Insomnia

Lines

The Germans do a real good job at doing most things right. One exception is lines, waiting in lines that is. When you are waiting at the bus stop and the bus arrives, everyone clusters together right in front of the doors as to make it extremely difficult for the passengers to exit. It's quite silly I think. The best word to describe this would be a clusterfuck. Moving on from this inefficient technique is waiting in line in a store. Say there is only one checker open in a store that has the equipment for two. The line is really long in the only line available. Then, all of a sudden, as if it were magic, a second checker arrives at the second checking station. One would think that the new line would follow the order of the second half of the long line, or at least maintain some sort of order in respect to the original line. What happens instead, if you're not paying attention, is you end up in the back of the new line even though logically you would be first. The second half of the first line stampedes to get there chance to save themselves a minute of time, leaving others in the dust. I haven't yet figured out the logic behind the German line ideology, for now I just watch and have a little laugh to myself because in all honesty it's trivial.

The Framing of News through the Channel of Domestic Culture

When one watches two newscasts that cover the same news, but are broadcasted from different cultures, many questions are raised. How are the cultural norms and perceptions reflected? Who influences who? Does culture influence the newscast or is it the other way around? And is this news an accepted representation of the culture from which it was birthed?

                The two broadcasting stations under analysis are the Tageschau from Germay and the nightly news from NBC. Similarities and differences will be examined through the scope of the above questions. Some may seem obvious while others may surprise the reader because once revealed, the channels through which the newscasters frame their news will become apparent.

                To tackle the question of how cultural norms and perceptions are domestically reflected in news, one must first understand the cultural norms under analysis. In America, television must hold the viewer’s attention because we yearn for entertainment. The newscasters understand this and give a brief overview of what the program will offer the viewer. Additionally, background music and flashy special effects are incorporated to create an aesthetically pleasing setting. If something does not hold our interest, we will move on to the next more interesting thing. On the other hand, the Tageschau does nothing of this nature. The German people have a very straight forward culture and the news they are presented with is a visual cyberchild of their way of life and the world around them. When the Tageshau comes on, the news immediately starts and there is sternness to the speaker’s demeanor, complementing the cultural norms of the German people.

                Similarly, influence between newscasts and its cultural counterpart work hand in hand for the end result of how the news is framed. Germans are known to be an efficient people. The news from Germany’s end is influenced by this cultural understanding of efficiency and the news plays to that ideal. The flashiness and special effects are unnecessary in German news as it is in American news. Newscasters understand this psychological principle and implement this tactic to maintain a high viewer rating. If the way in which news was aired did not complement its domestic culture, the mass public would not take to what they are being presented.

                Though newscasters frame the news to complement the culture in which it is broadcasted, a question can be raised as to whether the news is a realistic representation of the culture. From an American’s subjective point of view the cultural framing used in the Tageschau appears to be a valid representation of the German culture. The news is straight to the point, serious, slightly grim, and even the tone of voice with which the speaker presents the information flows within a uniform tone of monotony.

On the other end of the spectrum, American news can also be a decent representation of its culture. The mood of the news is different than that of the Germans. Emotions are being infiltrated and a response, especially from the uneducated, is given with blind eyes. In America we sometimes worry about inconsequential things. For example, pertaining to the NBC news, a piece about a zoo keeper scaring a baby panda onto its back was thrown randomly into the program. Why was this? Some form of entertainment? A tactic to ease the viewer’s mind after a grim presentation of something happening in the world or even on our own soil? Perhaps it was just a cultural thing.

Ultimately, news is framed by the culture in which it comes from. German news must complement German culture as it is the same anywhere else in the world. If this was not done, the potential response from the viewer would not be nearly as well received. Looking back through this short writing I noticed that I implemented the American style into the introduction and also throughout the entire paper. Giving an overview and attempting to create interest to the reader before they got into the body of the writing. Additionally, writing in a certain way, being creative in the way I expressed ideas, similar to the special effects in the American news. I did not even notice I was doing this until half way through writing. I wonder… could this writing style be traced back to my culture?

Villingen-Schwenningen

Last Friday Erik and I cruised out to Villingen-Schwenningen, specifically Schwenningen. There's a business school there that we checked out for next semester, whether or not it would be a viable choice. The town is quite small and looks boring. Nevertheless we humored the idea of attending when we met with the advisors for international students.

When the formalities ended we wandered around the town and found ourselves in a small, hole-in-the-wall bar. We were provided with beer, t.v. that aired wipeouts and other entertaining things, and a German  conversation with a middle-aged man from ex-Yugoslavia. Once the beer was consumed we decided that time was of the essence and headed out.

