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

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!

Kultur 5

I found the article about Germans and 'entschuldigung' very interesting. It's not hard to imagine that an entire culture can less prone to apologizing for minor physical contact compared to another culture. That said I think it would be a major culture shock for an American to go to Germany and be constantly pushed around without so much as a 'entschuldigung'. On the flip side Germans might feel weird about an American constantly saying sorry for what they consider a negligible offence.

I wasn't at all surprised about the high volume of sex shops in Germany. The subject of sex is still considered taboo in America and that's why Americans are often stereotyped as prudish. I think there are many strong negative effects on society because our culture's aversion toward sex.

I found the whole 'toilet lady' concept bizarre. I understand that no one wants to use a dirty bathroom but I feel like most bathrooms remain fairly clean with only two to three cleans a day. Why don't these workers have additional responsibilities in their workplace besides siphoning money from people to corporations?

Unsurprisingly I found the most interesting article on 'flirting' in Germany and it seems like the odds are either extremely stacked in a foreigners favor or vice versa depending on the German woman. If the German lady is fed up with the boring flirtation offered by her natives then she may be attracted to Americans. However, it seems more likely that any sort of explicit flirtation will end up backfiring. I can just picture Americans in a bar or club flirtatiously smiling at every German women that walks by and every German women thinking "What a creep!"

After reading the article about cliques and Kneipe's I wondered if the divorce rate in Germany is lower than it is in the U.S. It most likely is because the United States' divorce rate is absurdly high but my thinking behind the idea is this: in Germany one's girlfriend has not only a relationship with their boyfriend, but with her boyfriends' friends too. So if the girl doesn't fit in with your friends then shes out! Huge time saver!

AMD 5

This week for my AMD 5 I decided to read and listen to Germany poetry. The website lyrikline had several recordings of German poets reading their poems. One of my favorites poems on the site is by Arne Rautenberg and it's called "die tollen walrosse". That loosely translates into "the roudy walruses". Here is the poem and a link to listen to the audio version:

zehn walrossen mit super perücken

sollte ein tolles kunststück glücken
erst sah man sie zusammen rücken
sich unverhofft nach etwas bücken 
blitzartig schnell die zungen zücken
und durch zehn riesen-stoßzahn lücken
blassrosa kaugummiblasen drücken

http://lyrikline.org/index.php?id=162&L=0&show=Poems&author=ar07&cHash=d45ed82d41

My attempt to translate the poem line by line resulted in this:

Ten walruses with great wigs

Were supposed to be wonderful successes

Once one moved they all would move

One (walrus) unexpectedly bent to pick something up

Like lightening all the tongues come out

And through the spaces between ten giant tusks

pinkish bubblegum is blown out

After attempting to translate a couple other German poems into English I came to a realization. It is very very hard to translate a poem to another language and retain the original message and beauty of the native language. So I decided to practice scansion on the rest of the poems I read which was still a challenge since I had to think about emphasis of German words. I really liked this poem, about a car, because of the speed at which the author reads it mirrors his fast automobile http://lyrikline.org/index.php?id=162&L=0&show=Poems&author=bb00&cHash=1eeb796466. Then there is something about hearing Johannes Kuhn read his poem "Schulkinder" that makes one want to hear it again and again. Here is that link: http://lyrikline.org/index.php?id=162&L=0&author=jk01&show=Poems&cHash=7a59659eaa. I have never heard of Johannes Kuhn before looking at this website and even though I cannot truly appreciate his prose, I thoroughly enjoy the manner in which he reads his poems. However, my favorite German poet thus far is, like many others, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Kultur 4

I found all these articles on traffic and transportation in Deutschland very interesting. Riding a bike to class in Ann Arbor can often feels like playing a game of cube field. In Deutschland the sidewalks are not only wider, but there is a clear path for the bikers to use where they always have the right of way. I thought the German logic example was pretty funny and can imagine a lot of other situations where it would trouble foreigners. "How much one for a room with one bed?" asks a foreigner to the hotel worker. "150 Euro, but we are currently cleaning those rooms" replies the worker. "Great, I'l take the next available room" says the foreigner. Then he ends up being led to the hotel suite that costs much more than 150 Euro because it was the next room available. I thought the Free Ride article was interesting because if I didn't read that I definitely would have been foolish enough to try to ride for free. The article about the nudists was interesting, but I doubt having prior knowledge of their 'clothing reform' will make it less shocking in person. Enjoy this picture of the red dictator:

AMD 4

For this weeks AMD I decided to use my favorite procrastination site stumbleupon.com. The interest I choose to explore was German and there was a good mix of sites in English and in Deutsch. One site had a list of 69 fun German facts; some of my favorites were: Beer is officially considered a food in Bavaria, 31% of the country remains forests and woodlands, the first printed book was in German, and the longest german word is 'Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft', but I couldn't find what it means. Also i discovered that in Germany's Black Forest there is a barefoot park where one walks a long trail that is composed of many different types of surfaces, such as: sand, mulch, grass, glass, and mud. One site said that there are no drive through ATM's at all in Germany! Ach so! One thing not mentioned in our textbook is that Heidelbirg has the largest wine barrel in the world! Thumbs up in Germany means one and Germans don't like the informal kiss to say hello. That is the end of my random list of interesting facts.

