Kultur 6 - Andrew Keating

Yay, tabloids! While some people claim to hate tabloid newspaper, you've got to admit they can be funny from time to time. However, I'm not entirely sure if the Bild-Zeitung is supposed to be intentionally silly or serious. Maybe both?

I would be entirely okay with having an always-closed-door policy. If I'm studying in my room and somebody walks in and says something, I jump about a foot up in my seat. This would eliminate that problem.

I'm actually a pretty big fan of the trash separation. I seem to recall that this is actually cheaper and better for the environment than regular trash handling.

Tschüss, Deutsch 101!

Kultur 6

   When reading through the article about closed doors for Kultur 6, I was very intrigued.  I found it funny that the scenario that they described has, in fact, happened to me many times even in my native society.  This just puts into perspective, how awkward a scenario like this could be in a foreign environment.  I also found the article somewhat helpful and insightful.  It just goes to show that confidence is very important when it comes to interactions in an unknown environment.  You cannot be afraid to take chances or you will never have the opportunity to establish new relationships or break new barriers in life.

AMD 6

   For AMD 6, I decided to talk about one of my favorite philosophers who also happens to be German.  Max Weber was born in 1864 and throughout his life, he went to college, because a professor, and even had a mental breakdown.  This breakdown put him out of work for five years before he returned and  wrote his most famous piece of work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.  His work led him to become one of the most famous sociologists of all time, and his work has established ties in many economies throughout all past time.

Kultur 6

In Germany, unlike America, doors always stay closed.  It doesn't matter if the person inside is available to talk or not, it will always be closed.  In America it is considered rude to "barge in"on a closed door but in Germany it is the norm to knock once and walk right in.

The Germans take garbage much more seriously than America and the rest of Europe.  Everywhere there are multiple waste baskets, color-coated for different kinds of garbage.  Not following the correct method of garbage disposal is considered a small act of "rebellion.  This concern for proper garbage disposal goes along with Germanys concern for the environment.

Kultur 6

Hmm so Germans are both reading unreliable and vulgar newspaper as well as very organized and caring about order, huh? Yeah  we already read about their tendency to be very bio minded, right? But at the same time I can't get rid of the feeling that the article is way over the top since I've been to Germany and Austria and I have not seen anything dirty like that on the top of news stand or at the gas station where I'd expect it to be since it's supposed to be the main newspaper. One would almost think it's almost like specific newspaper in Czech which only retired people and dumb blondes find joy in :D Sorry didn't mean to apply stereotypes.
Germany isn't the only country with these thrash cans! And I always have a hard time with that at first but then, hey as long as it at least partly fits then you're fine. What does that guy know what you have in your bag from carry out meal at McDonalds? I never got yelled at either so I'd say it's working.
As for the last thing, I'd actually like to know where Americans and Germans split on this! Because I totally hate the opened door policy. Aren't you kind of a creeper when you walk by and see the inside of the room which belongs to a person you've never met before? I wish Americans were more open minded in other areas than whether they will have their doors opened or closed.

Oh well all I have to say now is Tchuss!

Kultur 6

Every time I read these articles, I learn a little more and more about German culture that I had never known before. For instance, in the article "Sex, Smut and Shock: Bild Zeitung Rules Germany," I learned that German's largest Newspaper was more like a magazine. Who would have guess that the largest Newspaper in Germany would consist of tabloid journalism? I surely did not. This newspaper serves over 4 million readers and the content of the newspaper is quite interesting. Not only just this newspaper contain your casual nonsense, but it also tells of sex and scandals that happen throughout Germany. I would never have guess this to be the leading Newspaper in Germany.

In addition to the newspaper, I also found the fact that most Germans keep their doors closed to be quite surprising. The article "German Privacy: Come On In, My Door Is Always Closed" elaborates on how most Germans keep their doors closed, even when they are open to talk. Personally, I find this aspect of German culture to be a little illogical. Why would you always keep your door closed? I can understand closing the door for your own privacy, but must the door really be kept shut at all times? It does not really make much sense to me.

