Kultur 6

I found the German privacy and Division hell very funny. It is so ridiculous that garbage bins are not allowed to use on Sundays. So where are people suppose to throw their garbage to? It must be a challenge to live in Germany for foreigners. I know Germans are pretty serious with the recycle stuff. I have read an article in China. In the article the author said it is illegal to put all the trash in one waste bag in Germany. Germans learn how to separate the trash since they are children. Same thing happens in Japan. My mom has been to Japan once. She said this is an extremely clean country. Same with German, Japanese also has different kinds of rubbish bins to confuse foreigners. Although it is a lot of work to separate the trash, I think it's still worth to do that because it can save a lot of resource for the world.

Now I understand why there is a saying that Germans are another kind of creature (no offence, Catherine told us). There's no reason to knock other people's door so hard and then swing the door open! This is a very very rude behavior both in China and in US. Maybe it's due to the reason that Germans are not easy to get angry? Or maybe they don't have privacy? Well, I have no idea... Maybe next time we can try to swing Hartmut's door open and see what he is going to do about that.

Ich möchte ein Deutsch Lied empfehlen!

This time I am going to recommend you Kate&Ben again! The name of this song is Schlaflied. It is a pretty soft song and really makes people want to Schlafen gehen. Here is the Youtube link for this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D8gVphlqDo Lyrics are shown in the video, but I suggest you close your eyes and just listen to this song. You can understand it:)


Here are the lyrics:
Jeder Mensch hat Sorgen Everyone has sorrow
Jedes Herz ein Stein Every heart has a story insisde
Hab doch keine Angst mehr Don't be nervous
Dass muss jetzt nicht mehr sein (What does this sentence mean?? Hilfst mir bitte!)
Find ein Hauch von Frieden Take it easy
Lass ein bisschen los
Morgen geht es weiter Tomorrow will be better
Schlaf jetzt in meinem Schoss Sleep in my arm
Denn ich halte dich
Bis du schlafen kannst I will think about you until you fall asleep
Und alles hier vergisst And forget all your sorrow(?)
Ich halte dich
Bis du irgendwann
Eingeschlafen bist
Jede kleine Seele Every sweet soul
Sucht ihren grossen Traum
Zwischen Sternenmeeren
in jedem leeren Raum
Wo ist deine Liebe Where is your love
Wo bist du heut Nacht Where are you tonight?
Bis gleich auf deiner Wolke In the cloud of your dream
Ich finde dich heut Nacht I found you tonight
Denn ich halte dich
Bis du schlafen kannst
Und alles hier vergisst
Ich halte dich
Bis du irgendwann
Eingeschlafen bist
Lass deine Seele fliegen Let your soul fly
Und alles Beose liegen Every dream come true
Ich halte dich
Bis du schlafen kannst
Und alles hier vergisst
Ich halte dich
Bis du irgendwann
Eingeschlafen bist
Ich halte dich
Bis du irgendwann
Eingeschlafen bist 

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?

Ich möchte ein Deutsch Lied empfehlen!

This time I would like to recommend you Dieser Weg (This way), a song by Xavier Naidoo. This song really encourages people in their lives. I like the relaxed melody in this song. But I like the lyrics even more, especially "This is not a easy way. You will encounter many difficulties. Nobody will be with you and you should take this your own. But just because of this, your life will become more colorful."


Here is the link of the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS4fyxuFZvA


And here are the lyrics:


Also ging ich diese Straße lang
und die Straße führte zu mir
Das Lied, das du am letzten Abend sangst
Spielte nun in mir
Noch ein paar Schritte
Und dann war ich da mit dem Schlüssel zu dieser Tür

Dieser Weg wird kein leichter sein
Dieser Weg wird steinig und schwer
Nicht mit vielen wirst du dir einig sein
Doch dieser Leben bietet so viel mehr

Es war nur ein kleiner Augenblick
Einen Moment war ich nicht da
Danach ging ich einen kleinen Schritt
Und dann wurde es mir klar

Dieser Weg wird kein leichter sein
Dieser Weg wird steinig und schwer
Nicht mit vielen wirst du dir einig sein
Doch dieser Leben bietet so viel mehr

