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German Culture Essay, Research Paper

German Culture

I choose to interview a woman by the name of Sylvia. Sylvia has been a family friend for many years and is twenty-eight years old. Sylvia moved here from Germany at the young age of five and lived here until sixteen when she moved back to Germany. Both of her parents were from Germany and she had family that remained there. She is now married to a German man and has one daughter. The interview that we had took place over the phone and I tried to keep it as short as possible so the phone bill would not be too outrageous.

I started by asking Sylvia about the country itself what was it like there. She told me that the weather is ok but that it does not get as warm there as it does here. She said that the temperature is about the same in the winter as here but in the summer it is not as warm. Sylvia lives in Berlin, which was considered East Germany. East Germany consists of an area of 41,768 sq mi and was established officially as the German Democratic republic on October 7,1949, but was later unified with West Germany on October 3,1990(Encarta, 95).

The first interview question I asked her was that of dating, how do people meet, get engaged and decided to get married. She told me that it was basically the same as here just a little more formal. Her husband talked it over with her grandmother first because that was the family she had there and then he asked her and she excepted, she has been married for almost seven years and dated him for about three before they decided to get married. I asked if couples are looked down upon if they decided to live together before marriage and she told me that they are not really looked down upon however it is not encouraged, and that could be for the simple fact that the cost of living there is very high. She said that many people come to Germany to marry for prosperity and said that German culture was very multicultural and a far cry from WWII, but the people that do come in cannot claim citizenship unless they are of German descent. So being on the subject of men and women asked her if she felt that men and women were treated equally? She told me that for the most part she does believe that they are, for instance she has friends that work at the Opel which is German for general motor plant and the women does not feel uncomfortable and is not discriminated against she enjoys working there even though it is mostly men.

On the topic of families we talked about housing and if children usually live in close proximity to their families and parents. She said that many families do live close to each other some move in with their parents after marriage or there is the option to build a house on the same land as your parents if there is enough room and she told me that while the house is being built it is tax-free for three years, that sounds like a good deal to me, she told me that for the most part that was the best way to go.

The next topic of discussion was on the beliefs or rituials of the German culture. I asked her what are some of the different beliefs that you have that really stand out from that of American beliefs. She first told me about the laws on German stores, that there are strict hours that they can be opened, and almost no shops are open on Sundays, if they are they are usually close to a train station and they must observe this rule on Monday, and all of them are closed during lunch for about one to two hours so that people can go home and have lunch with their family. Lunch is the most important meal of the day like Americans dinner. Children usually go home from school at this time and have lunch with the family, then after lunch children do homework or maybe take a nap before going back to school. These two hours is known as quiet time and you can?t play radios very loud and it is polite to hold off on calling someone at this time. Manners are also very important when sitting at the table, she said that you should have both hands on the table, or they should both be visible, and your plate should be virtually clean, they think that you did not like the food if there is leftovers. And to show when you are finished the fork and knife should be placed together, tips toward the middle of the plate and handles at your right hand. There are a lot of rules to have to remember to not be considered rude, nothing like America. She said that another thing that many Germans do is always keep the doors shut, even in the bathroom when no one is using it, she said this is because they like to have things in order and they also respect peoples privacy, I remember talking about this in class and just how odd we all thought it was but I guess for them it is just normal, to us it seems stupid. Another different belief that they have is one that we (Americans) do all the time, which I thought that this was just truly funny and it is to say ?Happy Birthday? to someone before the actual day and it is even worse to celebrate it before the actual day. The tradition also says that the persons whose birthday it is buys instead of everyone chipping in for them to eat or drink, that sounds a little rough to me. She told me that is also not uncommon to find that many people want to shake your hand Germans like to shake hands not only the first time you meet but every time you meet, wow that sure can get old!

The next topic we discussed was children, their upbringing, and school and boy was this good topic. She said that people teach their children at a very young age to be formal and respectful and she told me that there are six forms of the word you, one to address children, one for a superior, another for an elder, one for a peer in a formal setting, a peer in an informal setting and one for a friend or intimate. I take it that this is pretty good so that everyone knows their place when they talk to you depending on which word you choose to address

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