In the last article, "Division Hell: Worshipping the Garbage Gods," it explained the German waste system. In my opinion, I find this waste system in Germany to be very appropriate. By having different bins for different types of waste, the system promotes recycling amongst the citizens and makes it easier to organize recycling. I find this waste system to be a fascinating part of German culture.

Kultur 6

Sex, Smut and Shock: Bild Zeitung Rules Germany was about various newspaper images in Germany. It was interesting to read what these papers consisted of because they are similar to newspapers and magazines here in America. many of our magazines contain nothing but gossip about the latest celebrities, new reports, and advertisements that include women and even men dressed provocatively.

German Privacy: Come On In, My Door Is Always Closed was about how you have to be assertive when trying to receive an answer from someone behind a closed door. In America a close door usually means to come back later but they express how in Germany you have to be assertive even if the door is closed. Usually people don't like to be bothered when their door is closed or usually that means that they are busy. It's interesting to read how even with small things such as choosing to knock on a closed door vary between here in America and in Germany.

 Division Hell: Worshipping the Garbage Gods was about how garbage is handled over in Germany. Germany and America share some things in common when it comes to the way garbage is handled. Many places and homes have recycling bins along with their regular waste paper cans. in the article they stated, "Like everything else in Germany, recycling bins also have strict opening hours. You're not allowed to use them on Sundays." I found this to be rather interesting that on a certain day out the week you're not allowed to use the recycling bin.

Kulture 6

I'm going to jump into this post with Bild. After previously learning about how much importance Germans place on knowing facts and having intelligent conversations, it is really surprising that there is a national fascination with a publication that intentionally prints garbage. Looking around on their website, it seems like an equal parts mix between The Onion and something along the lines of E!, with some of the Enquirer mixed in. The satirical portion, which seems similar to The Onion, is an understandable reason for reading it, since it is usually witty. What I don't understand is why anyone would want to read people spouting their opinion as fact like Rush Limbaugh does, or why reading about various celebrities and the dumb/smart/meaningless decisions that they make would be considered worth-while. I'll stop ranting here and move on to the other articles.

In regards to closed doors and knocking, I was raised to always knock, and then wait for permission before entering a room. I am pretty much incapable of just walking in without an invitation. In regards to the garbage, I can understand people's reluctance to take extra time to sort recyclables, but now (at least in Kent County) we use single stream recycling, so it all goes in the same place and the sorting is done by a few cheap physics tricks.

Kultur 6

For my Kultur, i read "Division Hell: Worshipping the Garbage Gods," which was very interesting because i did not know that Germans were one of the most environmental friendly countries. I also did not know that they actually obey they garbage separation guidelines on the trashcan. I mean in America we have plenty of opportunities to separate our garbage into the right bin. However, we chose to ignore those signs and put our trash into which ever bin we want to. sometimes we put the trash into the recycling or the recycling into the trash. unlike the Germans, who take their trash separating very seriously, which is good for our environment. It is good to hear that a government has put into place a system and the people actually follow it. 

another article i read was the "German Privacy: Come On In, My door Is closed." this is a very interesting culture difference between our two cultures because in America if the door is closed that usually means that the person inside is indeed busy, but if the door is open then that means that they can be bothered. in america our doors are always open, and in Germany they are closed for the most part. in order to get inside when in Germany you knock then open the door all in one motion you don't wait for an answer you just open it. in america that might be considered as rude at times. 

Kultur 6

I enjoyed reading these articles.  In the article “Sex, Smut and Shock,” well… I’m not too surprised.  I have not read any Bild articles, but whenever I saw the magazine while in Germany, all I ever saw were nude women on the front.   I find it interesting how lax Germans are on the nudity in public, yet how strict they are with violence on TV for example.  I remember watching an old Star Trek episode but some scenes were cut from it because of the “violence”.  Strange how it’s pretty much the opposite here in the States. 