Manche treten dich
Manche lieben dich
Manche geben sich für dich auf
Manche segnen dich
Setz dein Segel nicht,
Wenn der Wind das Meer aufbraust

Manche treten dich
Manche lieben dich
Manche geben sich für dich auf
Manche segnen dich
Setz dein Segel nicht,
Wenn der Wind das Meer aufbraust

Dieser Weg wird kein leichter sein
Dieser Weg wird steinig und schwer
Nicht mit vielen wirst du dir einig sein
Doch dieser Leben bietet so viel mehr

Dieser Weg wird kein leichter sein
Dieser Weg wird steinig und schwer
Nicht mit vielen wirst du dir einig sein
Doch dieser Leben bietet so viel mehr

Dieser Weg wird kein leichter sein
Dieser Weg wird steinig und schwer
Nicht mit vielen wirst du dir einig sein
Doch dieser Leben bietet so viel mehr

Dieser Weg
Dieser Weg ist steinig und schwer
Nicht mit vielen wirst du dir einig sein,
doch dieses Leben bietet so viel mehr

Dieser Weg
Dieser Weg

Kultue 4

When I was reading the Two-Wheeled Teutons: Stay off the Bike Path, I was shocked that how seriously Germans pay attention to the bicycles. My country, China, has long been known for its name of the Bicycle Kingdom. If you take a look of the pictures of Beijing in last century, you can see a lot of people (even millions) riding bicycles to work or travel. However, this phenomenon disappeared in the past decades because more and more people prefer to buy a car instead of keeping their bicycles. The government does not pay much attention to the bicycle users, too, because unlike Germany, China doesn't have specific bike path. It is dangerous for people to ride their bikes on pedestrian because it's easy to hit others. It's much more dangerous to ride on traffic lanes because it is risky to hit by a crazy driver. I think it is healthy for people to travel by bikes instead of cars. Besides, it's more environmentally friendly. If the government can provide more safety environment for bicycle users, I think more people in China will consider getting their bikes back.

As for the Red Dictator, I think it's necessary for people to obey the traffic signal. It shows respect toward people's own lives and the drivers. We should be more careful if there are children around because if we can't obey the law, how can we teach our children to obey it? Talking about obeying the law, I would like to tell you a story I have read from a magazine. The story was about a student graduated from a university in Germany couldn't find a job because he had three Schwarzfahren and the companies he applied for were not happy to see that. It's always important be honest and remember: buy the ticket! It's not free ride!

Deutsch Lied！

Umm...This time I would like to talk about the song "Deutschland". Here is the link for this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zia0eQYVpQ&feature=related (FYI: There are a few gross pictures about the giant muscles in this video......but the song is pretty good:)

Deutschland was written by Die Prinzen when the Berlin Wall was pushed over. Die Prinzen showed German's pride and confidence of their country. They also mocked the German's arrogance in the song. I think this song shows that the Germans dare to face their past, dare to face their fault, and dare to face the future. This attitude is worth praised.

Here is the lyrics of this song. It's good that the lyric is not very hard. I think most part of the lyrics is understandable for 101 students:)

Deutsch, deutsch, deutsch...

Natürlich hat ein Deutscher "Wetten, dass"* erfunden
Vielen Dank für die schönen Stunden
Wir sind die freundlichsten Kunden auf dieser Welt
Wir sind bescheiden - wir haben Geld
Die Allerbesten in jedem Sport
Die Steuern hier sind Weltrekord
Bereisen Sie Deutschland und bleiben Sie hier
Auf diese Art von Besuchern warten wir
Es kann jeder hier wohnen, dem es gefällt
Wir sind das freundlichste Volk auf dieser Welt

Deutsch, deutsch...

Nur eine Kleinigkeit ist hier verkehrt
Und zwar, dass Schumacher** keinen Mercedes fährt

Refrain:
Das alles ist Deutschland - das alles sind wir
Das gibt es nirgendwo anders - nur hier, nur hier
Das alles ist Deutschland - das sind alles wir
Wir leben und wir sterben hier

Deutsch, deutsch...

