Mein Lieblingswort ist...

Mein Lieblingswort ist Bier! Haha

Kultur 6

Hallo!

This set of articles was somewhat...odd. First off, the Bild Zeitung article. Since the scandal involving the News of the World earlier this year, I'm somewhat wary of any tabloid. The fact that this tabloid is so popular in Germany makes me fear for their sanity. Then again, tabloids are popular everywhere, so it's not just Germans I need to be afraid of....

On to the closed-door policy. I rather enjoyed this article. Too often I have found myself wishing that there was a standard behavior guide for things like this in America, rather than having to figure it out myself. The only problem with the German model is when the office is actually empty. Knocking, then trying to open a locked door is somewhat annoying. Still, I heartily approve of this method.

Lastly, the garbage article. Somehow, it doesn't surprise me that the German garbage system is convoluted and difficult to navigate. However, it does disappoint me. The more confusing one's trash and recycling policies, the less likely people are going to be to try to figure them out. Moreover, closing recycling bins on Sundays means that you are automatically deducting 1/7 of their benefit. One has to ask the question of 'why'? The article, unfortunately, does not speculate. However, I have a feeling this is another example of the German sense of humor at work.

Auf Wiedersehen!

AMD 6

Once again, I will continue with my reading of "Id - The Greatest Fusion Fantasy" I'll just get right into it, with chapter 4 (or the second piece of chapter 3, depending on who you ask). I'll be going through another 27 or so pages, so lets get started

Our story opens with our group having entered a small town. Id, our newly renamed hero, is trying on clothes, to the delight of the others. After getting into an argument over the price, Id reveals a red sapphire (ein roter Saphir), as well as some other gems, whose worth he is apparently unaware of, and gets the the shopkeeper to accept it. He also convinces Reindelph to accept him paying, to thank him for saving him in the woods.

Later, at a bar, Lamia informs Id of a few people watching him. Id goes to washroom, and they follow. After preparing to break in, They enter, shouting that they want the gems Id had shown at the clothing store, but Id is nowhere in sight. He appears behind them stepping out of the mens room, revealing that these people as well had mistaken him for a girl. They demand his jewels at knifepoint, but he is dismissive. He is soon rescued by Grey, who seems to mistake the disagreement for more gender-confusion, explaining to the men that Id is, in fact, a man. After thoroughly thrashing the men, he finally understands what's going on, and they leave. That night, Id, though tired, has difficulty sleeping due to the loud snoring of Grey and his dreams of being hit.

This seems to be a good ending point...

Auf Wiedersehen!

Christmas in Germany

Since it's the holiday season, I thought it would be appropriate to read about Christmas in Germany. There weren't many differences at first while researching. For instance, they start preparing for Christmas in Dec. 6, which is normal. I hate it when people start preparing right after Thanksgiving. It needs to be right in December. Especially the Christmas music!!!

Anyways, I found one tradition that I found different from America. Germans do not just have Santa Claus. In a website that I read, one women said that there was an angel call Christkind, who would bring gifts during Christmas Eve. Weihnachtsmann, or Christmas Man, is Germany's version of Santa Claus and he also brings gifts during Christmas Eve. That is like double the gifts. I wish I had double gifts. :) There is a women also called Christkindl, who is the Christ Child's messenger and she also brings gifts.

Christmas here in America is like a corporate invention. It's all about shopping the best deal for gifts. Where is the tradition? I haven't felt it in a while. I wish that this Holiday break I find it, and also catch up on my sleep. I need it. Germans know where it's at.

Auf Wiedersehen!!!

Jonathon Parker

Sex, Doors, and Garbage. What's new, right?

Hallo,

So who would have thought Germany was very humorous? Well I thought so, but not like the Bild. When I was reading the article about the Bild, I was wondering if the magazine was sold out in the open in stores. I'm pretty sure mothers wouldn't want their Kinder to see such trash. Magazines like the Bild are horrible. What kind of a corporate market succeeds in such fashion. Well, I can't blame them because it seems to be working for them. I would never buy such a magazine.

