the fact that most living spaces (or at least student dormitories) accommodate a single person.  I couldn't imagine the frustration I would have with a German roommate knocking persistently on my bedroom door whenever he needed me.

It's funny how the article mentions how complicated the German garbage disposal system is.  At the same time, I respect how seriously recycling is taken in Germany.  It's definitely a progressive step to implement environmental awareness.

AMD 5

About a week ago, I was invited by my friend, Jake, to visit Frankenmuth, Michigan.  I noticed that there was a lot of Bavarian architecture in the city.  I got a chance to try some German dishes.  My friend ordered a Bratwurst dish and I had some Bratkartoffeln, which was essentially grilled potatoes with some bits of sausage and onions.  Jake's family shared a dish with Spatzle and chicken, and we were served a small bowl of Marzipan with our check.  

Jake's parents went off to go to a bar; unfortunately, Jake and I aren't 21 yet.  We walked around the city and went to a few stores.  We stopped by a clothes store and Jake actually tried on a barmaid dress.  It was pretty awkward.  

Kultur 5

It may be worth noting that the word "Entschuldigung" is used lightly on the streets of a German city.  This will come in handy for my trip to Berlin this Winter.  Whereas I'm probably an individual who says "excuse me" for the slightest offenses, others walking past might not be so inclined.  It'll be my prerogative to simply ignore physical contact when walking on the streets.

I thought the article for "Scoring a German" was pretty funny.  When I used to live in Abu Dhabi, my sisters would often visit for holidays.  They would complain about the men sitting at coffee shops staring at them.  It's weird to think that indication of interest is brought by incessant staring.

AMD 3

For this AMD I watched a production of Richard Wagner's Der Fliegender Holländer (The Flying Dutchman). The opera follows the tale of the Flying Dutchman and its capitan who are doomed to travel the sea for eternity except for once every seven years when they can dock on land. The only way to break this curse if for the Dutchman to find a wife to be true to him. One night the Dutchman comes aboard another ship and runs into its Captain, Daland. Daland has a daughter named Senta and the Dutchman immediately sets his sights on her. Problem is she already has a boyfriend.....The opera ends on a tragic yet epically Wagnerian as Senta runs into the sea profession her loved after the Dutchman sails away. The opera concludes with both of them ascending to heaven.

The music in this opera is unreal. Wagner is just such a genius. The way he is able to convey such a specific sense of setting and emotion through the music is unparalleled. I first was drawn to the music when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra played in Hill Auditorium in October. It is so easy to get swept up in the raw power of the music. I highly recommend it to anyone.

The production, however, was complete crap. It was such a shame. I couldn't even finish watching the third act it was so bad. I look forward to the day I can actually see it live!

Kultur 6

I think it's really nice to see how progressive Germany is in terms of recycling. Even having labels in four different languages on the recycling bins is very forward thinking. It really makes you put the recycling issue in the United States into perspective. I don't really know how the U.S. separates recycling, but the system in Germany seems highly efficient even though it is somewhat a task in discernment. 

I thought the article on knocking and entering was interesting yet not surprising. I am always in favor of keeping the door closed but I guess it is more efficient to just knock and enter. Those Germans and their efficiency!

Kultur 5

From the article, the frequency of physical contact with other pedestrians reminds me of my trips to NYC but a little more agressive. The more surprising portions of the article were those that described how people will just push through you or step on you without saying excuse me. I think residents in larger cities in America give victims at least that courtesy.

On the topic of sex shops, I believe this article has a larger connotation of what how Americans view sexuality. Even in the previous Kultur articles about public nudity in Germany it made me reflect on how conservative our culture is here in the U.S. on this topic. Talking about sex is such a crude and undignified thing to do here and I feel like Germans and Europeans in general embrace it.

Kultur 4

It is so interesting to compare transportation culture in Germany versus here in the United States.  Pedestrians obviously are lower on the transportation food chain in Germany where they have so many paths dedicated towards bikes. I think the deeper principal is that of order. Germans love order! Everything and everyone has their place so one shouldn't try think they are an exception. From the honesty system on the subways to crossing the street when cars are coming, there is a strict system to everything. I love how the articles mention that Germans have the sense of duty to correct those who seem to "forget" about the rules and regulations. One in particular is crossing the street in front of impressionable children.

AMD 6

For this AMD I decided to read the Bild tabloid that we had read about in our Kutlur readings for chapter 6. In particular I read an article about a (in the judgement of the Bild) poor call on a German soccer team. The article provided an interesting look into how soccer is behind in replay review compared to other major sports and how most Germans (65%) were in favor of using some replay to help aid referees in ensuring they make the right call. Reading the article was much easier than I anticipated and I would say that I understood the majority of it, although there were a few words and phrasings that I had trouble deciphering. When I encountered these I did my best to use context and the words that I knew in order to figure out their meanings and succeeded in successfully understanding the majority of the article. For the parts that I didn't know I typed in one word into a translator and then tried to piece together the rest of the words/phrase based on that one clue. Overall this helped me to make sense of things much better without just translating everything and getting know educational value from the AMD. Compared to earlier in the semester it is amazing how much more that I am able to understand, even though I haven't even realized that progress that I have made.