Es bilden sich viele was auf Deutschland ein
Und mancher findet es geil, ein Arschloch zu sein
Es gibt manchen, der sich gern über Kanaken beschwert
Und zum Ficken jedes Jahr nach Thailand fährt
Wir lieben unsere Autos mehr als unsere Frau'n
Denn deutschen Autos können wir vertrau'n
Gott hat die Erde nur einmal geküsst
Genau an dieser Stelle, wo jetzt Deutschland ist
Wir sind überall die besten - natürlich auch im Bett
Und zu Hunden und Katzen besonders nett

Das alles ist Deutschland...

Wir sind besonders gut im Auf-die-Fresse-hau'n
auch im Feuerlegen kann man uns vertrau'n
Wir steh'n auf Ordnung und Sauberkeit
Wir sind jederzeit für 'nen Krieg bereit
Schönen Gruß an die Welt, seht es endlich ein
Wir können stolz auf Deutschland... SCHWEIN!

Schwein, Schwein...

Das alles ist Deutschland...

German song recommend

Are you afraid of crocodiles? If yes, you will no more afraid of them after listening to Schnappi(little crocodile)! This cute nursery rhyme by Joy Gruttman can actually melt your heart :) This rhyme tells the story about a cute new born crocodile from the Nile who wants to give his (or her?) father a little bite. 


Here is a link of this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe3FG4EOgyU


Everybody love the movie Lion King. Do you still remember the scene when Timon and Pumbaa saved Simba? Here is another song, just for fun, is the German version of Hakuna Matata: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IuLjWoEtr8&feature=related
Here is a comment under the song: Hakuna Matata .. wer sagt diesen Spruch nicht gern ? :D (I think it means: Hakuna Matata, who doesn't like it? :D)

Kultur 3

Hello!

I am very interested in the article "Optimists are Idiots". I have read several articles about "how Germans like to complain" and "how they like to face the dark side" since the Kultur assignment began. It's pretty fun that they can always see the bad side of a thing. However I disagree with the idea that optimists are idiots.

It's not a bad thing that Germans like to complain and to worry. But when you are excited about one thing, it is not a good choice for others to "pour water on your face"(Chinese saying of discouragement). I don't think it's a good idea for Germans to "tell the truth" at this time. People should consider others' feelings when they talk.

When I first learned German in China, my teacher asked me to go to ICQ and take a look of what Germans were chatting. It was hard for me to understand what they were talking about. But when I asked a person in the chatting room to translate their dialogue into English, I can see pages of complaint.

Seems like complaint and beer are necessities in Germans' lives. I can't blame other people's culture but I still think it would be better for people to face the bright side and be optimistic.

Recommendation of German Songs

So last time I have recommended you the song Das Liebeslied. I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to write comments to me:)


This time I'm going to recommend you the song Durch den Monsun (maybe you have heard it before) by Tokio Hotel. Durch den Monsun means through the monsoon in English. Tokio Hotel is a German band and Durch den Monsun has been their most popular song. The names of the members of the band are: Bill Kaulitz, Tom Kaulitz, Georg Listing, und Gustav Schaefer. You can notice by names that two of the members are twins, which is very interesting.

a photo of Tokio Hotel

Here is the video of the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_Sy5-sOodA&ob=av3e

And they also have English Version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEGFwj3kJE8

Here is the Lyric of the song:


Das Fenster öffnet sich nicht mehr
hier drin ist es voll von dir und mehr
und vor mir geht die letzte Kerze aus.
ich warte schon ne Ewigkeit endlich ist es jetzt soweit
da draußen ziehen die schwarzen Wolken auf.

Ich muss durch den Monsun
Hinter die Welt
Ans Ende der Zeit bis kein Regen mehr fällt
Gegen den Sturm am Abgrund entlang
und wenn ich nicht mehr kann denk ich daran
Irgendwann laufen wir zusamm
durch den Monsun

Dann wird alles gut

Ein halber Mond versinkt vor mir war der eben noch bei dir?
Und hält er wirklich was er mir verspricht.
Ich weiss das ich dich finden kann
Hör deinen Namen im Orkan
Ich glaub noch mehr dran glauben kann ich nicht


Ich muss durch den Monsun
Hinter die Welt
Ans Ende der Zeit bis kein Regen mehr fällt
Gegen den Sturm am Abgrund entlang
und wenn ich nicht mehr kann denk ich daran
Irgendwann laufen wir zusamm
Weil uns einfach nichts mehr halten kann
Durch den Monsun

