Kultur 6 - Luc Hildebrand

Kultur 6

After reading “Sex, Smut and Shock: Bild Zeitung Rules Germany” I was very surprised to here that a newspaper like Bild is so popular in Germany. From all I’ve read about German culture it seem to be very serious and conservative so to have a newspaper that is totally different from that be the main source of news for most people is quite surprising to hear. The Bild newspaper in Germany seems to be very
similar to something such as the Sun newspaper in England, which I can understand English people liking a newspaper like that, but I would not expect that from the Germans. While reading “German Privacy: Come On In: My Door Is Always Closed” the author points out a large difference between Germans and Americans when it comes to our door policies. For Americans an open door is an invitation to come in,
whereas a closed door usually means that person is busy, and we usually will knock softly because we don’t want to interrupt that person if they are busy. Germans on the other hand always have their doors closed and you are expected to knock only once and then just walk right in. I find that very odd, and if I ever spent time in Germany, I don’t know if I’d ever be able to get used to that. While reading “Division Hell: Worshipping the Garbage Gods” I learned that Germans take their garbage very seriously, and this really doesn’t seem to surprise me at all. From all I’ve read about German culture this semester, they seem to take a lot of things very seriously, and in some cases (such as with the garbage) they take it too seriously and this ends up complicating things (as such with the multiple colored trash bins that are confusingly labeled).

AMD 6 - Luc Hildebrand

AMD 6

Für AMD 6, Ich schielt die Spracheinstellung für mein Internet ins Deutsche. Ich
erkannte viele Wörter wir in Deutsch 101 gelernt haben. Zum biespiel auf der
Google Startseite, ich wusste: Google-Suche (Google Search), bilder (pictures),
Kalendar, Kontakte, mehr, und neue. Ander Wörter muss ich verstehen: zurück
(back), hilfe (help), Feedback geben (to give feedback), Optionen (options), Link in
neuem Tab/Fenster öffnen (open link in new tab/window) und Über Google (about
google) . Neue wörter habe ich gelehrt: Einstellungen (settings),
Datenschutzbestimmungen (privacy and term settings), Auf gut Glück (I’m feeling
lucky!), Übersetzen in Deustch (translate to German), Drucken (to print),
Ausschneiden (cut), und Einfügen (paste), und Rückgängig (undo).

Kultur 5 - Luc Hildebrand

After reading the article “Rules of the Street: No Blood, No Entschuldigung” from the limited things I’ve learned about German culture this semester it does not surprise me at all that if they bump into you on the street most of the time the do not say “Entschuldigung”. However this does not mean that all Germans are rude, but rather they show their politeness in other ways, such as giving up their seat for an old lady, or something like that. When reading “German Erotica: The Land of Beer, Sausage and Sex Shops” I found it hilarious that the first shop after customs in the Frankfurt International Airport is a sex shop. There are not very many sex shops in America, but it does not surprise me that they are common in Germany because Europeans as a whole tends to be much more progressive and open about that stuff than Americans are. In the article “The Loneliness of the Klofrau: Toilet Training for Visitors” I found it very interesting that most bathrooms in Germany have a toilet lady there to keep the bathroom clean, and that you have to tip her to use the bathroom. To me using the bathroom is one of those things that should always be free, I can’t even imagine what it’d be like to have to pay almost everytime I needed to go to the bathroom, but as long as that meant that the bathrooms would be cleaner I guess I would be able to get used to it. When reading “Scoring a German: Flirting with Fräuleins, Hunting for Herren” I found it interesting how different flirting can be in Germany than in America. I was surprised to hear that in Germany flirting is often subtle and conservative, because Germans are known for being very direct. While reading the Brennpunkt Kultur I found it very interesting how in Germany there is a very strong distinction between friends/acquaintances and close friends/someone you are in a relationship in, and how this distinction is a little different than how we would describe them in America.

AMD 5 - Luc Hildebrand

AMD 5 - Denglisch

Für AMD 5, ich habe der Artikel “Denglisch” von Wikipedia gelesen. Ich finde er sehr interessant . Denglish ist eine Kombination aus Deutsch und Englisch Wörter. Ich mag Denglisch wörter wie z.B. “ gebootet” (boot up a computer), “gecrashed” (crash the computer), und “gedownloaded” (downloaded). Es gibt auch Deutsch Wörter that seem Englisch, aber haben completely different meanings or no meanings at all in Deutsch, wie z.B. “Beamer” (projector), “Handy” (cell phone), und “Smoking” (dinner suit or tuxedo). Denglish ist auch wichtig im Populärkultur in Deutschland. Es gibt auch viele Deutsche Wörter in Amerika benutzt, z

.B. “Hamburger”, “Delicatessen”,  “Sauerkraut”, “Strudel”,  “Blitz”, und “Kindergarten”.

