Kultur 6

Sex, Smut and Shock: Bild Zeitung Rules Germany
This article talks about a bestselling newspaper called the Bild Zeitung. This newspaper is very daring with what it published and is compared to tabloids in America and Britain. One large part of the Bild Zeitung is the "daily dose of high-resolution soft porn." They live by the motto "Bild Dir Deine Meinung" which means "we form your opinion so you don't have to."
It discusses many different things, from sports to sex. Also compared to other papers, such as the British Mirror, they have a different girl in every single paper. This even happened after Angela Merkel became chancellor! They are known to run sexual articles which end up being a hit among everyone, and interesting polls as well. Surprisingly they were not okay with the British Sun publishing a picture of Angela Merkel changing on a beach.

German Privacy: Come On In, My Door Is Always Closed

Deciding when or when not to walk into a room is apparently different in Germany compared to America. In Germany, if a door is closed it usually means you should not enter. This article basically tells you how to enter a room if they door is closer. Knocking loudly is a must BUT you should only knock once. If you knock more than once you will probably annoy the person you are trying to talk to and ruin their chances of being nice to you. Smiling is also a must when you enter the room.

Division Hell: Worshipping the Garbage Gods

Among other things, choosing where to throw away your garbage, which is a seemingly easy task, actually proves to be quite difficult in Germany. There are different garbage cans for green glass, brown glass, white glass, paper, metal, organic waste, packaging, and a final bin for anything else let over. The author tells a short story about their experience in Berlin where they were unsure whether to throw a paper wrapper in the paper bin or the "leftover" bin. Not only is throwing garbage in the wrong can somewhat embarrassing, it also takes some time to sort it out. Germany takes its recycling of different materials very seriously, and they are one of the leading countries with environmentalism. Besides so many different ways to sort garbage, the only strange thing is they do not recycle on Sundays.

Brennpunkt Kultur

Seite 211 - Students in Germany have similar yet living patterns to students in America. Nearly 66% of all students live in apartments and only 12-13% live in residents halls. Other arrangements such as living with a family, living in Wohngemeinschaften or Wohnungsvermittlung make up a small percentage as well. Many of the places students live contain a Einzelzimmer with a desk, bed, and bookcase. Some may have a bathroom, but others may have a communal bathroom. A cool feature is that most floors will be equipped with its own kitchen. Some of this housing is expensive, but other forms like the Wohnungsvermittlung are free housing services from the university.

Seite 225 - Tübingen is a well known town, especially for its college, the Eberhard-Karls-Universität. It holds a farmous town hall (die Rathaus) and a historical town center (die Altstadt). The Eberhard-Karls-Universität, founded in 1477, had many famous and intelligent people attend it. Johannes Kepler, G. W. F. Hegel, Ludwig Uhland, Hermann Hesse, Hans Küng, and Friedrich Hölderlin. The coolest thing is that Tübingen and Ann Arbor, Michigan are sister cites and have a partnership.