Kultur 6

Reading the Kutlr posts for Kapitel 6 I found them to be much more amusing than the pervious Kutlr posts we have read. In particular the Garbage sorting seemed to be a very stereotypical German thing to do. They have to be so organized and orderly that even there garbage must be organized. Although the article made it sound like much of the time the waste all gets mixed into the same truck, which makes it even more amusing in my opinion. I also enjoyed reading about the German tabloid the Bild. It seemed as if the Germans can't quite shake their predisposition towards facts and truth even when they are making a tabloid that is clearly supposed to exaggerate and blow news stories out of proportion. Additionally, I found it very fitting (stereotypically) at how confrontational they were when an English tabloid ran a photo of their Chancellor in the nude. Finally, I enjoyed the short anecdote about closed doors in Germany. It just seemed to "fit" with everything else we've heard about the culture thus far.

Kultur 6

For the article about Germany's Bild newspaper, I was surprised to find out that it is much more common to read such a news source in Germany compared to in the USA. While in the USA most stories in such a news source are made up, I think that since the stories in the German Bild are based on actual events, this could be why it is more widely read. For the second article, I think it would be odd to always have my door closed but I can understand how this might be the Germans way of keeping a more professional appearance. In response to the last article, I am glad that Americans like to keep things as simple as possible most of the time (especially for every day tasks!).

AMD 6

For AMD6, I watched clips of "Friends" auf Deutsch. In the first clip, Chandler and Ross go to a hotel and try to make up the money they lost on their expensive hotel room by taking the hotel amenities. In the second clip, Joey is on the television show "Pyramid" and causes his partner to lose since he messes up all of the questions except for one. In the last clip Joey, Ross, Monica and Chandler see how long they pass a ball back and forth. I have previously seen most of these clips in English, so it was easier to understand what was going on and I was able to guess at the meaning of some of the things they said. I previously watched different clips of "Friends" in German for an AMD assignment, and overall, I think I am continually understanding the dialogue better.

AMD 5

For my 5th AMD I decided to change my language on Facebook to Duetsch for a day. This was an interesting activity to choose because of my familiarity with the Facebook layout allowing me to piece together different words and phrases that I otherwise would not have known the meaning to. However, I also had more difficulty navigating the Duetsch facebook than I had anticipated. While we have covered a lot of basic grammar and vocabulary there is still an incredible amount that we did not go over in 101. Because of this I found some navigation to be difficult due to not knowing what a particular word meant. Eventually I was able to figure it out, but it took much longer than usual. That said, I feel like I learned a little bit more German by forcibly immersing myself in a completely German UI. All in all, it seems like the best (and most difficult) way to learn a foreign language is from complete immersion.

AMD 6

For my AMD, I looked up German drinking games, to find that most of them are not too different from ours. For instance, they have a very similar version of kings, or waterfall, or whatever you may call it. They as well have a similar game to "never have I ever". On interesting game to me, mostly because I don't see how this is a drinking game, is that there would be about 4 guys and 4 girls making 4 groups of the opposite gender. The girls would sit in chairs and the guys would study their girl's appearance  Then the guys would be blindfolded and sit in the chair, and the girls would go around and the guys would grab the girls' butts until someone was able to correctly guess their partner's butt. It sounds interesting, but where does the drinking come into play? Another came consisted of getting an ice cube and forming a line with opposite genders around you. An ice cube would then be passed down the line via kissing. This game seems kind of pointless to me unless you have a lot of ice cubes with high alcohol content, and a guarantee that nobody has mono. It seems that most games are the same, except when it comes to games involving the opposite gender, because sex is more accepted in everyday life and conversation over there.

http://eurokulture.missouri.edu/?p=4173
I could not watch the video at the bottom with sound because I share an office, but it seems like it might be funny and you may enjoy it, or it might be really stupid. 

AMD 6

For AMD 6 I decided to record and watch a show I'd seen on my TV guide periodically all semester, but never actually watched. It's called Fokus Deutsch and it's a educational German show put on by the Goethe Institute.

I understood a lot more than I thought I would! I'd recommend this show to anyone who has this channel (CTNED channel 18 on Comcast). It's a little outdated and not the most exciting thing, but it's a really good opportunity to listen to people speak German. Since it's meant for education, the host, a professor at Miami University in Ohio, talks slowly and clearly as he introduces each segment and the topics that are going to be discussed. The people being interviewed, however, speak more quickly and naturally which is good practice for hearing and eventually speaking more fluent German.

