Kultur 8- Eric Fix

            The first article for these Kultur readings was entertaining to say the least. I just cannot wrap my mind around that fact that Germans have an irrational fear of moving air. Personally, having the windows open on a cool summer night or during the spring/fall is one of my favorite things in life. It is amazing to think that in Germany this might as well be considered a sin. I would have to think that this must be uncomfortable for them, but apparently over in Germany they have gotten used to it, and are seemingly vehemently opposed to fresh air. Likewise, I found the article about the German diseases to be out of the ordinary. It is amazing how in a different country things can be so much more different than what we are used to here in the United States. Something that is also amazing is the attitude of Germans towards certain aspects of medication. For instance, Aspirin is a very common thing in American households, but is also something that is opposed to in Germany. Perhaps what surprised me the most was the fact that all of the German medical quirks seem to be working, since there are not many sick days that are taken there. Go figure…

            I was intrigued to learn that saunas are such a major part of German culture. While there is a decent presence of saunas here in the United States, it seems that this is nothing in comparison to how many saunas there are in Germany; or maybe we don’t have as much of an importance placed on them. Something that was interesting is the fact that saunas in Germany are unisex. If this were the case in the US, this would just be asking for trouble. Nevertheless, I thought it was cool that in Germany the sauna is a place for everyone, no matter what realm of life they come from. Finally, it was also interesting that there are so many older students that are studying in German universities. This is not so common in the United States for a variety of reasons, especially the lack of mandatory military service. In fact, it provides an interesting contrast. Here in the US, students are usually trying to graduate as quickly as possible, mainly because of high costs to attend college. It seems that German students receive a lot of benefits, whether direct or not, which I think is something cool.