The “German Privacy” article was definitely true.  In the apartment I lived in, in Berlin, every door was closed except for the other U of M students who lived in the apartment.  I know that Germans value their privacy, which is a great thing, however, I don’t know the etiquette for engaging in conversation with someone whose door is closed, but for some reason, I think this article was a little exaggerated.  

I really enjoyed the last article: “Division Hell.”  When I would empty my trash from my apartment in Berlin, I was so confused with where to put my trash.  It was all in a plastic bag ready to be pitched.  I didn’t have a mini separator in my apartment, as I’ve seen in other people’s houses.  If I had one of those, it would have been so much easier to separate my garbage, rather than dig through the bag and attempt to figure out what went in what compartment. 

Kultur 6

I was extremely intrigued by the "Bild" article. Coincidentally, one of my favorite things to do at the grocery store is to laugh at the headlines in the tabloids in the checkout aisle. Numerous sex scandals divorces and false deaths steal the show. It sounds like Bild is Deutschland's equivalent to "The National Inquirer" in the United States. I couldn't resist the urge to check out Bild's website; even just for a second. Sure enough, I was promptly greeted by the headlines:


"Schwer Verknallt in Porno-Sternchen.  Charlie Sheen: Sie ist die Liebe meines Lebens!"

I decided I got enough chuckles after seeing Charlie Sheen found the love of his life in a Porn star and called it quits.



As for the other articles, I've continued to learn that many common customs we take for granted in the United States are much different over there. I imagine many tourists from our country have headaches when they travel to Germany and learn this stuff the hard way. The garbage sorting would especially frustrate me! I'm unorganized as it is, so why would I organize my trash?

Kultur 6

Reading this Kapitel's cultural articles gave me some good insight into the German psyche. Bild Zeitung seems to have cornered two markets, the low-brow celebrity worshiping, porn ogling crowd, and the politically charged, conservative porn ogling crowd. It seems like a pugnaciously trashy circulation but I can totally see why its popular. The article about keeping doors closed and knocking assertively did not really surprise me, as I can understand that German's appreciate their privacy. I think it would be much more efficient if the German's adopted single sort recycling because it would take up less space with less containers, and ultimately be much less maintenance.

Kultur 6 Graham Techler

The reading on 'Bild' was definitely a disturbing one. It reminded me a lot of Rupert Murdoch's media empire, which is pretty despicable in it's own right. But the reading on 'Bild' made it seem like this tabloid isn't even trying. From the motto, "we form your opinion so you don't have to," which just admits that the paper is manipulative, to the "VICE"-like articles they publish alongside attempts at actual journalism. I'd rather have a paper with a specific political or social bias than a paper that just fires in every direction, no matter what. I guess at first this article gave me a pretty negative impression of German journalism, until I remembered that every country has tabloids like this that are just as bad, or worse.

The article on German's keeping their doors closed at all times resonated with me as someone who likes to keep his door closed, just to give myself a closed space to think in, but it also supported the stereotype of German's being fairly snappy and unfriendly during initial interactions. I have to think that once the conversation starts the person opening the door warms up to the person knocking. But I can definitely sympathize with a German wanting to keep their door closed and get some privacy.

The article on trash separation and collection really impressed me. I had no idea that Germany was so dedicated to environmental efforts. While it seems like they still have a ways to go in terms of making their garbage recepticals more clear to outsiders (or Germans), I definitely applaud their effort to draw more lines when it comes to dividing trash (rather than just trash/recycling).

Kultur 6

I was happy we read the article about the Bild; many times I read an article in the news which quotes the Bild as a source. From now on I will know how to disregard such citations seeing as this news paper has little to no validity, as it seems.

The article about recycling gefallet mir euch. It reminded me of the complex and serious method implemented in England. At first I thought that the EU does a good job of educating and funding such infrastructure. Then again, I don't remember any such concern from visits to Poland and Greece, so I guess this is again an east-west dichotomy. 