The show is made up of mini segments about 15-20 minutes each, all covering a different topic. The three segments in the episode I recorded were about typical German families, German youth, and school in Germany.

The first segment, about families, was the easiest to understand. The people interviewed were all different types of families, who talked about their choices to get married, when they got married, how many kids that have or want to have. There was a woman who had lived alone for the past two years, since she was not in a relationship and decided she no longer wanted to live with roommates. This vocab I was obviously very familiar with and I got to hear the use of conversational past and verb kickers.

This segment, about German youth, was a little tougher to understand. There was quick history lesson about German youth, their political battles and struggles as well as triumphs, their culture, what was cool and the new trends to replace it. For this one, it was really helpful to be watching the video along with it because I wasn't as familiar with most of the words they used, though I could pick out a good amount.

The final segment was about the Gymnasiums in Germany and their history. Like the first segment, I understood the majority of this one, because school and school culture is obviously something we discuss in class! The bit followed also followed a girl, Caroline, around her typical school day, which was much like American high school. She had Math, German, French, lunch and a Science class.

I liked this program, though around 45 minutes into it I started to get a little antsy and found myself wishing it was over, but if I see it on over break, I'll probably flip to it for a few minutes to get a German fix!

Kulture 6

These articles did not seem as surprising and attention grabbing as those in the past have. I did find it interesting that many Germans get there news from a magazine that for the most part makes fun of the news. I would think that the Germans would be very strict about who they hear it from, and try to get the most unbiased story. However, it appears they would rather hear a knock off the what is really happening in order to have a good laugh in the process. This is quite different than here in the US where people tend not to use tabloids or magazines that either make up their own news or alter what is actually happening. I at least have never seen anybody buy something like the National Inquirer, and the only satirical outlets I have seen people use are comedy shows and The Onion, which are more comedic than news.

As for the trash, I really liked how the Europeans recycled most everything and how environmentally conscious they are. This is exemplified by Sweden, where they burn trash for energy and since they are so efficient at recycling, they actually have to import trash from Norway for their power plants because they do not produce enough unrecycled waste. I as well was a little confused about where to through my trash, when it had some combination of different things, but in the end the learning curve is quite steep.

Kultur 2

For my second Kultur assignment i read the article 'Have you gained weight'. I enjoyed reading this article because i thought it was very amusing and gave a interesting perspective on German social interactions. In some ways i think this honesty is good thing because everyone knows where they are at and no one is under no illusions. However it can be sometimes be a little offensive and could hurt peoples feelings.

AMD6

This week, as I have been studying for finals, I have found myself listening to classical music- what a shock. However, instead of listening to Bach or Händel, as I usually do, I listened to Beethoven. While I hold Bach in the highest regard, and believe him to be the greatest composer of music that ever lived, I think that Beethoven was the greatest composer of symphonies (with the Austrians Gustav Mahler and WA Mozart a close second and third, respectively). Of Beethoven's symphonies, his 9th is (at least in my opinion, and many other musically educated people) not only his singular greatest piece of work, and one of the greatest- if not the greatest singular work- of all time (in my mind there is a difference between the perfect music that Bach wrote- like his Passions- and the grandeur that is the Ninth Symphony).  Everything about it is amazing in its splendor. In the first movement, Beethoven draws from peace and ambiguity, a driving power and clarity. The second introduces a beautiful fugue, so different from any I have heard before- and I have heard many a fugue. It almost has a medieval air about it. This fugue modulates into a new key and continues the sonata form. The third is completely different than any of the other movements, in that it is slow, lyrical, and calming. After the frenzy that was the second movement, the third feels like a lullaby.

However, these movements all serve as preparation for the final movement, perhaps the most famous piece of music ever written. I would call this fourth movement as symphony within a symphony, in that it has four very distinct parts to it. The first sections briefly quotes all three of the previous movements in order, each dismissed by the cellos and basses which then play in an instrumental foreshadowing of the coming chorale. At the introduction of the main theme, the cellos and basses take it up and play it through. The entire movement as a grand, musical reading of Friedrich Schiller's poem "Ode an Die Freude"- "Ode to Joy" (with some lyrical edits made by Beethoven to fit better musically). The main theme, as sung by the solo bassist begins with:

O Freunde, nicht diese Töne! Sondern laßt uns angenehmere anstimmen, und freudenvollere. Freude! (men's chorus: Freude! ) Freude! (chorus again: Freude! )

He then launches into the main musical theme (what we all hum when we think of Ode to Joy):

Freude, schöner Götterfunken

Tochter aus Elysium,

Wir betreten feuertrunken,

Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!

Deine Zauber binden wieder

Was die Mode streng geteilt;

Alle Menschen werden Brüder,

Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

The choir repeats, and then all four soloists continue with (after which the choir repeats):

Wem der große Wurf gelungen,
Eines Freundes Freund zu sein;
Wer ein holdes Weib errungen,
Mische seinen Jubel ein!
Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele
Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!
Und wer's nie gekonnt, der stehle
Weinend sich aus diesem Bund!

