Final Post

There were a few things that really stuck out to me that I learned throughout the semester in this class.  The first is how Germany looks at war today.  After losing both World War I and World War II, Germans aren't too keen on picking any more fights, or helping fight for that matter.  This seems like it would be obvious, but I hadn't thought about it much until we talked about it in class.  After such devastation to their Economy and Population, they want to avoid this happening again at all costs.  The only reason they sent troops to help in Afghanistan was to appease the U.S. and the U.N. by providing help to the allies.

The next important item that I will be taking with me from this class is the ever changing culture that is Berlin.  Here in the United States, we are experiencing the same type of cultural change here in regards to the acceptance of the LGBTQ community.  In my personal opinion, it is EXTREMELY intolerant for people to not accept this community.  The majority of the people of Berlin agree with my view, and that is why there is a large population of LGBTQ people moving to Berlin, because they are easily accepted there. It is important that we don't discriminate against any group of people in this day and age.  It seems like the older generations of Germany have the same feeling of the older generations do here.  It is silly for people to think that discrimination will keep this group of people from assimilating into society, because it will all happen eventually, it's just a matter of time.

As far as the class structure goes, I like the Blog aspect of the class.  It is a nice change up to the regular boring D2L for every class.  I did think that the group presentations were a little much.  I think there should only be 2 group presentations required, instead of thee 4 or 5 that we did.  Honestly I payed more attention and leaned more while Herr Roland was speaking.  The stories and insight that he shared was more grabbing than the information that other students had to share.

I do have plans to go to Germany for a month in Summer of 2015 as a chaperone for a class trip.  I cannot wait to head back and eat all of their good food again.

Century Presentations

Rulers and Governments of the 18th and 19th Century:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ltWe7_xdMCg0FPDgjJ9m1-aWB9NB6vuJ9Z4KXZUmsOs/edit?usp=sharing

The German Work Place 20th and 21st Century:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1gKpO9srwl-40cCj5Hfaq7JA57JzzrC0rmEHTjBbu6YA/edit?usp=sharing

All Quiet on the Western Front - Katczinsky

My name is Stanislaus Katczinsky, but I encourage everyone to call me Kat. While not in war I am a cobbler, but during the war I am a guardian.  I look after all of the young recruits, and also some of the not young recruits.  I'm very good at finding food for the guys and lifting their spirits.  One of my best skills is the ability to decipher what kind of shell is headed our way due to the sound that it makes.  As often as I can I teach this to the new recruits so they can protect themselves from the dangerous ones, and to disregard the ones that do not pose a threat.  Something else that I pride myself in is my ability to offer comic relief, it helps the guys stay a little bit sane during the bombardment.  Paul and I are very close, and I die while he tries to carry me to safety at the end of the book.

Berlin Calling

I thought that showing Berlin Calling in class did a good job showing part of the current music scene in Berlin.  From what I've heard, it depicted the clubs and music accurately.  One thing that jumped out at me as far as a cultural difference between the United States and Berlin is that they treat drug use about the same way we treat alcohol (at least from what the movie shows).  There are many similarities to the amount of people who go out here and get intoxicated, and then dance and party with other people in the same ways that Ickarus was doing drugs and partying with his friends.  There is a big difference between doing drugs and drinking, but with that being said it can be argued both ways which one is a worse habit.  Another difference that I noticed, from what I have experienced in Central Minnesota, is that they seem to be more free spirited and outgoing in Berlin than the people are here.  In the film it was seen many times the characters would bump into people they don't know and it wasn't a big deal at all, being friendly and talking sometimes.  That is compared to here where you have groups of the same people always hanging out, without very much mingling between the groups of people.

Question answers:

1. For Ickarus, the drugs provide him a way to release himself and let his creativity go free, because he believes he makes much better music while he is under the influence.  Alice thinks he needs to clean up in order to make his album, but after she listens she realizes that it is really good and it was created by Ickarus while on drugs.
2. Most of his fans are seen doing cocaine, and it is normally while they are listening to his music at a club.  I think this would be because his music is for parties and clubs, and the people who are there to listen also want to party so they choose to do the same things he is doing.
3. They focus on drugs because the drugs take them to a place where they can enjoy themselves the way they want to.  Any consequences due to choosing that can be dealt with later, they are only concerned about the here and now.
4. Heavy drug use is much more prevalent in the movie as compared to my experiences here.  It is all relative of course, but I don't think there is as much public drug use in Central Minnesota as was depicted in the movie.
5. I think the youth culture in the movie could change that because of the priorities that are seen.  The people in the movie are more concerned about having a good time then the consequences that result from that choice.  The work ethics of Ickarus and Alice are good, but in a different way.  Ickarus works hard at his music, but doesn't give Alice proof that he is getting anything done.  He keeps trying to convince her, something that he doesn't succeed with and he gets fired because of it.  Thanks to Ickarus's girlfriend he gets his album produced.
6. I can't think of any movies that are very similar to Berlin Calling

German Gymnasium

Today seems to be a time when health is becoming a big part of culture, due to the research being done correlating physical health and longevity.  As much as dieting and watching what you eat is a fad right now, it's actually a 200 year old concept, started by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn. 

