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.

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 5

My interpretation of the most recent Kultur articles is that Germans are strange, oblivious semi-humans who lack empathy. (That seems to be the over arching theme of all the articles we've read.) To be honest, at this point the articles have become predictable. When I saw the first title, "Rules of the Street: No Blood, No Entschuldgung," I immediately though to myself, "This article will be about how Germans are strange and lack basic human emotions." Lo and behold, that was indeed what the article was about just that, so either the website's observations of the Germans are becoming redundant, or I've developed psychic powers. Now, to be fair, the articles are still well written and quirky, which makes them enjoyable to read, but I'm running out of things to say about them.

The articles about women in Germany and "Cliquen und Kneipen" to be a refreshing change of pace. The small part that said the EU prohibits women from being paid less than men for equivalent work was interesting, because in the very next paragraph it says that women still make less money than men. The article was especially interesting because it shows that Germany and America have some of the same problems with gender discrimination, but are taking steps to overcome it. The article "Cliquen und Kneipen" was nice because it describes Germans as *gasp!* normal human beings who enjoy the company of others and conversation.

AMD 5

For my AMD, I briefly looked at the Denglisch article and I decided to watch famous movie scenes translated into German. I started with Gandolf vs. the Balrog from Lord of the Rings. First, I want to mention how funny all of these scenes sound in German. Not because the language itself is funny sounding, but because the people dubbing the voices aren't acting in the scene too, their voices just don't fit the scene. Anyway, needless to say, I almost dies laughing when Gandolf yells, "DU KANNST NICHT VORBEI!"

I thought the Denglisch article was very interesting. It's always interesting to see how languages deal with each other. I was always curious to know what other countries do when things from America, e.i. fast food places, pop culture etc..., makes it way into their country. Obviously, sometimes American businesses make up names for things, and I wondered if the German also made up new words for that or just used the English version. Well, I guess there's a special name for that phenomena called Denglisch and it certainly answers quite a few of my questions about the combination of culture from different countries.

Next, I watched the breakfast scene from Pulp Fiction. (Warning! This clip contains some intense bad language, in German) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KkxCyN2gJsI will admit, in this scene the German language works very well, because German just sounds angrier than English, even if it deprives the movie of the awesomeness of Samuel L. Jackson delivering the lines. Especially while watching this clip, I wished I could speak German better, because it's such a good scene from such a great movie and I can't really understand anything going on. I mean, I can catch a few of the words, but all the lines fly by so fast and it all goes over my head. Also, there is quite a bit of Denglisch in this clip, since there is a brief part where they all talk about different fast food places.

I watch quite a few other clips including the "Ich bin dein Vater" scene from Star Wars, Neo vs. Morpheus from the Matrix, and Gladiator. It was cool to see how many English movies have been translated into German as well as try to understand all of them!

Kultur 4

First of all, I think I need to enroll in Anonyme Unordentliche (Slobs Anonymous). Also, the roads in Germany are terrifying, and I think these article accurately portray that fact. I've driven in New York, Chicago, and Paris, but none of those places compare with the white-knuckle thrill you get while driving down any road in Germany. As almost every one knows, Germany is home of the autobahn, the famous no speed limit highway, and personally, I think the autobahn is the easiest, most relaxed driving environment in Germany. The cities, on the other hand, there is a fierce battle between motorists and bikers, each side fighting for domination of the road. I will admit, it's been a while since I've been to Germany and maybe they've built a few more bike paths, but when I was there it was a madhouse. The worst of all the roads are the country roads. While in Germany, I went to a small village where some of my family's distant relatives live, and in order to get there we had to take the back roads. Not only is the speed limit 80mph, but the roads are so thin. Each time a car comes driving down the other lane, you have to maneuver into the perfect position or else... It's truly an experience and if you ever have to drive in Germany, I recommend renting a small car.

I never had any experience riding the subways in Germany, but I have to assume what the article said is accurate. Also, I opened the article about nudity, saw the picture at the top of the article, and promptly closed the tab. I did see the title to the next optional article was about how there is less nudity in German now, can't complain about that.

AMD 4

In 2009, my sister spent the year studying abroad in Austria. She told me that one of the biggest things she missed while she was there was American music. So, for my 4th AMD assignment, I thought I would look at music in German. Really, other than the fact the lyrics are in German, I can't hear a distinct difference in the style of the music, and sometimes the songs by German artists are in English. The way the music sound is almost the same as American songs; fairly simple chord progression, pumping bass line, and a lead vocalist with some harmonies.

Since there isn't much to talk about with German music as a whole, I will discuss my favorite song I came across.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBjDZMJUduo

It's called Nein Mann by Laserkraft 3D. I recommend watching it for 2 reasons; 1 the lyrics are really simple and even as a German 101 student, I am able to understand most of the lyrics and 2 it's gloriously hilarious music video and strange song. It starts out with a girl saying that the club is lame and she wants to go home, but the singer of the band responds "Nein Mann," and talks about how he wants to stay and dance. Then, another girls comes up to his and asks if they can go to his house to do a difference type of dancing ;-) But, again he says "Nein Mann" and goes into the chorus. Finally, the bouncer tells him the club is closing and he needs to gather his things and leave. Once more he proudly proclaims "Nein Mann" and continues to dance. Nothing can stop this dancing machine, and his moves are nothing short of legendary. Check this video out, you will not soon forget it.