Freude trinken alle Wesen
An den Brüsten der Natur;
Alle Guten, alle Bösen
Folgen ihrer Rosenspur.
Küsse gab sie uns und Reben,
Einen Freund, geprüft im Tod;
Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben,
Und der Cherub steht vor Gott.
Vor Gott!

After the climax of "Vor Gott!", the second section of the final movement is a huge contrast. It begins quietly and small- only in the bassoons and piccolos, with a single trumpet. This section takes the form of a military march, in which the solo tenor sings:

Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen
Durch des Himmels prächt'gen Plan,
Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn,
Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.

As the choir and soloist finish singing this part, Beethoven wrote an amazing, powerful double orchestral fugue (oh my gosh!) which drives the ensemble... off of the cliff. As soon as this fugue finishes, there is but momentary quiet... after which the entire ensemble explodes into a recapitulation of the main "Freude, schöner Götterfunken" theme. After this, the third section suddenly begins. It presents a new theme, and is much slower, almost meditative. The text is as follows:

Seid umschlungen, Millionen!
Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt!
Brüder, über'm Sternenzelt
Muss ein lieber Vater wohnen.
Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?
Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?
Such' ihn über'm Sternenzelt!
Über Sternen muss er wohnen.

The final section is a fugato finale on the themes of the first and third sections of this movement. The movement has a thematic unity, in which every part may be shown to be based on either the main theme, the "Seid umschlungen" theme, or some combination of the two. The final section that the choir sings is:

Seid umschlungen, Millionen!
Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt!
Brüder, über'm Sternenzelt
Muss ein lieber Vater wohnen.
Seid umschlungen,
Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt!
Freude, schöner Götterfunken
Tochter aus Elysium,
Freude, schöner Götterfunken
Götterfunken!

Gosh, this was a long post. But, Beethoven's 9th has a very long run time, even relative to other symphonies. It is a grand, beautiful, influential piece of music, and Schiller's poem provides the perfect meaning to the symphony. It is such a joyous piece (obviously), but also conveys a sense of unity and brotherhood ("Was die Mode streng geteilt; Alle Menschen werden Brüder...). There are many wonderful recordings under the hands of great conductors with amazing soloists. If you want an authentic German experience, I would recommend listening to the recording made by Wilhelm Furtwängler; however, the Austrians Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan were also incredible conductors and recorded incredible performances of this piece. Personally, I think that nobody was a better conductor of Romantic era music than Leonard Bernstein. So, embedded is his version with the Wiener Philharmoniker, in 1970. Even in his old age, he had such energy and grasp of the music.  

Kultur6

I must admit, I am continually befuddled by German culture. There are so many aspects to it that, as we have read throughout the semester, are completely backwards than in the United States. It doesn't make sense that a closed door is inviting; however, I can see the logic in confidently approaching the door, giving it a stern knock, and entering with purpose. Especially in the context of Germany, it conveys much more strength and resolve to enter a room with a purpose and a goal in mind; compare this to walking in sheepishly- it leaves a completely different impression. This enforces the stereotype of Germans being stern and industrious (a bit of a contradiction coming from Der Speigel, which- as we read- wrote an article about German humor). Furthermore, I commend the Germans for taking such a serious national interest in recycling, something our government has yet to do on such a scale. Our government could learn quite a bit about environmentalism from Germany. I have read previously that Germany's solar plants were able to produce record levels of output this year- so much, in fact, that half of the country was powered one day by electricity resulting from solar plants alone. Quite the feat indeed.

AMD 6

For the sixth AMD, I read the article, "The Awful German Language" by Mark Twain.  Throughout reading the extreme confusion, which, after reading about it, seems completely inevitable, that he seemed to come across while learning German for himself did nothing but make me afraid of the language.  All he did was explain how difficult German is and how there are so many complications that just make the language, at least to a near full understanding, impossible to learn for non-native speakers.  I'm sure if I continue I'll be able to speak just fine, but it looks like understanding all the complexities will not be possible.  Reading this probably didn't imiprove my desire to learn German at all.  It was amusing, though, to read through his thought processes and everything.

AMD 5

So for AMD 5 I just watched the first "Muzzy" video for German.  This was pretty cool.  They talked about a lot of things I alrady knew, and then built a little more on top of that.  They also used some different vocabulary or vocabulary I hadn't yet learned.  It was also a kind of entertaining little story line, which I liked a lot.  I can see why this would be a good language learning tool.

AMD 4 Asher Strayhorn

I decided tht for this AMD, I would listen to a bunch of music by a couple of German artists.  I started by listening to die Artze, which I liked, but wasn't super thrilled with.  After a little more digging, I was able to find a group that I really enjoyed.  They're called "Wir sind Helden", and their music is definitely a style I'm into.  I sat and listened in my room for a good amount of time, and now I think I will start listening to them regularly, and maybe check out some other German bands in he near future.

