Kultur2

I really enjoyed reading these short articles. It is always interesting to learn about other cultures, especially in a good-humored and exaggerated way. I always try to not complain about things and I'm usually able to stop myself if I start to complain. I even keep stuff worth complaining about to myself because I don't like confrontations. So reading about Germans always complaining was interesting and made me think that I would get very annoyed in Germany because I can't stand unwarranted complaining. The article that I related the most to was the one about German honesty. I have always had a "problem" of being too honest to people, and I have apologized many times for it. I just don't like to bullshit people and I feel like that in that sense I would fit in very well in Germany.

Kultur 2 Jessie Huang

Mein Freund Holger once told me a story happened during his visit in England. Holger kommt aus Deustchland. Er sagt welche city kommt er. Aber ich forgot... The area er kommt aus produced coal (or steel), I fogot too... (Was ist wrong with my memory!) The city ist in Nord Deutschland anyway... Er verbringt ein Jahr in England during sein senior year of Universität. Er sagt one time he accidentally stepped on other's foot. He was surprised that before er sagt "Enschudigung", der Englander sagt "Oh, I'm sorry." He was etwas confused. He wasn't sure whether der Englander seriously meant sorry or was picking on a fight. Holger ist groß und schlank. Er in half a second's time evaluated his potential enemy prepared for any fight, and only findt him politely smiled and left. Holger sagt sorry and left too.  This experience left him an impression that English are extremely polite. Holger explained to me warum he was confused. Weil if the same situation happened in his hometown, the one whose foot got stepped on sagt " Enschudigung ", it probably meant "I'm sorry that I'm alive and walking (so that you can step on my foot. Now what do you want?)". The conversation may end up in a fight... I think he was exaggerating a bit to make me laugh. Aber, ich finde Kultur shock happens to everyone very interesting. Ist es true that Deutsche don't pretend to be polite if they are upset?

Kultur 2- Michael Miller

    These articles were both entertaining as well as informative.  I can see a thread of truth even it their largest exaggerations.  I feel that in all cases, these facts are interesting instances of a sense of national unity.  The fact that Germans complain is not uncommon, in reality.  Anywhere you go, you will find pessimists who can find the bad side to everything.  The thing about German complaining is that it is not necessarily a thing of pessimism, but it is just a way of commenting on what they see.  In reality, we all have our quibbles about every day life, but Germans simply voice what they are thinking.  As the article admits, things aren't that bad, and Germans know that.
    Staring isn't only a thing in Germany either, as I am sure we have all seen.  But it is interesting how much the article says this happens, such as a neighbor staring out their window to watch the goings-on in the street below.  Most surprising was the fact that people will call the police to report cars parked illegally that they saw.  I don't see this as a sign of ignorance, but rather a way of keeping everyone in check.  If people keep each other in line, it is less of a job for the police to enforce the law.
   In the instance of honesty, I would rather live in a culture in which people are more honest, and honesty is not considered rude.  Invitations and answers are taken at face value, which would help many situations that we experience in our day to day lives, allowing us to freely express our opinions and be honest. 
    The fact that Germans know and are interested in statistics so much would seem somewhat surprising, but it is another sense of national pride.  Honestly, it is nice that Germans feel the pride to know where they come from well.  I honestly don't know information on my hometown, where as Germans would be more than likely to be able to spin off any statistic they need.
    In terms of the Kultur readings, I found it interesting that over 57 million Americans claim German heritage, and are the single largest ethnic group in the US.  It is also interesting that German can still be heard in some towns throughout America, little pieces of German heritage and life in our country. In the second reading, it's interesting that there are multiple types of universities, including technology institutes, universities similar to our own school of Literature, Science and Arts, and creative arts such as music and arts schools.  It is interesting that these exist since German used to have a very selective university system.