Hey

Hey

Ich kämpf mich durch die Mächte
hinter dieser Tür
werde sie besiegen
Und dann führn sie mich zu dir

Dann wird alles gut
Dann wird alles gut
Wird alles gut
Alles gut

Ich muss durch den Monsun
Hinter die Welt
Ans Ende der Zeit bis kein Regen mehr fällt
Gegen den Sturm am Abgrund entlang
und wenn ich nicht mehr kann denk ich daran
Irgendwann laufen wir zusamm
Weil uns einfach nichts mehr halten kann
Durch den Monsun
Durch den Monsun

Dann wird alles gut
Durch den Monsun
Dann wird alles gut


and here is Lyric of English:
I'm staring at a broken door
there's nothing left here anymore
my room is cold
it's making me insane
i've been waiting here so long
but now the moment seems to've come,
i see the dark clouds coming up again.
running through the monsoon
beyond the world,
to the end of time,
where the rain won't hurt
fighting the storm,
into the blue,
and when i loose myself i think of you,
together we'll be running somewhere new
through the monsoon.
just me and you
a half moon's fading from my sight
i see a vision in its light
but now it's gone and left me so alone
i know i have to find you now
can hear your name, i don't know how
why can't we make this darkness feel like home?
running through the monsoon
beyond the world
to the end of time
where the rain won't hurt
fighting the storm
into the blue
and when i loose myself i think of you
together we'll be running somewhere new
and nothing can hold me back from you
through the monsoon
hey! hey!
i'm fighting all this power
coming in my way
let it take me straight to you
i'll be running night and day
i'll be with you soon
just me and you
we'll be there soon
so soon
running through the monsoon
beyond the world
to the end of time
where the rain won't hurt
fighting the storm
into the blue
and when i loose myself i think of you
together we'll be running somewhere new
and nothing can hold me back from you
through the monsoon
through the monsoon
just me and you
through the monsoon
just me and you

Kapital Zwei Blog, Kultur 2

So, I have read all four texts about how Germans behave. As a Chinese, I would like to write a blog and compare our behaviors with theirs.

Germans love whining, as we can see from the text. Chinese love whining, too. Anyway, a country can not develop better if there are not a lot of complains. When people complain, the government knows what should do to peace their anger and thus, make the country better. But I think the difference between Chinese and Germans is, Chinese don't usually complain our country in front of foreigners because I think most of us (not all) want other people in the world to know the brighter side of our country.

As for the staring problem, I have to say that there is a huge difference between the two countries. Staring other people in China is very very offensive, especially children to elders. There is a rule in China, if you are talking to people older or have higher statue than you, you must low your sight down. We don't even feel comfortable looking other people's eyes when we are talking to them. It's necessary to avoid other's sight while talking to them. Only doing this can show your respect. However, this seems exactly the opposite in Germany.

Germans are very honest when they are talking,too. "Yes" is yes and "no" is no. But in China, sometimes "yes" means no and "no" means yes. For example, if you are asking a Chinese to do a very hard project and he or she may not be able to do it. He or she would probably say yes with a twisted face. So his or her word means yes but  face means no. Another example is that, if you are taking gifts to their home when visit them, they will say "no, I can't take it." but they actually mean "ok, please put it right here." It's just polite to say no and you always need to guess what they really mean.

As for the numbers, I think Chinese will never understand why Germans have obsession with statistics. I have heard that Germans need to know exactly how many milligrams of salt should put into the soup while cooking.  In China, we just say "half a spoon". Nobody cares exactly how much salt is in the soup. So maybe Germans can cook exactly the same soup every time but we Chinese can always cook different ones.

