Kultur: Kapitel 9

I thought that the German rules were very interesting to read about. They had quiet times in the dorms last year but I felt like 8PM is pretty early to have quiet time considering that people do their laundry late at night or even vacuum. I understand that it is common courtesy for your neighbors but such thing could never be enforced in the US and especially not a college town like Ann Arbor considering that there are crazy parties everywhere all the time. Especially on days such as Super Bowl Sundays. I also feel like people do a lot of cleaning on Sundays so it'd be hard for me to not be able to mow the lawn on Sundays or to do the laundry or vacuum. I love that the Germans seem to have a rule for everything and they're very organized and have the need to clarify everything. Barbequing only once a month would be received with outrage over in the US because Americans love their hotdogs and burgers. It's definitely important here to maintain a good relationship with your neighbors, but in Germany, there is definitely an emphasis to keep a good relationship with your neighbor so that life won't be extra hard when you're trying to have friends over.

I also thought that the article about patriotism in Germany was weird. I had always imagined the Germans to be very passionate and proud of their country, knowing that they have amazing and dedicated soccer fans. Since I have never been to Germany, I didn't know that there were no flags in the public and people didn't just outright say things like I love Germany! It's very interesting that one aspect of history has changed the people around the world so much.