As for the door mannerisms, I find it very interesting that Germans leave their doors closed. I only have my door closed when it's kalt, oder I am schlafen, oder I am away. I love having my door open because that way people can walk in and say hello. Greetings are always so nice. I love how in the article, the journalist gave a funny anecdote as if it would happen to all of us. I hope a similar situation doesn't happen to me. :|

In today's world, garbage is accumulating, and the Germans have the right idea about having several, separate garbage disposal options. I hope they recycle though. It wouldn't really mean much if they don't recycle. I wish we did similar things here in America? What do yo guys think?

After reading the Brennpunkt Kultur blogs, I can't stop thinking about how much fun I will have when I visit my friends in Germany. Hopefully that is soon. The cities are what I want to visit most. Pertaining to students, I bet it is very difficult to find the right apartment. I wouldn't want to live in rustic apartment with weird people. I would try to be in the 19% that the universities provide housing for. As for Tübingen, I am very surprised to find that we have a partnership with the city. I wonder what kind of partnership that is. Lastly, I was thinking that Germany is somewhat like America in a democratic sense (I might be wrong with my political terminology) because of the diversity they have. I hope there aren't problems between the different ethnicities there.

Overall, this was an interesting read throughout the whole semester. I'll have to keep reading the articles on my own.

Auf Wiedersehen!!!

Jonathon Parker

Kultur 5

Perhaps the article that annoyed me the most was the "Women in Germany" article. While the purpose of the article was fine, and I'm sure there was more information available on bmfsfj.de, I was disappointed by the lack of context provided. An article offering a large number of statistics should give some context for those statistics - for example, the secton on 'school education'. The statistics given are fine, but they don't tell me anything. Did these percentages change in recent years? Are these percentages any different from other countries of similar size? Just giving me the all these statistics is the same as giving one sentence of 'gender equality is prevalent in germany'. /end rant Ignoring that though, some of the information offered was quite interesting, especially the section on the "prostitution act"

I did find two of the articles mildly interesting. The articles concerning apologies gave a very interesting look at the difference between American and German cultures. In America, it is typical to apologize for any unintentional interpersonal interaction, on the off chance that it should be needed. The other article I found interesting was the article on sex shops. This article reminded me of a trip I took once to Tel-Aviv, israel. Our group had been walking around the city and we passed by this enormous storefront, with signs declaring the opening of new sex shop soon. The windows were filled with various paraphernalia, and my entire group was struck somewhat speechless. It's quite intriguing how the european view of sex is so different from the American View - or maybe its just Germans and Israeli's....

The rest of the articles were informative, but didn't really catch my interest. Certainly, I don't have enough experience to really judge the flirting article, and the Klofrau article was just.... an interesting tidbit...

Auf Wiedersehen!

Kultur 6

We come at last to a topic that I was not used to in Germany which frustrated me very much: knocking on people's office doors.  Whether I was going to a government office or to my boss's office, it was always hell when trying to get someone to answer.  I would be expecting to have someone tell me to go in, but nothing.  Then all of a sudden, after the second knock I'd get a loud "Ja?!" which would make me think I was bothering them.  Sigh...

Their trash cans are as complicated as the rest of their lives.  I guess it is a benefit because it does help the environment, but it might be a lot easier to deal with all of it if they simply make things simpler for themselves and just combine all of the glass together or something like that.  THese were definitely interesting reads, and I am continuously reminded of how funny small things like these were over summer. Cultures have very different ways of accomplishing the same things.

Finally, their magazines, I was amazed to discover, are so not uptight.  It goes completely against everything we have learned about German culture all semester, which I think is pretty funny.  Seriously, 4 million people read it?!  WOW!