AMD 3

For this AMD, I spoke to my hallmate, who's also just starting German, in German for a whole lunch.  It was kind of hard to talk about everything I wanted to talk about, but it was fun to just talk about what we could.  We ended up just asking each other what we did or were doing that day or talking about food.  It was not an especially awesome experience, but it was still fun.  Hopefully one day we will do it again, maybe in a few months.  Only this time, we'll have a bit more we can say.  Then I'll see just how far I'll have come.

AMD 2

   For this AMD, I put all of my online things in German-Facebook, Youtube, Spotify, even my browser.  It made things a little more difficult, but I was usually able to figure out what everything meant after a little thought.  Now there are a lot of things I probably wouldn't have known how to say that I do from looking at them every day.  It was also fun, athoguh time consuming, to have to think about what I was reading before I knew what it meant.  I'm thinking I'll just keep everything like this for a while unless it gets really annoying.

Kultur 6

For my Kultur assignment i read the article 'Division hell, worshiping the garbage gods'. This article about the German's recycling obsession did not surprise me at all, having visited Germany on a couple of occasions i was simply amazed at how clean everything was, the streets were spotless! (A far cry from London!) I think it is great that Germany a major world player takes their waste management so seriously, and although throwing away your ketchup covered wrapper maybe a major operation, i believe it is important that other countries follow Germany example.

Kultur6

The whole being idea of being assertive, knocking once, and just entering a room with a closed door literally sounds like the worst thing in the world to me.

Ich bin schüchtern und nicht selbstsicher.  I'm the type of person who, upon seeing a closed door, rather than knocking, lurks around the corner pretending to be on my phone until it opens.

AMD 6

For this weeks AMD I did something a little off the beaten path and that is because technically I didnt do anything. I was at the gym last night and had my phone on an app called 8tracks which is similar to pandora but it allows anyone to create there own playlist with any type of music imaginable. I was scrolling through various playlists when I finally found one that looked like it would get the job done until I hit the play button. The very first song that came on was Du Hast by Rammstein. I have listened to this song many times before and have grown rather fond of it especially when working out. Since you are only allowed 3 skips per hour i decided that I would go with the flow. Well the flow led me right to a guy from Berlin who decided he was going to make a playlist of strictly German Death Metal and Rock. So I spent the remainder of my time in the weight room listening to music which made me question if there was any happiness in the world. As it turns out I actually found that I like a song or two and they are currently on my ipod.

Kultur 6

Out of these articles I found the one about the German Privacy by far the most interesting. Here in America and even other countries that I have traveled to when a door is shut you usually just leave whoever is behind the door alone. They obviously don't want to be bothered. If you knock once and nobody answers you assume that nobody is there and you come back at a later time. Just the opposite is true also. If the door is open then its insinuated that its ok to "come on in". I found it quite funny that the Germans will knock as loudly as possible and keep knocking the walk right on in. I also found it odd that there doors are normally closed. In America and especially here at college you meet more people and come off as being much more approachable just by leaving your door open.

Kultur 6

Once again the Germans have blown me away with how friendly they are to the environment. I wish the way we sorted our recyclables were something we would discuss more. Really though, it's seems like the Germans have it close enough to being figured out, so does recycling really have to get more complicated? Don't they have other things to worry about than what's the best way to recycle? Regardless, I'm still impressed. It's also very interesting how important their newspapers are, and what a wide range of information these newspapers cover. Most importantly though were the other two readings, since if I'm going to Germany this summer those will be good things to know. I think I already knew about Uni housing being hard to find and Uni Campuses being spaced out thanks to my chat with Karl-Georg. He admittedly advised me to avoid the bigger cities where I wouldn't be able to stay in dorms.

Kultur 6

I hope that it was an exaggeration that millions of Germans get their news from the Bild.  We form your opinion so you don't have to does not sound like the way a population should be getting informed.  If they are continually going on crusades against public figures, you would think that the people would dismiss anything they write.I don't think page one girl would be allowed here, but I'd really prefer to see her than Ex-Foreign Minister Joschka Fische.
Why not just leave the door open?  Do they have privacy signs when they don't want to be disturbed? Or perhaps lock the door?
It sounds like a good plan to separate everything.  That way recycling is much more efficient.  We have single stream recycling, which makes it easier to recycle, bu lots of things are still sent to the trash.  It sounds like the Germans don't have the can returners like we do, because everyone returns the can themselves.  Why even have a deposit if the people are going to do it anyway?

