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.

AMD 6 - Calen Jones

I watched the Simpsons episodes for this AMD. The first, Homers Tag, was particularly entertaining in the beginning as it focused on food. While we spent a lot of time in class learning about Deutsch food, the two foods mentioned here are Cornflakes and Brownies - two American terms. Together with our last AMD about Denglisch, it juxtaposes High German with modern spoken German; I am keen to know just how much English vocabulary and American content has been woven into German culture. Other interesting tidbits that I picked up on included "neun-eins-eins", "eins-zwei-drei Fake St", quatch, and "Es tut mir Leid". In retrospect, the amount of German that I understood (albeit pretty basic) seems remarkable in comparison to what I knew at the beginning of the Semester. I only wonder if the German audience watching understood the stereotype about the car offering a ride to the hitchhiker, Homer.

In the Lisas Tag episode, it was extremely entertaining to see the monkey cop respond "I don't understand what you said" to the human cop, and the human cop accept it. Perhaps even more funny was Lisa's parody of Lola running through town. At this point, I was able to piece together most of the story. (Could not find Barts Tag after numerous YouTube searches)

Kultur 5- Calen Jones

This Kapitel's Kultur readings were definitely amusing and somewhat contradicting. I found the article which Germans' lack of politeness towards strangers to be an accurate depiction of my imagined typical German citizen. Obviously, Americans view Germans as rude when they bump into people, avoid eye contact and fail to acknowledge others, but to der Deutsch, these actions are the norm, and therefore, to themselves, the Germans are completely polite. When a German runs into another German, the latter simply shrugs it off. I found this "no-harm-no-foul" line of thought intriguing.

The articles which discuss German sex shops and flirting are very contradicting. One would expect that a country with such explicit and public sex shops would take positively towards outgoing, flirtacious inter-gender relationships - similar to Italy or France, per se. However, the style of German flirting for a male seems very unique, and thus interesting. An American girl might enjoy this difference after years of proactive American guys.

AMD 5 - Calen Jones

I read the Wikipedia article about Denglisch for AMD 5. My immediate reaction is that if I were to travel to Deutschland, I wouldn't have that hard of a time understanding the locals, especially if most of them understand at least a little English. The incorporation of the English language into German culture also seems surprising at first; Germany strikes me as a country that is traditional, opposed to westernization, and slow to change. The most surprising facet of the article was Germany's taking to American music on the radio and within its own pop culture.

Additional surprises included the incorporation of an apostrophe-type substance which indicates possession; the expressions "statement" and "event", and words such a "peeling" to describe products. Es ist sicher dass traditional leute auf Deutschland this language hassen, aber ich bin surprised that it's taking a hold over younger generations. I guess it aligns with common 21st-century themes of globalization and international business though, and in that sense, I understand the popularization of Denglisch.

Kultur 4 - Calen Jones

This week's Kultur articles visited some aspects of German culture of which I was completely unaware. It surprised me that Germans are so into bicycling, but perhaps more bizarre is the sense that the bikers' "right-of-way" is a license for rudeness and ignorance of pedestrians. Additionally, the strict guidelines for walking across the intersection during a red light struck me as a bit uptight, but then I remembered the crazy driving style of most Germans, and the obeying ways of Deutsch pedestrians made a little more sense to me in regards to safety. After reading both of these articles, I got the feeling that my habits as a pedestrian walking to class each day would be unanimously frowned upon by the German population; luckily, in Ann Arbor walkers often possess the right-of-way ahead of drivers.

The articles that described fare-dodging and logical thinking struck me as odd eccentricities of the German culture; however, these viewpoints exist strictly from an American perspective. Having been surrounded by these norms and values their entire lives, Germans may miss the point of asking "When is the next train?" because other Germans are well accustomed to the system. Germans visiting America are surely confused by a few American societal norms that seemingly portray no logic to them.

AMD 4 - Calen Jones

A couple days ago, I spent quite a bit of time speaking Deutsch with a classmate in preparation for Oral Exam 1. This practice definitely helped for the exam, but it also changed my perspective a bit about der Deutschklasse.

Attempting to speak at length in German was a much needed changeup from the regular iLrn Hausaufgaben; the challenge of verbal communication entertained and motivated me as we soon went way off-topic from the study guide. In the beginning, I tried to communicate complicated expressions that we haven't learned; as these endeavors proved fruitless, I began to think more about different ways to get my message across. We discussed topics such as our families and friends, hometowns, how we spend our freizeit, food and drinks, etc. I was able to say things like "Meine mutter hört die Hosen auf die Familie" and "Ich fahre nach Hause für zwei Wochen." Ich war sehr surprised at my success in communicating my thoughts.

