Kultur 2

Well, I just read all of the kultur articles for chapter 8 and I was thoroughly entertained. I especially liked the one about draftophobia. I love to open the windows of my house when it's nice out or roll the windows down in the car while driving. Why German's think it will make you sick, I have no idea. I find it refreshing and it actually improves gas mileage compared to using the AC when you're going less than highway speed. The other article that I liked was the one about the German love of saunas. I always use the sauna after working out at the gym, although there is always that one weird naked old guy. It never fails that a naked old man will walk into the sauna, especially at the YMCA for some reason. But I guess that would be normal in Germany since the rule seems to be "no clothes aloud" but as they say, when in Rome, do as the Roman's do; I don't really think I'd have a problem with it if I used a sauna in Germany but it's just not as accpetable here.

AMD 4 - Taylor Gray

For AMD 4, I thought it would be cool to change the language of my Facebook and Twitter applications to German. A couple weeks ago, without any thought of this being an AMD activity, I decided that the more I surrounded myself with German the easier it would be to understand it. These particular applications made it simple to transition from English to German because the locations for simple phrases such as "like" or "add friend" stayed the same - they were just in a different language. At first I thought it was going to be overwhelming and it appeared that way, but as I settled in, the differences became less apparent. In fact, like second nature, I began to write simple German phrases on the Facebook walls to other German friends. Simple sentences like "Halo Ben. Ich sehe die Fotos von disern Wochenende" or "Ich werde du am Mittwoch um 5 Uhr sehen"

All in all, I've had fun changing the language of these social networks to German, and will probably keep them this way for the future!

AMD 3 - Taylor Gray

For the third AMD activity, my friend and I decided to try to have a conversation in German via Skype. She is in an upper level German course here at the University of Michigan so it was a bit tough to understand everything she was saying. During our conversation I tried to write down some things we talked about and ask her about things in German. This is basically a summary of what we talked about:

Heute habe ich mit meiner freundin Jessica geshprochen. Sie wohnt hier in Ann Arbor, aber spricht Deutsch. Sie sagt ueber ihere reise nach Deutschland im Sommer 2009.

Also in our conversation, we transferred pictures as she showed me some of her personal pictures from her time in Germany. It looked like a great time and I wish to go some day. Our "skype date" was fun and educational at the same time.

Kultur 3 - Taylor Gray

The articles from the Kultur section of Chapter 3 were particularly interesting because of their emphasis on Beir and food - my favorite subjects. The first article about how big of a role Beer plays in the German kultur was the most eye-opening for me. I had no idea that beer could be found at the movies or at your local McDonalds. Or that a bottle or two at lunch was a typical construction workers' beverage of choice. It almost seems like their beer is equal to our water!

Etiquette while drinking a beer at a social event was funny to read about as well. I learned what I should and should-not do and what beers I should stay away from. I know now to make sure I make eye contact before a toast, because if now I will suffer with bad sex for 7 years!!! If I were to go out and have a beer with some friends, based off of my readings I would choose to go with a "Berliner Weisse"- the weakest beer at a measly 2.8% alcohol content. Better to be looked at as a punk, then be walking around like a drunk.

The later articles focused a bit on food and I learned that Germans were very conscious of their health and environment. It amazed me how much they value organic foods and how they almost despise our "American" ways of eating. If I were to ever take a trip to Germany I would definitely try some of their foods and ways of eating instead of the typical Mcdonald's, Burger King's, and KFC's. Eventually I might even try a stronger beer as well!

Kultur 6

This chapter’s Spiegel articles have entertained and surprised me once again. Like everyone else, I found the Bild Zeitung article to be hilarious and entirely unexpected. I say this because I would never peg Germans, self described as logical, as avid tabloid readers. The best, and craziest, part of all is that avid is an understatement; many Germans actually use Bild Zeitung as a primary news source, knowing full well that it’s ridiculous, bias, and twisted. How can people obsessed with regiment and order (anal garbage sorting) lap up such bologna? Of course such things exist in the US (world weekly new, etc.) but it’s not as though any sane person would actually regard this as a news source. I guess we all need an outlet for the ridiculous, and for Germans this is manifested as page one babes.