Kultur 6

Every time I read the Kultur articles for this class I learn something new and useful regarding German Culture. This time, I read that Germany has a magazine similar to some of the gossip magazines in the United States. It puts news stories on the back burner, and focuses more on the gossip of celebrities and then elaborating on certain events. This came as no surprise to me as it is a magazine. The next article about the door closed policy, however, was very surprising. During high school, I could walk into any classroom at almost any time and not have an issue, as long as the door was open. In college, I can do the same thing for my professors office hours. It boggles my mind that in Germany the door is always closed and that knocking is expected, and also that if you do not here a response, the person you are visiting gets aggravated. Lastly, I was intrigued about the garbage article. I had no idea that Germans put so much care and effort into sorting their trash - I didn't even know that there were so many categories! I am only used to three; trash, glass/cans, and cardboard, but hey, good for the Germans for so environmentally friendly!

Kultur 6

I suppose that the article about garbage was most interesting to me because it's one of the things that I remember about Germany that I thought was really cool when I visited. At first I was bewildered, and I didn't really get it, but eventually I caught on. I wonder if that would ever work here in America. I think it would be good if it did, I mean, it seems pretty smart. At the same time though, I'm pretty lazy so sometimes I do just carelessly toss things. Germany seems so orderly. I really admire that. I wonder if I'd get tired of following all those rules though. But I do like rules. But not necessarily the knocking one. I'm a kind of person who almost needs permission in order to enter a room. One knock usually doesn't do it for me. But I suppose if they didn't really want you there they'd lock the door, right?

Kapitel 6 Kultur-Texte

Make sure to knock loudly ONCE, and then walk right in. 

For Kapitel 6, I learned about the guide for navigating the German door, and how it is different then the American way of approaching the door.  In America, an open door is an invitation to come in while a closed door usually means "keep out." Yet in Germany it is typical that doors stay closed no matter what, even if the person inside is not busy.  So what you do is you go up to the door and knock once loudly, open the door and walk in with pride and a smile.  What you should not do in this situation is knock quietly, because in a potentially loud area you won't hear a response coming from the other side, and by not hearing that response, you will most likely think that the person inside didn't hear you, so you'll continue to knock several more times until you here a loud "Herein!", from the other side.  It is important to avoid this incident or else your meeting will be how you say beschißen.

Kulture 6

I enjoyed reading the article about the various types of trashcans in Germany the most. It is just so typical of Germany to have such a confusing process to throw away trash. They are almost too efficient for their own good. However, I do understand and condone the plus-sides to having a in-depth trash collecting system. It is very beneficial to the environment in terms of how to reuse our wastes. It is no wonder that Germany is the leading country in the field of environmentalism when they have a trash-throwing-away system like this. I found it particularly funny that some Germans try to rebel a little by not always abiding by the color scheme on the trashcans. This shows another big cultural difference between Germany and the United States. In the States, people will throw any trash on the ground without thinking twice, even right next to a trashcan. Whereas, it is actually considered rebelling when someone puts a piece of trash in the wrong bin. This is very impressive of Germany, and I hope that we one day learn from their model.

Kultur 6

The reading "Sex, Smut and Shock Bild Zeitung Rules Germany" is quite interesting to me since I did not know that a daily dose of high-resolution soft porn is so welcomed by millions of Germans. And the writers can also make fun of the chancellor of their country, Angela Merkel, which will probably never happen in China. The writers in China are barely allowed to blame the chairman or any other government officials in China, if anyone did so, they might even lose their jobs. The part talks about a bow of a smile of the soccer team trainer and the final part compares the significantly different react of the British Sun to that of Bild. The British press published paparazzi photos of German's Chancellor Merkel's naked derriere while Bild's commentator Franz Josef Wagner emphasized their unwillingness to put that in the front page. And they mentioned about soccers several times, which really reflects their fond in soccer.
"Come On In, My Door Is Always Closed" is even interesting. In German, if you don't knock loudly then you may have to wait outside until the person you are waiting comes out.. This is so upset since I am used to knock very politely to not interrupt people I am coming for. This sample is very similar to a cultural difference of eating noodles in China and Japan. In China, guests should eat very quietly to be polite to the host. However, guests should eat noodles loudly to represent their pleassure and enjoyness of eating at the host's home.

Kultur 6

This articles were pretty boring to me. The article on garbage didn't surprise me. Germans seemed to like things very exact and precise from previous articles we had to read. It was nice to see though that they like to be environmentally friendly (though I remember learning about this in high school).
German culture is definitely different than here in America. I would feel uncomfortable just knocking once and opening the door. Then again I wouldn't feel this way if I grew up in Germany and was accustom to it.
It seems like every major country has tabloids that stretch the truth. The Bild article was informative but not that interesting. "We will destroy you at the World Cup." is exactly what I would expect a German to say.

Kultur 6

Finally! Tübingen is no longer just the mystery destination of Anna Adler. I'm glad we got to read more about Tübingen this week. I never knew it had a partnership with Ann Arbor! Like most of Germany it seems to have quite a rich history, which of course wouldn't fit in a Brennpunkt Kultur, but I'm sure independent research would turn up some interesting results.

