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!

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!

Kultur 5

I found the articles for Kaptiel 5 Kultur assignment interesting choices. From what I have read before, I got the sense that Germans have different cultural behaviors than I am used to, but I think the fact that they rarely say Entschuldigung. Saying excuse me has been something that's been drilled in my mind since I could speak, and is just a concept that is so familiar to me, out of politeness if nothing else. So, I cannot think of it being acceptable not saying it. As for the article on the sex shops, I find it humorous how casual Germans are about them. It's true though, about the location of them in US cities, well from what I've seen in NYC. They aren't hidden or in bad neighborhoods, but they are not as open as German ones, as described in the article. I also think it's funny to read about flirting in Germany. I always hear about my best friend's experience with German guys, and now I wonder if they are the way the are because she grew up in America. It's also a good thing to know if I ever plan on going to Germany. The Klofrau is something I have heard of though. Many of the restaurants I've been to in New York have "sanitary assistants", but instead of tipping only 30 cents or so, they expect to be tipped at least a dollar. Granted, it depends on the quality of the restaurant. Lastly, I found the statistics and other facts about women in Germany was very interesting to read about. 

Kultur 4

I found reading about the different laws and cultural aspects of Germany very interesting. Growing up close to NYC, I traveled there often, and there would be, and still are, many times where I would cross the street while the stop sign was still up. Had I traveled to Germany without reading this article, I most certainly would have done the same thing. As for the bike lane article, I find it awesome how 'green' German cities are. I know in most of the cities I've been to if you travel by bicycle, you either get out of the cars' ways or you get run over, which seems to be quite the opposite of how things work in German cities. It really just surprises me how different things are in German cities than cities like New York or Chicago. In order to even get through to the trains in New York, you have to buy a Metro Card and swipe it, and thats for every time you enter a new subway station! I guess though it's like that in New York because people would not be as honorable about traveling as in German cities. I never really considered the issue of logical answers not always being the right ones either. Being around a German family a lot, I never ran into issues like that, but it is definitely a good thing to know about before visiting Germany and asking for help. Finally, I was unaware it is a stereotype for some Germans to be unorganized/messy. I found that article too short to really understand what it was talking about.

AMD 3

For the AMD 3 I spent time looking through the required book "Oh, Wie Schön its Panama" in an attempt to see how much I could now understand. I was able to hear what a lot of the words sound like in my mind, but some of the meaning was difficult to capture. I know it is about a little bear (ein kleiner Bär)  and a little tiger (win kleiner Tiger). It was interesting to see how German publication represents dialogue as well because instead of the " " marks the use a different double arrow symbol. At the same time, I liked how the grammar was similar with the punctuation (i.e. use of commas). Since we have just learned about the verb essen in class, I was able to understand the way it was used in relation to Möchten. I was also able to know what food the author was referring to without looking at the picture (der Fisch). Doing this also helped me solidify my knowledge of the use of "nicht" vs "kein" which I know is an important concept for me to conquer. A lot of the vocabulary we have learned in Kapitel 3 was evident, for example die Brücke, or a bridge, is a word we recently learned. It's so nice being able to understand so many different concepts in Deutsch!

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.

AMD2

For my AMD2, I watched a lot of German Sesame Street youtube videos. The first one I watched was about the German U-bahn, which I mentioned in my AMD1 post. It was basically a music video showing how the Germans love to take U-bahn. Then I watched a video where Kermit was reading a story in his chair. I was proud of myself that i was able to recognize a lot of the verbs and other words in the dialogue. I am also able to understand many of the verb conjugations. The next video I watched was twinkle twinkle little star in Germany, called "Funkel Funkel, Kleiner Stern."

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.

Kapitel 2 Kultur-texte

The articles regarding German culture were quite eye-opening for me. The one reading that was particularly interesting was the one about staring. I have family friends who are German and have lived in Germany for a very long time, and when I read that article I was immediately reminded of the father of the family. He would always give the epitome of the "German Stare"to whomever came to his house, which was always quite intimidating. Regardless though, he was in no way an intimidating person. Also, having grown up outside New York City, I understand the comparison to staring in NYC subways or on public transportation. The culture is very different between the two areas.

I really enjoyed reading about ways Germans complain as well. It seems as though it is a common part of life in Germany! I never thought that it could be a part of one's culture to complain, rather it just being an individual personality aspect. The same thought goes with the statistics too. I feel as though if I were to live in Germany I would never be able to have so many statistics memorized. I come from a very small, suburban town and know no relevant statistics German people would ask me.

As far as the brutally honest article goes, that is one culture point I completely agree with. In America, people give straight forward and honest answers less frequently than they give "fluffed" answers. I am a culprit of the fluffy answers and do not think I would fit in very well in the German culture because I have difficulty expressing my thoughts in that way. Overall these articles were interesting in providing insight into the German culture and comparing it to other cultures. I enjoyed reading the information provided.