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.

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.

Kultur 5

I thought that the article, "Street Rules: No Blood, No Entschuldigung" was pretty interesting. Up to this point in the course, I have begun to view Germans more and more as robots who are obsessed with statistics but are lacking in emotions. This article has basically concluded my hypothesis as correct. If someone were to storm through crowds, elbowing people, and not caring at all in the United States, that person would get yelled at and possibly hit for their rudeness. It is funny and fitting that Germany would be the complete opposite. People there do not care and willing shove people in order to get to where they are going on time. I can completely see this happening in Germany too after everything else that we have read about the country. It is weird to imagine a world where people walk through each other as so peaceful, but I guess that the Germans understand one another. I just hope for their sake, that Germans visiting America don't walk through New York City elbowing and shoving people to get them out of their way.

AMD 5

For this AMD, I decided to watch the movie, Sophie Scholl: The Final Days. I have been learning about Fascism and Authoritarian leaders in both my History and Political Science classes recently so this movie interested me greatly. The movie is based off of the true story of Sophie Scholl, her brother, and many of their accomplices who were a part of the anti-Nazi White Rose in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. This movie chronicles the last days of Sophie Scholl's life as she was captured, tried, and executed by the Nazis.
The plot of the movie is that Sophie Scholl and her brother decide to post anti-Nazi fliers around their university. Unfortunately, they are captured. At first, they both deny having posted the fliers. However, eventually Sophie cracks and admits to the crime. Instead of pleading for mercy, Sophie bravely argues the wrongs of Nazism to some of the top officials of the Party. She rooms with a captured Communist woman who helps her get through the whole ordeal. Sophie and her brother refuse to give up the names of their accomplices, but the Nazis decide to arrest a man named Christoph Probst just to weaken their spirits.
Eventually, the three of them are tried in court. Probst pleas for his life and freedom because he has a wife and three young children. Sophie and her brother, however, argue against the whole Nazi process in front of the high court and many high generals. They tell them that every Nazi in the room will eventually be sitting in a court pleading for their lives. Probst and the two Scholls are sentenced to execution that day.
I liked the movie very much. It was cool to be able to see what I am learning in my other classes in a film and to have it be in German. Watching a movie that took place in Germany in German definitely makes it feel more authentic. I would recommend this movie to anyone.

AMD 4

For my AMD, I decided to turn my Facebook language to Deutsch for the whole day. I was actually surprised to see that many of the words were the same as they are in English, like "status" or "chat". I am assuming that these are new words that were incorporated into the German language like "Overheadprojektor." However, I have learned a lot simply from knowing how to navigate Facebook, but with different words for my activities. For example, when writing a status, instead of it asking "What's on your mind", it asks "Was machst du gerade?" which means "What are you doing?".  There are a few of these little differences on the Facebook page that now helps me understand German culture a little bit better. Also, I learned a lot of new vocabulary, like "Nachrichten", "Orte", and "Gesponsert". I think that I may keep my Facebook language to German for a few more days. It is pretty fun.

Kultur 4

I found the article about the German's obedience to the crosswalk light to be pretty funny. I usually never actually pay attention to those lights so it is comical that a whole nation obeys the little red man as though he were a dictator. I guess that it does make sense though that in Germany the people would have this attitude towards how to cross the street since the German people are obsessed with structure and law. It is especially funny that not only will you receive dirty looks if you cross the street illegally, but if a young child is present, you are in a lot of trouble. Not only will the mothers yell at you, but the child might even try to teach you a lesson about the law and safety. I found the article fascinating that a whole nation would adhere to and put so much importance on something that is so trivial to us.
I did find the pong game that you can play while waiting for the light to change colors pretty cool. It's awesome that the city would pay extra money so that people will be entertained while waiting for a light to change. That would never happen in the states. The pong game would definitely help my habit of crossing the street illegally.

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.

AMD2

For my post, I decided that I wanted to listen to some popular German music that is out today. So, I looked up Germany's Top 40 list. Unfortunately, all of the songs were in English, even though I haven't heard really any of them. I went back to google and found a list of 100 Popular songs in German that are out today. I listened to the first five songs. They were: "Gloria" by Joachim Witt, "Bin Dann Mal Weg" by Blumentopf, "Hoher Als Der Rest Der Welt" by Massiv, "The Diamond Boy 2012" by Massiv, and "Irgendwie Anders" by Tonbandgerät. All of these songs came from different genres, just like American music. I am now assuming that Massiv is popular in Germany because he was on the list several times and made the Top 5 twice. He is a rapper, not my favorite. I did like "Bin Dann Mal Weg" and "Irgendwie Anders." "Bin Dann Mal Weg" is more rock than all the others. "Irgendwie Anders" was poppy and catchy. The band that plays "Irgendwie Anders", Tonbandgerät, sounds a lot like Matt and Kim. Overall, I enjoyed exploring the music from Germany; it is cool to see what other countries like in music and what the whole music scene is there.

Kapitel 2 Kultur

What I found most interesting about these readings was the bluntness that is a part of the German language. In the English language, nothing is truly taken at face value. We never really say exactly what we mean due to the fear of being impolite. So, it is fascinating that in the Germanic language, it would be almost rude to not say exactly what you feel. I also thought that it was a little funny that you would have to explain in depth your answer and possibly even have to debate it. I guess that this way of life ties into Germany's obsession with statistics. The absence of white lies in the German culture is definitely a major difference between German and English.
I thought that the article about complaining in Germany was a little lame. I feel as though everyone complains everywhere. American life is filled with complaining about everyday things. The amount of complaining here has even brought about the saying "first world problems." Like in Germany, we don't have much to complain about so we pick out little things just for the sake of complaining. Therefore, I don't think that Germany is all that different than anywhere else in those regards.
The last article about the staring in Germany is a little creepy. I guess that it does make sense that because of the Cold War, the older generations do have a tendency to stare and record everyones' daily lives. I would definitely not be comfortable with that though. I did like the part in which it said that if people stared in New York like they do in Germany, they would end up getting punched. I thought that was pretty fun. Overall though, I am glad that staring as a pastime is fading out in Germany by the younger generations.