Kultur3

After reading the article "Beer, Brewskies, and Liquid Bread" I frantically searched my room to make sure I still had my passport. Can you imagine beer on the McDonalds Dollar Menu or sipping a cold one during a movie? Ach so! I thought the legislative efforts to tighten public drinking rules in Germany is pitiful. It's seems like a huge part of their culture and national identity. That being said I'm sure all the Deutsch Patriots will never let such laws come into effect. Also, I think the pessimism common in Germans is a force of good for the country. In America we are too opptomistic; as a country we have been sliding in most vital indicators of a countries prosperity, yet we tend to believe things will fix themselves because we think we're great. A good formula for happiness and success is to understand the validity behind pessimistic statements, but internally still enjoy life. It is a bit odd to think that different reigons of Deutschland enjoy different types of humor. I tend to think of Americans all enjoying a similar sense of humor. I think my humor would work best in Hamburger and I'm really looking forward to trying all the delicacies Germany has to offer!

AMD 2

This week for my AMD I decided to watch a German WWII movie. I've seen many, many WWII movies that portray the Allies perspective and I've only seen a few from the Axis so I did some research and decided to watch the German-made film "Stalingrad". This film was made in 1993 and seems to be highly regarded from what I read. The film follows a regiment of soldiers that are first stationed in leisurely Italy and are soon transferred to the front lines of Stalingrad during a harsh Russian winter. I stopped watching halfway through the movie and both sides were in a stalemate. I'd say this was a realistic and gritty portrayal of war and there were some gruesome scenes so far. The budget for this movie must have been quite expensive with all the authentic vehicles and cigarettes consumed. It was hard to understand what the soldiers were saying a lot of the time because they spoke quickly and yelled often. Good thing the action guides the movie forward. I did notice that the soldiers shortened "Habst du Zeit?" to "Wie Zeit?". Also one soldier mentioned the Autobahn and that threw me off because I always thought the Autobahn was created after WWII, but I did some research and they were created both during and after the war. Interestingly it seemed that the Russians and Germans both had some skill with each others language and that seemed strange since they linguistically stem from different sources.

Kultur2

I found the article "German National Pastime:Whining, Bitching, and Moaning" to be an enlightening read. I've actually always thought the German people would never complain about even the most horrid conditions(probably because of WWII). It's funny they will agree they complain too much, yet still defend their constant complaining. The bright side is it sounds like us foreigners will enjoy Deutschland more by comparison. The whole 'stare down' thing sounds really creepy, especially to foreigners. It'd be hard not to sometimes feel like your in a scary movie, but it sounds like there's a lot of room to have fun with the custom. I'd probably try to pull off a 'sleep down' and pretend I'm having trouble staying awake while staring back at someone. I also think living in a society with more honesty and bluntness would be really refreshing. Now I can finally say to a uber-obese person "you don't need that cake". There's no way I'm going to research all the statistics about my hometown before I go to Germany, but I must be careful not to say "I'll figure it out" because the kommisch Germans will sie meinen I will!

AMD 1

I am fortunate enough to have two German Natives living next door to me. So tonight, I took about 12 steps, knocked on their door, and made use of my rudimentary Deutsch skills by exclaiming "Guten Abend!" All three of us hung out and talked as I took on Frank in Madden for Playstation. Almost immediately I was reminded that what I call 'football' is very different than what European's call 'football'. Hardly anyway watches the NFL or plays American football in Germany, while their 'football' or soccer is by far the most popular sport. They kept telling me how great it is to go see a soccer match, but I have a hard time believing that because soccer stadiums are rarely filled in America. Frank's favorite team is "FC St. Pauli" and Luka's is "VFB Stuttgart". I've never heard of either. I ended up winning in Madden and by doing so learned some German slang I can't repeat here. It's interesting to talk to people my age that grew up in a completely different culture and notice the differences and similarities between us. For example, all three of us were big fans of music and I was surprised to learn that much of the music popular in America is popular in Deutschland as well. This song is in the German Top 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEPTlhBmwRg&ob=av2e

I don't condone this pop music, but Enjoy!