For my Chapter 6 AMD I watched “Eine Stadt sucht einen Morder”, which is a German classic and the very first of the serial killer genre. Considering the immense popularity of serial killer movies and the history of long lived series of this kind (Scream, Saw, etc.) I was really impressed when I found out a German director was the pioneer of this field. Apparently Alfred Hitchcock was a follower of Fritz Lang’s work and inspired by his particular directorial style. Knowing this, it was really cool watching Lang’s movie and seeing particular features (such as use of shadows) that later inspired and were used by Hitchcock. Now to the German. I watched the movie with the subtitles and can’t imagine I would be able to understand much without them. Additionally, I’ve found that if I know what’s about to be said, I can hear and pick out certain words and phrases that I otherwise couldn’t. I’ve also noticed that it’s very difficult to pick out words/hear what’s being said if I’m not familiar with it. With that being said, I really do believe that it’s immensely important to work on my verbal skills and pronunciation, as this will facilitate greatly in conversation. All in all, definitely a movie worth watching.

Kultur 6

I used to be embarrassed by the celebrity magazines you see when checking out at the grocery store. Now I can be confident in knowing that it isn't a uniquely American trait to be obsessed with the less than finer things in life. In fact, I think that Bild probably out smuts and nuts the best our mainstream American publishing industry could throw at them. They say that print is dieing but maybe if we could convince the New York Times to print pictures of naked ladies circulation would increase. I'm sure that such a strategy would work on 15 year old boys! The other articles were also enjoyable, however if that is really the door knocking protocol  then I am amazed. I would never just knock and then enter someones office. It seems like such a invasion of privacy. The article on recycling was interesting, but not all that hard to believe. I mean here at the university of Michigan until recently we had separate bins for bottles, paper, and waste. So really what is a couple more? And if not following the recycling rules is one of the societal rules rebellious German's don't follow then how rigid of a system can it really be? In Volsprung my favorite fact was that Ann Arbor had a sister city in Germany! After finding out that fact I had to find out where all the authors were from. I believe one was from the University of Indiana, University of Wisconsin and the last seemed to be a high school German teacher, but none of them were from Ann Arbor so that must just be a happy coincidence!

Kultur 6

It was interesting to read the Brennpunkt Kultur on page 202 which described student housing for universities. I was a little surprised (at first) to read that Tübingen dorms only house 19% of the students, but I guess that makes sense considering it's Europe. I heard from a Hungarian friend that many people there live as a big family, or at least traditionally, that's the case. I wonder if it's similar in Germany or if it's just mainly students who live with parents and relatives.
It's good to know about the door manners, too! I'm not sure if I'd ever overcome my Americanism and be able to barge into a room, but hopefully I won't encounter many such situations.
I had no idea Tübingen was so famous and it's pretty cool Johannes Kepler was there. Such historical institutions serve so many educational and cultural purposes, and I think it's an honor for Ann Arbor to be a sister-city!

AMD 6 Cole Grisham

For the latest AMD, I visited the Kerrytown Kindlefest this weekend. The market was a good time, especially since they had Glühwein and plenty of wurst. The former of the two, Glühwein, is also called mulled wine, and is a red wine served warm with cinnamon and other spices. It kind of tasted like a bitter cider, but that was probably due to the cinnamon.

According to annarbor.com, the website I first learned of this market, the tradition of Christmas markets in Germany (Weihnachtsmarkt or Christkindlmarkt) is both common and widespread. As the article suggested, St. Nikolaus and his evil partner Krampus often visit these markets. Unfortunately I did not get to see Krampus this weekend, which was a big let down. I the entire concept of a Christmas bad guy seems rather foreign to me (except for the Grinch, I suppose), and from what I’ve seen of Krampus on Youtube, he looks pretty intense.

In all, the market was fun, albeit entirely too busy. If I stay in Ann Arbor another year, so help me, I will see Krampus next year!

Kultur 6 Cole Grisham

After the last few Kultur assignments, I found these article a little dry. The obsessive and sometimes tedious nature of the Germans came out again in the form of the garbage-sorting article. The stern yet confident nature appeared in the door-etiquette article. Otherwise the other pieces were supplementary, but rather lacking.

The Brennpunkt Kultur pieces were much more enjoyable. The article on student housing in German universities made some interesting points. They talked about how few universities offer campus housing or dorms to their students, and instead students must find off-campus housing in most cases. I wonder if that is am institutional norm, or whether it’s due to the urban settings of most campuses? In the US, when one attends an urban college (University of Washington in Seattle, any school in Boston…), it’s fairly common for the majority of the student body to live off-campus, mainly due to limited land available for dormitories. Is that the same case for Germany?