AMD 6

Since its almost Christmas time, for this AMD I decided to do some research on Christmas traditions in Germany. The traditional German celebrating begins on December 6th, St. Nicholas Day. As part of the tradition the children hang a shoe or boot in the fireplace. During the night, St Nicholas visit house by house, if the children have been good the boots are filling with delicious candies but if they have not been good the boot are filling with twigs. The most popular Christmas tradition in Germany is the Christmas tree. These trees have a special significance for Germans and also are known like "trees of life". As Germans immigrated to other lands, the custom of Christmas trees was spread. The people buy holiday cookies and marzipan sweets of the bakeries that in this season are well stocked. A variety of toys and other gifts are offered in the outdoor markets. Also the people wish each other "Merry Christmas" or Weihnachten. Little dolls of fruit are traditional Christmas toys. The German Christmas tree pastry, Christbaumgeback, is traditional too; is a white dough that can be molded into shapes and baked for tree decorations. The sound of the bell announces that everything is ready to share this magical moment with the family. A Christmas story is read, the presents are opened and traditional Carols are sung.

Kultur 5

German culture is vastly different from that in America. From sex culture and public aggression to flirting, Germany is almost an alien world. In Germany, sex shops are just a mundane part of daily life. In the United States, sex shops are seen as dirty and where “scum” go for some “entertainment”. But in Germany there is no social stigma. Sex shops are as ubiquitous as 7-Eleven, people don’t given them any thought. Furthermore, Germans are aggressive. While in most of the world, recipients of even the gentlest of bumps expect an apology; most Germans would not even consider such a gesture. For Germans, physical contact is meaningless. They do not seem contact as being rude, but of as a means to get what needs to be done accomplished. From middle-aged men, to elderly women, Germans care less of what they do to you unless blood is drawn, to which one might mutter a simple excuse me. German flirting is unlike that of most cultures. In America, men initiate flirting and “pursue” a women, in German women are in control. All a German woman has to do is give you a long enough gaze to tell you she is interested. Most German women see non-German flirting as too aggressive. To compound this issue, most non-German woman completely misinterpret German men flirting with them, creating uncomfortable situations. The phrase, “When in Rome do as Romans do” is completely applicable to Germany, when there, one must immerse themselves in the culture to avoid being offended or misunderstood.

Kultur 6

Its in a way comforting to see that a country besides America is so superficial and exaggerated in their news sources. At first I thought that trashy magazines like national enquirerer and the new york post were exploitive, but hearing that the germans have an even more outlandish newspaper is reassuring. Im not all that shocked to find out that the germans do include nudity in these types of publications; its much more common in Europe that it is in America. However its interesting that their so closed off with their door issues in their personal lives when it seems that every gorgeous celebrity’s bottom half is featured on page three.

I think its great that the germans are so concerned about trash. Yes, its a little overkill, but maybe America and the rest of the world should take some lessons from germany on recycling and actually use some of those resources in every day life.

Recycling

I'm all for recycling and "saving the planet," but when do things like Germany's system of containers for trash become excessive? In America, we clearly don't care enough about the environment, but the German system definitely has flaws as well.Requiring too much effort sometimes has the opposite effect on participation than what is desired. If the trash system was easier, maybe more people would follow its rules since generally, people truly do what to help the environment. Another interesting point about German culture is how rules oriented it is. The rule systems are complex and seem to be adhered to very closely, yet the German people also value being assertive, as proven by their closed door policy. Americans often have a hard time being assertive and playing within the rules, but in Germany this seems to be the expectation. Americans are often timid , as not to be rude in social situations, and when asserting their will they often break minor rules to get what they desire. I have a hard time relating to the German ideas on strictly following rules, but I do approve of their assertive behavior. Too many times, trying to be polite ends up being a bigger pain to everyone than a help to anyone. Examples are traffic, holding the door open, and table manners. Overall Germany and America are different, but their systems both clearly work, although one may be more work than the other.

