Kultur 7, Yuntao Chen

English words are in italic font.

This week's Kultur readings compose of a wide range of topics, ranging from American food in Germany to the introductions of two of the most famous German cities -- Stuttgart and Munich. There are a couple of articles that particularly caught my attention.

The first one is titled "What Discipline? Of German lines and Pythons". It said that people would not necessarily follow a line in a lot of conditions, and would cut the line if you do not respond promptly. I am not sure whether the author of this article was being sarcastic or not, because it is fairly difficult for me to imagine that in a country like Germany where order is considered to be paramount such behaviors will be tolerated. It is very contradictory to the image that I had for German people. I guess the truth will only reveal itself when I set foot on Germany one day.

The other interesting reading materials come form the book "365 Dinge". It is in the format of a guide book, but it is different because of its concise descriptions and broad coverage of topics. Some of the things that I picked out from the first 70 things are: ,,Essen im Dunkeln: Nocti Vagus", ,,Mit dem 100-er Bus gefahren sein", ,,Kollhoff-Tower: Berlin von oben", ,,Zum Diplom von der Bierakademie" und ,,Zur Stille im Brandenburger Tor". I am looking forward to discovering more things to do in and around Berlin. 

Kultur 7

For Kultur 7 I started out by reading the "What Discipline? Of German Lines and Pythons" article, which I found to be really interesting. Although the author did seem to come across a little over zealous at times, mainly when discussing the effects garlic will have on the German population, I wasn't really expecting for lines in Germany to have such a drastic difference from American lines. It came as quite a surprise that the lines were compared to "a six-meter long python wrestling with its soon-to-be devoured prey" when I was expecting a similar measure of restriction that was afforded to cross-walks. I think that those are just two really good examples of how German and American culture differ, in the strangest of ways.

I also read through some of the posts made on the USA kulinarisch and noticed the seemingly cultural fascination that Germany has in regards to Americans sweets. A majority of the recipes that I came across all surrounded a need to satisfy their sweet-tooth. I found it interesting that America's array of sweet food and desserts in what was focused on out of all the other possible dishes and meals that could have been chosen.

To continue on with the slight theme of food, I noticed in "365 Dinge" that a lot of the things presented were connected to food, beverages, or just dining in general. I think that this just shows how essential food is to tourism for not just Germany but for every country. The tourist guides for America are filled with the most enticing dishes and restaurants that are a necessity in order to fully indulge and understand American culture. The entrees concerning food in "365 Dinge" ranged from McDonald's to the Hühnerhaus, where it's possible to get a delicious meal at 2:30 in the morning. Overall from all of my readings I found that the German and American cultures remain to me to only differentiate in small, distinct ways. I think that if you were to look at both generally they still follow the same guidelines, but at some instances choose to pick opposite ways of handling them. I think history has more of an impact on how each society and culture is shaped today which explains most of the differences between the countries.

Kapitel 7 Kultur

After reading all of the Kapitel 7 Kultur texts, I became more cultivated in German culture. All of the readings were informative and added to my understanding and prospective of German culture.

The first link was to a website titled "USA kulinarisch" (http://www.usa-kulinarisch.de/). After browsing through and reading (or at least attempting to read) the articles, I recognized a common theme amongst them. All of the posts were about American holidays--Thanksgiving, Christmas, Halloween-- or about treats that are common in the US. Most of the text within the articles consisted of how to prepare certain meals or foods. I am actually surprised that Germans want to learn how to cook and prepare American foods in the first place. In the US we do not really go out of our way to make cuisines that are not already part of our culture (for instance: beer, sausages, breads, pretzels, etc). Overall, I found these articles to be very enlightening (and it's a good practice for reading German).

The next link was to an article titled "What Discipline? Of German Lines and Pythons." Reading this article really help me grasp an important part of German culture. Who knew that lines could be such a big issue in Germany. The article makes everyone in Germany seem like they are incredibly impatient as it explains how people creep up in lines and cut ahead or how they take the opportunity to go when you are not paying attention. The article states "Finally, keep in mind that Germans have grown up with such non-lines and you need to watch out for everybody. While the worst offenders tend to be impatient middle-aged men, you also have to watch out for old ladies who can be quite shameless in their queue-jumping." I can only assume that the urge to get ahead in lines is part of the German culture, which is reasonable. I mean, who really likes waiting in lines?

