AMD 6

Although a little late, I watched some Simpson episodes in German. Watching the Simpson in German was weird. the voices are different so that makes you take a double take when they talk. You aren't used to the difference. In the first clip I watched Homer loses his thumb while Marge cut brownies. This leads to Homer running to the Hospital and then wreaking his car and at the end of the episode he throws his thumb away. The other two episode listed on the AMD website were not longer on YouTube. So instead I looked up Simpson in German and watched another episode. In that one Homer goes on a business trip to Paris and leaves Marge behind. While Homer is gone, Ned comes over for dinner and there is some sexual tension between the two of them. In Paris Homer gets guilty and returns to Springfield. You might expect Homer to find Marge and Ned together. However Marge doesn't go through with it and nothing happens. Although they talk fast and I couldn't understand a lot of the words. No matter what language the Simpsons are in they are still funny.

Skepsis

Step 1: Read Kultur 6 articles 4 days in advance.

Step 2: Attempt to respond to them 4 days later.

Step 3: Reread Kultur 6 articles.

Of all the things I couldn't handle, I would not expect it to be door etiquette. But I have such a complex about respecting others' time that I would find it challenging to simply knock and enter with any kind of confidence.

Bild Zeitung is of course reminiscent of the British Star or American National Enquirer, but it surprised me that it has such a reach in Germany. I'm skeptical, considering the very same source claims Germans have an obsession with statistics. And no German I've met has ever been gossipy. Certainly not enough to accept their news from a tabloid. Overall these articles are becoming less and less appealing... possibly because the claim about Bild Zeitung is a tidbit I don't wish to believe. I'm at least as hesitant to accept that many Americans buy tabloids. SOMEONE must, yet I've never seen anybody buy one. Then again, discretion in such a venture would be advisable.

I also strongly disagree with the author of the garbage article. Come on, dude, it's not that hard to separate what you throw out and recycle. It's a shame, though, that the receptacles all look the same - all the garbage and recyclables would get mixed up in busy public places. Perhaps a different lid style would be better, forcing users to think before they threw. It frustrates me that the author treats garbage like it's no big deal. Garbage is a huge deal. The infrastructure devoted to it is vast and shockingly well-hidden considering its reach. Without government discussing garbage (which the author ridicules) we end up with accumulated trash, garbage worker strikes (yes, they are possible) (particularly in America)... and minimal recycling. Sad!

Kultur 6

Although the Bild might make fun of Germans, they get angry when other nations make fun of Germans. I thought that the Bild is much more important in Germany than the tabloids are in America, but I think that Germans take their tabloids more in context then Americans do. It sounds like Germans are a bit serious about recycling. I have noticed an increase of recycling efforts on campus. The Germans must have been serious for a while now. I find it funny however that every thing is color coded. Which that would make it difficult for me to recycle. Though I suppose if they had labels on them I could figure them out. I think that America could take a lesson from Germany and put increasing pressure to recycle. The closed door policy is very interesting. I have to say that it makes it easier to detect if someone wants to see if you if you have a closed or open door. Although I suppose always having a closed door policy works too.

AMD 6 - I took an extra day.

For this last AMD I wanted to do a little research about what it would be like to be a college student in Germany, and how college life is different over there.

First, I came upon some information that made me pretty neidisch. In Germany, universities are funded mostly by taxes and by the government, and almost all are free of tuition (Studiengebühren). No tuition to pay! Wunderbar! However, there is one minor tradeoff. Because the education system is designed and managed by the state, the curriculum is pretty much the same through all of Germany and it is very rigidly imposed.

Next, just like was mentioned in the book, most students do not live in dormitories when attending a university. Instead, many will find their own apartments within the city that their university is located. Their living expenses, including food, are their major expense along with books.

And going along with that last point, since universities in Germany typically consist of buildings within the center of a town, and none really have a designated campus area, there is little sense of community within a German university. Students don't live together, their academics take up most of their personal time, and German universities are said to be "all-business". The schools are strictly their to teach students. An American student in Germany won't be able to find yearbooks from the university, ceremonies, or clubs to join, or sports teams made up of students to watch with your friends. Instead, school life and private life are entirely separate. Personally, I can see the practicality of the university providing only what it needs to because it runs off taxes, but I also think that a German student would be so impressed by American college life and, more importantly, how much fun we have at Michigan.