Recycling in Germany

Reading these articles makes me realize how weird Germany is. I don't really understand why they have to go through all the effort to sort trash yourself when someone will mess it up and it will have to be sorted anyways. We have different trash cans for recyclables, paper, etc. in the dorms, but everybody just throws anything in any can. I feel like that would be the same way in Germany.

The closed door thing is really weird to me as well. I would never knock on somebody's door if it was closed. I would assume that they were busy and come back later or text them. Do Germans text? Germans always seem so serious about everything. I think they'd be better off if they just chilled out.

The final article was about German magazines and how they really don't have any standards. It seems weird that people who take things so seriously would read such silly stuff. I don't know about Germans, they seem weird.

AMD6, Metropolis

In light of our class watching Lola Rennt, one of the famous German films, I decided to do a little research into another famous film hailing from Deutschland and I choose Fritz Lang's Metropolis. The film from 1927 is often cited as being one of the best silent films in history (hopping the language barrier issue) and is a landmark in film history. It focuses on themes of capitalism and the social conflicts it creates, and does so in a distinctly German expressionist style. The film is also science fiction in style, set in a futuristic city and Utopian society. To very basically summarize the plot, the son of the city head falls in love with a woman of the working class, who also acts as a prophet to the workers. She is later kidnapped by an inventor who uses her to create a robot in her image. The robot then stirs up trouble with the workers, who mistake it for her. The film centrally plays around some philosophical themes such expressed in the quote, "There can be no understanding between the hand and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator." The film really is quite the sight to behold, as it is also one of the highest budgeted silent films in history. According to IMDB, once the budget is adjusted for modern day inflation it is around $200 million, and it took two years to shot. However, edited and restored versions have since been released since its year of origin, and it still seems a masterpiece.

Kultur6

It is quite interesting to see how the efficient ways of the Germans has influenced even the smallest of regular actions in their culture - such as how one enters a room. Their recycling system is intensely efficient, to the point that I could never see such a responsible yet complicated system being effectively used in America. Once again, the other side of what seems to be stark and serious efficiency is the German's view on sexual material, that is comparatively very liberal to the US. The German tabloid equivalent Bild Zeitung at least seems to have a greater influence as a whole than any of it's American or British tame versions. Tabloids have at least a small reputation for being frivolous rather than hold any value on public opinions. In conclusion, Germans can be quite odd in comparison and to quote the latest episode of Community, "What are you guys doing here on a Saturday night? Shouldn't you be off making weird art movies or well engineered cars?"

Get real and Man up.

Everything in Germany makes Americans seem like children. Personal space isn't needed, Germans follow social rules, and trash disposal is complicated. You are expected to be professional, have respect, and know what you want.

I wouldn't expect Germany to have a crude magazine, similar to "The Mirror." From what we have read this year, the angry/sarcastic humor wouldn't be my first guess at the German populations likes.

The door policy is something that would take me awhile accept. I don't want people knocking once and barging into my office. It is my office, and I would prefer to give people permission to come in. However, it would set the mood for a business meeting. Both parties knowing what they want, the visitor walks in strongly and confidently. It is something that I respect about German culture. The concept that people know what they want and are strong willed.

I think that it is a good thing that Germany has a strict garbage disposal system. It is something that American's lack. The majority of Americans don't seem to want to recycle, which is just ridiculous. Although their system seems complicated, it is still something that American's should employ. The UoM does a good job at having plenty of recycling bins around campus, but there should be something to remind us students to do our part in recycling.

All in all, German seems like a really cool place,

PB

Kultur 6

Kultur 6: Awesome.

Politics, slander, soccer smack-talking, and boobies. What's there not to love?

After reading this a few questions arise: Why don't we have these in America? Why is the Enquirer a failure in comparison? Would it be inappropriate to read one of these for AMD's?

One-knock and open the door. Why are German's so straight forward? This is like the staring on trains, the watching of people in public etc. Can't say it's a surprise.

To address the Recycling article: I've started to see these pop up around campus - not to the extent, but with recyclable metal, plastic, then just waste.