The last part of the assignment was to read some sections from the book 365 Dinge. Some of them were interesting and fun, while others seem like a waste of time. For instance, skydiving and paintballing seem rather fun, while listening to underwater music seems like a complete waste of time. But although some of the ideas seem a bit absurd, the book is a fun read overall.

Kultur 7

Hallo Klasse,
The first article I read was USA Kulinarisch which listed German recipes for Americans to use. Most of them were seasonal and a majority of them were sweets. This made me wonder about German culture in terms of food. In some places they are known for certain eating or cooking habits, for example everyone seems to think Americans deep fry everything and eat hamburgers all the time. Perhaps Germans are traditionally good at baking?
The second article What Discipline? of German Lines and Pythons was actually really interesting to me because I just recently learned that the American idea of a line is not the same as other countries. My Anthropology professor told us about the line behavior of citizens in Poland and so before reading the article I predicted it to be the same. However, it is quite different from both the USA and Poland. In Germany (at least how the article made it sound) people tend to get impatient waiting in line and slowly end up next to you rather than behind, a strategy for cutting I assume. I thought this was unusual because based on the past articles we've read in German 101 I got the impression that Germans were straightforward people, not rude but not likely to beat around the bush. Knowing this I expected to hear, or read, that Germans would wait in line like Americans but given the opportunity they would gladly take your spot.
The first thing listed in 365 Dinge is Neujahrslauf and since I ran cross country in high school that's something i'd be interested in doing. Also listed as number 25 were Knofel, which looked like they'd be worth a try. It was hard to find something in the book that i'd want to try more than the other, especially because there's so much. It's hard to believe that there could possibly be 365 things, a variety of things too, in just two cities. If I ever get the chance to go to Germany, I will definitely bring this book with me and be sure to try a few things out!
Guten Abend!

Kultur 7

Looking through the American cooking auf Deutsch, I found it funny that most recipes were for candy or holiday specials for occasions such as Christmas and Halloween. I wonder if that website is popular. I also thought it was weird for bagels to be a top recipe as I don’t know many people who would go through the effort of making bagels. Perhaps bagels are rare in Deutschland?

The article on lines was interesting, but not too dissimilar from Michigan bus lines. Here people cut to get on the Mbus, especially when it is cold (which is always).

The Supermarkets article was a little surprising because last semester Robert told our class most Germans prefer to shop locally, and supermarkets were not very popular. Perhaps they are now on the rise?

Stuttgart sounds like a nice town with its car factories and opera, but Munich sounds far more interesting.  I hear October fest is amazing.

The article on sports in Germany provided nothing new in terms of soccer, but it was interesting hearing about athletic clubs. It seems like Germans do not have high school or college sports, which is completely polar to American society. 

Kultur 7

Hallo!

Dies ist meine Kultur 7 Blog Post!

Deutschen leute sind interessant Amerikan holiday essen und dekorieren finden. Drei artikles sagen fur Amerikan holidays: Thanksgiving, Halloween, und Christmas.

Es also seems dass Deutschen leeute gefallt slow-cookers, and use them accordingly. Ich lese gern dies artikle, weil ich benutze ein slow-cooker too.

Die artikle about discipline und staying in line ist sehr wichtig. Deutschen leute, as kind of expected, are very pushy and impatient. As Americans we can relate to this. Sadly, I guess no one in the world can take time our of their busy lives to be polite.

Alles Dinegn in das buch war interessant. Ich especially gern numern acht, H20, Dante, und Matrix. Ich danke es would be fun to party am ein of der Clubs. Ich also lese gern about numern funfzehn. Der Kollhoff-Tower would be fun to see, since I like visiting big cities and seeing the skyscrapers. Fertig, ich lese gern numern dreiunddrezig. Ich liebe Legos. Seeing all the Lego's would be very cool and what they build with them.

Brennpunkt Kultur- The student ID cards in Germany are about the same as us American students get. Pretty cool both sides of the world take advantage of this.

Einkaufen- this remidns me of ann arbor where a lot of people walk to grocery places and sometimes use local grocery shops instead of supermarkets

Dass ist mein blog fur der Woche!

Tschuss!

