AMD1

I am very interesting in cars, and since Germany has a very good history of car engineering I watched some videos on car history in Germany, as well as cars on the autobahn. It was interesting to find out that German car companies became famous soon after WWII since they were the most developed in car manufacturing. The biggest of these early companies were VW, BMW, Porsche, and Mercedes. It was around that time that VW came out with what was nicknamed the beatle. Still today, the beatle is the most sold car in history and has a huge following of people who remake old beatles and just mess with them in general. Additionally, in the 50s BMW came out with the 3 series which today is BMW's best selling car and an enjoyable drive. Also in the 50s, Mercedes made the first production super car, which was iconic for it's gull wing doors that have been implemented in some of Mercedes newer models as a tribute to that car. Around this time Porsche as well came out with the 911 which today is one of Porsche's flagships and very popular among car enthusiasts. I am not entirely sure however about the fact that a German invented the first car because I have heard different stories about the invention and whereabouts of the invention of the first car. As for videos about the autobahn, they were not terribly interesting because it was just some cars driving around. So it appears that in order to truly experience it, one must actually go there. Below is one of the videos I watched, I skipped from video to video so I do not have them all.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKpw5YvGjEQ

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 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.

AMD1

For AMD1, I read the article, "Kurzer aber heftiger Herbststurm sorgt für Schäden in Berlin" in German. The article is about the damage inflicted by a recent Autumn storm in Berlin. According to the article, the storm caused a tree to fall on the train tracks in Berlin and interrupted the normal train schedule. Another tree fell on a house, there was damage to other buildings and there was flooding in the streets. The storm occurred between 15.40 and 17.30. There were a lot of words I did not recognize, but I was able to find some verbs and adjectives that I recognized which made it possible to guess what some of the words I did not know meant. Some of the words I did not recognize were: heftiger, lahmgelegt, sowohl, and rollen.

AMD 1

For my first AMD assignment, I skyped with a German friend of mine. She was my best friend from America, but was originally from Germany, and then moved back to Europe this summer where she is going to University. I practiced speaking a lot of my German, and attempted to show off how much I've learned, but then she would chime in with her perfect accent and fluency in an attempt to help me, which it did! She also spoke to me in German about the ubahn and the different culture she's been experience while living in Vienna. It's always wonderful to speak to her, but is much different doing so in her mother tongue rather than mine! She never stops challenging me.

AMD1

I have a freind who lived in Berlin for three years during high school and his freshman year of college.  I asked him about life there--what he did for fun, what music he listened to, what parties were like, etc.  He highly recommended this song, which both sums up the atmosphere of clubs and features basic German phrases about dancing and partying.  Plus it's a super fantastisch video.

Laserkraft 3D - Nein Mann

I roughly translated the chorus to get the gist of what the song was about:

Nein man! ich will noch nicht gehen [No man, I will not go yet]
Ich will noch ein bisschen Tanzen [I will dance a little more]
Komm schon alter ist doch noch nicht so spät [Come on it is not too late]
lass uns noch ein bisschen tanzen [Let's dance a little more]

The video is quite helpful in giving visual context clues, so I didn't have too much trouble understanding the parts that I couldn't translate.  

Matthäus-Passion

This week, while working on an essay, I did what I usually do when I work on large essays: listen to baroque music. I am classically trained in baroque harpsichord and organ, so it's more easier for me to enjoy listening to than modern music. Sometimes I listen to Beethoven's symphonies (even though he is technically early Romantic era, I listen to his symphonies for sheer pleasure and... because they last quite a while on average, so I only need to queue up one or two for each essay session). This week I listened primarily to the works of Bach- my all time favorite composer. Bach (known to many non-musicians as the composer of "that Halloween organ song") was the cantor of the Thomaskirche in Liepzig from 1723-1750. In his life time, Bach composed over 1.000 known compositions- many of his compositions are believed to be lost, mainly because they were disposed of before Bach became a pretty big deal (long after his death, well into the 19th century). I listened to two of Bach's major works while writing my paper: the Matthäus-Passion (St. Matthew's Passion) and the h-mol-Messe (Mass in B minor). The Matthäus Passion is in Deutsch, whereas the h-mol-Messe is in Latin. 

I also took the time to listen to Georg Friederich Händel's (known by many for perhaps his most famous work, the soaring "Hallelujah!" chorus from his oratorio "Messiah") 5th Orgelkonzerte (Organ Concerto), which I would recommend listening to (my favorite part, performed by Karl Richter- arguably one of the greatest interpreters of Bach and Händel to ever live, can be found here). I would say it is a perfect example of baroque at its finest. In order to prevent me from droning on about baroque music, I figure I will simply embed part 1 of 2 of the Matthäus Passion- under Karl Richter's expert hand. Happy watching! 

I may be a member of the Michigan Marching Band, but counterpoint (the main element behind baroque music) is my main area of musical expertise. Unfortunately, it's an area of expertise for a relatively small number of people. So, if anyone has any questions about baroque music in general, or a specific aspect, I would be ecstatic to answer it. 

