Overall I found the class to be entertaining and informative. I learned that Germany wasn’t just about beer and brats but also has had a interesting and intense culture. I learned that Germany is a fairly liberal or at least new age country in a sense and also have very different ways of dealing with its problems. One such problem that relates to our country currently is healthcare. Germany has had uniform healthcare for everyone for a long time and apparently it works pretty well. Berlin calling seems to suggest that they tend to take better care of people for mental illness and is less likely to look down upon you for needing help. I hope that we can implement something similar to help reduce the number of homicides, suicides and better our country overall.
I also learned that Germany has had many problems to work through. The RAF, social problems, and lack of financial stability in east Germany have all had a large role in modern society in Germany today. They have had problems with dealing with a party and drug subculture and attempting to distance themselves from their history. I was somewhat surprised that the US's Vietnam war fiasco was such a big deal to Germans. Though looking back at it I suppose that it makes sense.
When talking about their humor I found it odd that they somewhat lacked one and have not had much comedy in their movies until recently. I enjoyed reading All is Quiet on the Western Front though it was not a book I would normally read. Pina was also an interesting subject and though I have not yet watched the movie, I most likely will eventually. The extra credit movies were also very interesting and made me think.
I still find it hard to memorize the geography but have a sense of culture of most of the states. The governmental election system to me seems more logical than ours and I like that multiple parties can run for office. The pirate party surprised me and I thought it was funny when you said that they don’t really have any set platform or ideals, mostly because I don't think any party running for office has any set ideals they wont change when a lobbyist “donates” them wads of cash.
When doing group presentations I found myself bored often even if the presenter was exuberant but your inputs helped me stay focused and alert. The most memorable thing from the semester would probably be not Germany but your own humor and views. I liked that we had some group participation but wished we did not have to work in a group quite as often. When we need to work as a group it would be helpful if your sheet had the list of emails posted on it so we do not need to figure out how to contact people ourselves, but if it was too big of a hassle it isn’t that big of a deal. Figuring out how to blog was frustrating at first but became a lot easier and faster once I got the hang of it. One thing I wish is that we would have had more clear instruction of how to present like as a power point or just on our blog. I think that a quick video or something entertaining like a German youtube clip or something mid class might also help draw our attention back.