Kultur 6

It was sort of weird discovering that that there is pornography in the German newspaper. I feel like Germans (and most of Europe for that matter) dont feel the same way that Americans do about nudity. For Americans, it seems to be a big deal if there is a picture of a naked person. In Europe, this is not the case. Also, we seem to use mre discretion when entering a room. I personally always knock, even if the door is open. I find it to be rude to just barge in and demand help. Finally, Germans and most of Europe are very serious about sorting thier garbae and recycling. In America, we believe in being "green", but in Europe, it's a lifestyle. Germany leads the way when it comes to environmentalism

Kultur 6

It is really interesting to see and read about Germans and their cultural diversity. In the article about German privacy, we got to see Germans in a new light. When it comes to entering a room, the article says its best to be confident and clear. Because a closed door symbolizes different thing in America vs. Germany, it is really important for people to handle these situations differently.

Germans also are very ___ about their garbage disposing. It is a big and complicated system that involves many different bins and colors. It is nice to see that Germans are so passionate about recycling and keeping the environment safe, but their system seems a little bit too complicated and intense.

Gossip magazines are popular everywhere, but in Germany the Bild Zeitung takes an unique perspective on portraying sex and scandals. This is what makes it a big seller in Germany.

AMD 6: Learning about German recommendations

After a whole summer in Germany and having learned quite a bit more about German culture taking this class, I have still not learned how short and directly to the point Germans can be.  While applying to grad school programs this semester, I asked my boss from the summer for a recommendation letter.  I was hoping that since I had done a good job over the program she would be able to provide a strong recommendation for me to succeed in getting into grad school.

Usually students are not allowed to have access to their recommendation letters, but my boss sent it to me anyway, and I realized that this was definitely not a recommendation.  It was a very descriptive letter about the program I worked in, with not much to say about my work there.  She also said she was going to Mexico for holidays and would not be available until my deadlines were past.  Therefore, I had to frantically search for a new recommender because, for one, that was not a god recommendation, and second, she still owes me 2 more.  Sigh...

But anyway...what does this teach me about Germans?  They are incredibly to the point when it comes to describing things.  In a sentence she says that I was very good and expressed strong intercultural skills.  However, she does not go into detail about how or what led her to see this.  In Germany, this would be sufficient, but in the US that is the equivalent of me saying that she is very nice: it can mean almost anything, including sometimes something negative.  I am sure, in retrospect, this will be a very amusing experience, but for now...AHHH!!! :D

The Simpsons

I have to say, I've been very impressed by the topics for AMD postings. Any class that requires watching South Park and The Simpsons as homework, I have respect for. The Simpsons was funny as usual, but still hard to follow. It wasn't nearly as bad as my first AMD posting though, which is extremely encouraging. Understanding words like essen (to eat), verstehen (to understand), Schule (School), and Passieren (to happen) was extremely cool. I even understood a lot of the use of mir and other dative forms which shows awesome progress. Since the show was a German dub of an American show, there wasn't very much to do with German culture, but there was a nice French joke, which I thought was funny since everyone seems to make French jokes. The inverted grammar can still mess with me as I sometimes get confused by the conversational past and present, since it comes at the end of the sentence. It obviously costs a good amount of money to dub a show too, which means a German audience could relate to the material of The Simpsons. The fact that our humor and, to a certain degree, culture are so similar is what makes learning a foreign language so much fun.

German Slang

Germans have many colloquialisms that are actually quite funny.

For example:

the word saugen:

you can use it to say downloading something off of the internet, but it literally translates to " leech" or download music.

abrippen= is to steal or "rip" off people.

funzen= to function

These are just a few examples of local slangs in Germany!