Despite the sense of community through the university, some sources that I found state that German students love to get involved with each other. Kaffee und Kuchen would be a typical gathering for friends or classmates who want to study or spend some time together. Dinner parties are also fairly common, but are typically organized between groups of established friends. From what I have read, meeting new people at a German university may prove to be a challenge, unlike what you would find at an American university, where people are seemingly forced to meet each other and given the chance to join clubs and groups.

One aspect of a German university town that I find intriguing would be the Kneipe where groups of friends can hang out with beer. We have our fair share of pubs on campus, but in most cases underclassmen cannot go in. American universities have house parties, sororities and fraternities, events like our UMix organized by the university, and other ways to have fun when you're not studying. I think the option in Germany to gather in a casual setting to drink would be a great way to spend your time at the university.

So it seems to me that German college life is different from that in America, but the major similarity is that groups of young people who want an education and want a solid foundation for a career will work hard in school, but also find fun things to do within their free time.

Kultur 6

Out of the articles this week, I think the excerpt from the book about Ausländer in Deutschland is the most interesting. Germany, along with most countries in Europe if you think about it, are not founded on the principle of having a diverse populous. Germany, for thousands of years, has been inhabited by Germans, just like other European countries. Immigration between European countries up until the Industrial Revolution wasn't very common, probably because languages were shared only in certain regions. America, however, was built with immigrants from multiple European nations. First, mostly settlers from the UK settled on the East coast, Spanish missionaries came to Florida and the Caribbean, the Irish came in the early 1900s and many German immigrants came during WWII. The native population of America is one of the smallest ethnic groups.

It is somewhat odd for me to think that in Germany, ethnic diversity has only in the last 50 years started to increase. Until then, I assume, Germany has been predominantly inhabited by those whose lineages stayed put in the region for hundreds of years. The native population of Germany and the rest of the region around it is the major ethnic group. The article mentions subtle racism that has started to become apparent in the country in the last fifty years. I think it's odd that just as America is starting to move towards racial equality in the 1960s and 70s that Germany is just starting to become more multiracial. Germany is still becoming more diverse through immigration, so it could be interesting to see from an American viewpoint how it deals with racism, discrimination, and immigration laws, considering that we have our fair share of problems with all three in the US.

kultur 6

Kultur 6 hatten drei großen Artikel! In "German Privacy: Come on in, my door is always closed", the article was a bit sarcastically explaining that Germans keep their doors closed, but that this is not to persuade people from bothering them... So people in Germany don't say "Come in" after a knock? It seems like that would cause a bunch of problems with roommates. We've also discovered it is quite common to have roommates, even past college.
Ich möchte eine Kopie der Bild-Zeitung zu lesen. It's nice to know that their standards for not-news "news" are a little lower. I understand that it's not quite the level of "news" as our tabloids, but the tagline sums it up so perfectly for me: Bild Dir Deine Meinung. I LOVED the quote: "In any case the rear end of my chancellor is nicer for me to look at than your whiskey-bloated ass-faces in London."
The last Artikel about "Division Hell: Worshipping the Garbage Gods" was unsurprising. I've seen the color coded garbage recepticles before, but usually they've been accompanied by pictures and words of what goes in each. At my undergrad we had very specific recycling bins like this, although ours were open on Sunday... was that sarcasm? are they SERIOUSLY closed on Sundays?
Ich mag die Artikel auf www.spiegel.de lesen.

Kultur 6

Guten Tag!

I found the first two articles - the one about the popular German tabloid and the one about the proper etiquette of knocking and entering nach Deutschland - were the two most interesting.

I guess I wasn't fully informed about the extremes of certain American and British tabloids - I knew they were just full of useless celebrity gossipy shit, but I had no idea any living soul actually read them. I was absolutely shocked to find out about the vastness of the German tabloid's audience, and how large of a role it had in the country's mass media industry. Not only did it contain all the gossipy and playboy bullshit of a standard tabloid, but it also included actual political opinion and news stories that people actually respected and trusted. Amazing. I was slightly confused, though, whether the tabloid itself was supposed to be satirical or not. The snippet about its motto being "we form your opinions, so you don't have to." This seems sarcastic, as if it's poking fun at the reliability and gullibility (not sure if that's a word) of people who take everything from the mass media at face value, but I have also heard that Europeans (or maybe it was just Italians) neither understand nor use sarcasm. It reminds me of programs like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central, which are satirical but also include relevant information.