Last, but most definitely not least, i was thrilled to read the Tübingen's sister-city in the US is Ann-Arbor. Anna Adler must be overjoyed. 

Kultur6

American tabloids are often filled with odd stories and suggestive pictures, and it was interesting to know that it is the same way in Germany. The article Sex, Smut and Shock: Bild Zeitung Rules Germany describes the Bild newspaper as having an abundance of scandals and "high resolution soft porn." I thought the most humorous part of this article was when it says that it takes a major event to bump a suggestive photograph off of the first page, "when Angela Merkel won the chancellorship from Gerhard Schröder at the end of 2005, the Page One Girl stayed put." It seems that in the United States, if something like that occurred, the more inappropriate topics would be pushed further back into the magazine or newspaper.

The article German Privacy: Come On In, My Door Is Always Closed provided me with another huge cultural difference between Germany and the United States. If a professor's (or really anyone's for that matter) door is closed, I wouldn't dare knock on it or even consider barging in. Even though it is a cultural thing, it sounds like a very uncomfortable situation to be placed in. When I go to Germany, the only thing I can really hope for is to not encounter many closed doors. 

Kultur 6

As soon as I saw the picture with the article "Division Hell: Worshipping the Garbage Gods" I had a war flashback to this past summer in Germany.  We had landed at the Frankfurt airport and had an hour or so before our ride was supposed to pick up.  I had just finished a bag of Cheese-Its and was ready to throw it away.  Except, it was easier said than done.  Unlike American airports, there isn't a trash can every five feet.  I had to walk to a different part of the airport just to locate one trashcan.  Prepared to finally dispose my waste, I was startled to find a puzzle of a bin, like the Swedish tourist who had written in with her experience.  First, I had to absorb the colors: red, blue, yellow, green--it was all so much.  Then, I had to read through different languages before I finally found "waste."  It was quite the culture shock.  Don't get me wrong, I'm all for recycling, but the Germans take it to a whole new level.  For the rest of my stay in Germany and Austria, my family and I just held onto our trash until we got back to our hotel rooms, where there was only one trash can dedicated solely for waste.

Environmentalism and Student Living

I personally really don't like those "smutty" outrageous papers like Bild Zeitung, I think they are funny to laugh at going through the line in the grocery store looking at the headlines, but I can't imagine someone ever taking them seriously for any real news due to the amounts of sensationalism in them, and I don't believe in ruining someone's reputation over nothing just to sell newspapers, which is what the result of many of those magazine articles. I found the door culture not that strange, I always try to knock loudly if someone's door is closed and I really need to talk to them, because there's no point in knocking if they can't hear you. Also, Tübingen sounds like a typical kind of college town, and the university sounds very well respected.

The two things about the Kultur readings that interested me the most were the separating the trash and the different culture of student/campus living. In the US its seen as very strange if a University does not provide the majority of at least its first and second year students with housing, and almost a bit unfair if the university is in an isolated area where there aren't a lot of other living options. In Germany I suppose its different though because their Universities are much older, and so are all (I assume) city based, where there will be more housing, although it will be more expensive as the article mentioned.

Separating the trash in Germany seems like quite an ordeal for some ambiguous items, like soiled wrappers and such, which don't fit neatly into some of the categories, but otherwise it seems like a very efficient plan to be more environmentally conscious. As Americans  I think we try to recycled, but very often we don't separate our trash properly, and so a lot of waste that could be recycled ends up in landfills anyway. Following the German idea, not necessarily the complex methodology, would be a great asset to improving environmental protection in the US.

Kultur 5 Abilene Emerson

Ok, so number one: The sidewalk phenomena. Even though the Germans appear to be brute and savage rumbling down the sidewalk, I admire their confidence and determination. Here in the US (and especially in Ann Arbor for some reason) people stand like weak, ignorant statues, often 2-3 people wide across the sidewalk. No one raises an eye to see the oncoming pedestrians, and its truly rare to see someone in this 'brick wall' of people actually move so others can walk by properly. I've walked on too many lawns and in too many pot holes to avoid arrogant walkers. Partly because they are in my way, but also because as shown oppositely of the Germans, the American pedestrian just lowers his gaze like a lowly animal. I despise weak pedestrians. Also, I wonder who takes priority on the sidewalk? The article mentioned that the elderly take priority on the bus. But who is more accepted for barreling down the sidewalk?