Finally, the piece on Gastarbeiter(en?) was also interesting. I have been studying the Gastarbeiter groups in my Turkish class as well, so it’s nice to see the issue from both sides. As it turns out, their peers generally still consider those who immigrate to Germany “Turks” when they return to visit Turkey, whereas those who move to the US are considered Americans when they return. The reason for this, it seems, has to due with Germany’s, as well as other European states, inability to assimilate new minorities, as the textbook article also suggested. While this is unfortunate to those living abroad, it would appear it is easier to maintain a closer connection to their roots than Americanized Turks.

Kultur 6

So these Kultur readings are only confirming my suspicions that Euriopeans are pretty crazy, at least the Germans. How can taking out the trash be that complicated? And do not even get me started about how strange it is that the German magazine has so mch revealing material inside of it. At least that is somthing to do with the KLultur and stuf, it just seems that the trash thing is rather inefficient. But I guess that we cannot really critioque the Germans right now  as they are pretyty much the fiscal leaders of Europe and are pretty much in control of the futrure of the Euro. Anyways, I look forward to visiting Germany to see how maccurate these Kultur assignments actually are. Until thjen I will just continue to think that Germans and Europeans in genearl are jyst a little bit off.

Apologies, this was typed with one hand.

Kultur 6 - Taylor Gray

After reading the last few articles for Kultur 6, I am still amazed at how different culture is here in America versus Germany. Each Kultur reading from previous weeks highlighted extreme differences in society between Americans and Germans, and this week was no different than the rest. The one that stands out the most this week is obviously the Bild Zeitung article discussing this German magazine. The content of this magazine is extremely "open" to say the least. But after reading about how popular German sex stores are in a previous Kultur section, it doesn't surprise me that Bild Zeitung contains several nude pictures and startling information about young kids having sex. Germans are blunt and honest, no need to shelter anything.

The article about trash was very interesting as well. I never would have guessed how complicated discarding trash could be, but it definitely doesn't surprise me that the Germans would make this simple process difficult. Just like the tourist from Italy, I would be confused and overwhelmed with the many options for trash Germans have. I have enough trouble deciphering between recyclable items and trash as it is!

AMD 6

Oh, my, god, who knew that the Simpsons had a version in Germany!!? And that the voices were so hilarious? This was a great episode, I think I remember it vaguely from my childhood. I understood way more then I thought I would. Some parts were universal like when Homer try's to hitchhike without a thumb. Homer's day was very funny but I found how his voice was distinct and yet still Homer-esque. I found him the easiest to understand oddly. Some parts I don't understand at all, like why did the German guy go crazy on the Simpsons car with golf clubs? I liked Lisa's story, although I found it much harder to understand. Except she was in the wrong school I guess? Anyways it had a lot more "Lola" in jokes like the music and almost being hit by Krusty. Third part is Bart's day, and can I just say that I need his alarm clock! By the third time around any repeating dialogue was much easier to understand. My favorite joke would be that "123 fake street", the 'fake' address Marge gives the police from the first story, is where Bart chooses to hide from the cops. Altogether the whole story ties together nicely (from what I could tell). I never realized how much physical humor the Simpsons employs but I thought it was much more enjoyable because of it. (By the way I was able to find links to the other sections from the related videos on the side bar (Of varying quality))

Lisas' Tag: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vye3gYhN_Qk&feature=related

Kultur6

And at last we come to the end of our adventures in German culture with Spiegel online. It was certainly fun. Turns out Spiegel is great for all kinds of things, even legitimate news! But I digress. At any rate, these articles were interesting, especially the one about the doors. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that Germany was split up during the Cold War, and espionage was a real threat. Officials wouldn’t want wandering ears to overhear anything that they shouldn’t be, and as a result doors remained closed. German obsessiveness when it comes to trash was not surprising. We have multiple trash bins here at UofM, especially at the Bschool. It doesn’t surprise me at all that Germany would have a similar system; it’s a very green country. I thought it was funny that the article mentioned how the cans issue was interfering with more pressing concerns, like the debt crisis, which Germany still has no desire to work with. Finally, I was actually shocked by the article about the press. Though I guess it could be taken has German adherence to freedom of press rights. It also makes sense that the shocking material wouldn’t matter to Germans, what with all their sex shops, but I just find it curious that they would be so interested in such trivial nonsense.

Kultur 6 - Calen Jones

Obviously, the most entertaining- and disturbing- article was the description of Bild Zeitung. While we in America have our tabloid magazines displayed prominently across Wal-Mart checkout lanes and sidewalk newsstands, rarely do you see the pedestrian seriously engrossed in its content. The Bild Zeitung, however, seems to capture the imagination of Germans nationwide with big, encapsulating "news", no matter how phony. For a country that is obsessed with organization, efficiency, pessimism and conservatism, this newspaper's success is utterly astounding. It almost appears to be an outlet for Germans to release any silly or light-hearted emotions amid their ernst lives.

