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.
