Mittwoch, 30. Dezember 2009

Task 1

Get to know how blogging works:

"Comment" on this post and write about one thing from your own culture that is typically American / German for you. This could be a thing, a certain behaviour, a place, or anything else. Then explain in about 50 words why you think it is typical.

17 Kommentare:

  1. Typically german, in my opinion is, the way my family celebrates Christmas Eve.
    In the morning of the 24-th of december, my mother and I decorate the Christmas tree with
    traditional ornaments, which we enherited from my greatgrandmother. (together with some new ones, of course)
    In the afternoon we all go to the church and celebrate the Mass. It is a moving moment, when at the end, the lights are fusing, and all the people are singing together „Silent Night“.
    Afterwards we go to my grandparents' place, where grandma always cooks an excellent dinner.
    It starts with a cup of glogg and ends with marvelous little cookies called „Plätzchen“.
    We give each other our gifts, are happy of being together and think of all our relatives and friends,
    who are far away.

    AntwortenLöschen
  2. In my family we celebrate something similar to that. We call it Eid, where we basically celebrate the month of fasting. We usually give each other presents and its very similar to christmas for us

    AntwortenLöschen
  3. I also think that family is very important around the holidays and in general. On Christmas Eve my dad, me and my brother all go over to my grandparents house for amazing food. We prepare and eat Mexican food. My grandma makes the best enchiladas which is a casserole made of corn tortillas, cheese, pork and red chili.I love being together with my family because they are all great and we all live close together which is wonderful!

    AntwortenLöschen
  4. Thats awesome. I open presents on Christmas Eve too.In America there are usually football games on, and as an American tradition we usually watch one of the games. After we watch the game we eat dinner and then after dinner we open presents. On Christmas morning we all have breakfast together and after breakfast we make cookies and have a great dinner together. Although I live in America i have a lot of German traditions.

    AntwortenLöschen
  5. My family is very serious about Christmas and decorating for it. My great aunt Gerri decorates more than my mom and that is pretty hard to beat. We have like a buffet kind of thing and each member of the family brings something to eat. It could be a dessert or dinner rolls, it doesn't really matter. My mom always brings green chilie. My great grandpa thinks it is too hot but he likes it anyways. My family is very close in general. We have random family get togethers. My Aunt Kathy had a baby a year ago and everybody was like "She is so cute!" and I say she isn't cute, she's adorable! We havn't had very many deaths in our family, that's why my family is so BIG! I love my family!

    AntwortenLöschen
  6. Actually a typical American in my opinion as far as Christmas goes at least is a lot like you just described the typical German. There are some differences,but also a lot more similarities than I thought there would be. One difference is that we don't set up our Christmas trees on Christmas Eve. We actually do it an amount of weeks before so that we can enjoy seeing the pretty tree with the lovely decorations for longer than just a week or so. However, my family as long as many others that I know do have traditional ornaments, that often get passed through the family. Another similarity is that my family goes to church on Christmas Eve as well. We have done that since I was born, so it is our tradition. I enjoy going to church on Christmas Eve, and singing all of the Christmas carols because those are my favorite songs. At the end of the church service the lights get dimmed, and people walk up and down the isles to light the end persons candle, we hold candles as we sing our last Christmas carol, which is almost always silent night. After church gets finished we go to my Omi and Opas to eat some food. We eat some German food given that they are almost full German. We eat some German cookies, that my sister, my Omi, and I always prepare before Christmas Eve. After eating we read The Night Before Christmas, then light the candles on the tree and open presents. And just like you we always sit there talking and thinking about the other family members that we wish could live closer, but are across seas over in Germany.

    AntwortenLöschen
  7. In my family we celebrate something similar to that. We call it Eid, where we basically celebrate the month of fasting. We usually give each other presents and its very similar to Christmas for us. We usually don't celebrate the birth of christ, because we believe in a different religion

    AntwortenLöschen
  8. Wow... I see christmas in America and in Germany have a lot of things in common, our christmas isn't really different.
    On 23rd december, we usually put up the christmas tree and decorate it with beautiful toys and tree ball ornaments, the next day my family and I go to church and open the presents at home, that's the part I like the most because the atmosphere is very romantic and familiar. After that we visit 'Omi' and 'Opa', as Meghan already said :). Tere we eat typical german food, like 'Ente mit Knödeln und Blaukraut' with the 'rest' of the near family (aunt, oncle, cousins,...) and open some more presents. In the end of Christmas Eve we go home and do whatever we like.
    What I also find typical for german christmas are the 'Christkindlmärkte'.
    These are kind of markets where you go before christmas and buy little presents, eat 'Plätzchen' or drink 'Glühwein' (hot wine punch).
    I really love the lights the music and the cold... for me it just belongs to these markets and to christmas.