AMD 4 - Luc Hildebrand

AMD 4

Für Amd 4, lese ich rezepte aus “www.chefkoch.de”. Ich schreibe über meine Lieblingsrezepte, und ich machte ein Menü mit die Rezepte.

 

Das Frühstück

Pfannkuchen. Gemacht mit Kartoffelmehl, Maisstärke, Eier, Milch, Traubenzucker, und Pflanzenöl

-oder-

Eier mit Toast. Ihre Wohl von Rührei, Spiegelei,  oder zwei hart gekochtes Eier, und Weißbrot oder Vollkornbrot mit Butter.

Das Mittagessen

Die Vorspeise: Chili con Carne. Gemacht mit Hackfleisch, rote Chilischoten, Zwiebeln, Knoblauch, Kreuzkümmel, Chilipulver, Tomaten, Kidneybohnen, Zimt, Salz, und Pfeffer.

Das Hauptgericht: Gefüllte Pizzabrötchen. Gemacht mit Mehl, Wasser, Olivenöl, Salz, Zucker, und frische Hefe für den Tag. Für die Füllung es ist gemacht mit Kochschinken,  dünn geschnitten Gouda Käse, Olivenöl, Basilikum,  und Oregano.

Das Abendessen

Die Vorspeise: Cremige Kürbisuppe. Gemacht mit Kürbisfleisch, Möhren, Kartoffeln, Zwiebeln, Butter, instant Gemüsebrühe, Milch, Salz und Pfeffer

Das Hauptgericht: Ungarischer Gulasch / Pörkölt. Gemacht mit Gulasch vom Schwein, Zwiebel,  Knoblauchzehen, Tomatenmark, instant Brühe, Paprikapulver, Pfeffer, und Salz

Die Nachspeise: Fruchtiger Apfelkuchen. Gemacht mit Mehl,  gemahlen Mandeln, Backpulver,  Salz, Zucker, Vanillezucker, Butter, Eier,  Äpfel, Puddingpulver, Zimt, und ungesüßt Orangensaft.

Kultur 4 - Luc Hildebrand

While reading “Two-Wheeled Teutons: Stay Off the Bike Path!” I was not surprised to hear that most cities in Germany are filled with bike paths where the bikers have the right of way. It most big cities, especially in Europe, it is common to walk or bike, instead of driving your car. However if I ever go to Germany I will make sure to stay off of the bike paths because it sounds like the bikers there are ruthless! After reading “The Read Dictator: Crossing the Strasse” I can not believe how serious the Germans are when it comes to following the crossing lights. Here in Ann Arbor most people cross whenever they please, no matter if there is a red light, or even a car coming. Having to obey the traffic lights at all times would definitely be something that would take time to get used to. Everyone knows that the Germans are known for being very logical, however as the author in “Illogical Logic: The right Answer in Germany May Be the Wrong One” points out just because they are known for being logical, that doesn’t mean they apply the logic the same way we would in the United States. When talking about the difference between Germany’s and other countries subways, the author of “Fare-Dodgers Beware: There’s No Such Thing as a Free Ride” helps show a major difference between German and American culture. In America if the subway ran on the honor system, a lot of people would try to find any and every way possible to not get caught for not paying because a lot of people treat rules and laws more like guidelines, rather than a strict policy. However in Germany they treat these rules and laws as a strict policy to follow, so therefore everyone is much more likely to pay for their own ticket, even if it is run on an honor system.

Kultur 3 - Luc Hildebrand

It is common knowledge that Deutschland is famous for its Bier, but what I found interesting in “An Obsession Explained: Beer, Brewskies and Liquid Bread” is that in Germany there are 1,274 breweries, and that accounts for ¾ of all the breweries in the European Union! I also surprised to hear that by law Bier in Deutschland can only contain water, hops, malt, and yeast, no other additives are allowed! I’d be surprised if there were very many beers made like that in America. From “Brennpunkt Kultur auf Seite 95 und 97” the one thing that stands out to me about Deutsch Mahlzeiten is that the main meal of the day is das Mittagessen, where in our culture the main meal is das Abendessen. Another thing that I have noticed is common in not only Deutschland, but most European countries, is that they have fresh-baked Brot with many meals, whereas here the only time you would get fresh-bread is maybe at a restaurant or café.

