Tag Sechzig (Day Sixty)

Class today was a lot of fun. We had great discussions over portions of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and various allegorical aspects of it. Then this afternoon, I met with my tandem partner for a couple of hours to talk. I have a meeting this evening with a presentation group from my sci-fi class. We have a presentation on Octavia Butler’s “Bloodchild.”

Today I was considering the various things that have changed since coming to Germany and will change in my life when I return to the United States. There are some things that I will have to get used to again:

1.       Bread and water automatically being provided at most restaurants

2.       Water not being carbonated

3.       Not having prices per unit given in the grocery store

4.       Different bus lines for different directions

5.       Showing a bus pass on public transportation

6.       How date and time formats are written

7.       Teachers having frequent office hours

8.       Life moving at a faster pace (meals, classes, school in general…funny, because Germans tend to think that Americans are more relaxed, something with which I do not think I would agree)

9.       A lack of German extreme-punctuality and general “brusque-ness”(which is actually in direct opposition to number eight)

10.   A lack of paperwork and bureaucracy (the amount necessary for registration with the city and the university here in Marburg verged on ridiculous)

11.   Being able to take leftovers from restaurants (this is frowned upon in Germany)

12.   Having waiters come to the table many times during a meal to check in on the customers.

13.   Waiting to be seated in restaurants (in Germany, one can generally sit wherever is desired and the waiter will come to you)

14.   A sad lack of soft pretzels in most American bakeries

15.   Following number fourteen, the lack of a bakery (or two) on nearly every city block

16.   Counting with the thumb last (only used in “five”) instead of the thumb first (used for “one”)

17.   The first floor of a building being called “Floor 1” (in Germany, “Floor 1” refers to the American second floor)

18.   American prices for many things in-store not being listed to include sales tax

19.   Not having eighteen million garbage and recycling bins. Okay, I jest, but there are usually five to seven different bins in places like German cafeterias

20.   Not being able to just take bottles back to the grocery store to recycle and get back the bottle deposit from them (I just had a moment when I could not think of the phrase “bottle deposit,” but I could think of the German word, pfand)

21.   Seeing policemen all over towns (If you see lots of policemen in Germany, it typically means there is a problem)

22.   Going back to the American system of measurements (This is not meant to be arrogant, but the metric system really is logically better)

And finally, that which I feel like I will maintain when I return, but that I developed here:

1.       Using a fork or knife with my left hand

2.       Writing in cursive (it is much easier to write with a fountain pen if it is in cursive)

I think that there are a decent number of things that I have gotten used to that I would be glad to bring back and continue in the United States. But these German customs are just that – German. No matter how cool they might be, to maintain them in America can only be seen as arrogant or inappropriately different. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” goes the saying, and the same is true here. We expect foreigners to adopt our customs when they come to the United States, and I believe the same is true for Americans like me who are returning to their home country. Sadly, one of the most disappointing things I have seen in my study abroad program is Americans who refuse to adapt to German ways of life while living here in Germany. Culture and cultural differences are a two way street.

My list of differences I gave may sound as though I am disappointed to be returning to the United States. On the contrary, I enjoy the American way of life, and I have greatly appreciated this opportunity for living out a comparison and experience in another culture.

Aside from the above, there are certainly other examples that I am not thinking of right now. Two articles that I found incredibly interesting (if not a bit long) are here, the first dealing mainly with American-German cultural differences in business and the second in many aspects of life (organised by section for ease of reference). The first: http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/living.html and the second: http://math-www.uni-paderborn.de/~axel/us-d.html . One of the smallest things I think I will miss is sales tax not being included in the listed price of an item in-store. It really is very helpful to me. Now I just need to remember to change my computer format back to that of the United States…

Tag Neunundfünfzig – Abend (Day Fifty-Nine – Evening)

Journeying to the middle of nowhere was fun! It was not actually the middle of nowhere, but that was the way my tutorial leader had described the location of his place. It was located in Gisselberg, a small village on the southern side of Marburg. A brief walk plus a bus ride was all it took. This meeting was to replace the tutorial we missed last week, and we watched Star Trek: First Contact. The goal with this movie, aside from watching a cool science fiction movie (albeit a bit cheesy at times) was to discuss the attempts which the android, Data, makes to become more human.

After returning home this evening, I immediately made a cup of tea. I have a response paper on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe due on Tuesday. It is time to get it finished up!

Tag Neunundfünfzig – Morgen (Day Fifty-Nine – Morning)

It is only 09.30 in the morning and already I have gone through a bout of confusion. I woke up at 09.00 to my American cell phone alarm. After lying in bed for a few minutes, I got up and happened to look at my watch. Utterly confused, I stared at it for a few minutes, as it was saying that it was a few minutes after 10.00. I was fairly certain that I had not gone back to sleep for an hour, but I passed it off as something getting messed up with my American cell phone, because my German cell phone also said a few minutes after 10.00. So, slightly dejected, I got out of bed and turned on my computer. Immediately, I notice the time: 09.20. Insert a very large frown here. 