On the other hand, the articles about German doors being closed and confusing trash cans typify my paradigm of the average German behavior. Though it is surprising to read that two or three knocks may be too many (considering my routine is four or five light knocks), it complies with the Germans' direct nature. Still, it seems a little harsh to get upset about one extra knock on the door, especially when the outsider has no idea about the going-ons inside the room. Finally, the organization of trash cans exemplifies German-style thinking; after a couple times, the trash cans probably seem better than ours or English ones; confusing train station tickets, however, would probably lose me every single time.

Kultur 6 Nikolas Remley

The last of the Kultur articles were by far the best. I actually enjoyed two of the articles, to the point that I actually wanted to continue to read them until finish. This first one was about the Bild magazine or newspaper. This newspaper seems way more sketchy than any newspaper or magazine or TV show in America. I don't know if this is due to censoring or Americans inability to say what they really think, but I support this magazine. Sure, some of what they do seems to only serve the purpose of gathering attention, but I still feel like some of what is written is hardcore opinion, rather than the fake stuff that fills much of american culture. Anyway, I still found that article and fun to read.

Lastly, the article about doors was quirky and interesting. Although the subject is not really that interesting, the article was short and nice. Also, I find that I would add this to a reason I would like to visit Germany. I have like an OCD about open doors. I like to shut them and keep them shut until someone needs to get it, so me and Germany agree on this. Regardless, I'm looking forward to next semesters Kultur articles, but goodbye for now.

Kultur 6

The more I read about Germany, the more intimidating it seems. I feel like there would be a lot to keep in mind if I were to visit, and I would probably mess something up. Knocking loudly and more or less bursting into a room doesn't seem like the most polite way to go about opening a door that's always closed, but it might be the best. It's all about what you're used to, though, so I suppose it's to be expected in Germany.

The popular, smutty newspaper isn't totally unexpected for me after reading about the sex shops in the open. If you walk past a window of sex toys on the way to lunch, it's probably not a big deal to also walk past the Bild's front page girl. The fact that it exaggerates so much and is still taken seriously is surprising, however. I would think that Germans would appreciate a more literal and straight-to-the-point news source, so the Bild being so big seems a bit strange.

Germans also seem to take tradition seriously, although Germany is very progressive. They have one of the best garbage collection systems in the world, but they keep the tradition that it's closed on Sundays.

Kultur 6

I didn't find the articles this week as intersting as some of the other ones that we've read but I did find the one about Germany's "closed door policy" pretty intriguing. It's just so totally opposite of how things are here that it's just strange to imagine I guess. I honestly think our way of doing things is better though because it inherently lets people know if the person wants to be bothered or not. If the door is always closed, how are people supposed to know whether it's ok to go in the room or not? But I guess that's just how the Germans are; as we've learned through reading all of these articles for class, Germans can be weird sometimes.

Kultur 6

Again, these Kultur texts were incredibly interesting. The one that I found the most fascinating was the article about how they keep their doors closed. It doesn't have to do with being rude; it's just how it is in Germany. I can see how it plays into the "German efficiency." Closing the door lowers the number of distractions, thus allowing you to get more work done. The fact that having doors closed is the norm in Germany is a true testament to how efficient Germany is. I also greatly enjoyed the picture of Dubya next to the article.

As far as the tabloid goes, it doesn't really surprise me. Every culture has their guilty pleasures and their smut. I feel like we get caught up in the "stereotypical German" and laugh.

I found it hilarious that over 4 million Germans use the Bild Zeitung for their news considering how it operates. I do not understand why they would read it for news if they know that it twists stories around just to make them more entertaining. The door knocking was also interesting. In
Germany, they only knock once very loud and then just walk in the door. That is different then in America because we are usually less assertive than that.

Kultur 6

This chapters installment of Kultur learning was once again very interesting. I was not very surprised about the closed door article, in fact it makes a lot of sense to me; why would someone especially at work want to be distracted by everyone that walks buy and all the commotion outside? By removing the stigma of entering a closed door I think distraction is minimized and productivity is maximized, something that Germans would stereotypically be all about. Also, the garbage sorting fell in line with the other aspects of German culture we have learned about, being preoccupied with order and the common good would naturally lead to having serious recycling procedures. I think Germans would find the need to sort garbage twice, similarly to our system, a large waste of time. Finally, I was most surprised about the portion on the German newspaper, or should I say tabloid. It seems like obsessing over whether or not a politician gained a few pounds is not in keeping with the German emphasis on straightforwardness; being ok with telling someone that they gained some weight seems far off from ripping celebrities and politicians with photoshop for the same thing.