Toilet article: SINCE WHEN DID WE GET SELF-CLEANING TOILETS!?! and why don't I have one?

I appreciate that German norms consists of meaningful conversation when trying to impress another person. Proving that you're sociable, confident and smart via flaunting your conversational skills and showing respect towards others, is more impressive and attractive. TAKE NOTE MEN. I honestly don't see a problem either way if a woman or a man makes the first move. But make it a meaningful first move.

AMD 6. Abilene Emerson

I set my facebook to German for an hour or two and when I checked it, I found words and sentences that I knew and didn’t as well.

Ich weiß diese Worten

• Gefällt mir: I recognized this one because it was Dative, like Kapitel 6. I am the indirect object that likes.
• Vor [some number of hours] Studen: I found it interesting that its  “ago [time] hours”. 
• [some person] hat einen Link geteilt: Past Perfekt= green (geteilt= teilen to share); 

                                                I could also tell that link is ‘der Link’ by the accusative conjugation of ein.

• in der Nähe von: When some people post from ihre Handy, GPS can track their location. This basically 

            translates to ‘in the near of’, ‘in the area of’. Then after ‘von’ the page would indicate their
            location.

• Gefällt mir nicht mehr: Basically it is ‘this pleases me no longer’ 
• Celestine Schwartz hat ihr Profilbild geändert: More past perfekt. Accusative ihr because Profilbild = ‘das’
• Ver kann mich kontaktieren?: There are even Modal verbs used

Ich weiß nicht diese Worten

• Wiedergabeliste: This means play back. I looked up parts of the word and ‘wiedergeben’ means ‘to reproduce’ and ‘liste’ probably means list. So ‘reproduce’ ‘list’. Maybe implying that you can play the list again and again and reproduce the sounds
• Veranstaltungen: This means ‘events’ 

The words in the main menu, and settings menu were unusually the hardest to figure out. 

AMD 6

Seeing as I enjoyed Janosch's book so much I decided to buy another one for my kids, in English, and see if they like this style as well. I found one  titled "I'll Make You Well, Tiger, Said the Bear" which looked nice. It turned out to be a great pick: the story is nice and random much like ours and is also a little quirky, but my kids love it and force me to read it every evening. This is unfortunate because it is much longer than the Panama book and has tons of text. But it is truly a cute story and the tiger and the bear are as adorable as ever- the tiger thinks he is sick and the bear takes good care of him and even takes him to the animal hospital. A good read!

AMD 6 American Football in Germany

For this AMD I read about something that I am a huge fan of. I read about football. American football that is. I watched a few videos of American football in Germany and noticed that it is slightly the same. I honestly believe that the players of the German league would get massacred by the players in the NFL. Based off of what I see in then in the videos, the German players did small things that could play a large role in what might determine who wins the game. For example, the German players stop running when they believe the person they are chasing definitely has the touchdown. In the NFL, the runner stops chasing when the players is in the in zone. It is important to continue to chase the players just in case they fumble the ball or something happens. Besides that, however, it was very interesting to see American football in the great ol’ Deutschland.

AMD 6

For my AMD 6 I looked at Germany's yahoo, which is very interesting to see what kind of news is going in Germany and how their news and our new differ from one another but also how we have similar stories as well. For example, Paul Walker's death was also one of their top stories as well as America's. However where America's yahoo is filled with the latest football news Germany had football stories about Bayer Munich's win or Robbery's ripped leggings. When I was reading the articles I could distinct between when the author was using present or past tense. Also, i found when reading i could absorb the main idea of the article and for the most part follow along pretty well. It's very interesting to see that in Germany they have very similar article. For example, there is an article about America's Next Top Model: Germany, this type of article could be found on America's page. They also have inner-home country stories, like a man who has a huge tumor on his chest or a girl who was kidnapped by her own mother. Overall it is interesting to see the kinds of stories on each page, it gives a slight insight to the culture of Germany's people and what they find interesting in a news story.

