Kultur 4 - Taylor Gray

The articles for Kultur 4 were pretty interesting and I couldn't help but think about how Germans might perceive everyday life in Ann Arbor. I know, for one, I can NOT STAND bikers and how they maneuver through the hundreds of innocent walking students on their way to class everyday. It has to be a stressful trip for the biker as well; considering there are so many people that have to dodge so quickly. Maybe I have such a strong (unfair) dislike towards bikers because I have been one of the innocent pedestrians HIT by a carless biker. It was mid-winter (so the biker had no business riding anyway) and I feel into the snow around 9am - when there wasn't much traffic out on the sidewalks! In my opinion, bikers and walkers need to be separated even more than the "wonderfully designed, multi-colored flag-and cobblestone" as they do in Germany. I've seen far too many incidents in Michigan, and I'm sure there are even more incidents in Germany. Keep the sidewalks for pedestrians, and make a separate lane farrrrr away for bikers is what I say!

In the article discussing German crosswalks, I couldn't help but relate to the German drivers who accelerate up to aimless walking pedestrians. I get extremely frustrated with people who decide to walk across the street when the red-hand is CLEARLY blinking. I purposely accelerate, just as my fellow Germans would, to make sure that person doesn't "accidentally" cross the street again when it's my right of way. Never with the intention to hurt, just politely startle ;)