Recommendation of German Songs

For my AMD hausaufgabe, I plan to write a serious of blogs to recommend other students some German songs Ich möchte. I will also post links on these blogs so you can click and listen to them. Lyrics of the song are always at the end of the blog. I will always translate them into English (I hope I will translate them right:)

In the ersten blog, I would like to recommend you Das Liebeslied. "Das Liebeslied" bedeutet "love song" auf Englisch. The singer is Annet Louisan. You may think the name of this song is very funny and don't want to hear it. But trust me, this song is very sweet and you are definitely going to love it! Here is the link for the song: http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/lnI7iXzEWpw (I should aware you that there are commercials at the beginning of the video)

Here is the lyric of the song: I translate it by myself, hope it's right:)

Meine Zweifel war’n ihr Geld nicht wert (I don't care about their money)
Sie ergaben sich stumm (so they all went silence at last)

Du bist alles was mein Herz begehrt (you are all I want)

Es schlägt pausenlos um sich herum (at every heart beat)

Hör für immer auf in mir zu ruhn (listen to my loneliness)
Und fall jeden Schritt
Wie ein Clown in viel zu großen Schuhn (I walk like a clumsy clawn with too large shoes) 
Ich weiß nicht mehr wie mir geschieht (I don't know what's wrong with me)
Alles an mir will zu dir (I belong to you)

Öffnet Tür und Tor (open the door)
Weit über beide Ohren (far beyond my ears)
Lässt Blut in meinen Adern gefriern (let blood release)
Als ob mein Bauch 
Sich im Rodeln übt (I am sliding on the ground)
Scheiße bin ich verliebt (damn! I've fallen in love)
Hab jetzt schon viel zu viel zu verliern (but I have already lost so much)
Bin erblindet auf den ersten Blick (I feel dizzy when I first see you)
Bin sprachlos und taub (can't say anything, can't hear anything)
Meine Logik bricht sich das Genick (I don't have logic anymore)
Ist all ihrer Klarheit beraubt (can't defeat their goal)
Hab zum Boden keinerlei Kontakt (we don't have contact anymore)
Mein Tag läßt mich kalt (my days are becoming colder)
Meine Züge entgleisen im Takt (the train went out of the track)
Und machen vor keinem mehr halt (running forward crazily, without stop)
Alles an mir will zu dir 

How German is American?

picture from the movie Bambi

 I first saw the movie Bambi when I was in kindergarten. Sitting in front of the TV with other little kids, I was intoxicated by the beautiful(schön) scene of the big(groβ) forest where Bambi lived in. The conversation between Bambi and his friends(Freunde) always made me laugh. And the harmonious life Bambi had with his mother made me feel warm and sweet.

  The story about Bambi is pretty similar to Lion King. Bambi was born in a beautiful (schön) forest. But his mother(Mutter) was killed by the hunters when he was young. He was taken away by his father and when he grew up. He came back to the forest he used to live and found his true love.

  So many people and I always believe that the topic of Bambi's story is about protecting the environment. However, after reading the book "how German can be American", I found out that the original topic of this story is actually about Jew's struggling in this world. From the story, and the real world, we can tell that just like other races, Jew was born in a very peaceful environment. However the conflict between Jew and other races made them lose their land and become vagrants. At the last part of the story, Bambi finally come back to the forest, shows the dream of the author that is the Jews finally come back to where they lived and live a harmonious life they deserve.

  This story was banned in Austria, due to some reason I don't know. But the movie is still worth to watch:)

How German is American?

I understand this story have none connection with German American, but I just love this movie so much so I want to write about it:)

a picture from movie Bambi, Disney

   I first saw the movie Bambi when I was in kindergarten. Sitting in front of the TV with other little kids, I was intoxicated by the beautiful(schön) scene of the big(groβ) forest where Bambi lived in. The conversation between Bambi and his friends(Freunde) always made me laugh. And the harmonious life Bambi had with his mother made me feel warm and sweet.

  The story about Bambi is pretty similar to Lion King. Bambi was born in a beautiful (schön) forest. But his mother(Mutter) was killed by the hunters when he was young. He was taken away by his father and when he grew up. He came back to the forest he used to live and found his true love.

  So many people and I always believe that the topic of Bambi's story is about protecting the environment. However, after reading the book "how German can be American", I found out that the original topic of this story is actually about Jew's struggling in this world. From the story, and the real world, we can tell that just like other races, Jew was born in a very peaceful environment. However the conflict between Jew and other races made them lose their land and become vagrants. At the last part of the story, Bambi finally come back to the forest, shows the dream of the author that is the Jews finally come back to where they lived and live a harmonious life they deserve.

  This story was banned in Austria, due to some reason I don't know. But the movie is still worth to watch:)