Kultur 8, Yuntao Chen

Among all the articles that I read in this week's Kultur, the article about "draftphobia" is the most interesting one to me.

I was aware of the love of German people towards nature. The German friends that I have are usually among the most adamant cyclists, who will cycle to work in rain or snow. Germans are also famous for their passion towards hiking, mountain climbing, and in general outdoor sports. Hence it surprised me a lot when I read that Germans believe that wind will bring illness and are generally afraid to be blown by a breeze. How can you avoid the flow of air when you do all these activities? And if it is safe when you are doing sports, how is it dangerous when you are in your office or home. This is one thing that I was not able to comprehend.

Another article talks about "mysterious illness in Germany". It says that German may have more names for their illness than other nations can image. This reminds me that in a Kultur article that I read in last semester, the author said that Germans are generally more likely to complain about things and are usually very skeptical about their surroundings. This may also apply to the attitude they have over their own bodies, in a way that they pay more attention so that they are able to pick up the minute details of "illness". The dislike of any medicine also falls in the same logic.

The other articles about the German educational system were also quite informative. Overall I enjoyed reading them a lot.