The article about the closed doors and knocking was one of the most intriguing Kultur articles, in my opinion. It made German culture seem pretty intimidating, as if everyone wanted to be left alone and if you bothered to ask anyone for something they would be incredibly annoyed. Oh well, just something you have to deal with I guess. There's a stereotype that Americans smile too much, and maybe they are just as annoyed as Germans are with people but they just don't put forth the effort to hide it. I don't know, maybe not. An awful lot of generalizations here, which is never good when learning/talking about a different culture - that's how different cultures distance themselves from each other.

Auf wiedersehen!

Kultur 6

"Bild Zeitung Rules Germany". Wow. I had no idea Germany would allow such a racy paper to continue to be published even during the time of the Soviet Union. I was trying to think of papers in the US that would be similar to what Bild Zeitung does. At 2 in the morning, my imagination could only stretch as far as The Onion, and to my understanding, The Onion is fully fictional as opposed to Bild Zeitung, which is filled with exaggerated but factual stories. I find it hilarious that a big-breasted blonde still takes front cover priority over Angela Merkel's prestigious award, making it clear that no matter what happens in history, Bild Zeitung stays true to it's mission.

"Come on In, My Door is Always Closed" was a short, but helpful article. I never know how to approach someone for something I need them to do because I feel it depends on the person's mood. I find I am slightly uncomfortable walking in to a room whether the door is open or closed in the US, and as a result I tend to tip toe in either way. (I have also found that starting off timid is generally better than the later because it makes the person feel in charge of the situation. Of course, as the interaction progresses I can return to my normal self with ease)

With that in mind, I'll remember to switch my mindset in Germany; I'll be sure to knock loud and enter with confidence.

"Worshiping the Garbage Gods" had me laughing so hard I thought it best to start writing before I disrupted EVERYONE in this study room. Hailing a cab because one couldn't figure out the ticket machine? Green glass and brown glass? No recycling on Sundays? I certainly didn't notice this during my stay in Germany, but that may have been because we were guests who used a private means of transportation most of the time. Coming from a place (My horrible building in NY) that essentially doesn't have a recycling program, this is the other extreme. I think I could get used to and prefer the German extreme to the one, or lack of one at home.

Last but not least, "Wo Studentin Wohnen" seemed to take on somewhat of a "pity me, this is all we have" vibe when this is the case in many universities around the world. One thing I did find interesting was that off-campus housing is more expensive than on-campus, which is definitely opposite in Ann Arbor. (I wonder if that's the case in NYC as well...) I supposed I can sympathize with the no convenient dining hall aspect. Despite the Freshman 15, I did like the convenience of fresh or cooked food my first year in college.

Tschüss!

The first article for Kultur 6 was interesting, but also anticipated. It did not seem that the contents of the magazine were that radical, although I am not what the extent of the front-page nudity was. In America the media has a huge influence on political results and the development of a negative news story can spell death for a politician. In the office door article I was somewhat unsure what the significance was. Is it that the people never get up from behind their desk to greet you? The garbage gods article was somewhat intriguing. I am curious what the reason is for it. I assume that it is just saving a relatively small amount of public funds or that it could be a general attempt to set a precedent for citizen responsibility. The student housing situation in Germany was problematic. I was very surprised that rarely anyone lives in student dorms and I would like to see how that number compares to other Western European countries. The relatively subtle location of the universities was not that surprising considering the substantial difference in money, both in input and output, between German and American universities; I also think this has something to do with German cities being old, while places like Ann Arbor developed with the university.

AMD 6

Initially I was going to write about the Lola Rennt style Homer Simpson. I didn't have enough to write about it, but I thought the style was interesting.