It is always interesting for me to learn about all the different the food options available in different countries around the globe. As a cheap college student one of the most important things to me is Fast Food. The article “German Fast Food: Forget the “Mett, Try a Frikadelle” highlights many of the fast food options available to you in Deutschland. The foods I would like to try the most if I ever traveled to German would be: Currywurst (fried sausage sliced up and covered in ketchup and mild curry powder), Frikadelle (a kind of home-made hamburger), and Pommes Rot-Weiss (fries with ketchup and mayo). One fast food option that I have had the pleasure to experience while travelling, but is not very common in the U.S. is a Turkish kebab stand. The article “Yo Dude, What About the Turks? An Introduction to Germany’s Real Fast Food Joints” highlights all the important things you need to know about Turkish fast food. My favorite is the Döner Kebab mit Lamm, Salat komplett, und scharf, Knoblauch, und Krauter  Sosse.

AMD 2 - Luc Hildebrand

Für this assignment ich lese “The Awful German Language” von Mark Twain. In this article er schreibt about certain aspects of Deutsch that are difficult to learn oder just does not make any sense. An aspect of Deutsch that he brings up, and I have also noticed while learning Deutsch are how all nouns can be masculine, feminine, or neuter, and the assignment of the gender ist completely arbitrary in most cases, and the corresponding prounouns also follow gender as well. Zum Beispiel, der Stuhl ist masculine so if you wanted to say “it is brown” in Deutsch, Sie sprechen “Er ist braun” which would be like saying he is brown in English. Another Beispiel ist das Mädchen. Since das Mädchen is neuter to say “she plays”, Sie sprechen “Es spielt” which would translate to it plays in English. Another aspect that ich finde confusing about Deutsch is the separable verbs, especially in longer sentences. When there are verbs like auf*horen, an*kommen, auf*stehen, etc., it is very difficult to understand what the subject is doing when you have to wait for the rest of the verb until the end of the sentence. Und lastly one aspect that I have not had much experience yet mit Deutsch is the obnoxiously long compound words, my favorites being ones such as: generalstaatsverordnetenversammlungen,  alterthumswissenschaften, und waffenstillstandsunterhandlungen.

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.

AMD1 - Luc Hildebrand

Travelling to Deutschland

I surfed the web looking for the best places to travel in Germany. After quite a bit of researching, I decided that the three cities in Germany that I would like to travel to the most are: Berlin, Munich, and Hamburg. Here’s some information I learned about these cities.

Berlin

Berlin is die Hauptstadt of Deutschland, and is the third most visited Stadt (city) in Europe. It is known for its wide range of museums and art galleries. Some of the biggest attractions in Berlin are the Brandenburg Gate, The Reichstag, and the Tiergarten.

 

Munich

Munich is the capital of Bayern and is famous for its combination of traditional Bavarian culture and modern living. Munich is only 30 miles north of the German Alps. Oktoberfest in Munich is the largest Bier festival in the world. Some of the biggest attractions in Munich are Marienplatz, Frauenkirche, the Dachau Concentration Camp, and The English Garden.

Hamburg

Hamburg is the second largest city in Deutschland and is right on the river Elbe. Hamburg’s harbor is one of the largest ports in the world, and is well known for the Reeperbahn, the city’s famous entertainment and red light district. Some of the most popular places to visit in Hamburg are the Hamburg Harbor, The Reeperbahn, and the Park Planten un Blomen.

Kultur 1 Luc Hildebrand

To start off, I was surprised to find out that more Americans identify themselves as being of German ancestry more than an other ethnic group. After reading this article, it really helped show how much of our culture comes from German roots, and we don't even realize it. Like for example Milwaukee is known for their beer and brats, but until reading this article I would have never associated with it being German. I found it interesting that German communities living in Pennsylvania in the 19th century had their own dialect called Pennsylvania Dutch, and it is still spoken by small groups of people today. I was also surprised to hear that Santa Claus, the Republican elephant and Democratic donkey, and Uncle Sam were all created by Thomas Nast, who was of German descent. German heritage and culture has played a much larger role in American culture than I would have expected, and I was also surprised to see how many German derived words that are used in the English language, such as: delicatessen, pretzel, kindergarten, and doppelganger. This was a great article to read and I found it very interesting to see how much of American culture has come from German roots.

Test

Mein Lieblingswort ist Nein.