Kapitel 2 Kultur- Matt

Hallo,

After reading "The German National Pastime: Whining, Bitching and Moaning," it came to me as a shock as of the lack of patriotism. 'So what!' about a train coming a little late or if the Deutsch Fussball team didn't make champions (they were runner-up too). I feel like life is too short to complain about every little detail and that we should be grateful for what we already have. For example, the article stated "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." I certainly don't find myself complaining over these little things, especially when there is 'bigger fish to fry.'

The Germanic Stare Down article was pretty funny! Especially at the end where it gives you advice on how to reply to German's staring at you. On the other hand, it sounds kind of creepy that you know someone is watching your every move, kind of like a communist government kind of thing.

The third article of was a humorous read as well and it came to help me realize that honesty rules over gentleman-like manners. I think I would love to live in a country were there weren't any manners prohibiting me to live my life. For the fourth article, I kind of felt disappointed in that I don't know many statistics of where I come from. I would definitely not have a good conversation if it came to talking about population statistics.

Reading the Kultur about German immigration to North America, I've realized that I have visited Germantown, PA (the German's first settlement in the New World). I was surprised over 57 million Americans claim German heritage. I was also surprised about the fact that I wrote quite a bit about this stuff in the Kapitel 1 Blog. With respect to the other Brennpunkt Kultur, it seems like German's higher institutions (post 1960s) are very similar to those in America.

Danke,

Matt