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 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.

German Bathroom

Wow that's really crazy. I always thought that having an attendant in the bathroom is a high class thing, but I didn't know in Germany they had it everywhere, from gas stations to regular restaurants. I guess this is one of the reason why people say Germans are of different breed compared to other Europeans. This must be really frustrating and annoying to go to a bathroom since one always have to tip the attendants whenever they use the bathroom. Whenever I go to a bar, I would choose the bushes over the bathroom any day of the week if I have to pay to use the bathroom.

But I feel really bad the attendants. They do not get decent pay, and they only receive party of the 'tip,' as the rest goes to the company that hired them. And the quality of the job in general, it just seems so bad. One's gotta remain in the bathroom when people are excreting, and that just seems so unfair. I wouldn't want to hear someone excretion process, let alone smell it. This job reminds me of the movie Deuce Biglow: Male Gigolo (1999). The main actor's father is a bathroom attendant in some fancy restaurant in the states. You could hear people farting and taking a dump in the background in the movie. Later on, someone clogs the toilet, and you could see how dirty this job can get. I suppose whenever I have to use the bathroom in Germany or see a bathroom attendant, I should tip them well.

Crazy Germans!!!

Hallo,

Just when I thought things couldn't get any stranger in Germany I find my self incorrect. Sex shops? Seriously? Talk about a care-free country. Sure, sex shops provide instruments of pleasure for seeking individuals but I find that stuff personal. But, whatever--respect of privacy (kind of).

Anyways, as for the "Entschuldigung", I wouldn't mind living in cities with such protocols as this. In fact, I would want to try and shove people on purpose, especially when I'm mad. But then again, some people do not deserve it.

I must have assumed that if sex shops are out in the open, that the bathroom is not private either. I don't I would be comfortable with a WC in the same facility as me, especially since she is a woman. But a job is a job, right? Probably not a well-paid job.

On the flirting website, I kind of just glanced through it because I am not really the flirting type. However, it seems that flirting in Germany is more complex than it should be. It makes sense though because you want to have a date with someone if they are flirting with you, right?

Coincidently, I am taking Sociologie and in class we discussed Gender inequality in the U.S. That doesn't seem to be the case in Germany. I can't believe that for once, there are more women than men. I hope the male population doesn't deplete, though.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Jonathon Parker

Sex in Germany

"Excuse me" is something that I have rarely heard in my trips to Europe. Italy was the only place that I remember every hearing it once. Germany seems to be much more of a streamlined country to every allow someone to utter "excuse me." Big city, big money, little time. That is what I imagine a German businessman has on his mind, not the wellbeing of a young adult wandering the streets. It is something that Americans do, and then get the social "eye of death." If you do not act polite, your social scene is over.

The poor poor toilet ladies. I feel horrible for them. There is too much room for abuse. Not tipping the toilet lady is the most horrible social crime imaginable. There should be laws that require people to tip theses ladies of the latrine.

The way to explain women in Germany would be, stay away. The way that these people flirt scares me. I do not want to offend, or bother someone because my flirting would be different and almost offensive.

Kultur 5

The Germans are truly interesting in their habits. After all that we've read about them this semester they come off as both hostile and restrained at once. They're as willing to push you out of the way to walk as they are to frankly tell you they don't like something or another. Yet, as we've already learned, they have a great sense of humor and are far from prudish about their sex shops. Their flirting is more subtle and sophisticated (although it probably varies from person to person), in contrast to some of the examples of American flirting. The Klofrau is interesting in that it reminds me of the bathroom attendants that one sometimes will see but only in really fancy restaurants and the like

The Mean Streets in Germany

Germany never ceases to amaze me, it seems like it is at complete odds with American culture. Walking down the street in German town sounds a lot like walking down the street in a bad part of an American city. The people pushing and shoving, having little regard if they step on your foot or accidentally hit you in the face while boarding a train. Take that old lady's seat? Prepare to get whipped with her walking stick. Germans also seem that they are adverse to saying sorry when they accidentally knock you out. If the trains sound a little too dangerous for you, you can try taking the streets instead. Then you'll only get shoved by pedestrians, which isn't as bad as getting beaten with an old lady's walking stick. You'll also get to marvel at the myriad of sex shops on the average German street. In America, sex shops are usually located in the shady part of town or city.

If you get bored walking the streets of Germany, you can hit the bars to flirt with some German women. Just make sure that you know your politics or you might get rejected.

Kultur 5

It is always interesting for me to read about germans and how different they are from Americans and other Europeans. It is really cool that Germans have their own unique culture separate from other european countries. I also find it surprising that a society can be that open towards sex shops. Its funny how in a country where people are so forward thinking and open, flirting is much more conservative.

When I visited India last summer, I saw the Indian version of a Klofrau. It is actually a really good idea and the system works well for countries like Germany.

-Sripriya

"No Blood, No Entschuldigung" und "German Erotica"

"Rules of the Street: No Blood, No Entschuldigung" und "German Erotica: the Land of Beer, Sausage and Sex Shops" habe ich sehr Interessant gefunden. Zuerest, "Rules of the Street" points out a significant cultural Unterschied between Deutschland und dem USA. Whereas in dem USA sagt Man "Excuse me" even for incidental contact, this passiert nicht in Deutschland. This shows zwei different approaches to interaction with strangers. Americans denken, dass they must tiptoe around people they aren't familiar with. Germans denken (essentially), dass scheiß passiert.

In "German Erotica" eine Idee stuck out to me. Der Autor hat American sex shops are only run down shops in the bad end of town gedacht, aber Das is falsch in Ann Arbor. Just as it is described in Germany, one can find sex shops around Ann Arbor with glass windows clearly displaying their products. Ich denke, dass dieser Vergleich sehr Interessant ist.

Klofrau

  I fell sorry for the Klofrau after reading The Loneliness of the Klofrau: Toilet Training for Visitors. It is so sad that in a well developed country like Germany, there are still some people doing such a hard and low-paid job like this. 
  According to the article, the Klofrau are women who live on keeping the bathroom clean and getting money from people who use the bathroom. Most of these women are immigrants. They have passion to their job and they will provide you a clean, [sauber] bathroom. However, they must hand most of their coins people gave them to the companies they belong to. 
  People should show their respect toward these Klofrau. They are doing their job with passion, although poorly paid. They are not begging others for money. They all deserve respect because there are no menial job in the world.
  There are also women, or even men in China doing the job same as Klofrau. They are also low paid, even lower than the Klofrau in Germany. They move to big cities, hoping to find a job in order to support their families. 
  I also noticed that Klofrau are losing jobs because the new self-cleaning toilet. I am worried about these people's future. Where are they going to find a job for life after losing this job? How are they going to survive?

Willkommen!!

Welcome to our class blog!

Throughout the semester, you will be posting here roughly every other week 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). And make sure to add your name as one of the "Labels." See the links on AMD Ideen and Beispiele for ideas! This should get you excited about the kinds of things you can do!