Kultur2- Victor Wang

The first article I read was "Germany's National Pastime" and I was very shocked that it seemed like Germany was the best at complaining. After living in Taiwan for two years, I always thought that Taiwan was the biggest bitcher in the world. It seems like the same things people in German bitch about are also being bitched about in Taiwan. However, I think Taiwan takes it to another extreme. Just this August there was a huge scandal when a bakery chain store received a lot of flack for its products smelling too strong. However, in contrast to Germany, the people in Taiwan would tell you that the biggest, worst complainers in the world are Americans.
I found the articles about being brutally honest and statistics very interesting for completely different reasons. The article about the brutally honest attitude is my favorite. I think that all people should be like the Germans when it comes to expressing your preferences. No more need to beat around the bush. The best part is that if you say that you are not disposed to participate in an activity, no feelings are hurt, though explanations are demanded. Another part of their being honest is that they express both good and bad things that they observe. We need more objective people in the world. I liked the statistic article because I can totally see Germans are bureaucratic bean counters. While in the US most people know a thing or two about their state and state symbols, Germans are completely obsessed with the hard numbers.

Kultur 2 Alex Gamso

My friends always tell me that I complain, practically all the time. I just asked my friend what I complain about and she went on a rant. Usually it involves the buses going to Central Campus or other things I have no control over. Now, I assume it's some of the German blood I have causing me to complain. This weekend I went home which is supposedly a "three hour" train ride. However when I arrived at the station, the train's arrival time was pushed back by 20 minutes which I was just fine with since I myself was late. But then it slowly got moved to 30, 40, and finally an hour late. Needless to say everyone on my Twitter, Facebook, or contact list knew how annoyed I was even though I couldn't do anything to change it. If only I could have enjoyed a beer on the train.
I understand why German's are obsessed with numbers as well. When I've traveled abroad before our guides always like to find out what it's like in the states. On my first European trip, my guide was originally from Germany and knew the size of where we were from and compared it to her hometown and London where she lived at the time. However, an important fact she missed about where we were from was the climate. She had assumed not only that we eat burgers all the time, that we are all in the warmer southern regions when in reality we were much closer in climate to her homeland.

Kapitel 2 Kultur- Sriram Sivakumar

I found these 4 articles on Kapitel to be very interesting and amusing. I never knew how much importance the Germans gave to statistics and their somewhat liking for whining. I really found the article on the German national pastime quite relatable, since in Singapore the same problem/pastime exist. Most people do tend to complain about everything even though the nation is said to have experienced one of the largest increase in average income per citizen from the time it was founded. It was interesting to find out out that my home country was not the only one which complained about everything from , the lateness of the trains, the congestion and the lack of "benefits" for the citizens. I also found the last couple of lines on the article a very useful if I go to Germany." don't even try to understand what Germans are complaining about. Just listen, nod, and order yourself another delicious beer." :)
As for statistics, now I know what I need to know, to start a conversation easily with a native German since I would not want to feel like a failure " in the test" of numbers; although, I do have to same that I do enjoy watching documentaries but probably as much as a German
I had some idea how "brutally honest" they were since it was one of the well-known stereotype of Germans. Although I did not know the extent to which it can go. As for the staring, that s a new thing I've never come across. I now know though somewhat what to expect and how honest I must be if I ever fly to Germany.
All in all, Die Artikel Sind gut. Now know a bit more about Deutschland!
Danke!!
Ram

Kultur2...Mimi Minagawa

I have lived in many places through my life, and have experienced different kinds of Asian culture and American culture. Personally, I prefer Japanese culture where people have more class and do perfect business. However, I'm not really comfortable with fancy elaborations and praise that Chinese culture has. People are always writing emails from 3-7 paragraphs to communicate with each other (from my experience with people in age  40-70s). They mingle things like "Oh, how I missed you lovely face!", "I really appreciate what you have done, and I'll never forget your great blessing!" Those are nice things to hear, but essentially, those don't matter with the core topic of the email.  My German friend told me that none of German people think that they are similar to Japanese people, but in this case, I do think that we have common life style. We, Japanese, write short and sweet emails to focus on main subject and be done with it. German likes yes or no answer. I do like it a lot!