I found it strange that Germany doesn't provide much housing for its students. In America, getting into student housing is rarely a problem, as housing students is a major planning factor in most universities across the country. Personally, I was never a fan of student housing and got out as quickly as possible, but that doesn't mean I don't greatly appreciate the option.

As far as the online articles this time around, they didn't really spark my interest. I appreciate Germany's environmentally friendly attitude and their waste sorting efforts that they make, but I'm really glad Ann Arbor doesn't make you sort trash or even really recycling for that matter.

Kultur 6

I read the article "Come in my door is Always Closed" the title I thought to be sarcastic and it caught my attention. Once I read the article I thought it was pointless to always have the door shut. If Germans always have their door shut then, people always interrupt, unlike in America in which a shut door means come back later. I will also be the person to knock softly and feel like an intruder. It will be very difficult for me to knock hard and walk in without feeling unwelcome. The second article I read was "Worshipping the Garbage Gods" I was really surprise on how strict and specific Germany is about recycling. As I was reading I quickly compared it to the millions of times I thrown away something in the recycling cans doubting whether the item is considered to be recyclable. I would freak if I had to divide my garbage in multiple categories. Although recycling can be confusing at time I think it is great that Germany puts such great effort into keeping the earth safe!

Kultur 6

Well I already knew Germany was a complicated place with complicated people, or I have heard. Germans are very picky and precise, which could explain there garbage system. The fact that in one garbage container there are four parts; all identifying what exactly you put in each. Seems rather tedious an some what time consuming, but it is because we are not used to being so :energy conservative" and environmentally friendly. Germany is country very well know for being eco-friendly. They do recycle a lot and try to preserve their countries environment. I think in a way we might be more complicated than they are cause to them it is simple and easy to decipher what I considered "waste" and what is not. Although we on the other hand might take a while just identifying that. I also enjoyed the article on the door policy. You would think to knock, but to them is pivotal that you do.

AMD 6

For AMD6, I have watched a video of "Die Simpsons - Auf diese Lisa können sie bauen [Deutsch | Staffel 22 Episode 2 | Part 1]  " in youtube. It is really interesting and talks about the story that Lisa went to a shop and misread the price for a handbag. It is funfhundert euros but Lisa thought that costs funfzig. When she checked out, others are laughing at her since she was shocked by the price and thinking not to buy it. But out of her self-esteem, she gave her card to the check-out lady with a firm hand. Lisa was sorry after she got home but Mr Simpson told her that it's fine and they went to a high-class restuarant. They were badly treated at first but after the waitress saw her handbag they were treated superior to others. And das Baby was playing a game in computer, der Mann sagt, cliken Sie auf meinen Nase! which is letting the baby clicked at his nose and after she clicked on it, der Mann sagt, Wiedersehen!

AMD 6

For this AMD, I watched the first episode of the German TV show, Stromberg.  It is the German version of The Office.  It is funny how many adaptations of that show there are.
The show took on some more serious issues than I have seen in the American version.  They openly make fun of a fellow employee's asthma.  Going so far as to make him smoke a cigar when her requests a parking spot that requires less walking up stairs for him.  This request is, of course, denied.
Going along with what we learned about sex shops and the like, a tech finds some inappropriate material on the boss's computer and they show employees drawing naked pictures on the whiteboard.  It is funny because that kind of thing would be found on cable here.
They smoke inside the building, I wonder if that is the case at most offices in Germany.
The other interesting parts were the commercial segments.  They used English in many of the commercials, just like we learned in class.

AMD 6

For my AMD, I watched the very famous German movie, Downfall. The movie depicts the last months of World War 2 as Hitler lived out of his bunker while trying to salvage the war effort. It was fascinating to see how all of the various German officials responded to the defeat of Germany. Hitler became delusional and refused to listen to his advisors. He continually ordered new offenses by his army, even though it was clearly impossible to win. When he finally accepted the defeat of Germany, he killed himself along with his wife. Many other officials also killed themselves during the time in the bunker. The most appalling suicide, however, was when Frau Goebbels took the lives of her several children and then killed herself along with her husband. I had already known that this occurred, but to see it happen was quite shocking and disturbing.
I think that the movie is so good because it shows the fighting taking place, the internal disputes, and eventually, the acceptance by the Nazi officials. It is a long movie, at 2 hours and 35 minutes, but it is never boring. The most interesting part of the movie to me, was that I actually found myself having sympathy for many of the characters even though they were Nazis. Hitler, many of the generals, and especially Joseph Goebbels, scared the hell out of me with their anger and made me despise them, but there were many characters that this movie put a human face to. The secretaries, some soldiers, and some of the doctors showed that many people were just trapped up in the horrible times, or were more interested in helping the soldiers and citizens than Hitler's cause. These characters have helped me understand that even though the whole time was terrible, there were decent people on the bad side, just like there were horrible people on the good side. Downfall is an amazing movie and very historically accurate. I would recommend it to anyone.

