Kultur 11

This chapters culture articles were much less lighthearted that those of prior chapters. It is sad to hear that a country whose culture, politics, and lifestyle I respect so much, and often wish was my own, has these problems. In general I think of Germans as very contemporary while maintaining classic values such as professionalism and working hard. These prejudices don't fit in my mind with the no-nonsense and logical behavior Germans seem to display. Initially after reading the emotion I felt was almost disappointment, however, after some thought I realized it is still probably still a much less prejudiced country than the U.S. There are many prejudices in the U.S. from state to state or region to region; as I thought more I realized even I have my own prejudices. I am guilty of in general thinking of the bible belt in almost the same way that Berliners think of Bavaria. I don't have any real issue with southerners but I strongly disagree with much of their politics and social policy. This fact combined with the purely humorous stereotypes that us Yankees enjoy probably puts me in a similar place as a German with stereotypes about the south or east. In closing I guess I just hope that the German stereotypes are like mine, almost entirely based in humor with maybe a difference of political opinion on the side as opposed to actual hate and discrimination.

p.s. If you're from the south I hope I don't offend you by reminding you that no the south will not be rising again. :)

AMD 6

Fur mein AMD 6, ich habe über Deutsch Sports gelernt. Ich habe http://www.sportschau.de/sp/ gegangen. Ich habe über Fußball gelesen. Ich habe über der Bundesliga gelernt. Das beste Team ist Borussia Dortmund. Sie haben 63 Punkte. Das zweite Team ist Bayron München. Sie haben 60 Punkte.

I really enjoy watching European club soccer, though I do not follow it religiously. In general Bayern Munich tends to be the perennial powerhouse of the Budesliga. Bayern Munich is the most successful club in terms of national titles/cups. They also are often relatively successful the Europe wide Eurocup tournament. Something that I was unaware of before researching the club is that Bayern Munich is not just an association football club. They are an organization that includes chess, handball, bowling, refereeing, basketball, gymnastics, and table tennis. I think its pretty cool that a supporter of one club can be passionate and root for essentially the same team in many sports. It kind of reminds me of how college sports are here in the U.S., a fan of Michigan sports doesn't just root for our American football team they root for all of Michigan's teams. In closing, Go Blue!

AMD 5

Fur mein AMD funf, Ich habe über Deutsch essen gelernt. Die Deutschen essen viel Schweinefleisch. Sie auch essen viel Rindfleisch. Die Deutschen lieben deinen Wurst. Sie essen wurst mit Senf. Ich liebe Deutsch essen wiel es viel Fleisch hat. Fleisch ist sehr besser als gemuse oder obst.



This is a picture of Currywurst which is pork sausage with curry ketchup it is most popular around Berlin







This is called Hendl which is basically just fried chicken and is popular throughout Germany





This is Kartoffelsalat which is German potato salad










This is Kohlroulade which is German cabbage roll .







A true German meal might consist of some of the prior listed foods and then be finished off with a cake or tart. Cheesecake is popular as well.

My heritage is German on both sides and my Grandma used to make some of the traditional wursts and German desserts. I've always really like German cuisine when I want an extremely hearty and sustaining meal. If you haven't ever experienced German food I would suggest a trip to Metzger's. I usually get the Wurst Platter which has three different types of Wurst and spatzle (German noodles) on the side. Well I'm hungry now.

Kultur 10

For this Kultur assignment the article about Dinner for One sparked my curiosity so I decided to watch the video. I actually found the skit to be rather humorous. It makes sense to me that Germans are very fond of it, the English is very basic and follows a simple pattern which I bet makes the humor easy to understand for people who are not as comfortable with English. Also, the skit was pretty funny, my favorite part being a tie between when the James trips and drops the chicken dish and when he serves the port while kneeling on the floor. I enjoyed some of the other articles as well, the short hours of German businesses was surprising to me. My favorite piece was about Mannertag (an awesome holiday name) I thought it was funny that older German men, usually considered to be pretty reserved, have a holiday to go crazy on. It sounds like a tradition that we should adopt here.