I've heard a saying that Germans complain all the time, even my German friend told me. He said, "In Germany, we have to complain. It's like a custom. Even when we have pleasant time, we complain. Just get use to it!" Now that's not like Japanese. We fake all the time and hide the real thinking behind. I think how German people handle this everyday issue is pretty smart because no matter how you like it or not, you'll understand what the other people are thinking, and you'll most likely know the realm of the others.


The article about staring nanny was so weird. I understood the reason why they are staring, it's just to keep and watch out neighbors, so that they know they are safe. But still... It's creepy!

Kulture 2 - Luc Hildebrad

I really enjoyed reading the two articles about how much Germans like to complain: "The German National Pastime: Whining, Bitching and Moaning" and "German Culture - Art of Complaining" because although complaining is common in most cultures the Germans are really known for their complaining more than anyone else. I also liked how the article "German Culture - Art of Complaining" tried to rationalize Germans reasons for complaining so much, and how all the complaining helps shape their entire culture. An example of this is how even though Germans are known as being honest and very direct, so if something is not up to standards they will let it be known that it is not good enough, and since there is almost always room for improvement this can lead to a lot of complaining about things not being good enough.

The article "Brutally Honest: Have You Gained Weight" was very interesting to me in how much different German culture and American culture are when it comes to honesty. In America if someone makes you a meal that you don't particularly like, you are expected to be polite and pretend that you like it, even if you really don't. However in Germany if that happens you are expected to be honest, so if you don't like something, you just flat out tell that person. If I ever had to live in Germany for an extended period of time, I feel like that would be one of the hardest things to get used to, because in our culture we are always telling little lies to others to be polite, rather than being direct and honest with them. I also found it quite interesting in the article "By the Numbers: An Obsession with Statistics" how much Germans love to know statistics about the cities their from, and other peoples hometown. I could probably guesstimate a couple statistics of my hometown (such as population and size) but as for things such as the unemployment rate or the percentage of the population that is a certain religion, I would have no idea what those are. In the end these articles helped show some pretty interesting aspects of German culture that are a little bit different than our culture here.

Kapitel 2 - Kevin Hergenreder

'By the Numbers: An Obsession with Statistics' was a very interesting read for me. German Engineering is known as the best in the world so it was no surprise to me that Germany is a numbers-crazed nation. The examples that the article went on to list were very telling as to just how far German's take their statistics. "What is the population of your city?" How many square kilometers is your country?" These are answers that I could not even take a stab at, and I consider myself to be a numbers guy myself.

'The German National Pastime: Whining, Bitching and Moaning' brought to light something that I have heard numerous times throughout my life. Germans are complainers, they are famous throughout the world for it. This article brings to light this phenomenon and goes into detail about the things that Germans like to complain about, which, according to the author is just about anything and everything. The article sheds a negative light on Germans in this regard. However, another article, 'German Culture - Art of Complaining.' This piece takes a different take on the phenomenon, looking at it from a positive perspective. The article claims that the complaining is due to a German desire for truth and continuous improvement. The article argues that complaining can often be a good thing and can be constructive.

Kultur 2 Clark Sanford

Having never been to Germany or really had any contact with German culture, these articles were pretty interesting to read. My favorite article was the one describing how blunt the Germans were. It would be nice to be able to just tell the brutal truth rather than beat around the bush with some situations, but sometimes because of our culture and the way I was raised I feel that it's not proper or its sometimes rude to just speak the truth. This would take some getting used to to receive the brutal truth though. Overall I think it would just make everyday conversations easier. Robert gave me the example that if you ask some one how they're doing and their dog just died that morning they won't respond with "Well I'm doing alright. It's not the best day ever. My day could've started better than it did" they would just bluntly say "My dog died this morning." Although it seems like a shock, it would just save time and effort because now you don't have to pry and dig to find out what's wrong with them.