Kultur 7

Ich lese der Artikel über Essen gehen in die USA aus die USA Kulinarisch website. Es war sehr lustig. So viele Dinge sind anders für Deutschen in die USA. Mein Lieblingsteil in der Artikel war über Essen bestellen. Er habe "ist eine Wissenschaft für sich" gesagt. Die Wissenschaft ist über choosing welchen Beläge, die Brotsorte, mit oder ohne Majo, und so weiter. Ich habe der Artikel lustig gedacht, weil Essen bestellen in Deutschland mehr schwierig ist.
Standing in line ist sehr bisschen, und es ist mehr bisschen when Leute try to cut vor (in front of) du. Ich habe Garlic breath ausgelacht. Es rieht so schlecht.
Deutschen Studenten haben viel mehr Hilfe als USA Studenten. In die USA ist alles so teuer. Studenten in Deutschland bekommen viel Hilfe mit dem Preis von Schule. Hier sind wir oft allein. Bildung soll nicht ein debt sentence sein.
Ich möchte nach die größten Sauna in Berlin. Es ist sehr schön, und brauche ich relaxen.

Kultur 7

When it comes to food, the Germans seem to have picked up on several key ideas in American food culture.  The most enshrined in american restaurant menus is definitely "Bigger is better" thinking on the (now removed, but still known) "Supersize" option at McDonalds.  Also amusing was one person, an American, talking about "Parchment Paper" aka Reynolds wrap.  Who knew that it doesn't exist somewhere...

 Obviously written by a Brit (who else refers to "queuing" and "training shoes"), this article I think is a little less drastic to the American  perspective.  Sure, the Germans will jump your spot for lollygagging, something that results in angry looks or protest in our country, and is a crime punishable by law in the Queen's land, but in my visits in Deutschland, I have never found such to be an issue.  Stay alert, be decisive and anything but passive and I've always been just fine.

I find it interesting that in Deutschland one must carry ID at all times, since that is not a requirement here in the States.  Government regulations aside, the daily task of going to the lokal Bäckeri, Metzgeri und Markt I know well, having gone with meine Tante und Großtante und Großmutter und Eltern to Markt on a daily basis for that day's food while in Deutschland.

Stuttgart is the main city closest to Esslingen, where most of my relatives live.  Just this summer we went through the Mercedes-Benz Museum -a really cool place!  The museum first takes you to the top of its 7 (maybe 8) Geschlossen, then you wind your way down through the building and through time as they show the evolution of the Mercedes company, their vehicles, as well as the greater historical events happening at those times.  The effects of WWI and WWII on the company were very interesting to learn about.

Kultur 7, Michael Nizinski

The first article I read was about Thanksgiving. Germans do not have a Thanksgiving, but like the idea of having a nice meal, sitting with their family, and giving thanks. They found thinks from outside to decorate the table which is inexpensive and make it look nice. For example, pumpkins were used to make candle holders.  The second was about Germans line jumping. I found this article quite funny, for advice the author suggested that you eat garlic the night before because Germans don't like garlic breath , stay alert for an open counter so you can be the first to sprint there and get it, and to watch out for the person behind you because they will try to slowly sneak ahead of you. The StudenterernmäBigungen is  similar to the one in the USA. The difference in the US is we don't need to show it, we can just stat we are a student and get the discount, where as in German I believe they would want proof. The article about shopping states that germans prefer smaller shopping stores, bag their own groceries, bring their own bags, and shop in all quantities (not buying for the month) when they shop.The next one I read was about Stuttgart. I didn't find much interesting except it has a Porsche and Mercedes-Benz Museum. They have auto-factorys for Porsche, Daimler AG and that they have a lot of vineyards. The FuBball ind Profi-Sport in Mitteleuropa, just talked about how much Germans love soccer and other professional sports played in Germany which include, Hockey, Tennis and Basketball. The last article was about Munich. I only found a few things interesting that they have there and that they have a museum for BMW, they host Octoberfest, and they have two world famous soccer clubs (FC Bayern-Munich and TSC 1860).

