Leah Mattfield Kultur 2 Kapitel 2

These blogs were very interesting. I love learning about different cultures and Germans definitely have their own. However, I think Americans complain quite a bit as well. And wonder if that applies more to older people than young. I have some friends from Germany who were exchange students and they hardly ever complained about anything. They were very grateful and sweet. But perhaps that was just because they were in a different country and are more likely to only complain about things in their own country.

I also think it is so funny that they are so nosey, but that does make sense considering the historical value behind it. We in America are so trained to mind our own business "don't stare" etc. so it is so odd for me to hear of a culture where it is normal to find someone just staring at you. And I don't know what I would do if I caught my neighbor just creepin' from their window. I value my privacy and that is just too much.

What I really liked was the article about how honest Germans are. It just makes so much more sense to say what you mean. Americans can be so fake sometimes and Germans seem to understand how to just be real people. What I would like to research into further is how this might effect relationships in Germany in comparison to relationships. (I'm talking all kinds of relationships between people, not just romantic.) I often try to be honest with everyone around me so maybe that is the large percentage of German in my background coming out.

The article about statistics makes me kind of stressed about visiting Germany. I know I would have a lot of research to do because I don't know any specific numbers regarding my state. But I think it is cool that they are so informed about their own country and also so interested in others. They seem to be very involved. Overall, the Germans clearly have some great things and some slightly obnoxious things about their culture, but I would love to experience it personally some day!

Kultur2-- Callie Chappell

I thought that all of these readings were very interesting and telling about German society. Like any culture, so many assumptions about German culture are statements of non-understanding. Approaching German culture with the mindset, "It must be so different, I'm not sure what to expect" will leave you very surprised about the similarities between American and German culture. I thought the article about German complaining was interesting because, as the article points out, the German standard of living is the nearly the highest in the world. Ironically, the country where citizens have the least to complain about do the most whining. Additionally, the historical analysis from the ""The Germanic Stare Down": Watcha Lookin’ at, Granny?" article placed their cultural "stare-down" in a historical context. The deep-seated German patriotism impacts the way citizens relate to one another on the street or on the subway. I think the "Brutally Honest" and "Obsession with Statistics" articles go hand-in-hand explaining the German value in truth and honesty. Personally, I find the American inclination to mask rudeness in dishonesty inefficient. Being both well-informed and required to be held accountable for your personal opinion/identity I think leads to a more well-thought out state of being.

Kultur 2- Philip Picon

Wow! I thought all of those articles were magnificently funny as well as informative. As far as the complaining article goes, I feel like in America we complain a lot too, although we really just complain about nonsensical stuff like how slow our cellphone service is or how inconveniently far we live from a McDonald's. The line I found most interesting was "Unlike in the US, there aren't giant potholes in the streets, public transportation exists and is generally extremely reliable, everybody has health insurance, people have four to eight weeks of paid vacation, and politicians aren't any more incompetent than anywhere else." For some reason in my US-centric mind I always thought we had it best. Do other countries view us as having it worse than them?

The brutally honest article I found to be a great read because one of my pet peeves is people who aren't honest (especially girls). From my experience, when a girl says "I am not mad" it usually means they are mad. If you ask them if you did something wrong and they say "no," then you definitely did do something wrong. It is that whole backwards logic that I dislike and I think I may go to Deutschland, meet a girl, and never have to deal with those issues again.

On the other hand, I dislike the fact that the Deutsch love statistics. Being mathematically challenged, I don't think I would be able to live in a society obsessed with statistics. To me, saying "a lot of people have dogs" is better than "87.2% of people living east of village X have dogs."

The last article about the Deutsch stare I found to be quite funny, amplified by the image of an old lady nastily staring out her window. Once again, this is very different culturally than what I am used to. If in NYC you even look at someone for more than "zwei" seconds, a fight will likely ensue. Meanwhile in Deutschland, the stare seems to be a popular thing.

Kapitel 2 Kultur

I enjoyed reading these articles shedding humor on tidbits of German life. The famous German complaint reminds me of American culture. I connected their complaints to conversations I hear and catch myself saying when the blue bus is a little late.

The stare-down was something that I've never seen before. In the U.S., it's rude to stare someone down. This German habit kind of reinforced the stereotype that Germans are all harsh and scary. In a historical context, the stare-down makes sense.

I admire the way that Germans tell it like it is. They don't waste time beating around the bush to ensure that no one is offended. I'm sure that their lives are a little less complicated because they're not filled with silly customs about "being polite".

I never realized that so many Americans came from Germany. My grandma immigrated here from Germany when she was 12, which is why I took German. I guess there are a lot of grandchildren like me.

I thought it was really interesting that their universities are broken up by areas of study. I suppose there are technology based universities and liberal arts colleges here too. Their different universities are like all of the schools that make up U of M.

Kapitel 2 Kultur Post

 German citizens show great pride for their country, whether it's having a constant neighborhood watch demeanor or critiquing everything to move their country closer to perfection. I found it ironic that even though Germans realize that they complain excessively, they see nothing wrong with it, (Joerg Colberg, "The German National Pastime: Whining, Bitching, and Moaning"). Their critiquing shows that they aren't shy to point out flaws in their society. Identifying flaws is the first step towards working them oout, thus creating a more efficient, clean running society for its citizens. Though complaining seems very pessimistic, it's not always a terrible thing.

I always had a vision that Germany was a very intense country, but I would've never assumed that people watch you from their windows and the subway. It seems a little excessive to be observed for much of your day, but I suppose it's just the reminants of the totalitarianism attitude. I would think that rather than giving the "Germanic Staredown," (Kimberly Bradley, "The Germanic Staredown: Whatcha Lookin' at, Granny?") it would be easier to go about your day minding your own business and worrying about your own things. I suppose Germans are just more curious than myself.

Even though German interaction can seem brutal at times, they tend to mean what they say on a more sincere level. Such as in the article, "Brutally Honest; Have You Gained Weight?," author Maria Snyder points out their sincerity of simple conversational lines. When asked to have tea sometime, they mean that they would really like to schedule a get together. In America, sometimes lines such as "we should get together sometime" really means "I don't really care if we ever see each other again or not," (Snyder). They don't like to beat around the bush and tend to mean what they say.

One thing I had never realized about Germany is their obsession with statistics. It's strange that they would be so interested in learning the population, area, political system, religions, unemployment rates, etc. of random American cities and towns, (Prachi Kadam, "By the Numbers: An Obssession with Statistics"). From another aspect though, it makes sense that they would condense this information into a better understanding of life in different parts America and the world. Knowing details about things can help to put them into a better perspective.