I don't really think I would enjoy the people watching me through their windows. It just seems kind of creepy and stalkerish, but they're not harming anyone so it's not too bad. The Germanic stare down could take some getting used to also. Normally when someone is staring it seems like they've got beef with you.

For someone who wants to go to Germany these are all helpful articles so its not complete culture shock!

Kultur 2, Michael Nizinski

"The Whining, Bitching, and Moaning" article is about how Germans are always complaining. I think that the article is kind of ironic because it’s a German complaining about how much Germans complain. People complaining will be found anywhere complaining about anything. It’s not that Germans do it more; I think it is more noticeable to the writer for the fact that he/she is German. Most people complaining are only complaining because they are bored, stress and really have nothing better to do. The second article I read was "The German Stare Down: Watcha Lookin at, Granny?". It states how Germans have starring problems and they watch you do everything and watch everywhere you go, like a hawk in the sky watching it pray. Again, with this article I don’t think it’s just Germans. I think it’s all older foreigners. The article also says that this came from when there was communism and everyone would watch out the window for anything. This makes a lot of sense. My mother is this way and I am sure her mother was like this because my grandmother was raised in a communistic era so I think my mother just picked it up from her. It is actually kind of funny think about. My mother would be able to tell me what was going on with the whole neighborhood, just by paying attention to what’s happening outside and listening to what was going on around her. I remember waking up in the morning and my mother asking me if I had heard what happened at night and she would be puzzled because I slept right through it. I am sure that anyone of seas when the war was going on was like this also, it had become necessity to watch out to protect your family and just carried forward from there.

Kapitel 2 Kultur

I was actually quite surprised when I read the articles about the culture of complaining in Germany. 

In my impression, Germans are a group hard-working and serious people, hardly can I imagine them having the time and being open enough to complain about trivial things to others. I guess it has something to do with the stereotype that someone who complains a lot is usually the one who is too lazy to do anything about it.

In the case of German people, it is obvious that this stereotype does not apply. Germans are famous for their attention to details and their persistence to improve upon successful designs. I guess the motivation for such continued efforts comes from their ability to constantly "seek" the imperfection in their lives, and more importantly, correct them.

Other things that I learnt in this week are that Germans have the habit of paying "extra" attention to other people around them and they are very straightforward in communications. To me, from a east Asian culture, those things sound almost childish. That is to say, you will only do that when you were a child and you do not worry too much about the consequences. I am glad to know that in Germany people do live in such simple mentalities. But I think this culture difference between Germany and US or China will probably exist for a long time.

Bryan Heisler Kultur 2

 I found it interesting that there is such a thing as a "Germanic Stare Down," in America if you were to stare down people it is considered rude. After reading the article, I understand why German neighbors are so nosy, to put it because of what happened during the 20th century. I just would find it extremely awkward and uncomfortable to find someone staring at me. I would probably not be able to stare back at the person. If I ever go to Germany, I will remember this and not think they are staring at me because I am a foreigner, but that is just what Germans do.

Kultur 2 Jake Prosyniuk

I found these nuances of German culture to be interesting and rather humorous. My family has been close with a German family for three generations so I am familiar with the directness of the culture. I am also familiar with the constant attention paid to potential improvements or issues with the world. I think these are both beneficial traits; Americans are reluctant to point out flaws and often layer their communication, making it harder to have honest, mutually beneficial relationships. The patron of our friends' family, Ragnar, as well as his son, share the supposed obsession with documentaries and statistics; obviously influenced by this part of German culture, they are always very well-informed and willing to have a debate about any given subject. American culture could benefit from a genuine passion for self-education and honest argument: many Americans are simply not interested in rigorous topics and take personal offense to differing opinions, which is ultimately unproductive. I think the response to an offer of fruitcake of "I don't like fruitcake at all and figs make me swell up and break into a hideous, oozing rash" being "reserved exclusively for Germans" is the best thing I've heard all day.

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!