I was in the mood for some poetry, so for this AMD I decided to research famous poets and their poems. Since everybody knows Goethe, I chose to research Joseph Freiherr Von Eichendorff. He was born in the Upper Silesia, which, during his time was part of the German Empire, but is now part of Poland. After studying law in Halle and Heidelberg, Eichendorff took on various jobs servicing the Prussian State and volunteering in the Napoleonic Wars. He was an accomplished historian in addition to his love of writing poetry. He believed that one should find happiness in nature's changing seasons, and this is apparent in much of his poetry. He writes about the way the sky kisses the earth, and dusk spreading its wings. The poems are short, but his use of imagery is just wonderful.

I won't post his poems, as there are too many, but I thought I'd post the website that drew me to Eichendorff.

http://weird_ophelia.tripod.com/id4.html

The poems are wonderful as well as the paintings that go with them.

Kultur 6

I've always thought it was cool how close together all the different nations of Europe are. The end of the Bild Zeitung article features a Bild writer talking trash to the UK, saying "We will destroy you at the world cup." Because our country is so large and independent, we don't have much of a "rivalry" with any particular nation. But it seems as though some countries in Europe do, at least when it comes to soccer or politics. There are so many different countries in such a small area that it could almost be compared to rivalries in college sports. I wonder if this is actually the case, and if so, which countries rival eachother?

Someone smart invented locks for a reason. The German policy of keeping doors closed is fine, but I think the best system is just to lock your door if you really don't want to be disturbed. This would avoid all the awkward knocking or even worse walking in on somebody when you shouldn't have.

The third article was not surprising to me. European nations, especially Germany, France, and Spain, are way ahead of the US in terms of environmentalism. Most of these countries rely on renewable sources (wind, solar, tide, etc) as a major part of their energy infrastructure. The US is just beginning to take a serious look at Renewables. We Americans are notoriously wasteful consumers. We account for a massive chunk (the exact numbers have escaped me) of the world's energy consumption and produce equally massive amounts of waste and CO2. Germans in general are much more environmentally conscious either by choice or by governmental mandate. Either way, the effect is the same. Their tricky recycling system is a big reason why their environmental footprint is so little.

Kulter 6

While I was reading the trash article, and all the mysterious color coded systems, I found myself wondering if its purpose was truly functional, or whether it is just one of those crazy, neurotic german contraption. I like to think that maybe all the different bins for different waste makes recycling more efficient and practical, which, if that be the case, would be wonderful I the united states. I'm sure it must be confusing to new comers, but for the germans, it is just a system they have grown up with and seems useful rather than perplexing. I also extremely appreciate the bold and fearless approach to entering a room. I think it is an approach to be admired, while here we are quite timid, in Germany audacity is respected. Enter a room with a purpose and want to be there! Finally, i am most intrigued by the Bild Zeitung. I'm not sure I quite understand what it is exactly, but it seems to be very entertaining. Sex reports and scandalous news on the daily? i don't think even America could top that with People or MTV.

AMD 6

In light of the holiday season, I decided to research the true beginnings of christmas, or Weihnachten, from Germany and how America has adapted many of their traditions. I learned that Christbaumgeback is a traditional christmas tree pastry, and they also invented the tradition of gingerbread houses. St. Nicholas day is December 6th, and traditionally children put their boots or shoes on the porch to be filled in the night with either candy, if they have been good, or twigs if naughty. Christmas begins the first sunday of Advent or Adventszeit. Christkind, where Kris Kringle is derived, is a child angel that delivers christmas messages. Weihnachtsmann is another recognized figure who resembles Americas known santa clause. The 25 days of christmas calendar also is from a tradition in germany. Its interesting to reflect on my childhood and realize that this warm, magical time of year has been taken from a completely different land. Its the most wonderful time, of the year!

Kultur 6

So this is it. The last post on this blog (if I do not finish this post it is because my endless tears of lament have destroyed my keyboard). First off is "Sex, Smut, and Shock." I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by the subject matter here, as I was expecting another article about the large amount of sex shops in Germany. It was fun to see how Bild is similar to publications like The National Enquirer, minus the porn. I especially liked the jabs at the English in the final paragraph.

The next article was "German Privacy." Pretty standard stuff here; "You know that thing that's normal in America? Well, it's not like that in Germany! Isn't that weird?!?!"