All in all, I envisioned it as something I would experience frequently if I ever go to Deutschland, and it was enjoyable to use the language practically. I hope to make it to the Kaffeestunde in the near future as well.

AMD 3 - Calen Jones

For my third AMD post, I expanded on a topic we learned about in Kultur 3 - beer. I ventured over to http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/styles.html to gain a better understanding of how Germans ingrain beer into their culture.

An early topic of interest was how beer-making differed by region. The article explains how northerners in Germany trinken bier mit more malt, while southerners lieber hoppier bier. Additionally, each region has its own preference, from Cologne's Kolsch to the Kellerbier of Bavaria. While a variety of beers exist everywhere, regions have their own specialty; it struck me as they way sports fans in America root for their hometown teams. The only beer prevalent across Deutschland is the Pils, a light (color, not calories), hoppy beer of medium alcohol content.

Additionally, der Deutsch order their bier not by brand, as we Americans do, but by type. For example, they say, "I would like an Altbier please," or "Hast du ein Pils?" Germans also measure "heaviness" or alcohol content based on the amount of "non-water substances"- Deutschland laws allow between 11% and 14% non-water substance, which in turn affects alcohol content.

A favorite bier among certain regions ist das Bockbier. Bockbiers, common in Munich, are traditionally dark-colored, heavy, malty and smooth. Es ist nicht gut idee to trinkt schnell; you must drink it slowly. Types of Bockbier include the Doppelbock, Eisbock, Dunjelbock and Weizenbock.

Another type of bier ist das Oktoberfestbier, of which the only authentic kind is also brewed in Munich. Contrary to what one might expect, Oktoberfests are brewed in the spring (also called Marzen biers, brewed in March) and then age for three or four months to an amber color, and then they are drank in Oktober. The hoppiness and alcohol content help to preserve the bier over summer, and then the taste actually improves as fall approaches. "Oktoberfest" popularized as Germans needed to finish the country's supply of Marzen bier before it cased its fall beers; thus, a celebration of beer-drinking began in Oktober.

Kultur 3- Calen Jones

Yes, I know this is a bit late, but I'm doing it nonetheless.

Some of the kultur articles did not surprise me at all. The articles about beer, public drunkenness and German pessimism affirmed my beliefs about the country. It made me really, really want to attend Oktoberfest at some point; the most interesting thing I learned was the Purity Law of 1615, which states that only water, hops, malt and yeast can be used to brew beer. The descriptions of beers such as Pils, Boch and Weisse were familiar, because they offer those at Ashley's. And the German pessimism I have known all my life due to my grandmother, who looks somberly at her house, her family, and her wine as things of the past.

Other articles that surprised me focused on organic food and humor. The fact that Germans exhibit health-conscious behavior extremely contradicted my view of the typical overweight sausage-loving, beer-drinking guy. Also, when I visited Germany at the age of 12, there was no shortage of ambulance sirens in the streets; I was told that congestive heart failure was very common and a by-product of the food that Germans eat. I guess organic food can be unhealthy as well? The organic/inorganic scale does not parallel the healthy/unhealthy scale apparently. Lastly, the German sense of humor based on region gave me a perspective about geography within Germany, and much of the author's reasoning behind the types of humor made sense. I never really thought about different cultures within the country, but this article (along with the beer article) taught me a little about the people from each place. I wonder about differences in humor based on geographic region in the USA.

AMD 2 - Calen Jones

For AMD 2, I wanted to watch or read a section of Harry Potter auf Deutsch. After a decent online search, I came to the conclusion that I would have to pay for the movie oder das Buch auf Deutsch. I accepted my fate and chose to analyze the trailers, other videos, capsules and articles von die Webseite Harry Potter auf Deutsch : http://harrypotter.warnerbros.de/hp7a/dvd/#

After overcoming the discrepancy between Englisch-speaking mouths and Deutsch voices, ich geverstehe ein bissien of the trailers. Mostly, I was able to pick up a word here and there from sentences, but rarely could I understand entire sentences. Some phrases that I thought I heard included:

Harry, du hast Tag vergab Kampf - Harry, you have a day full of battle (?)

