The German-speaking World's Obsession with Texas

You think with a title like that, I'm joking, but I'm not. The German speaking world (I'm only saying this because although most examples are from Germany, I have seen a bit in the German-speaking part of Switzerland) seems to be OBSESSED with Texas, at least from an outsider's standpoint. For some, that's one of their only impressions of American culture, and for others I've met, they know three places in America by heart: New York, California, and Texas (although many over here have seen the atrocity that is Jersey Shore...)

I have photographic evidence. Really.

Can someone please tell me what is so "Texas" in this canned yuckiness?

Saw this at a McDonalds here in Konstanz!  I don't think Texans eat such sandwiches...

Saw this last year in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. The tagline says approx., "Texas -- much more than you expect."

Yes, Texas has its own tourism poster in a small Swiss town with a population of about 35,000.

It seems Germany in general is very fascinated with the whole "Wild West" concept, as seen by the many Western novels and films that both West and East Germany produced during a good chunk of the 20th century. Many of the films also showed a struggle between the white cowboys and the native "Indianer," and it's interesting to note that in the West German films, the cowboys were often the good guys, and in the East German films, the situation was reversed (as evidenced in the 1973 East German film, Apachen). And if you're going to go into Germans and Western novels, you need to begin with Karl May.

From the Wikipedia introduction for him, a line stands out for me: "May never visited the exotic places featured in his stories until late in life." For us Americans, looking at things such as the Texas-Salat or the Texas Nacho Chicken sandwich, we also wonder, "Have the people who made these EVER even BEEN to Texas, or at least SPOKEN to a real Texan?"

But think about it. Just about every German festival I've been to in America has featured three staple items: bratwurst, pretzels, and beer.

With the exception of the beer, that's most Bavarian fare, not a representation of German food as a whole. But this is what Americans think all Germans eat, and so that's what they sell at German cultural festivals. A quick look at this article on German cuisine will show you that there is MUCH, MUCH more than just pretzels and bratwurst...but unless people are in the know, would they know that based on what they see in American-organized German festivals or American-made films that have Germans in them?

So I guess the philosophical point is: many cultures see each other based on stereotypes or what they see in the movies, and everyone is guilty, and it makes for some pretty laughable faux-pas.

Although, Germany, the Texas Nacho Chicken sandwich? Really?

Erster Blick! Uni Konstanz

Hallo from Germany! So as you may know, the reason I'm here is to do my master's program in history. My intensive German-language course doesn't start until September, and actual classes don't start until October, but I came to Germany early to settle in and just enjoy the lovely town I'm in before I have to buckle down and get to work!

So on one of what will be many trips to the Uni (that's what everyone says to refer to the university) to sort out the dreaded German bureaucracy, I decided to take some pictures to give everyone a glimpse of  where I'll be taking classes for the next two years.

Uni Konstanz was built during the 60s, and in many ways, it shows. It has many mod-artistic elements in its architecture, which makes for an interesting layout. The University of Richmond, where I went for undergrad, had an Ivy League-feel with a perfectly manicured landscape. Some students even said the buildings there resembled Hogwarts. Uni Konstanz is entirely different.

The main lobby

The cafeteria, or "Mensa," with a festive welcoming display!

Further into the lobby, in the direction of the various class areas

And of course, being Germany, it has a beer truck, for instant biergarten enjoyment :)

Unlike many American college campuses, Konstanz is almost entirely one, large, connected building

Quick Post - More Angela Merkel LOLs

Hey everyone...so I've put on my various social media outlets that I'm not going to be updating for a few weeks...I'm moving to Germany in the beginning of August, and preparation has been pretty intense! So really, all of my German(y)-related experiences these days consist of me packing and deciding which shoes to bring with me...not very exciting stuff! I figure once I am back in the Fatherland, I'll have plenty of content to provide.

However, I did come across this funny link on Buzzfeed. It's called Fifty Shades of Angela Merkel. Check it out for a quick laugh!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/pantone-angela-merkel

German Memes!

Hallo alle! I've been out of commission for the past few days due to a pretty nasty car accident I had on July 4, and the entire time I had it in the back of my head that I needed to update the blog. This update today you will hopefully find quite amusing: it's a collection of German "memes" that I had found, and even some that I had shown to my German students when I was teaching drill sessions last semester. These are my favorites (heads up, you don't really need to know German to understand most of these):

Music Videos - Was es ist by MIA, and Das alles ist Deutschland by Fler, and plus more!!

So after being tortured by old Heino tapes for most of my childhood (sorry to those who may actually be a fan), I finally found the first modern German song I actually LIKED in the summer of 2010, when I studied in Strobl, Austria. Sabine, my awesome German tutor, thought that a cool and interactive way to get us used to hearing more colloquial as well as more poetic German was by listening to contemporary music sung in German. The first song she played for us that summer was "Was es ist," by MIA., a pop/rock band from Berlin. Here is the music video below, but I have a bit more to say on the song.

(don't you love her mullet, by the way?)

Anyway, "Was es ist," is based off of a 1983 poem by Erich Fried of the same name. The interesting thing is,  Fried wrote a love poem, while the song "Was es ist" is much more political. Here is a snippet from the above-linked Wikipedia page of MIA.:

2003 saw the band being heavily criticized for their song "Was es ist" ("What it is"), released on an EP of the same title. The lyrics, based on a reference to Erich Fried's 1983 love poem of the same name, featured romantic references to Germany and the colours of the German flag, topics that due to Germany's difficult history, especially the 'Third Reich'-era, many political leftists and especially Anti-Germans consider forbidden territory. MIA. claim the song was meant to provoke a discussion about Germany as a home and as a place to change and design. Furthermore, they consider themselves politically on the left.

You can even hear the German nationalism in the lyrics. "Fragt man mich jetzt woher ich komme. Tu ich mir nicht mehr selber Leid," which I translate to, "Someone asks me from where I come from. I don't feel sorry (for myself) anymore."

But is German nationalism in a song really "forbidden territory" ? Here is another song by the German rappers Fler and Bushido (for an interesting story, look up the feud, and later reconciliation, which this song is supposed to represent, between the two!). It's calle "Das alles ist Deutschland," and while it takes the approach of multiculturalism, it also is about one's love of their home nation, Germany. It's an interesting topic to consider. As a student of history, I know nationalism has shaped many countries, Italy and Germany being prime European examples. It certainly, however, is not a thing of the past.

Angela Merkel and her shoulders

As you may know, there is currently a "Euro crisis" right now that the major European powers are trying to fix. This article from the English version of Der Spiegel's website highlights a "showdown" between Merkel and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti before the EU summit in Brussels (I guess Berlusconi wasn't there anymore to offer his bunga-bunga parties as a solution? :P ).

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/berlin-rejects-demands-from-spain-and-italy-ahead-of-eu-summit-a-841487.html

The headline is "Merkel Gives Monti the Cold Shoulder." This reminds me of a certain video clip when Ms. Merkel had a run-in with a former president of my country...

Educational German Video! Did YOU know this??

So I've had some native German speakers (including my own mother) tell me that even they can't always tell the difference between "das selbe" and "das gleiche." Translated into English, they both mean "the same." Often, you can use them interchangeably and rarely will a native German speaker notice (or care). But if you're one of those people who actually wants to know the REAL difference between the two, here's a cute little video that's both educational and funny, and in pretty basic German, that explains it! My German teacher in Konstanz, Marina, had shown this to us.