Willkommen!!

Welcome to our class blog!

We will be using this blog throughout the semester for two kinds of assignments:

1. Once per chapter, the homework plan will direct you to post a response to the culture readings for the chapter on the blog.

2. Roughly every other week, the homework plan will direct you to post here for your Abenteuer mit Deutsch (AMD) assignment. First you do a fun activity that involves German, then you post about it. You should spend an hour total on this (maybe 45-55 minutes doing something, 5-15 minutes posting about it). See Was ist ein AMD, AMD Ideen and Beispiele for ideas. This should get you excited about the kinds of things you can do!

Whenever you post something, please include your name and the name of the assignment (e.g. AMD2, Kultur5) as labels. See "Blog: How To" for more details!

Kultur 1

Well, first I would like to say, this semester's articles are much more interesting than last semester's. For Kultur 7, I like the two articles: Take it from a German, How not to be die on German roads & Bargain Buys, no-frills shopping, German style.

I am interested in the suggestions given by the German about the rule of the road. He put "or you die" at the end of almost every sentence. That makes me feel it's really dangerous to drive or walk on a German road. I was surprised by the fact that people can drive about 200 kph on the autobahn in Germany! Because in China, the maximum speed on the highway is usually 100 kph. However, low speed doesn't usually mean safety. Actually, it might be more dangerous driving on a Chinese highway. When you trying to overtake a car, the driver next to you will speed up and not let you to take the place. So I think the most dangerous thing while driving is not speed, but respect to others.

As for the supermarket, I think it is just like our Chinese supermarket. It's usually crowded, full of people and goods. However, there is one thing better in China. Employees will always check if the food is turning bad and replace the bad food. I think it is scary that German employees usually don't do this. The same thing between the supermarkets of these two countries is, when you finally finish shopping, you would feel like you just survived from a battle. 

Although I gain a lot of fun from reading these articles, I kind of lose my confidence to travel to Germany one day. It seems scary to be in a country like this described by the authors. If I choose to study aboard  in Germany, hope I am not going to be killed by the old ladies who kick into high gear and try to get poll position. 

Agresive Germans

Hallo,

I really enjoyed these past Kultur passages, and once again have a clearer perspective of Deutschland. I don't know if the person who writes the travel guide is just negative, but he or she always has bad things to say about Germany. They are constantly made out to be rule following versions of New Yorkers. Their supposed behavior in stores and the roads are downright scary in comparison to Americans! I also really enjoyed reading about Munich. I have a friend who played amerikanischer Football there and he always told me exciting stories about the city. Its large populace and cultural sites like the museums and Rathaus are intriguing. I would also like to go to Oktoberfest in Munich sometime. It sounds like a Deutsch version of martigras. The soccer article was also cool because I am exposed to it so little. The passage made me wonder if the sport will ever be as important as the large Amerikaner sports. Overall the readings were exotic and made me want to visit Deutschland.

Germans and Ordnung

Hallo,

Ich habe gedenke, dass Deutschen waren organisiert, aber sie sind nicht! Einmal, Amerikaner brauche Lines. Ohne es, wir sind schwierig. Ich brauche Lines. I can't stand people that are inconsiderate about others in such places as a store or a train station. But I guess it's not about me or my self-interest in Germany. I'll have to prepare for the worst.

As for the driving, I don't think I will drive at all in Germany. That is what cities are for. I would take transit systems like trains and subways. Ich liebe Züge. I can't wait for my friends to show me all the cool cities, like Stuttgart and München. I'll have to use their Student ID card and get good discounts.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Jonathon Parker

Kultur 1

So many things to read and report upon! I suppose I'll start with the Vorsprung texts first..
I really enjoyed reading about Munich and Stuttgart; I've been very interested in the various cities and regions of Germany lately as I make plans to study abroad in the spring. I've heard that the glockenspiel is definitely something to see and the beer at the Hofbräuhaus is definitely a must. As for the article on soccer... well, lets just say I need to learn the rules and how to play the sport.
And on the lines of food, the USA Kulinarisch page cracked me up. I loved the "American" desktop images that were all of food! Very stereotypical, and kind of comical in my opinion. The grocery store article also worried me if I ever spend time in Germany. I HATE inefficient grocery shopping. Finding my way through their description of a bargain store does not sound fun! But, I do agree with their approach to plastic bags and various ways of going "green." I also wish that life in America was compact enough that walking to a grocery store was an option. Sadly, Meijer is just a little far.
And for the driving and line articles, I accept the German's decisions to be aggressive. It's efficient and if you're being inattentive or foolish, your spot in line is rightly revoked in my opinion. I might need to work on my driving skills a bit though before I would hop on the autobahn though...