Kommst du zu mir - Come to me

Sie haben Ministerium Kontrolle - They have ministry control

Du hast keine familie - you have no family

Sagt mir wo er ist - tell me where it is

Frequent or recognized words and short phrases included:

wut, beginnt, nua ich, besten Freunden, mütter, jetst, schlect, dunkel Zeiten

As for the written sections auf die Webseite, some interesting words and phrases that I found includeded:

die Horkruxe - the horcrux

doch dunkel Machte (with a umlaut) - the Dark Lord (I assume)

der lange befurchtete Krieg hat begonnen - the long feared war has begun

Harry Potter und die Kammer des Schreckens - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harrys Schulkameraden und verlasslichen besten Fruend - Harry's schoolfellow and reliable best friend

Kultur 2 - Calen Jones

The articles which covered aspects of the German lifestyle and culture were enlightening; they subtly brought to light unconscious truths that I have known about the habits of German people. When I visited Deutschland mit mein familie at zwolf Jahre alt, most Germans came off as incredible rude people.

I definitely experienced the staring, and when we walked down the street, I often felt like they could see into my soul and they thought that I was a dirty little Amerikana Kind. As for the directness of their Sprechen und Fragen, I would certainly feel out of place with their brutal honestly and directness. As a classic American, I would feel uncomfortable directly telling a host that I didn't want to eat the food she made, or that I didn't want to go out sometime with a friend. In America, I would interpret that sort of directness as a flat out disregard for feelings and emotions of others; however, it ties in very well with the well-known German ideals of efficiency, cleanliness and honesty. The article about the German practice of complaint served to remind me about meine mutter's side of the familie and their ever-present negativity (derived prominently from my German grandmother).

Lastly, I found the information on German universities staggering and somewhat "behind the curve". The limited number of offerings seem like an underdeveloped method of educating a country's people.

AMD 1 - Calen Jones

For die AMD eins, ich gelese die website Bundesliga. Ich gelese Artikels zu ein football Spielen. Das Spiel eins war Kaiserlautern against Mainz. Kaiserlautern won das speil 3:1. Die Artikel war geschrieben about laut Mensch aus the stadium und die Artikel war geschrieben sehr slang und complex Vokabular. Sie ist schwierig zu mir verstehe. Das Spiel war sehr exciting und played at nacht. Er ist fast-paced und affected die Bundesliga standings. Das Spiel war controlled auf die Offensive sides. Die Artikel also mentions other Spielen as well.

Link zu das Speil: http://www.bundesliga.de/de/liga/matches/2011/index.php?bmi=130221&reiter=nachbericht&tag=6

Kultur1

Prior to reading this article, I would have agreed with the author's initial assertions that a German-American subculture failed to exist in the United States because of external factors such as WW1, the variety of German religions, etc. As the author portrays, however, a number of other factors have also contributed to the assimilation of a German-American identity.

Being an American of German descent, I found the information about German immigration to the U.S. particularly interesting and relevant. My grandmother's move from Dusseldorf to Washington to Michigan personified much of the information presented about German immigration; she sought to take advantage of America's opportunity and to rid herself of WW2's horrors. Accordingly, she has spent the majority of her American life in the "German Belt", as it's described in the article. She was attracted by the similar rolling hills and density of trees in western Michigan, as Germans mentioned in the article were to Wisconsin. Likewise, once she settled into her home there, she wasn't ever going to move from that which with she was familiar, in accordance with the Germans described. She also embodied German traits such as being "bound practically and culturally to forested landscapes" (14) and lacking the formation of any sort of "little Germany" within her American community.

My grandmother's move to America, as the text correctly identifies, did not revolve around religion. The author's statement that "German immigrants became more flexible in their choice of church" fits my grandma to a tee. In Germany, she saw her father and her grandfather become Baptist pastors, but when she moved to Michigan, she became a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (also originated by Germans), in part because it was the nearest church to her home and her method of transport was walking. It is apparent that while religion remained important to her, it was not a deciding factor in her immigration.

The explosion in variety of German-American religions is very interesting in its contrast with early Catholic Germany; it exemplifies why immigrants sought a new home, and it may have contributed to the subsequent assimilation of German culture in America.

Finally, my relatively politically uninvolved grandmother also exemplified the German who was primarily concerned with herself rather than international affairs; my family also made it a point to engage in such celebrations as Octoberfest and other opportunities to enjoy traditional German food and drink.