Kultur 2 Post

It was interesting that one article reflected upon Germans' love of statistics, but then another complained about their tendency to complain about their country. These two things seem at odds, because if Germans generally had such an awareness of statistics, you would think that they would understand that there are many advantages to living in Germany over many other places in the world. They would understand that the trains are actually very quiet relative to other trains, or that have 1-2 months of paid vacation is a great thing that many people don't have outside of Germany. Then again, Germans' awareness of statistics might also make them aware of the downsides to living in Germany. All of the bad statistics would be in their head, and the bad stuff usually sticks out more than the good stuff in one's mind.

In general, the other articles portrayed Germans as very conscious, rational, and direct people that are fine with honesty as long as it's honesty. But the one about staring makes me feel as though Germans are suspicious, and it's difficult to get on their good side. If their first reaction is to stare you down in the subway to make sure you don't do anything funny, it would seem difficult to later befriend the same person. But the staring might also be perfectly normal in Germany, and not much is to be thought of it. It would certainly be offsetting to me, as an American.

But then, as rational people, it seems irrational to complain about living in such a country. It sounds like a very different culture.

Ben Oztalay