5 Kultur-Texte

Rules of the Street: No Blood, No Entschuldigung
From this blog it seems like although there is a word for "excuse me" it is rarely used in passing when walking down the street for example. It is normal to walk down the street in Germany and occur physical contact with the stranger passing by you. It is not because German's are rude and blatantly unaware but the crowd has just become normal. Scenarios like this remind me of crowded city's like New York or even back home in San Francisco. The difference I think there might be between these cities and Germany (well at least in San Francisco) is that people consciously move around someone who it in the way rather than plowing through them. I am not sure what this says about American culture but I guess Germans are more comfortable with rubbing shoulders (literally) with strangers.

German Erotica: The Land of Beer, Sausage, and Sex Shops
Sex stores are much more common and socially acceptable in Germany. Here they are described as the last place you would stumble into unless you had "money left over after buying crack cocaine from the neighborhood drug dealer and are looking for some good old American porno". I don't know about that but you definitely wont find a sex store in the airport or in a main mall. They are everywhere and no one looks twice at them. It goes to show that Germans are very comfortable with sexuality and do not tip toe around it as much as Americans do.

The Loneliness of the Klofrau: Toilet Training for Visitors
I never knew the Klofrau or "sanitary assistant" existed. She (or he for male rest rooms) is the person that keeps the bathroom clean and they often look to you (the person who needs to pee) for a small tip or extra change. Essentially you are paying her to use the public bathroom ranging from 30-50 cents to 1 Euro. At first read I thought this was ridiculous and outrageous but the article then explained that these  "toilet ladies" are often poorly paid immigrants so this money greatly benefits them considering this is not the ideal pristine job. Plus they are making your bathroom experience more pleasing for you by keeping it clean, why not pay them for a "perfumed pee experience".

Scoring a German: Flirting
Flirting in Germany is more subtle than the American description. For men it only takes one look usually including a smile. Its not intense but was described as fleeting and thats all that a man has to do to catch the woman's attention. In Germany much of the flirting lies in the woman's hands which is a little different from how it is in American. Men here seem to be the ones to initiate flirting often seeking out a girl and approaching her in a very direct manner. This is different in Germany, many women would view this as being too forward. Women often say that it is hard to distinguish if a man is flirting with you because of how reserved and subtle it is. This all seems very confusing and I think I would prefer American style of flirting to avoid that awkward moment when u think someone is flirting wit you but it turns out they are only staring because you have broccoli stuck in your teeth.

Women in Germany
• Women’s life expectancy is higher than men’s.
• Today, an ever increasing number of girls decide to go to university. In the winter semester 2002/2003, 50.6% of all first-year students were women. All higher education institutions taken together, i.e. incl. art colleges and Fachhochschulen (technical colleges of higher education), in the winter semester 2002/2003 the share of female students was 50.1 %.

• With regard to women’s and men’s wages and income, the Federal Government submitted an extensive report to the Lower House of Parliament in 2002. This reveals, among other things, that women in the old Länder only have 75% of men’s income on average, while in the new Länder it is 94 %.

Brennpunkt Kultur

• Hamburg is Germany's largest Sea Port and has 1.8 million inhabitants. 

• It is a city-state with independent status like Berlin and Brennen. 

• Part of the Hanseatic League which fostered trade in the North Sea and the Baltic Region.

• Its center is along the banks of the Aster. 

• It is the birthplace of Brahms and Felix Mendelssohn and chancellor Angela Merkel.