Kultur2 John Pederson

I thought the various cultural differences that I read about in the
 articles online were actually quite fascinating. I really liked the article
 “Brutally Honest: ‘Have You Gained Weight?’" So often I wish people
 would just say what they mean! And at the same time I would like to be able
 to say things that I mean without offending anyone.  I don’t like lying
 and how in English, many times “white lies” become the norm.
I thought the article "The Germanic Stare Down’: Watcha Lookin’ at,
 Granny?’” was equally interesting. I often secretly want to stare at
 people. Everyone is unique and our differences always fascinate me. I
 thought it was interesting how “The German Stare Down” developed in the
 German culture in part because of their history of conflict. It makes
 plenty of sense. I would be pretty annoyed however if an older German woman
 reported my car and I got a ticket in the mail later.
I also thought it strange that Germans are known for complaining a lot. I
 always thought we Americans were notorious for rants of dissatisfaction.
I have German neighbors, and I did not notice any of these qualities about
 them. They were not the complaining type, and they weren’t too nosey
 either. I suppose they never had the opportunity to be “brutally
 honest,” but perhaps they would have been if they were given one. 

AMD2 John Pederson

German Music on Last.fm

For this blog assignment I chose to listen to yet even more German music. I was able to delve even more into the language by reading other listeners comments. Such comments included things like ”Pitzen remix!” and “Nicht slecht!” I listened to the lyrics too and tried my best to understand them. I listened to the following songs.

Blumfeld – “Anders als glücklich” – didn’t really like it. It had a chorus with a female vocalist and one commentator said: “Der Chorus mit den Chicks ist zum totlachen.” This means “The Chorus with the Chicks is hilarious.” I agree! The lead singer also says “Alright ladies!” in the middle of the song, and I thought that was dumb. I don’t like hearing English in foreign music a lot of the time.

Tomte – Ich sang die ganze Zeit von Dir (Auf Englisch: I sang all the time for you)

I really liked the chorus in this song! It was catchy. I caught a few phrases and words in it. One commentator said “Episch/Lyrisch/Philosophisch...was will man mehr?” I think this means, “Epic, lyrical, philosophical… what else could you want?”

Die Sterne – Zucker (Auf Englisch: Sugar)

This was quite a funky tune! Didn’t really understand much of it, and there weren’t many comments.

Die Goldenen Zitronen – Für immer Punk (Forever Punk)

HAHAHAHAHA – this tune made me laugh so much. “Möchte ich sein für immer punk!” It was a play on the song “Forever young.”

Ja, Panik - Marathon

This song was interesting to say the least. One line that stuck out to me was “Wenn meine gitarre schon wieder betrunken ist,” which means “When my guitar is drunk again.” Thought that was interesting. Lots of tempo changes and things like that.

Ich höre Musik gern.

I am really into music. As a German student, I was excited to check out what Germany has to offer in the world of Music and I wasn't let down.

Here are links to some of my favorite songs that I discovered. I read the lyrics but most of the time I have no idea what it all means. It's interesting to see different cultures, languages, and even western musicians incorporated into the songs.

Samy Delux -Poesie Album
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29Pg5cBeGbo


MARTERIA - SEKUNDENSCHLAF (SEEED Remix)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv2QuxukIfM

Seeed - Aufstehn Ft. Cee-Lo Green!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6JYzOjglBs

German

Honestly I thought a larger percentage of Americans would have German roots. Also, I thought that most people with German blood would live on the East Coast. I guess I never thought about German immigrants having contact with Native Americans but it makes total sense now that I think about it. I do however find many Germans' fascination with Native Americans strange. It also surprised me how most Americans claim to have German roots above other heritages.

I think it is interesting how Germans often did not play a huge role in establishing settlements because they were not among the first to arrive at them. I thought it was also interesting how America's first Superintendent of Physical Education was a German because of the gymnastic loving 48ers who left Germany after a failed Democratic Revolution!

I also found the disunity of German immigrants interesting with regards to the fact that nobody knows when Steuben Day or German/American Day is.