Moving on to the final online article, "Division Hell." This article reminds me of the waste bins in the basement of the League. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about: in the basement of the League, there are wide trash bins with 5 or 6 different compartments for different types of recyclables. So I guess I didn't find this article as strange, because this is a practice that we seem to be picking up in America. That's it! Goodbye, http://www.spiegel.de/!!! It certainly has been... interesting

The first article in the book was about the very topical shortage of student housing. I say it's topical because the University of Michigan is dealing with a shortage of student housing for next year. But, alas, it seems that we cannot learn from the Germans, because they have not figured out a suitable solution to the problem either. However, as someone who lives off-campus and loves it, I don't see what the problem is.

I'm not going to talk about the second book article, because other than the tidbit about how it has a partnership with Ann Arbor, the article was pretty bland. The final article, however, was much more engaging. From what I have read, not just in this article, it seems like more European countries are fairly xenophobic, and are afraid of the growing Middle Eastern population. I know France has even gone so far as to ban the wearing of Burkas (the head covering Muslim women wear) in public. It is very interesting to read about this when European countries have the reputation of being much more progressive and liberal.

For AMD 6 I read “Cornerstones of Socialism” by Karl Marx where he mocks specific attempts to justify Socialism. One of his first complaints is the attempt of the socialist writer to portray Socialism as natural, and man is the only exception; Marx contends that rather nature is actually a capitalist competition. He criticizes the claim the claim that there is no dichotomy between life and happiness; he exposes the circular logic of the author and laments that it is referred to as development in Germany. The author he is criticizing has attempted to portray society as the totality of existence and the person as individual existence, while saying that these contradict each other. He compares society to nature and humans to the things in nature. Marx mocks this as saying that animals do not make demands of equality on nature, but on the contrary, are not allowed to make any demands at all. Furthermore, totality of existence is merely the sum of the individual existences, and the former is maximized by simply maximizing the latter.

AMD 6

For my final AMD - the AMD of all AMDs - I watched an episode on Looney Toons called Holzfäller-Hase, which means "Lumberjack Hare". In the episode, Bugs Bunny finds himself in the territory of Paul Bunyon, seeing a huge axe labeling 'Paul Bunyon' stuck in a tree trunk. Bugs then encounters Herr Bunyon's gigantic dog, who is roughly eight billion times the size of Bugs. As always, Bugs Bunny just barely escapes what seems to be an impending death.

Easily my favorite aspect of the episode was that Bugs kept breaking into some catchy song every time he tried to go about his lumberjack business. I would be very curious to compare the English version of the episode to this. In the episode auf Deutsch, Bugs' song rhymed, which means they couldn't have translated it literally from English. It would be very interesting to see how closely the interpreters were able to keep the meaning of the song while maitaining the rhyming pattern.

I was surprised with how easily I was able to understand the dialogue. Though I didn't always know the vocabulary, I could tell what words they were saying and see them spelled out in my mind. At the beginning of the course, I read somewhere on the website or syllabus or something that the German language was spelled exactly like it sounded, and having been exposed to all or most of the different sounds and syllables of the language at this point in my studies, I can confirm this. Not that I was skeptical before.

I know I'm going to have Bug Bunny's little working tune stuck in my head for at least two days, but I don't mind because it's a damn catchy tune. At the end of the episode, Bugs and the collosal canine become friends, which added a very nice touch. Another great scene was when a regular sized moose appears after the giant dog blows the horn, and then takes one look at the dog and runs away (it loses its comedic value when converted to text, but just take my word for it). So far, I've watched a three episodes of Bugs Bunny auf Deutsch, and I've thoroughly enjoyed each of them. This may become a regular thing for me, even outside of AMDs.

Auf wiedersehen!

AMD 6

For the last AMD I watched the Simpsons allusion to Lola Rennt. First of all, I love the Simpsons, even in German when I can't understand most of it. The parts I was able to understand most of was the breakfast scene and the grammar correcting robot, which I thought was especially funny because it corrected the grammar in German. I think that Lisa's part had the majority of references to Lola Rennt. I nearly died laughing when Lisa was running and the Lola Rennt music started playing. Also, her situations was the most similar to Lola's, because of the situation and the events that transpired on her way to school. It was difficult to understand most of the words because of the quality of the video, which is too bad because I couldn't properly test my knowledge of German.