AMD 6

For my AMD 6, I decided to watch an American show which had scenes where they spoke German. The show that I watched was "Grimm." The show "Grimm" is "a cop drama—with a twist... a dark and fantastical project about a world in which characters inspired by Grimms' Fairy Tales exist." The show is typically either set in Portland, Oregon or Vienna, Austria. 

The episode I watched was "El Cucuy" (Boogeyman). In this particular episode there were multiple scenes that took place in Vienna, where they spoke only German. One of the longer scenes that took place in Vienna was when one of the pregnant characters goes to get an ultrasound. When I was watching the scene, the first thing I noticed was that the pregnant lady (a main character in the show) spoke terrible German, whereas the doctor (a random actress) sounded like she was a native speaker. For the most part I understood what they were saying, but there were some words that I did not understand. One of the many things that I understood was that the doctor said the baby was coming in "Frühling" which means Spring. There were also many words from our Kapitel 1-6 vocabulary that were used in this particular scene. 

From watching this episode I also picked up on some German words and phrases that I did not know before. Overall, I think that watching this episode was a great learning experience and it also showed that knowing German can advantageous in some American TV shows. 

AMD 6

About a week ago I got news that I would be working in Germany next semester. I'm super excited about this opportunity and just last week I had to put in my preferences for housing in München. Below are the descriptions of the company Wohnheime and as you can see, there is a lot of Kapital 6 vokabular in the descriptions.

AMD 6- South Park Thanksgiving

One of the suggestions for AMD1 was to watch an episode of South Park in German and write about it. I didn't do that on the first AMD, so I decided to do it now. And, since this it's thanksgiving break (well, maybe for another hour or so), I figured I'd watch "A History Channel Thanksgiving," one of my favorite episodes of all time.

The basic premise of this episode is that the first American Thanksgiving was actually an intergalactic peace treaty between Native Americans and Pilgrims. It sounds absurd because it's supposed to. The History Channel has a show called "Ancient Aliens," which makes silly and absurd claims that aliens somehow effected human history. Seeing the show, the creators of South Park decided to parody it in the most outlandish way possible. At some point the episode becomes a parody of the 2011 film "Thor," but that part is way too complicated to explain. 

I enjoyed watching South Park in German, and I'll probably do it some more once I'm done writing this. The dialogue is relatively simple, so I can actually understand some of what's being said without the subtitles, even if they talk really fast (English South Park is also spoken faster than normal). I highly recommend this activity for anyone trying to take a break from studying for their German final in the next few weeks.

AMD 6: Skyrim

Für AMD 6, ich habe Skyrim gespielt. Ich habe etwas Wörter von unser Vokabel gehört. Ich habe von den Anfang angefangen. Skyrim hat viele Rassen. Die Norden sind groß und stark. Die Khajit sind Katzen und kommen aus Elsweyer. Sie sind klug und schnell. Die Dunkelelfen kommen aus Morrowind und sie sind magisch. Ich war ein Dunkelelf denn ich bin ein elf nicht gewessen. Ich habe dass Geschlect bedeutet gender und Springen bedeutet jump gelernt. Ein Soldat habe mein Kopf fast geschnitten, aber ein Drache haben ihn gefressen. Ich habe mit die Rebelln gelaufen. Ich habe in ein Uhr 56 Gold gefunden.

Ich denke dass spielen dieses Spiele auf Deutsch, und schrieben über es, war ein gutes Idee. I will continue to play this game in German now, since I completed a lot of it in English already and I think that this will make it more interesting. Hopefully, it will help me improve my listening skills too!