Kultur 11 - Kailey Schwartz

Breaking Down the Wall in the Head
Reading about the different viewpoints in relation to the fall of the Berlin Wall wasn't very surprising after learning about Germans' distaste for patriotism. You would think after years of tragedy and destruction that reunification wouldn't be such a bad idea, but I suppose everyone is entitled to their opinion. I do understand the problem of unifying two 'nations' and finding a path for common values. I can see why that would be frustrating for those who got so used to living a certain way. It is a little sad that some people still think that way, though.

Ostalgie
While reading this article, I couldn't help but compare it to the United States i.e. the Union and the Confederacy. I'm not too brushed up on my history, but sometime after the Civil War, the Confederacy was wiped away. Yet, I'm sure there are STILL some individuals who would prefer it to go back to the old way, which is quite ignorant, in my opinion. With the reunification of East and West Germany, East Germany was kind of forced to get rid of all GDR representations, similar to the Confederacy. Just to clarify, I highly doubt East Germany represented anything close to the awful things the Confederacy did. At least they got to keep the Ampelmännchen, though.

Backward Southerners, Frigid Northerners
The true issue lies between north and south Germany. North being Catholic and south being Protestant, mainly, should say everything about where problems stem from. Also, the fact that both sides are highly prejudice doesn't help the situation. Everything is different between the two regions from politics to religions to dialects. Because of these major differences, the people of the north and of the south really do not see eye-to-eye. This, again, reminds me of the US way back when. I'd really hate to be caught up in all of that. Why can't people just get along?