AMD 4

For AMD 4 I decided to take the suggestion and interview a friend of mine who is a upper level German student and has studied in Germany. As we discussed the various culture essays he explained that in general they are kind of blow out of proportion, though the articles are all definitely based in fact many are embellished. For example, the article about how Germans will just plow you over in the street is an exaggeration. My friend explained that brushing shoulders is more common then in the US and therefore you may not receive an excuse me like you would here. An article that he said was very accurate however, was the article about the German flag and patriotism. He agreed that he never saw outward shows of German pride and the type of patriotic that is common in the US is seen as a bad thing in Germany. Overall my friend said that in general the articles give a pretty good picture of German culture but must be taken with a grain of salt.

Kultur 9

This chapters culture articles were interesting as per usual. I was least surprised by the article on the German obsession with certificates. This went right along with the practice of giving out a certificate upon the completion of a class. We have been taught over and over about the organizational traits that Germans posses and this feel right in line. Next, though I was unsurprised by the fact that relationships with your neighbor are spelled out in German law I was set aback by some of its aspects. For example, the limitation on grilling was almost shocking to me; I assumed that along with the love of meat came the love of grilling but apparently the Germans feel else-wise. Also, it seemed pretty overboard that a neighbor would be so bothered by a young girls birthday party, I could understand if it would have been older kids causing problems late at night but for eleven year olds it just seemed rude to complain. Finally, it seems as though patriotism is opposite in Germany from the US. Here if you are not outwardly patriotic it is almost always considered a bad thing, we disagree with our government oftentimes but everyone is quick to say how much they love the "real" America. This being said though, I can't say I'm shocked that Germans act this way towards patriotism, I just wonder if any sense of German patriotism will ever be common or if history has forever ruined this in Germany.

AMD 3

For AMD 3 Ich habe uber Friedrich Nietzsche gelernt. Er war ein Philosoph. Er wurde im 1844. Er war aus Deutschland. Er war sehr intelligent und interssant. Er hat uber religion und morality geschrieben. Er ist beruhmt wiel "Gott ist tot" gespricht hat. Er starb im Jahre 1900.

I personally find Nietzsche's philosophies very interesting. The most interesting to me are the aforementioned death of god philosophy and his ideas about nihilism. Another interesting thing about Nietzsche was that he always claimed Polish ancestry despite overwhelming agreement/evidence that he was German (Prussian in fact). Nietzsche has many other interesting philosophies, including some about what he calls "master" and "slave" morality. If philosophy is interesting to you then his works are definitely worth a look, especially because he was German.

AMD 2

Für AMD 2 Ich habe Wisdom Begins In Wonder blog gelesen. Ich habe es viel interessant gefindet. Ich mag, dass sie beginnt zu schreiben vor der Riese. Sie packt und "prepared". Schliesslich, sie geht nach Deutschland. Im Deutschland sie kennen lernt ihr "roommates". Ihr roommates sind nett und freundlich. Sie will in Europa viel zu reisen.... I really liked how she gave an insiders perspective on what she was going through mentally before leaving for the trip. I have never gone abroad for that long of a time and therefore never really thought about how stressful packing and leaving could be. I rarely if ever have been homesick during the traveling I've done, but once again I've only been on a trip for a couple of weeks at most. My favorite part of the blog entries that I read though was how despite some bouts of homesickness in general she seems to do a really good job of enjoying and making the most out of her experience. In closing this AMD definitely increased my desire to study abroad at some point during college.

AMD 1

For my AMD I stole one of our classmates ideas and also watched an episode of South Park in German. This activity was fun because SP is my favorite tv show and also pretty beneficial in my opinion because I watched one of the episodes I know the best. In general I found it very humorous to hear the characters that I am so familiar with speak in another language. This was probably my favorite German movie experience just due to my familiarity with the show. However, I noticed that I didn't understand as much as just remembering what was said from earlier viewings. All in all, I enjoyed this activity especially hearing Cartman speaking in German.

Kultur 7

As always this chapters Kultur readings were very interesting. First off, the article on value supermarkets sounded like my description of Walmart, the only thing that I thought was dissimilar was the way rotten foods are not removed. In regards to what most people would consider rude or impatient behavior in German supermarkets I feel that the culture in supermarkets in the US is not much different. Furthermore, cashiers at many places are similar in practice to their German counterparts. My favorite article for this chapter was the piece on waiting in line in Germany. I was actually quite surprised by their lack of order as the author discussed, especially when, in my opinion, this is one realm that we in the US are quite orderly about. In general I feel that Americans take waiting in line relatively seriously, cutting is uncommon and people are quick to call you out for trying; this may be the only facet of life that I have ever heard of Americans being more organized than the Germans.