Finally, when I tried to click the "Barts Tag" link, the video was not working, and I couldn't find any other videos on youtube. I do know how the episode ends because I have seen it in English. Well, I guess that's it for the last AMD. These assignments have been fun!

Kultur 6

As the semester comes to a close we finish it off in the way it was started, by shocking us silly American students. We are once again shown the vast differences between our two cultures when reading the Bild Zeitung Rules Germany. The understanding here being that the tabloids we see in the U.S. use much less smut and employ many more ridiculously schemed stories. In order to gain a better understanding of this massive difference I took a look at Bild's website and the National Enquirer's website. The most significant, and probably most obvious, difference is that the National Enquirer markets itself as a source for "Celebrity news" while Bild is one of the main sources of news in Germany.

Another one of the articles Come On In, My Door Is Always Closed. Here we are once again given insight into some of the backwards logic that is used in Germany. This once again leads me to the conclusion that Germany would be a scary place to visit, since many of the cultural norms there make no sense to me.

My fear of Germany is only further reinforced when I read the article Worshipping the Garbage Gods.The garbage can mentioned in the article is shown below. Personally even though I can read what it says, it is still far too complicated and I can guarantee that I would mess up what should be a very simple process.

Kultur 6

Reading the 'Sex, Smut and Shock...' I wasn't shocked that Germany had such a newspaper but rather that it was so popular. It seems that anyone no matter of social rank is liable to be mocked in the publication and that has to be very scary for celebrities and politicians. In my opinion this publication is too hard on politicians while American publications almost completely neglect politicians. It would be nice to find a happy medium of the two. I found the whole closed door thing
in Germany to be bizarre. I feel like one could walk in on some embarrassing things like Lola does in Lola Rennt. How do Germans express that they are in their office and do not want to be bothered at all? A do not disturb sign hanging on the doorknob? I found the garbage article to be refreshing and while it may be confusing at least the trash is not being left in the streets. However, it does seem inconvenient that recycling bins are closed on Sunday. My impression from the student living article is that the government is more concerned with the vocational schools where a majority of Germans go than the Universities. It is sad to think that many Germans living in our sister city are paying very high rent on top of tuition

AMD 6

For my final AMD I decided to take the Christmas theme. I read an article on the Christmas Truce of 1914 during World War I. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Germans and the Allies went over to each other's side of the trench and traded food and tobacco with the enemy side. Soccer games were set up and enemies played soccer with each other as if they no longer realized what they were doing in the war. Not only did each size fratenize with the enemy in these ways, but in some areas, the Allies and the Germans even held Christmas feasts with each other. The Christmas spirit trumped the hatred of stalemate.

This was extremely odd of German troops to fratenize with the enemy, for the Germans had the tradition of the "Prussian Spirit." This meant that the German society and military was disciplined and acted like an army. To maintain this reputation, the stories of the Christmas Truce were suppressed in Germany. Some generals maintained this discipline, while other generals had a lax attitude and allowed their troops to celebrate Christmas with the enemy, while gaining valuable intelligence of the enemy's defenses and to resupply their own trenches.

The Christmas Truce ended, for most, after Christmas Day, but some lasted until New Year's. Each side agreed to a signal for the recommencement of war. However, as the war protracted, hatred increased. There was no Christmas Truce after 1914.

http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwari/p/xmastruce.htm

Kultur 6

I was shocked to learn about the housing for University students in Germany. I cannot believe they only have room to house 19% of students. It did not say but I was curious whether they housed mostly freshman, or if upperclassmen got priority in the dorms. I can't imagine going into my freshman year at the University and having to find my own housing. I was even more shocked to learn most students just live on their own in an apartment, and are responsible for everything. I would be terrified to live alone, especially since most apartments are far from campus.

North campus is bad enough here, but at least we have the option of living in the dorms. It is crazy to think of how spread out things are there. How do you ever get a sense of community if you don't go through living in a dorm. Also most dorms are single rooms. I feel like having a roommate in college is a right of passage everyone goes through. I feel the German students are missing out with how spread out their campus is, and their lack of options for living space.

