Kultur 2

Philologus: This article made me shed a little tear over having to live in the United States. When the increased tuition to punish dawdling students is 500 euros per semester, it makes me wonder what we're doing here. Life as a student sounds like a great time, but for a more matured student. It sounds like instead of going to sports or joining Greek living systems, the norm for a student looking for adventure is just making friends and hitting the city.

Draftophobia: One of the stranger articles on Germans I've ever read. I don't quite understand how Germans can be so enthusiastic about healthy living and fresh air, but the possibility of a breeze blowing through a normally still-air place is intimidating.

You have what? I loved this article because I found it to be an exact opposite of the attitude of Americans towards medicine. Whereas we are quick to run to the doctor, and we attribute any health improvement to a new medicine, the Germans do the contrary. They don't trust medicines, and prefer to just naturally improve their health. This is okay, as far as I'm concerned, save the fact that they're getting hearing loss and heart problems that are let slip.

Sauna: I never realized that Germans were so big on Sauna use; it's something I attribute a ton more to Nordic people. That being said it's interesting to think that the sauna is one of the very few truly class-less places.

Brennpunkten Kultur: The description of universities in Germany is intimidating. With more people in one lecture and professors who just read off notes the whole time, the educational process seems very slow and boring. But if the price to pay for that is negligible because the education system is paid for by the government, I think I'd be okay with that. While the high school system is more competitive and predetermined, I believe that because it's something that's just part of life, it's not as big a deal as Americans might think. The same is true for the limited spaces in certain educational tracks at the university level.