Cultural Observations II

I hope everyone enjoyed the first list of cultural observations. Germany is a funny land. I highly recommend a visit sometime.

Here are some more oddities:

Chart Drawing: German students take charts very seriously. If during a lesson the teacher takes the time to draw a graph or chart on the board, the students all break out their markers, colored pencils, colored pens, and rulers. The teachers are also obsessed with drawing charts. My wholesale and trade class may as well be called "Mostly Chart Drawing and how charts relate to trade... but mostly Charts." I feel actually a little embarrassed that I don't take the charts as seriously as the other kids. Then I remember that I don't have to take the tests or get grades and I feel better.

Walking in on somebody: In Germany, the lights switch is usually located on the outside of the bathroom door. This is frustrating. Sometimes I forget to turn it on before locking myself in (yes, there is usually a real KEY in the door that you need to lock not a locking door handle) and then hitting my hand against the wall looking for the switch. On the off chance that I remember to turn the light on before going in, there is always a split second where I think I am walking in on someone while they do their business. I dunno how after almost four months it can still surprise me, but, seeing the light already on when I walk in, I always think first that someone is already in there.

Obama: Obama is God here. He can do no wrong. It's funny, because the leading party here in Germany is the Christian Democratic Union. Emphasis on CHRISTIAN. God in politics. Democrats would have a giant, man-eating COW over this. While the party is shrinking, it only received 1.8% less votes than in the 2005 elections. Either way, a lot of Germans love Obama, and therefore, the USA. It's a good time to be an exchange student here.

Presentations: German students have to give presentations all the time. There is at least one per week. It's a little crazy. Germans are also, for the most part, better presenters than Americans. So... many... posters...

Tests: Here at my school, the kids take fewer tests... about once a month. Their grades are pretty dependent on doing well, since there won't be another test next week. Serious students worry about and study for these tests. I took the English one. I expect to get all of the possible points.

Greetings: Greeting a German is very important. There are several things to remember. Guys always shake hands with good acquaintances and may hug friends. Girls will shake with guys or hug them, depending on their relationship and hug girls, giving each other one or two kisses... the Euro kiss. *peck peck* The Turkish guys also partake in this Euro kiss with one another. It's a tradition from Turkey that, despite Western European/American views on guys kissing anywhere near each other's faces, survives and thrives in Germany. It catches you off guard the first few times, but I see it at school everyday. Also, Germans are very big on greeting and saying goodbye to friends daily. In the morning, you are expected to not only say "hello" for that day to all your friends when you see them, but also greet them with a handshake, hug, whatever... It's nice. I like it. This can happen in the US, sure, but it isn't commonplace.

Can't read: Germans write a few things weird. I can read all of it, of course, but the connect their c's and h's weird... which makes sense because it appears so often in German that they eventually came up with a thing that looks like a roller coaster loop. Doesn't happen all the time, but it's cool. Also, instead of umlauts (üöä) Germans have taken to just making a dash above the vowel. Some teachers do this too. The number 9 always has a tail on it, and the letter Z still has the dash through the middle.

Random Festivals: Every other week the Germans find a new reason to celebrate. They say they are old traditions, but I am on to them. I think really they just hate working... or hate having boring weekends and need a reason to set up rides, temporary bars and restaurants and eat and get drunk. There is apparently this old tradition called a Kerb festival. I still don't understand how it started... something through the church... but there is a group of young people, in their twenties, and they chant and sings songs... and make a list of funny, random things that have happened throughout the year. Confusing... I know. I'll research it more and report on it later. Anyway, one of the people in this group is awarded a title... can't remember what it is, but he has to drink anything that's given to him. He is usually always drunk. My host mom said she saw one of these young guys stumbling home last week at 6:00 in the morning.

That's it for now!

Oh, also I am working on picking a new layout for the blog so it doesn't look so lame and like it's a book that sits on the shelf in a cat lady's house. :-D