Kultur 3

The first article I read was "Beer, Brewskies and Liquid Bread." I have witnessed first-hand the German's obsession with beer. There's beer everywhere in Germany and the article does mention all of the crazy places where beer is served, and the deep impact it has on the culture. However, Germany is not alone with their different outlook on alcohol. In my time in France, England, and Austria, I witnessed the overall European outlook on alcohol consumption. The sense I got was that Europeans don't have such an uptight view of alcohol consumption. Just as you can buy beer almost anywhere in Germany, you could buy wine almost anywhere in France or Schnapps in Austria. I also read the the article "Capping the Bottle" about attempts to ban public drinking in Germany. This is certainly a complex issue, especially for the Germans, where drinking is a much larger part of the culture. I see this as very similar to the laws that ban smoking in public places in America. I'm not sure which side of the debate I would take. On one hand, public drinking is banned in America, and I think we get along just fine, but it doesn't seem like public drinking in Germany is causing too many problems. I'm sure Germany will find a good solution that will satisfy both sides of the debate. The article "German Fast Food" discusses the different fast food option is Germany. I have to admit, German food is delicious, even the fast food. Some cities in America have hot dog stands, but in Germany you can buy things like bratwurst and schnitzel on the street. The quality of the street vendor's food in Germany is very good as well. A fast food place in Germany I went to that was not mentioned in the article is a place call Nordsee. It is a McDonald's style restaurant that serves only sea food.

The two required articles are more difficult to write about because they don't deal with a outward, easily observable action, but a behavior of the Germans. In addition, the articles seem to contradict each other, one saying Germans are cold and pessimistic, and the other claiming they have a well developed sense of humor. Of the two, I'm more inclined to believe that the majority of Germans are well humored and not as intensly pessimistic and the first article claims.

AMD 2

For my second AMD assignment, I chose to read Mark Twain's "The Awful German Language." I have always been told by non-native English speakers, that English is an extremely difficult language to understand. But, according to Mark Twain, German is even more difficult. One part I found particularly interesting was when he was talking about the gender of nouns and the word der (the.) First, Twain seemed annoyed that all nouns had genders and most of the genders seem arbitrary in their assignment, but the part that most frustrated him was the difference in der and how it changes with each noun and case. I too find der to be confusing, there is no different way of saying "the" in English, so I find it perplexing that German requires different ways of saying der. And, in my favorite part of the essay, Twain says, "In German, a young lady has no sex, while a turnip has. Think what overwrought reverence that shows for the turnip"

One point in the essay, Twain briefly talks about how all nouns in German are capitalized, and, to be honest, I cannot tell if he is being sarcastic or not. The beginning of the paragraph seems completely sincere, but by the end it seems as if he is bashing the language again. I for one, enjoy that all nouns in German are capitalized, but it will take a great deal of getting used to, furthermore I'm afraid that I will eventually start to capitalize all my English words too. Overall, Twain writes a funny essay with some great points about the quirkiness of the German language

I greatly enjoyed all of the articles for this reading. I come from a very German family, so I was able to relate to many of the German quirks, especially the whining and directness. I don't think my family complains to the extend that the article seemed to imply, but there definitively is a lot of it in my extended family. I think it comes from the fact that Germans are never satisfied. However, the directness is something I greatly admire. I don't think of myself as a very direct individual, but other people in my family, especially my grandparents, can be very direct. It is a trait that I think is taken for granted by many people, even if it can lead to some awkward interactions. I don't think my family is obsessed with statistics, but we seem very interested in them. I always love get togethers with my mother's side of the family, because all of them work on a dairy farm. It's great to hear them talk about how many more cows they have and how many gallons of milk they got this year, and it's impressive they know all the numbers of the top of their heads. The only thing I don't notice with my family is the staring problem, maybe because all of my relatives have been in America since before WWI that trait was never passed down to us. For the most part, these articles seem to fairly represent some of the characteristics of German individuals.

AMD1

First of all, I would like to apologize for posting this twice, but I forgot the labels on the first post.

For my first AMD assignment, I watched a few episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants in German on youtube. But in German, it's call SpongeBob Schwammkopf, which according to google translate, means sponge head. So, the German version of Spongebob roughly translates to SpongeBob SpongeHead. Here is the link to one of the episodes I watched;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRMTWmLPU3k&feature=related

I had never seen this episode before, but because it's SpongeBob, it was fairly easy to follow. Basically, SpongeBob and Patrick are annoying Squidward, who's name I can't understand in German, which ends up causing Squidward to get hit in the face with a door making him look better. I was really excited because throughout the entire episode, everybody calls Squidward hübschling, which is one of the words for attractive we learned in class. I was able to understand a few phrases her and there, such as at 2:05, where an old lady fish says that blue is her favorite color. The majority of the episode flew way over my head, but I was pleasantly surprised with how many words I recognized.

Tschüss!

Jake Freund