As it turns out, Daylight Savings Time in Germany ends at 03.00 on Sunday, 30 October, 2011 (it started on Sunday 27 March, 2011). So, for a week, I am one hour less ahead of the United States, as Daylight Savings Time in the United States, for those regions that observe it, ends on Sunday, 6 November, 2011 (having started on Sunday, 13 March, 2011). Because the coding on my blog for the clock was very simplistic, it did not change on its own, but I have manually adjusted it to reflect the current and correct time here.

There are times when I wonder as to the importance of Daylight Savings Time (DST). After all, it is clearly something that is very synthetic (not that I do not appreciate the extra hour in my day today). In 2005, George Bush passed a law that moved the start date for DST in the United States from April to March. The need for standardised time-zones makes sense to me…otherwise there would be a difference of minutes between so many places that life would get very complicated. But Daylight Savings time seems to be something that could be useful and yet a great disadvantage as well.

Regardless of what time it is, it is still a beautiful and foggy morning here in Marburg. Many of the leaves outside my room that were previously changing colour have begun to fall from the trees. This afternoon, I am going to meet with my sci-fi tutorial leader for our rescheduled tutorial. More to come later.

Tag Achtundfünfzig (Day Fifty-Eight)

Today, after sleeping in, I went on my second day trip! Some friends and I took a train to Frankfurt, then another from there to the city of Mainz, a medieval town slightly bigger than Marburg. We ate lunch in a traditional German restaurant and walked around the city taking pictures and enjoying the unique feel of the old city. This evening, there was a Halloween party at the student bar here in the dormitory complex. Halloween is not normally celebrated in Germany, but with so many international students, it has grown a bit here in Marburg.

Tag Siebenundfünfzig (Day Fifty-Seven)

Another work day. I had planned on meeting with my tandem partner, but we ended up rescheduling. So I read a lot and worked on presentations.

Das Schloss im Nebelmeer (The Castle in the Sea of Fog)

As autumn moves toward to winter, a predominant feature in the landscape of Marburg is fog. On many mornings, the fog will, at least to some extent, sit in the forests and areas around the dormitories, if not also down in the city itself, until mid- to late-morning. There are days where the fog seems to do nothing more than rise up into the sky, covering the heavens in a light grey blanket. The fog does not typically roll back in until early evening – about five or six p.m.

Here I have included a picture that I took last week, which I thought you might enjoy. This is a view of the castle here in Marburg during one of the particularly foggy days. The title of this blog post was inspired by an oil painting that I happen to like, entitled “Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer” (Wanderer above the Sea of Fog). It was composed by Caspar David Friedrich, a German Romantic artist in 1818. A picture of the painting is below the picture of the castle.

It should also be noted that I have added a weather widget to the right side of this blog, so that all who are interested can see how the weather is behaving here in Marburg. (I also made it so that it displays the temperature in Fahrenheit, despite Celsius being the system of temperature that is used here in Germany.)

Tag Sechsundfünfzig (Day Fifty-Six)

What should have been a long day actually ended up becoming a very uneventful day. My tutorial leader for sci-fi tutorial caught some sort of stomach bug a couple of days ago and was not yet feeling well. This led us to postpone our double-tutorial session until this weekend, which was okay with me. After sci-fi class, I came home and ate lunch. Then I made some tea and settled in with The Fellowship of the Ring, hoping to finish it. Several hours later, this was accomplished. I am not sure right off hand which book I shall be reading next. The next book for my British Contemporary Fantasy Literature class is Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. In that class, we are currently discussing The Fellowship of the Ring, and, in the tutorial for that class, we are currently discussing The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. For my American Science Fiction in the 20^th Century class, the next book is a short-story by Isaac Asimov, entitled “That Thou Art Mindful of Him.” The next book for the sci-fi tutorial is another short story, entitled “The Cyborg Manifesto.” By my recollection, none of these will be talked about soon (the next week). Checking on this might be a good idea…

All right, by my records, it appears that we will be talking about “That Thou Art Mindful of Him” in sci-fi class on two weeks from today. That being a short story, I will probably go ahead and read it and take notes on it this weekend. We have not yet talked about “The Bicentennial Man” in sci-fi tutorial (because of postponements and such), so “The Cyborg Manifesto” will probably not need to be read for a few weeks yet. After “That Thou Art Mindful of Him,” I will probably start Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone this weekend. Judging by how quickly I read the various Harry Potter books during my first read-through of them, which was years ago (Junior High-age or before, for the first several books), I do not think that this book will take very long. I am relatively familiar with the story already, so this is merely a refreshment of my memory regarding the details.

During the past week, the leaves of many of the trees here have begun to undergo their colour-changes. As I know many of you are big fans of the autumn leaves, I decided to take a picture through my window of my (new) view. I say new, because I have, once again, rearranged the furniture in my room, this time placing my desk in front of the window to afford me a better view of the trees and, behind them the fog rolling over the residential area around the dormitories.

Since I did not expect to even be yet out of tutorial by this time, I am now afforded a good chunk of time for this afternoon and evening. Perhaps I will start in on some more reading after a workout and some more tea. That, plus brainstorming for next week’s presentation (three of us in sci-fi class are in charge of a presentation covering at least one integral aspect of Octavia Butler’s “Bloodchild”), should make for a relaxing and productive evening.