Intercultural Sensitization
Lt.Realness
Join Date: 2004-03-17 Member: 27379Members
Join Date: 2004-03-17 Member: 27379Members
in Discussions
<div class="IPBDescription">need your comments ;)</div> Hi ! I'm actually a german myself and I wanna help my mum to collect some comments by foreigners. She's currently doin' a seminar and the current theme is "intercultural sensitization with the view on Germany"
And they need to collect statements by foreigners and what they think about the german people. I do have alota friends outside of germany for example in australia,usa,england etc. so I thought I can open a topic here to get more comments =)
So tell me:
- what effect do germans have on you?
- what do you think about the germans behavior? (for example germans are used to be very tidy etc.)
- what do you think about the german culture? how do you feel about it? (for example. Beerfestivals,Sauerkraut and other habits <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->)
your turn now <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> Please post serious comments and don't spam this topic!
And they need to collect statements by foreigners and what they think about the german people. I do have alota friends outside of germany for example in australia,usa,england etc. so I thought I can open a topic here to get more comments =)
So tell me:
- what effect do germans have on you?
- what do you think about the germans behavior? (for example germans are used to be very tidy etc.)
- what do you think about the german culture? how do you feel about it? (for example. Beerfestivals,Sauerkraut and other habits <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->)
your turn now <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> Please post serious comments and don't spam this topic!
Comments
Serious posts please!
- what do you think about the germans behavior? (for example germans are used to be very tidy etc.)
- what do you think about the german culture? how do you feel about it? (for example. Beerfestivals,Sauerkraut and other habits <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->) <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hmm, to be honest I haven't met a whole bunch of Germans and what I have contacted is all from one point of view. I've had more contact with British, French, and Dutch than German.
But since you asked here's what I can say to your three questions:
Not much effect on me to be honest. Unfortunately most cheat developers and supporters I have encountered are German, but they are the mature kind thankfully. Germans have historically been a group of people gifted in technological engineering, quite a legacy indeed. I love German cars. I think southern Germany is beautiful. German beer pwns US domestic by a long shot. The best beer I've ever had was German. Germany has a good football (Americans call it soccer for some reason) team but I'm loyal to the UK team if it comes down to a match between the two. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--> 3/4 of my genetics is German. (immigrated to US when Napolean invaided) Overall Germans are like most Europeans, highly respectable and post modern.
my view on Germany... well, I'm impressed about German opposition to the Iraq war... and I love Germany's contributions to the music scene - particularly electronic music. I think it's impressive/surprising that the German people went from believing in Naziism to being divided under communism to being a peaceful democratic republic, all in the span of about 50 years...
I still don't know what to think about WWII and how it was possible, but with the current US political climate, I'm beginning to understand better. Whenever a country starts to see itself as too powerful, its people start to feel like they have the right to throw their weight around wherever they want...
but yeah, that doesn't have much to do with your question <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> I respect germany a lot and if I had to leave the US it'd probably be in the top 5 places I'd want to move, along with the UK, France, Canada, and New Zealand :>
- what effect do germans have on you? | Directly I don't think they have much effect on me, since I live in the U.S. of A. but they show the world that any country can get it's crap together, even after a massive war and communism. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
- what do you think about the germans behavior? You said it, my Grandmother is so tidy... no she's obsessive about things being clean, she also loves to cook, so those would be my thoughts, they are clean and like food!
- what do you think about the german culture? Did I mention that German Coffee-cake is to die for? Anyway I think the Beerfestivals are kinda strange but maybe that's cause I'm not allowed to drink by my doctors... heh. The culture to me seems a bit "do whatever you want" like, when my friend went to Germany (he was 15 0r 16 at the time) they let him drink ALOT. LOL. Overall I like the German people, no negative thoughts about them really but not a bunch of positive ones either.
~ DarkATi
@DiscoZombie : You've got a nice neutral opinion! You've my sympathy <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
@DarkATi : ya that's true..most guys don't check your document of identification if you wanna buy alc or drink it somewhere. but be careful and keep an eye open for the cops <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> ya germans are really tidy (it annoyes me very often)
Dunno what to think of the german, the rumours would tell they are hardworking.
1> Cheap alcohol/soda/candy/cars/ciggarettes/etc.. All these things are heavily taxed in Denmark and if you just cross the border, things are like 3 times cheaper! I wub joo! <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
2> They are a nice people, the encounters I have had with them is mostly very friendly.
3> Dont know anything about german culture, sorry <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
it's interesting that most people don't know about the german culture hm
Why would they? I barely know anything about English culture, and i'm English <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--> The only thing that i "know" about German culture is that apparantly Children are raised from a young age to be more independant than children are in most other cultures (just doing Psych at college and apparantly German infants showed considerably less distress when removed from their parents than children from most other cultures).
I put "know" in the ""s because i've never really believed it. Don't know why, i can't see how a college course would lie to all it's students, but it's always seemed a little odd. Little input from any Germans here would be nice, just to see what you think about it (Remember, if it's total bs, don't flame me, it's an extract from a study about The Strange Situation if you wish to know <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->)
our school system is different. We learn alota things about other cultures at school - but believe me, sometimes it's annoying. but I think it's much better to know more about other countries than just about your own country. the best example is america (I've nothin' against the US +g+ I love america! exept the politics). Mostly american students do only learn the history of their own country..
In germany we learn everything about history.. middleage,bronze age,french revolution,german history,american history,italian history etc.
same for the subject geography. We learn things about important countrys like "japan,australia,italy,india,america,england,russia and last but not least germany"
it's better to know a little bit what's around the world. best example for me is this one:
A german reporter asked american people on the streets before the war in iraq started
"Do you know where iraq is?"
and they showed them a world map (there where no names on the whole map) and most of them pointed seriously on south america or mexico!!
they really thought iraq must be nearby america and can attack america with missiles oO that's because they gave their vote for the war.. this is sad!