I also enjoyed reading the article about Germans closed doors. I would never walk into someones room without knocking first. Funny how even a closed door can mean different things in different cultures.

Kultur 6

I loved the article on Bild Zeitung. It just goes to show that people love scandal and blown-out-of-proportion humor targeted at famous people across the board. I finally feel like Germans and Americans share a connection! However, I think we definitely still win when it comes to crossing the line, (posting inappropriate pictures publically). I’m glad that Germany still has its standards. I am SO happy that Germany is so environmentally friendly. Maybe it’s just my inner-hippie speaking, but I appreciate their complicated system of recycling/garbage and the “color-coded riddles” on the waste bins. I just can’t believe you can’t recycle on Sundays. That is so strange!

What are also weird to me are closed doors in general. My house has always had an open-door policy. People just come inside whenever they want. So in Germany, I would find myself a little puzzled if a closed door stood in my way of getting whatever I needed done. But now I am well aware that closed doors are normal and that “knocking with purpose” is all I would have to do in order to be well received on the other side. Sehr gut zu wissen :)

AMD 6

For this AMD, I decided I would read German poetry. The German was on one side and the English translation was on other side. So for fun, I covered the English side and tried to make sense of the German. It was pretty hard, but I figured some things out. A German piece I had been working on coincidentally had a lot of terms that dealt with flowers and blooming so I picked up on the words Blümchen and blüht (little flower and bloom/blossom). Also, the title of the poem was Gefunden which means found in past tense; something we had just recently learned so I got excited about that. Other things I recognized were Wie Aüglein schön (what pretty eyes) and zum Garten (to the garden). I could distinguish which words were the nouns because of capitalization which really helped my comprehension. Finally, I read the English translation and realized something: there is a connection between adding endings to a noun that makes the noun mean "little". For example Aüglein means little eyes versus just the word die Augen meaning eyes. Also, Blüme means flower, but in this poem, they used the word Blümchen meaning little flower. I definitely don't know which endings go with whichever kinds of nouns, (this is probably something way too advanced for my brain), but I picked up on it. Overall, I really enjoyed this poem: it was so cute and I know a couple more verbs now: zu suchen (seeking), brechen/gebrochen (pick/picked), grubs (dig), etc. Es hat mir geholfen!

Here's the link:

http://german.about.com/library/blgefunden.htm

Lola Rennt

After viewing the hectic Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis it was nice to relax on Sunday and watch something more American than football: The Simpsons. It was really weird having watching the show with the backward camera angle but didn't affect my comprehension of the show. Unfortunately I only could watch two of the three alternate stories because Bart's Tag was removed and I couldn't find it on the internet. I recognized the majority of the words being used but there were also a lot of words and tenses I didn't know. Without the animation I don't know if I'd be able to comprehend the plot. One phrase I understood on multiple levels was "Er liebt Bier" which means he likes beer. 'Es tut mir Leid' was used often and doesn't translate great but it seems to mean to express sympathy. I thought the funniest part was when the kids were laughing at Lisa and then the teacher told them to laugh in French. I found that this Simpsons episode wasn't really like Lola Rennt because instead of showing one person's alternate realities of the same day, this episode showed the same reality through different people. I thought the Simpsons was still funny in German and I will have to check out some more episodes as my skill goes up!

AMD- 6

For my final AMD assignment of the semester I watched the three part Simpsons episode as recommended by the AMD 6 page. As stated in the prompt the episode is a clear allusion to everyone's favorite movie Lola Rennt.

From what I can tell the three parts had loosely intersecting plot lines which eventually tied together to make more sense of exactly what was happening. The episode differed slightly from Lola Rennt, in that it does not have alternate plot lines. Instead the plot line is maintained but is shown from varying points of view. As can be expected, since my understanding of German is still relatively limited I did not fully understand the episode, but watching the cartoon closely gave me a greater understanding of exactly what was going on.

It is very interesting to see how a German production had such an influence on an American television program, but then again the Simpsons have done just about everything by now, so the fact that they produce an episode alluding to Lola Rennt is not all that surprising.