Kultur 5

Rules of the Street: No Blood, No Entschuldigung

It is really interesting to know the neatest German people do not actually being "most polite" if saying "Excuse me" is being polite.
Since I come to America, I am always over use ""Excuse me" and "Sorry" and I would say that whenever I have any physical contact with others. In China, people behave differently based on personality or mood, or something else. We have the word "不好意思" for "excuse me" and lots of people prefer using "让一下" instead of "being polite" and it simply means "get away because you are in my way". Most people would inform others when they try to pass by if it is crowded and maybe not using the most polite words.
To me, this is much better than "some Germans like to pretend no one else is there..." I don't need an "Entschuldigung" but please, do not tromp on my foot.Actually, using "不好意思" too frequently also draw people's attention in China. When I tried to figure out my way on a crowded bus or subway, being polite always make others staring at me...
Overall, equipped with "Excuse me" in the US, strong feet in Germany and noise or any words that suggest your next movement in China.


German Erotica: The Land of Beer, Sausage and Sex Shops

I like this title which makes Germany like the heaven for most men: beer, meet and sex. 
The Safe Sex Store is right next door by my current apartment and I have never visited that store yet. It has a giant penis figure with a tie standing by its door and everyone can see it walking by. I am really curious about what is in a sex store and my girlfriends and I decided to visit it together before our graduation. It is like a "To do list" before leaving the UM.
In China, sex is not yet an open topic for most people. Most Chinese people are very conservative and even a dirty joke can be very embarrassment. 
I saw several Sex shops in China and they are usually small, they look dirty, only open after dinner time and close before breakfast. This is totally different from Germany. Visiting a sex shop in China is like claiming you are a pervert and I think that is why those stores only open when most people are staying at home. 
Next time if I visit Germany, the sex shop in airport will be my first stop because I am super curious what is in a sex store....


Scoring a German: Flirting with Fräuleins, Hunting for Herren

This flirting thing works differently in different countries, different cultures. I would say this word has hundreds of meanings: one for each culture or country. Actually, maybe it has billions of meanings because people are different from each other, both the giver and the receiver.
I personally have no idea how this works. I think Americans in general are better at this than Chinese based on both countries' TV series. Maybe I should learn how to do it one day. For now, projects are enough for me.


Women in Germany

On January 31st, a paper which announced an astonishing discovery was published on Nature. "Stimulus-triggered fate conversion of somatic cells into pluripotency" by a Japanese group which is leaded by a female researcher, Haruko Obokata. She is only 30 years old and she is kinda pretty compared with other "old and serious female scientists". This finding could lead to too many possibilities and almost every biologist in the world was talking about it.
It was more than the result itself but the leader herself also make it outstanding in Japan. It is said that most media were reporting on her. However, several days ago she was found guilty of scientific misconduct and this turns to a heat spot in Japan.
There is a bid debate over this whole issue. Some people think one of the reasons that H. Obokata becomes so popular is that the share of female scientists is very limited in Japan. What's worse, most girls do not like to work in science field in Asian countries.
According to this kultur article,  the share in Germany is only 11/9% in 2002. I found a figure on this topic:

 
As a girl and a student major in science and engineering myself, I understand why most girls do not want to be a researcher. Based on this figure, more females will choose science area with appropriate policy stimulation.