- what do you think about the germans behavior? (for example germans are used to be very tidy etc.)
- what do you think about the german culture? how do you feel about it? (for example. Beerfestivals,Sauerkraut and other habits <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->)
<!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
No direct effect on my life what so ever as far as I can tell, indirectly who knows. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
All Germans I have met over the internet have been nice enough people as individuals with one or two exceptions. With any European country I dislike their anti-Bush sometimes anti-American attitudes. Sometimes I think certain countries are too quick to forget those who have helped them so very much in the past, that?s my personal opinion.
As for German culture the only bits of it I have been exposed to would be your odd Oktoberfest...at which I never enjoy the food...however German beer is a completely different story. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
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What effect do germans have on you?
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Not a whole lot other then Nem0, who I am sure we all love. The few germans I have had the chance to speak with are generally friendly, although their sense of humor is "different" not bad, just not as defined as some others. :-)
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What do you think about the germans behavior?
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hmm... I really can't answer that question since I do not interact with anyone who is german daily.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
What do you think about the german culture?
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Culture... I find their festivals very entertaining, we even have a german fest day here in SF, which can be fun. There is lots of dancing, drinking, music and of course food.
I may be the only one who disagrees about the educational system, I find it sadly lacking. Then again, this is based on my experiences. Most of the germans I have spoken with, knew next to nothing of where I was from, granted it isn't that popular yet I could tell them more of their history then they knew. Granted I loved history in school. (No offense meant on the german educational system, since it is highly regional, I have the habit of finding the silliest people on the net as well.)
When I did visit Berlin a few years ago, I found it a mostly pleasant experience, it was a little difficult to try to communicate to a few people but then my german is only about four words anyway.
I hope this helps. :-)
/Ontopic: Im going to a german school and I am on my last year, so I guess I have a better idea of german culture than some of you <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--> (No offense). German people are hard-working , they dont speak a lot , Love and Friends are different than in some other countries .... they have less friends but stronger relationships (In fact , "Freund" means "Friend" , but there is no word for boy/girlfriend, i think that they use "Meine beste Freundin / Mein beste Freund" aka my best friend )
I guess that they are also perfectionist.....
Also I remember taking a day trip from Weimar into Eastern Germany and noticing the abruptness with which the stucco on apartments went from bright white to dingy grey and how much construction was going on there at the time. This was in the early 90s.
Other than that, I have to say I thought the 30 Years War was a bad idea on your guys' part, but I suppose we all make mistakes. <!--emo&::nerdy::--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html//emoticons/nerd-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='nerd-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
@(e)kent : our police tape isn't yellow <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--> it's red and white. <img src='http://www.waseg.ch/bilder/produkte51.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' /> (the right one is the police tape) We don't have any phrase on it like it's in the USA (Police line do not cross). It's just "Polizei"
@IronMaiden : What do you mean with girl and boyfriend=? The relationship gf and bf? that'd be "Freundin" "Freund" or "Lebensgef?hrte" in german. If you are talking about it specifically to another person you'd say "Meine Freundin" (in english "my girlfriend).
ya you're right. East germany is very dirty in most of it's places. It's because the russians "raped" it during the cold war and after WWII. I don't know about that much because I was born in west berlin, so I'm a west german <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Gonna ask my teacher tomorrow.
PD: send me Nutella per PM <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
our school system is different. We learn alota things about other cultures at school - but believe me, sometimes it's annoying. but I think it's much better to know more about other countries than just about your own country. the best example is america (I've nothin' against the US +g+ I love america! exept the politics). Mostly american students do only learn the history of their own country..
In germany we learn everything about history.. middleage,bronze age,french revolution,german history,american history,italian history etc.
same for the subject geography. We learn things about important countrys like "japan,australia,italy,india,america,england,russia and last but not least germany"
it's better to know a little bit what's around the world. best example for me is this one:
A german reporter asked american people on the streets before the war in iraq started
"Do you know where iraq is?"
and they showed them a world map (there where no names on the whole map) and most of them pointed seriously on south america or mexico!!
they really thought iraq must be nearby america and can attack america with missiles oO that's because they gave their vote for the war.. this is sad! <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
It is interesting the stereotypes that fall on US citizens. You mentioned that most Americans are never taught about foreign cultures. That is simply untrue. Our education system covers this topic a lot. It is the students that choose not to learn or remember it.
Learning about other cultures is necessary but it should never supercede studying one's own culture. After all, if we didn't study our own culture, who would? The same goes for any country. You must know thyself before you can understand someone else.
Don't take the media sensationalism about how uninformed the regular person is. Those types of people exist in all cultures and are not limited to the United states. We have a large population and you are going to find shining examples of American ignorance. Hey, we need someone to flip our burgers and pick up our trash.
I cannot stand the stereotype of the ignorant American. It isn't as it appears to be. I am still fighting against the dumb pollock stereotype and I don't need another one to battle. These questions of where is Iraq, or can you point to it on a map are really only showcasing the bad examples.
Noone ever asked me a question like that. Not only could this 'ignorant american' point out the location of every country on Earth but I can point out the geographic location of the capitols and tell you about the form of government of each country.
They don't ask Americans like me because we would screw up their humorous example.
Yes we can <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I had it while I was staying in Austria for a bit. Its hard to find and you have to go to the mega supermarkets but its there.
did you enjoy other german food? like "curry wurst" <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->