AMD 6

For my sixth AMD assignment i watched the Simpsons in Deutsch. The episode was about how  Marge experiences at 'springfield Universität', it started with the Simpsons heating not working so they told storys to pass the time. I was fairly pleased with the vocab i could pick up, however it was tough at times because they all spoke very fast.

AMD 6

For my AMD6 assignment, I researched the Christmas traditions in Germany. The children call Santa Clause Christkind, who is a figure dressed in white robes with a golden crown and wings. There is also a figure, though, called Weihnachtsmann. He is a figure who dresses like Santa Clause and delivers gifts. Both of them come on Christmas Eve. Decorations are usually put up during the first week of December. The first day of celebration is on December 6, which is St. Claus day. This day children leave shoes or boots outside the fire place in hopes that they will be filled with delicious candies (which occurs if they have been good). If not, then the shoes or boots are filled with rods or twigs. The Christmas Trees are also important to German Christmases. Officially, German Christmas begins on the first Advent Sunday, or Adventszeit. Some traditional foods eaten for Christmas dinner in Germany include Weihnachtsplätzchen, which are cookies, Stollen, a fruit cake, and Lebkuchen, which are spicy cookies. Although the traditions in Germany differ from the traditions I celebrate, it is still Christmastime!

AMD 6

This week I decided to listen to a german love song and see how many words I could understand since the last chapters vocal was all about love. The song is called Liebst Du Mich? Which reminded that it is in the accusative form. The song has a lot of words that I was able to pick out such as uhr und schön. I thought the beat to the song was interesting. It reminded me of some spanish music in a way but also the typical love song. The link to the song is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhvXdwbyqNc
I also looked up Love Will Find A Way from The Lion King in german. It was so cool seeing a Disney movie in a different language. Growing up I knew all the disney movies in spanish and eventually learned the songs in english. Since I knew the song I knew the lyrics but I also did understand what they were saying. It was great to hear something in a different language and understanding it. The link to that video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6YWpn04eXs

AMD 6

For this AMD I looked up Simpsons episodes on YouTube in German. The video didn't say the episode's name, just Die Simpsons Deutsch. The very beginning was interesting. They showed Die Simpsons but the choir (its the very opening scene) said "The Simpsons". The episode was telling Homer and Marge's life before they have kids and Marge going to Springfield University. I could pick out a decent amount of vocab but it was hard to understand what the characters were saying sometimes because they spoke fast.

AMD 6

For my last AMD I watched my favorite TV show, 30 Rock, in German. I was surprised at how much I understood. Not extremely surprised though, being a TV junkie. It was very easy for me to guess what things meant because I understood the context. Some of the words were not changed or were at least very similar to their English counterparts. Zum Beispiele:

• Tracy frequently says "Yo" and "Hey Jacky-D". These did not change in the German dub. 
• Tracy is always contractually obligated to bring up "Wayde Boggs Carpet World" whenever possible. In the German dub Tracy said "Wayde Boggs Teppich Welt"
• Someone in the show asked for "Trinktjoghurt" (drinkable yogurt)

One of my favorite quotes from 30 Rock is in this episode so I was so excited to hear how it was said in German! This is what I heard at least, I'm not sure if it's right: 

     Liz: Schau okay aus?

     Cerie: Ganz genau sehen sie aus!

     Translation:

    Liz: Do I look okay?

    Cerie: That's exactly how you look!

AMD 6

     By accident I actually stumbled upon what I was going to do for this AMD. Earlier today I was watching interviews with Tom Hiddleson (Loki from the Avengers) and found this interview. In the beginning I recognized the word Superheld. The main interview portion is in English, but I could see some of the German culture we read about, for example the host had no problem saying Tom Hiddleson had a poor body, while the British, American, and Australian (Tom Hiddleson, Mark Ruffalo, and Chris Hemsworth) thought that was a little rude and seemed surprised but laughed it off. At another point during the interview the host started talking about pony ad's which I and the actors were very confused about. I googled pony ads looking for an exclamation, and eventually I found this on a blog.
     "I too had to google that pony advertising thing, it was just too confusing. And somewhat intriguing. So, what actually happened, is that the Green Party wants to stop pony riding at fairs, etc. During a speech, the leader of the Liberal Party criticized the Green for wanting to ban so many things, like cigarette advertising for example. Then he was supposed to mention the pony rides, but accidentally said pony advertising, which has caused a wave of jokes on Twitter and so on. That's all. And apparently, before the guys showed up on the show, Stefan Raab had presented a few clips that showed what pony advertising could look like."
    Overall though I did like this interview, and while the host seemed kind of ill-informed, it was still fun to watch and maybe even makes me believe that Germans do have a sense of humor.