Next stop, doner kepab, mmmmm. We had purchased a Baden-Wurtemburg ticket earlier in the day, allowing us to travel anywhere within the state for a period of 24 hours. Time to travel, we thought, and Baden-Baden was our destination. Arriving there after sundown, we took a bus to Caracalla, an indoor/outdoor hotspring. It was a good time. There were spa/pool areas inside, very warm. Also a sauna. Outside even more water, an outside spa/pool area. In different areas of the compound there were waterfall like things that emitted strong, flowing water. Taking advantage of this luxury, we stood under the falling water and it massaged our bodies.

Skin completely pruned and two hours later, we headed back towards the bus stop, making a quick detour to McDonalds for an inexpensive meal. In a food coma, we headed back to the train station by bus. Erik and I are really good at sucking at public transportation and timing. When we got the the train station the next bus wasn't until and hour and a half later, 12:30am. So we waited, and waited some more.

During our time at the train station, the sewer rats of Germany showed there faces, drunk and destroyed buy who know what kinds of drugs. I guess that time of the night provides a breeding ground for such things. So from 12:30-7am we traveled by train and waited at train stations. At the Stuttgart station we hung out at a coffee shop that was open and yet another mentally disturbed person transfefred his disturbance to society.

Finally the time came that we arrived in Tubingen, around 6:40am. The sun was rising, a new day dawning. Sleep seemed like an awkward activity to entertain, nevertheless I entertained it and slept for days.

By the way, I ended up choosing to go to the school in Schwenningen. That chapter starts in mid-March.

Ritter Sport Chocolate Factory

I paid for what is called a Semesterticket and it gets me around on buses and trains for free within a certain radius. Taking advantage of this came to mind so I took a bus for half an hour and arrived at the Ritter Sport Chocolate Factory. It was a real spur of the moment trip so I didn't have a camera with me. Unfortunately there weren't any tours, but there was a museum and a shop. I cruised around the museum and watched a film in German about the factory, the production process, and the owner. After the museum I headed downstairs to the store and bought some chocolate for have the price that it's sold in normal stores. Sweet.

Game plan: Monday and Thursday I don't have class until 4pm so I'm going to wake up early on these days and travel for free within the radius of my pass. I'll bring the camera next time.

Die Thousand Oaks Dialekt

I had never realized it before, but there is a Thousand Oaks dialect, or at least a dialect within the group. Alden joined me in Germany for a few days and when we talked together in front of one of my German room mates she couldn't understand us. She can speak and understand English just fine, that wasn't the issue. When two people who have grown up together talk with one another the language gets mumbled and it is easily understood by each other. Weird huh?

Beyond that idea... after a gnarly bicycle journey in Morocco Alden came to Germany. We went to Stuttgart and cruised around for a few hours, good time. Also we cruised though a forest. The next day I reserved a tour at a brewery in Böblingen. Once we found the brewery we ran into an older man who was also visiting the brewery, though he was there for business reasons. He invited us for some coffee at the brewery restaurant and we obliged. It turns out he studied some form of beer engineering at Weihenstephan in Germany. For work he travels around to breweries doing engineering stuff that has to do with the production of beer. Seems like a cool job. Coffee consumed and now awake we said goodbye.

So it turned out that I didn't reserve a tour because there were not any tours that day, instead I reserved a table for lunch, oops. It worked out though because a Romanian guy in the restaurant offered to give us a ride to the car museum close to the train station. We took him up on the ride and checked out the museum. Cool cars and what not. Leaving the museum we were asked to help push a Ferrari onto a trailer. That was rad.

All in all it was a good time and having someone from back home to hang with was a relief.

A Promising Winter

It's official, my body is filled with energy. The first snow has fallen today and the thought of snowboarding is my immediate reaction. Over the weekend Tuebingen is supposed to be graced with 2-4 inches of snow, and this is only the beginning. I have to go and shred the gnar. Next stop Austria, when the snow get's a little better.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam for 3 nights. The coffee wasn't bad.

So I was sitting outside of the hostel on a bench drinking a beer and some coffee. Two bicycle cops came up to me and started asking questions. Apparently I wasn't supposed to drink there. I was so used to Germany where you can drink anywhere, I figured it was the same. They ran my passport through the system and then left, no big deal. Amsterdam was fun, my hostel was near the red light district so I did a few laps here and there to check out the stock. It was cool how there are canals everywhere, literally...everywhere. 

This was the end of my adventure, something soon I hope.