Kultur 7

The USA kulinarisch website war sehr intressant. In Amerika wir haben kein Amerikanish Kochbuch. Wir use ethnic Kochbuecher instead of American ones. Deutschen finden Halloween and Thanksgiving as unsual events. There were separate recipe and discussion areas for them and provided a background of what the holidays are about. Ich war quite surprised lesen " What Discipline? Of German Lines and Pythons". Ich denke nicht dass Deutschen would be such sticklers for rules for many things but when it comes to lines all hell breaks loose. Of course the bus situation is quite similar to the struggle of living in Bursley on North Campus and trying to get a bus. Mein Lieblingsidee from the article was eating lots of Garlic to gross Leute out and make them stay away from you. I have always want to eat in the dark. I have heard that improves the taste of the food. Ich besuche gern Nocti Vagus. In Deutsch 101 when ich first learned about einen Döner, will ich einen Döner to try. I love bus tours. Das 100er- Bus sounds like viele spass. Das Badeschiff sounds like a great way to relax. There is also a Bar! Ich spiele Paintball nicht aber habe ich always wanted too. It just may hurt. I would love to go to the Berlin Fashion Show. I habe nie to a Fashion show been. Das Brandenburger Tor looks sehr schön! It would be so ausgezeihnet to eat at the Fernsehturm. A great meal with a great view! I am a big fan of Theater! I would definetly of to a Berlin-Musical. Hah I would only go to a Burlesque show if Christina Aguilera performed. I have alway wanted to get a tattoo. I don't know if I would get one in Berlin though. Mein Vater hat Schnitzel für mich kochen. Ich would love to try it aus Deutschand though.Viktoriapark looks sehr schön. There are lots of trails which means lots of fun stuff to explore. I would love to be a student in Deutschland. Ich glaube that Studenten there recieve more benefits than we do in Amerika. I do not think it is possbile for Americans to go to the store jeden Tag. It takes up zu viel Zeit.Mein Vater used to work for Bosch and would go to Germany a lot. He always went to Stuttgart during his trip. Ich denke always wie weird it was that hier in Amerika wir call "Fussball" soccer when everywhere else it is known as Fussball. Europeans are to Fussball as Americans are to Football. I did not know that München ist the dreimal largest Stadt in Deutschland. Das Glockenspiel ist sehr interessant. I will to go to Octoberfest so bad. (side not: I had trouble getting umlauts and the ess-sett on the blog due to not being on my laptop. Entschuldigung for the inconvience)

Kultur 7 by Josh Crane

Kultur 7 by Josh Crane

Der ersten Dinge ich habe sehen war "Frühstück." (The first thing I saw was breakfast). They talked about different ways to eat bagels, and what one could do with them. I found that we use much more cinnamon in general than Germany, so Germans must use much more than normal when making cinnamon-raisin bagels. Ich lese auch denn kann Leute rauchen nicht. (I also read that people can’t smoke). This is a shock to many Europeans, who are used to the activity in many parts of their lives.

Then there was the matter of lines. Of people in an orderly fashion, it is said they, “…instantly revert to the laws of the jungle. A jostling mob is often the result. ” The article gives the following as pointers: 1) riechen schlect (smell bad), eat something nasty and breath on everyone. Build that nasty American stereotype, 2) be observant and alert, because you will have to jump to the next counter or desk that opens, and maybe throw some ‘bows in the process, 3) make sure the locals don’t slowly move ahead of you without your noticing – they will then be ahead of you and take you spot, kindergarten style, 4) watch that the elderly do not use their charm against you – they are quite “shameless.”

Kultur 7

For this Kultur post, I've decided to focus on the article "What Discipline?: Of German Lines and Pythons."  I, like my many German ancestors, cannot stand to wait in line.  And while in Germany this past summer, I didn't seem to have any problems with lines--that's the one benefit on doing an organized tour, your tour guide makes it so that you almost never have to wait in a ghastly queue--but one occasion did come to mind towards the end of the article.  While in Köln, I decided to go on a search for some of the latest German trends.  I finally found a store and some cool clothes to try on, but all of the dressing rooms were full.  Now, side note, as a swimmer, I am a professional at doing public quick changes.  So I decided to start doing that, because, like my German ancestors, I am very impatient.  I almost didn't notice other people filing in, also waiting for the next open dressing room.  What happened next took place over about five seconds.  I was doing one of my signature quick changes into a dress.  I had the skirt part of the dress on over my shorts when one of the dressing room curtains opened up.  Then, we locked eyes.  A girl about my age was also waiting for that same room.  She was closer in proximity, but I was a python, ready to strike.  In one fluid movement, I scooped up everything from where I was standing, which included my purse, shoes, and shopping bags, and long jumped my way into the open dressing room.  That other girl didn't stand a chance.

Oddly enough, I'm super proud of this moment, and I have a feeling my German ancestors would be proud too.