Final Post

Studying German cultures has been a meaningful experience for me, on many levels. As a philosophy major, several texts that we study are written in German, and it has certainly given me the upperhand on more than one occasion as one of the only German-speakers in the room. Knowing the language of the original texts helps to provide background, and frankly, speaking German is quite an asset in terms of making oneself attractive to Graduate Programs. Apart from that, however, I have always had an interest in German cultures. The Maternal side of my family is from Holland and Dresden, so I have a considerable amount of invested interest in the culture of both places... additionally, before coming to the United States, my family spent some time in Austria. 

I don't know if my perception of German cultures has changed much. I certainly didn't hold antiquated ideas of what it meant to be German or of a German-speaking region... (liederhosen, etc.) but I have gained some insight about cultural norms, for sure. I think it is incredibly interesting the emphasis that is placed on privacy in German culture, and find it particularly interesting because I see these traits in my family-- and now am more aware of how they have been passed on to me. 

I plan to continue my study of German. I am registered with the advising office and the German department as a German Minor. I had actually already taken a couple of German culture classes before starting the language classes! For the fall semester, I am signed up to take 203 and German 252 (South African Perspectives in Literature). I am looking forward to both of these classes tremendously. I have always been very pleased with my experiences in the German department, and that is certainly not true of every department here at the University. 

The thing I have enjoyed the most from 102 (or what I have found it the most interesting to gain) is the way that I now question the finer points of American culture. Why are we so outgoing? Why do we ask question we don't want the answer to? Because although now it is just a cultural norm that has been ingrained, there was a shift at some point in our history, and I think it would be very interesting to see where that comes from.

I have been considering (very seriously) spending my Spring semester in Berlin. I have a couple of programs I am currently considering with the Study abroad office. I hope to one day be fluent, and I think that spending the Spring in Berlin would help that along. What I have learned about German culture in 1o2 will certainly help me once I am there!!!