Jahn was born in Brandenburg, studied theology and philology, and eventually became a Gymnasium teacher in Berlin.  It was after the war with Napoleon where Jahn was embarrassed by the performance of the people of his area, and thought the best way to "restore their spirits" was to develop their physical and moral powers through practicing gymnastics.

The first open air Gymnasium was opened in Berlin in 1811 by Jahn.  This is where he started to teach young gymnasts to hold themselves as part of a kind guild for the liberation of their fatherland.  In other words, these gymnasts were the face of their country, so it was very important to strive for excellence and high moral standards, all of which he taught through gymnastics.  In many of his writings, he talked about these nationalistic ideas very often.

The parallel bars, rings, and high bar are all products of Jahn, and are still used today in International competition. 

All of this information is from Wikipedia, and can be found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnvater_Jahn

All Quiet on the Western Front - Chapter 4

All Quiet on the Western Front Chapter 4

Summary:

The chapter starts out with the company being assigned to spread more barbed wire fences across the front.  The company is dropped off in the evening and not to be picked up until the following morning.  While they are putting up more barbed wire fencing, Kat is instructing to all of the new soldiers how to decipher between the different kinds of shells and how to take cover from them.  Kat predicts that there will be a bombardment tonight due to the fact that the English started shelling an hour earlier than usual.  Once they finish putting up the fence and are laying around trying to sleep waiting for the trucks to come pick them up, they realize that Kat’s prediction was right, and shells start falling in every location.  The company seeks cover to hide from the shells.  The trucks finally make it to pick them up, but when they are on their way back a few shells land really close to them and they are forced to take cover in a cemetery.  They are all instructed to put their gas masks on to protect themselves from the gas bombs being dropped.  One soldier who Paul had helped out earlier has taken a hit to his hip, and it is very clear that he will die from this wound.  Kat and Paul contemplate shooting him so that the pain from his wound doesn’t make him suffer for longer than he has to, but other soldiers come by so they decide not to.

Substantial Meaning:

This chapter kind of sets the tone for the rest of the book, as a company they are forced to endure, even with loss of life among the company.  One of the more important pieces of text from the chapter though is a small aside that Paul has with the reader.  In this he talks about how important the earth is with the soldier.  He says that the earth is there for him every time he drops to the ground for cover and that every time he asks for shelter he receives it.  Another important idea that Paul talks about is how at the front, the soldiers turn into “Human Animals” where instincts rule their actions.  He says that they are a saving grace for the ones who obey them without hesitation.  In many instances, the soldiers dropped to the ground to avoid a shell that they weren’t even aware was coming, they just did it on instincts.  What Paul says he is extremely important as to showing how the war affects the soldiers.  At the front, the ones who survive are the ones who do not act on emotion, but on instincts instead.  This tears the soldiers into two directions at once, because how could one ignore all the sources of emotion that are around them such as death and injury? The effects of this are seen throughout the rest of the book.

All Quiet on the Western Front - Book Review

If the goal of this book was to show the negative side effects that World War I had on the soldiers, I would say that Remarque has done this very well.  Throughout the book, there are a few situations where the war would seem tolerable, if not somewhat pleasing.  Such as the time where the guys swim across the river to see the girls or when they roast the pig in their bomb shelter.  Both of those situations were painted to seem very pleasing, but following both of these events, the main character Paul shows how he hasn’t enjoyed them as fully as he should have.  They serve as sort of a comic relief as to the years of pain and anguish which were the realities of the war.  The best example of this is when Paul goes on leave and gets to go home and see his family.  Right away, when his sister greets him and he sees her for the first time in months and hears his mother’s voice, he breaks down.  Those are two things he wasn’t sure that he would ever be able to see and hear again.  But yet Paul is very reserved.  When his father takes him to see his father’s friends, it just disgusts Paul, because all they do is try to sell him on other strategies, saying that it is hard for him to see how this would work out because he’s been at the front for too long.  They also say how the food is better on the front than it is at home, “only the best for our troops” one of them says.  The fact of the matter is that even if the food was gourmet, and the best covered with the finest linens in the world, the front line of the war would still be hell on earth for the soldiers.  For a man to try and talk strategy to a soldier on leave the way those men did is very disrespectful, for they have no idea of which they spoke.  It is due to this separation of Paul and his family and friends that he goes back to the war 4 days before his leave was over.  He has changed so much due to the war that he hardly enjoys being home anymore.  He longs to return to his friends in the second company, because he knows that he needs to be there with them to help them escape death.  Even through to the end of the book, the reader thinks that there is a little bit of hope for Paul, that maybe him and Kat can escape the war together and continue their lives, but in the last few pages where Kat is killed while Paul is carrying him, shows that nothing good has come out of this war.  Paul is forever changed, and will never be able to live life the way he wants to, or the way he had before he enlisted.