Some other recommended listening:

-Die Passacaglia un Fuge in c-Moll (Bach)

-Die Goldberg-Variationen (Bach- in my opinion, his greatest single work)

-Die Brandenburgischen Konzerte (Bach)

-Die Wassermusik (Händel)

Honestly, the list for Bach would be incredibly long if I were to post his greatest works... regardless, enjoy! May they help you get through an essay as well!

AMD 1

Wie ist deine Wochenende? Ich habe ein wundervolles Wochenende.
Ich sehe ein alt italienischer Film called "life is beautiful". Es heißt "Das Leben ist schön" in Deutsch (Mein Lieblingswort ist schön). Ich habe whatched den Film für vierten Mal, aber zum ersten Mal in Deustch. Ich habe der Vater, die Mutter und der jung Sohn sehr gern. Ich weine, wenn ich sehe das Film. Sie leben sehr gute bevor sie gehen in das Konzentrationslager. Die Mutter bleibt nicht und geht mit der Mann Guido und der Sohn Giosuè. Der Vater schützt seine Frau und Sohn, aber stirbt am Ende.

I will give it 9.5 if there's a scale from 0-10. Their love and their desire for protecting their families are so moving.

Gute nacht!

AMD1

 Donnerstag Abend I went to see Europa Europa at the Michigan Theater with a few friends from German Club. Check it out on IMDB! I was able to understand what was being said in the movie thanks to subtitles, but in the end I actually ended up forgetting it was a foreign film! Over all I found it to be quite an interesting movie; most Holocaust movies being completely from a Jewish perspective and this one being a bit more behind the German lines. It was also a little humorous, which is strange to admit since it deals with the Holocaust. On a scale to 1-10 and based on other Holocaust movies, I would give this one an 8. German club over all has been fun, though I am a bit worried since only one other person is 101. Regardless it's great exposure to other speakers and the culture!

AMD 1

Since I was home for the weekend, I was able to watch some of my dad's World War 2 movies. I watched "The Longest Day" where each nationality spoke their language (germans spoke german, french spoke french). It had subtitles in english so I could still understand what the characters were saying. Obviously the french went right over my head but I managed to pick out some words in german that I knew. I maybe only understood 5-10% of the german in the movie, but when I was able to pick a word out I feel so accomplished and happy. I want to rewatch the movie at the end of the year and see how much more I understand.

AMD1

Last Mittwoch, some friends and I went to the Heidelberg downtown and I made a point to look for aspects of German culture.  The windows inside are made of stained glass with names of German cities and a picture of something about that city included in each.  The architecture features lots of dark wood reminiscent of the half-timbered buildings from Medieval times, those which we typically associate with German buildings.  There are also other artifacts including a collection of beer steins.
My favorite beer there is the Weihenstephaner Heffeweissbier, which I now know means yeast wheat beer of Weihnstephan Brewery. Weihenstephan is the oldest continuously operating brewery in the world.  They are able to trace their history to the Weihestephan Abbey where the monks began brewing beer in 768 ad.  They were licensed by the city of Freising in 1040 ad and have been brewing continuously since.  When Napoleon Bonaparte conquered the area in 1803, he transferred the brewery form the monastery to Bayern.  It is now a state run company operated as a commercial brewery and learning center for a university in Munich.
Beir is served there in boots, or Bierstiefel as they are called in Germany (not das Boot).  To toast in German, the word is Prost, which literally means "may it be for you" or "may it benefit you".  According to the bartender, eye contact is very important when toasting in Germany.
I look forward to going to Germany and see how the experience compares.

AMD1

I found it very interesting, and when I say interesting I really mean funny, to hear "South Park" in German.  For the assignment, I watched the episode, "The Jeffersons" or "Die Jeffersons" in which Michael Jackson comes to South Park.  It was fun to hear the difference in the voices of the boys compared to the original English version.  It was also funny to get the German perspective of Michael Jackson.  The best part of course was hearing that classic line, "Oh mein Gott sie Kenny getötet!  Sie swine!" (instead of Oh my God, they killed Kenny!  You bastards!"

All in all it just goes to show you how one great show, no matter what country it is set in, can make the whole world laugh.

Willkommen!!

Welcome to our class blog!

We will be using this blog throughout the semester for two kinds of assignments:

1. Once per chapter, the homework plan will direct you to post a response to the culture readings for the chapter on the blog.

2. Roughly every other week, the homework plan will direct you to post here for your Abenteuer mit Deutsch (AMD) assignment. First you do a fun activity that involves German, then you post about it. You should spend an hour total on this (maybe 45-55 minutes doing something, 5-15 minutes posting about it). See Was ist ein AMD, AMD Ideen and Beispiele for ideas. This should get you excited about the kinds of things you can do!

Whenever you post something, please include your name and the name of the assignment (e.g. AMD2, Kultur5) as labels. See "Blog: How To" for more details!