Same Genes, Lame Queens

Wow, they sure are a different breed of humans. Closed doors, recycling gods, and disgusting journalism, how can they be so different from us and the world. Perhaps we're different from the rest of the world. When I lived in Korea, they also were nuts about recycling. They had a similar recycling system: cardboard box section, newspaper/papers, metals, plastics, and organic wastes. But I questioned these methods: don't recycling plants sort these out automatically anyway? From what I've seen in Toy Story3 with additional research of my own, nowadays recycling plants can sort out metals using magnetism. With advance in technologies, I feel like there also would be a way to sort out plastics using machines. I feel like all of the human efforts that was spent toward recycling could be simplified by machines. In Ann Arbor, there used to be 3 types of disposables: regular trash, paper/cardboards, and plastics/metals. Now, there are only regular trash and recyclables. This must mean that there is a method to sort out the recyclables.

I don't believe they make journalism into such a disgraceful field. Boobies and news? I guess it would be funny once in a while, but I don't think I would able to read it seriously. Imagine New York Times article with bunch of blondes with busty boobies hanging out. Credibility of the publisher just drops down. Plus joking in the article is also unbelievable.

Germans are seriously so weird. But I like it

Rammstein in Pandora

My friend Jeanne talked about how she knew how to count one to five in German. She said she heard it in a radio by a singer Rammstein. Because I never had much interest in German music, I didn't know who they were. So I opened Rammstein station in Pandora to hear who they were. And man, they sang some rock hard music. I've heard some American metal before, but wow German metal is in a different level. Perhaps it's the accent, but German metal sounds much more intense. It sounds like couple of demons scratching a blackboard and singing along with it.



I also played around with the music stations and also found different German music and that was still pleasant to the ear. And the only ones I liked was Mozart! Haha, but really, it shows the difference in modern German music and German classics. How much German music have changed. Why couldn't Germans continue to produce music enjoyable to the ear?

Toby Turner

I visit Youtube often to have a good laughter. One of my favorite youtubers is Toby Turner, who hosts CuteWinFail page in Youtube. I always enjoyed his videos of funny fails, cute babies, and awesome wins, but I never expected this. When I was working on a German skit with my German classmates, David told me about this funny videos called 'Ich bin Toby.' I couldn't find the video with the exact title, but I was able to find 'German Lazyvlog.' And guess what? It's Toby! The Toby! I thought Toby would be talking about how Germans are either cute, winners, or failures, but he wasn't talking about them. He wasn't even in talking in English. He was talking in Deutsch.

My God how much Deutsch 101 have made a difference. I could actually understand him talk. I admit the things he said was quite simple, but I could have understand most of things he was talking about. And WOW, he's actually pretty good at speaking German. He's got the pronunciation down and even the tone. Man, the things you find out and surprise you these days in Youtube and Internet in general.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RhxcI3WP-U

AMD 5

Hallo!

Once again, I will continue looking into "Id-The Greatest Fusion Fantasy." Today, I will be reading chapter 3. Note that I'm not too certain where the chapter actually ends, so I'll only be going to page 27.

This chapter picks up with the battle that began last chapter. Still mistaking Chun Hwa-nim for a woman, a member of the group attempts to flirt with him (asking for a kiss) while fighting a goblin . The battle quickly ends with the mage/wizard (Ein Magier) blowing up all the goblins, to the dismay of his teammates who are caught in the blast. After fighting amongst themselves, the group identifies the place at which they are (the forest of sion) introduces themselves as Grey the knight, Ilran the mage, the elf Irlina, Heal, and the midget/dwarf (?maybe) Reindelph. However, when asked his name, Chun Hwa-nim, realizing his name is odd, stumbles for a bit before giving the name Id. When they inquire about why he gave a man's name, he reveals that he is, in fact, a man, to the show and horror of the group. They invite him to join them, and the chapter ends with the group arriving at Sulan.

This chapter was somewhat harder than the others to read. While the words were not too much more difficult, the actual grammer seemed more complex, and there was just a lot more of it. Plus, the pictures were much less of a help, seeing how this chapter was almost all dialogue. I ended up using a dictionary quite a few times.

Nonetheless, I think I'll be reading the next chapter for the last AMD, so...

Auf Wiedersehen!