The Last Post!

What I have learned in German Studies:

I thought this class was incredibly interesting because it wasn't taught like a normal class. I like that when we went there we didn't have to take a bunch of tests or do a million assignments, we just got to learn about Germany and learn about the parts that were actually interesting. If we had to learn about the uninteresting parts, Professor Roland made them interesting by telling us what we actually wanted to hear. I learned about the history of medicine, women’s rights, and business of Germany. We learned about the German states and what they are best known for along with some of the festivals and events that go on in them. Most interestingly to me however is that we learned about the Youth of Germany and German culture at a whole. Those were the things that I found really interesting and I’m glad that I know more about them now.

What I will take with me from this class:

                A part from being relatively interesting, taking German Studies has really driven me to want to visit Germany. I really want to see the things that we talked about in class and I just think it would be interesting to visit a place with so much history.  I also really want to visit Oktoberfest, as cliché as that is. It sounds awesome and I want to go at least once in my life to experience it. I also think it would be cool to see the wine festivals up by the Rhine River. Overall I really enjoyed this class and I like that I know more about another countries culture rather than just being informed on American culture.

Mostly I really enjoyed the fact that you didn't think we needed to be graded by a test score. I liked that the class was about getting the information rather than being tested on what we know. It was refreshing to just learn and not worry about being graded on how much of it you could memorize.

RAF

/This movie was incredibly interesting to me because I was so completely opposed to what the RAF was doing, but I could understand what they stood for at the same time. It was unnerving to see the movement start and then get completely out of hand. While I know it was there goal to make a point I don’t think any of them knew that it would escalate so much that they would all end up dying in jail cells. I especially cringed a little bit when they went over to the Middle East to ask for help. It just seemed like they opened up Pandora’s Box and it was too much to handle.

On the other hand, I found it really impressive and interesting that the individuals of the RAF were so committed to their cause. I believe that it was the reason why they were so strong at what they did. It did seem unnecessary to kill them in jail though because they already had too many followers to be stopped. The movement spread like wildfire and soon enough the original members didn’t even know the people working for the RAF by the end of the movie.

I honestly don’t even know what to take from this movie. It was interesting and informative, but I don’t know that I learned anything from it other than just being informed of the situation. Is some terrorism okay? Is the government right in what they do? There are a lot of questions left unanswered.

The RAF (Red Army Faction) is an urban guerilla group resisting against what they called the German fascist state. It was started byAndreas Baader, Gundrun Ensslin, Horst Mahler, and Ulrike Meinhof.  The group was started in 1970. This group was the main cause of what is called the “German Autumn” which is what was seen in the movie. The group disbanded in 198 and is said to have had no further activity since.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army_Faction 12/19/2012

Berlin Calling

1.     I believe that drugs are what Ickarus thinks his inspiration comes from so he needs to take them in order to produce music. I also think he just enjoys them, and he is so addicted that that point that he just takes them. It also comes with the career that he has, because everyone that goes to his shows are also taking those drugs.

2.        His fans take drugs when they go to his show and they take ecstasy, cocaine, and other weird prescription pills. They mostly take pills but you have to snort ecstasy… so they snort that.

3.       The subculture that Ickarus is in is all about the drugs and hallucinating and the bright lights and such. They are very harmful but he doesn’t see that because it is his lifestyle. All of his friends do them, and he is probably encouraged to take those things because they think it will make his music better.

4.       Well I don’t do drugs, so it’s a little hard to find a lot of similarities here but there is an event that happens every year in Las Vegas, NV call Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC). This carnival is a 3 day long festival of house music similar to the music that Ickarus makes. Every year a bunch of youth go and take a ton of drugs and listen to the music. It’s the only thing that I could compare to being like the subculture that Ickarus is a part of.

5.      If you are looking at the youth in this movie I don’t think there is much hope for the future of Germany. While Ickarus positively benefitted from rehab, all of the people that went to Ickarus’s concerts didn’t go to rehab and they still probably have a huge drug problem. Doing that hardcore of drugs isn’t something that you just stop doing because it’s time to get your life together. Ickarus suffered and had to work hard to get over his addiction. I don’t think everyone is going to do that well. These drugs ruin your life.

6.     No I have not seen any other movies like this mostly because it’s not really the type of movie that I enjoy watching. While it was interesting (and definitely way better to watch than an educational video), I just don’t like how self-destructive everyone was in the movie.

I liked the film, but there were things about it that I just didn’t always agree with. This is fine, because I don’t have to agree with it. I did not like how self-destructive all of the characters were and I did not like the amount of drugs that they did. It was a movie to depict the youth of Germany, however, so it depicted that well and it showed that one person could come out of using all of those drugs and lead a normal life without them. It also showed the dangerous side of addiction and what drugs can do to you if you use them. While listening to that type of music and doing drugs is present in the United States, I think it is more common in Germany and more popular amongst the youth. 

German Drinks

Apart from the obvious generalization that Germans drink beer all the time, they also have an interesting drink called Apfelschorle. It is sparkling water mixed with apple juice. Its so common that its even on restaurant menus next to the usual Coca-Cola products. Coca-Cola actually has a brand of it called Lift. You can buy it in a bottle from the grocery store but in most restaurants they just make it themselves with the sparkling mineral water and apple juice. It tends to be less sweet than just plain apple juice which is why it is so popular.

http://countryskipper.com/2012/04/15/popular-drinks-in-germany/ 12/12/12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apfelschorle 12/12/12
http://www.coca-cola-gmbh.de/markenvielfalt/index.do?brand=lift 12/12/12