    AntwortenLöschen
  9. I agree with Joni´s opinion that celebrating christmas the way we do is typical german. Even people who are not religious do celebrate like this.
    Another german attraction you can find everywhere before christmas is the “Christkindlmarkt”. Nearly every german city has it´s own. It's like a market, where are many stalls who sell christmas biscuits, hot drinks like mulled wine, punch or tea and of course many other things who are asocciated with christmas.I really like entering these christmas markets with friends or my family, looking at all those wonderful things that are sold there, drinking punch, eating biscuits and listen to christmas songs which are played in the background. You really feel the christmas spirit! Furthermore you have the possibility to buy your presents (in time and not one day before christmas eve…). The time before christmas wouldn't be the same without those great markets. What's your opinion? DO you have any christmas markets in your hometown?

    AntwortenLöschen
  10. I also think that "Christkindlmärkte" are typical for Germany to celebrate christmas, but in my opinion the biggest difference between us and America is the person who brings the gifts. We have the "Christkind", it's the new born Jesus who lays the presents under the Christmas tree. I like this story more than the American "Santa Claus" who was made famous by Coca Cola.

    AntwortenLöschen
  11. Hmm you are right with Christkind and Santa Claus... but I like both storys. As long as nobody really believes in them bringing presents ,apart from the younger ones,what I find really sweet.:)
    Not far away from Christmas is New Year's Eve.
    How do you celebrate it??
    I usually celebrate with some friends and my cousins, the highlight is, of course, the firework.

    AntwortenLöschen
  12. My Christmas is always a weird experience. We end up putting the tree up and decorating it like two weeks early, and we never have time to take the decorations down until almost a week after new years.
    My new years is always different. Whenever I spend it with my Dad we go outside and bang pots and pans at midnight, but with my mom we just watch the ball drop on TV. Once I spent it in Oklahoma, on lake Keystone, and that was cool. The fireworks were awesome.

    AntwortenLöschen
  13. To Chris B
    I personally like both stories as well because it gives people Christmas spirit. What do you do New Years Eve because in America we usually have parties and watch fireworks. I remember I was in Berlin once for New Years Eve and the fireworks were away better there than in America!! :)))

    AntwortenLöschen
  14. We celebrate Christmas Eve with simple things like sitting around the fire, listening to Christmas music and drinking egg nog. Personally i don't like Christmas music but I still listen to it because my mom is really into it. We don't usually go any where for Christmas Eve but this year we went to my Aunt Kathy's because she was going out of town with my Uncle Eric to his family. That was a nice change because I don't like just sitting at home and doing nothing. My mom says we can't go outside because it is too cold. My little sister believes in Santa and so I don't want to burst her bubble.

    AntwortenLöschen
  15. Since I can't think of anything in my culture that is American so I will lie and say that the food that we eat, Hamburgers are the food that we eat :\

    AntwortenLöschen
  16. @ Saad
    well in my opinion I think it's very american that there are so many Mc Donalds :D Last september i stayed in the usa for one week,New York, and there were so many restaurants of Mc Donalds haha ^^ But I really like hamburgers, but to much of them isn't so good for the body :P But I also think it's only a cliche that the Americans eat hamburgers all the time ;) Us Germans do it, too..sometimes haha^^
    How ever, as I see it the "Oktoberfest" is typical german, and it's in bavaria,too :) There you can meet people of all culturs ,from Italy, France and America and so on :D ( Funny to talk with them^^) It's always a great visit and I like it ;) Especially the "Bierzelte" and the beer :D Amazing ! ;)
    Have you ever benn to the Oktoberfest?

    AntwortenLöschen

Follower