AMD 6

For this AMD I started by watching Homer's portion of the Simpsons episode. I was half pleased by how much I could contextually understand and half frustrated by my lack of comprehension. I found this section as interesting/entertaining as I could have seeing as how it was the Simpsons (you may all hate me for it but I don't really like the show). After watching Homers Tag I couldn't stomach any more Simpsons so I decided to do another short activity to complete my AMD. I decided to go to Reddit and check out some of the German subreddits. Reddit is an online community based on links to various other sites, these links range from intelligent political discourse and news sites to lewd humor, the links are sorted by topic matter into subreddits so I went to r/deutschland a subreddit almost completely in German. Once at the site some posts I couldn't decipher but many were English speakers asking in German about visiting and other random questions. Finally I was able to understand a couple of German humor links, one in particular was making a rather inappropriate joke about Angela Merkel.

Kultur-Texte 6 - Andrew McBride

For this Kultur-Texte assignment, I found the article about waste baskets and recycling to be the most interesting. As the author mentions at the end of the article, one can relate this piece back to some articles that we read about earlier in the semester, particularly because it shows how committed Germans are to environmentalism. I think that should be the main point and takeaway of the article, not this idea that Germans are somehow more complicated or more absurd than anyone else. This simply serves to build the German people as an "Other" that is supposedly so different from ourselves. I honestly think that they have the right idea. If we are to stem the tide of ecological destruction, then we must begin in our daily lives, such as with recycling. I am by no means saying that recycling will solve all of our problems, but it definitely can't hurt and can be quite beneficial. This also saves more time in the long run, as sanitation workers do not have to labor to sort out everyone's trash and recycling, which can also save money. I think that it would be great if U.S. citizens and residents could take a page from the German book when it comes to our garbage and be more conscientious about what we throw out and what we reuse and recycle.

Kultur 6 Ben Lemisch

Kultur 6
Hearing that door are always closed in Germany did not surprise me but it did strike me as to the contrast between American and German culture. I live in the dorms here at U of M, the only people who keep their doors closed here are the anti-social, and stoners. With this in mind the idea that the Germans always keep their doors closed makes them seem rather unfriendly. This is not exactly the case however. The Germans keep their doors closed as part of their culture, a part which no doubt grew out of the turmoil of the Cold War which gripped the nation for decades. In a country where spies could be everywhere it was a necessity for privacy to be maintained whenever possible. This has never really been the case in the united states which is why there exists such and open door policy inside our nation.
One of the most common German stereotypes is that they are very neat and orderly people. There is good reason that this stereotype exists. Germans take their trash to a new level, they have different bins for the different colors of glass, and for packaging, organic waste, paper and packaging. Similar systems exist the U.S. and I'm sure in other countries as well but none are as complex and sophisticated and the German’s. I find it humorous that the Germans take the same level of complexity and efficiency that most people associate with their cars to their trash as well.

Leben der Anderen

Ich habe für AMD 5 der Film "Leben der Anderen" gesehen. The little clip we saw in class with the joke about Honecker intrigued me, so I watched the entire film on youtube which had English subtitles (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaGQvhQvjIo&feature=related). I enjoyed the film, not only the plot but also the insight into history and the commentary on human nature. A talented poet, an aspiring actress, a conniving Prime Minister, and a Stasi Captain tangled up in conflicting interests and questions of loyalty.
SPOILER ALERT In particular, I was interested in the changes in Dreyman and Wiesler. Dreyman goes from being a poet content with writing on the “safe” side and living in relative luxury to standing up for the victims of the corrupt leaders of East Germany. Although Dreyman is aware of what goes on, he does not seem to understand the magnitude until his ex-director but good friend Jerska commits suicide. Ich denke viele Leute do not get the courage to stand up for something until it touches them personally or the people they live. Dreyman is awoken by
the suppression that drove Jerska to desperation.
Wiesler, while listening in on the life of Dreyman and Christa-Marie comes to realize the work
he is doing is no longer in order to uphold a socialist cause but for the personal desires of Minister Hempf. END SPOILER
Wir lernen über liebe von Land, liebe zwischen Leute, Deutsche Geschichte, und Politik! Ich empfehle diesem Film!
A new word I learned was "freitot". Literally free and death/kill, or in other words suicide. Sorry about this not so cheery ending to this post! But watch the movie!