Cultural Differences

There seem to be two very distinct aspects of German culture that come out in this chapters readings.  Germans are seen as a xenophobic, closed off, cold, and calculating society by many outsiders.  This can be seen on the German flirting scene.  There are so many unwritten rules and ways to act.  If you don't have those rules down be ready to get shot down pretty regularly.  This mainly includes not coming on too strongly, which could ruin most American guys.  I have not been apart of the dating scene for sometime and am not too sure of the intricacies of the American style, but from what I have seen it mostly consists of drinking a lot and being a douche bag, lol.  This would be a big no no in Germany.  Another example of the closed aspect is on the subject of politeness.  As in the articles, the cold eyed stare as someone treads on your shoe would be a major Faux pas in most other cultures.  (Coincidentally Faux pas translates to false step... made me chuckle)  In Germany this seems to be a common theme. 

There is the other aspect to German culture, however, which greatly intrigues me.  That is the apparent openness of the general public to very private matters.  In the last chapter, the articles talked about the openness to nudism that most Deutscher displayed.  This seems to go completely against that cold, closed off attitude found in the first aspect of German culture.  It can be seen in this chapter when reading the article on "German Erotica".  The Germans are very open about their sexuality.  I both read this and have heard conversations on this in person.  My friend from Austria brought up the question of contraception one night during dinner.  He said that once a girl hit 16 in Austria, a good mother would immediately have her on some kind of contraception.  This was brought up in front of a very strict Catholic mother which made for a pretty funny conversation.  I find the difference in both German and American culture, and the split in German culture very interesting.