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.

Kultur 4

I found the article "Illogical Logic" quite funny.  The example with the customer and the ticket agent made me laugh.  The writer claims that the reason for incidents like this is that Germans are "too" logical.  It was explained that Iain did not specify if the "next train" was necessarily the "next train to his destination."  If I didn't know any better, I would say that the ticket agent was being extremely sarcastic, or making a joke.  If this were to happen in the states, I would say the ticket agent was a smart aleck.  This is only one example of how a German could be "too logical" which leaves me wondering when else an incident like this could occur.  The article tells us not to assume that a person in Germany will make any logical jumps for you.  I probably take a lot of these for granted in the states, which would probably leave me in uncomfortable, if not precarious situations in Germany.

AMD 4

I decided that I was going to re-watch Das Boot ("The Boat") in German with English subtitles.  Das Boot is about a German Lieutenant in World War II and his time with his crew in a German U-boat.  The movie does not have much plot, but it served to portray the harsh and often monotonous life of a soldier in the German Navy.  The film uses lengthy scenes to help the audience understand the days that the crew would have to wait for a sighting of an enemy vessel.  The life of the movie comes from its battle scenes.  Das Boot also delves into Nazi history a bit.  I've read a book called "The Wave" by Todd Strasser that was written as a metaphor to the rise of the Nazi Party.  The book tends to explain that the Nazi party gained momentum through strong promises from an enigmatic leader, resulting in the emergence of zealous followers who blindly swore allegiance to the party's ideals.  However, Das Boot suggests differently; the crew members including the lieutenant often ridiculed their Fuhrer.  As the audience, we are innately opposed to the idea of supporting the soldiers of the Nazi Party.  We realize that quite a few of the soldiers were not loyal to Hilter, but to their country and continued to follow orders.  I definitely felt sympathy towards the crew of the submarine, considering their long hours of labor and cramped living space.  

AMD 3

For my activity, I decided to search up a few German dubbed "How I Met Your Mother" episodes.  I started watching the series a few weeks ago so I was familiar with the content.  The show's pace proved to be too fast for me to keep up with.  However, there were a few instances where I could recognize vocabulary we used in class.  Colors were brought up a lot.  The first few episodes had objects like the blue french horn and the purple giraffe.  I also noticed that a few of the words were not completely translated.  There is a part in the first episode where the character Barney Stinson introduces Ted to a girl at the bar by saying "Haaaaaaaaaaaave you met Ted?"  I would have thought the direct translation would be "Haben Sie trafen Ted?"  However, the episode in German said "Haaaaaaaaaaaave Sie trafen Ted?"  I thought it was funny that they still use a bit of English for the show's more prominent catchphrases.

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!

Kultur 2

"There's the positive, clean, efficient, functioning country that visitors see -- and there's this incredibly awful place the locals live in."

I found the articles, "The German National Pastime" in particular, to be hilarious reads.  I love how the blog goes on about how the German mindset is concrete, and how German's will defend their right to complain.  Of course as readers, we have to implement a bit of skepticism when reading these, even though these articles are humorously honest at times.   I can't say I have much experience with my German friends giving me stare downs.

Overall, what I gathered from the articles is that the average German conversation is a bit more... obtrusive than an American one.  Brutal honesty dominates German talk; the open expression of medical problems is a good example.