Kultur 8 | Matt Willner

For the first Kultur reading: Draftophobia, my impressions were more of confusion than anything else. Like the author mentioned in the last line, Germans are exposed to the same "drafts" whether they are biking, driving, or riding the train to their destination. As an American, I love having the windows open when I am driving. The fresh air is  far more welcome feeling than the air conditioner, and not having constantly keep the air on in the house or the car saves fuel. For all of the ways Germans are "eco-conscious," I am surprised they are deathly afraid of this most simple solution.

The second Kultur reading regarding German sauna protocol was also very eye-opening. People in the United States have the impression that Germans are very reserved; especially around fellow business colleagues. It was therefore very surprising that it is common practice to enjoy a sauna visit on a business trip and even more shocking to learn that both  men and women share saunas naked. I am not sure if such a practice is merely a German or a European ritual, but from my experiences I would say going to a sauna would be something one would do only with close friends in the United States.

The third Kultur reading regarding German attitudes towards medicine did not surprise me, as I was able to draw parallels to my own German family members and realize they also discourage taking medicine unless the illness was dire. I know Germans are very lenient towards maternity and paternity leaves, so perhaps part of the reason they would rather stay at home than take pills and go to work is because it is easier to do so. 

As for the rest of the readings, I was not surprised that Germans only care about grades when being admitted to universities. Having spoken with a few exchange students, they were confused that school and sports even cross paths at the highschool and university levels. It seemed foreign to them that a sports team could represent a school as much as its academics.

-MaWi