Things I’ve learned:
1) 5 hrs of “sleep” over 48 hours isn’t enough.
2) Flying British Airways at night is a good idea: there were 3-4 seats per person on the flight! Time to stretch!
3) London from 1000m is ‘close enough’ to see stuff
4) There *is* such a thing as too much turbulence (re: heathrow->frankfurt)
5) There are mexicans here too
6) Frankfurt’s FFM bahnhof reminded me of atlanta’s
7) the trip on the bahn from FFM to Frankfurt Hbf was a lot like Cleveland’s train ride from the airport to tower city: lots of trees.
Frankfurt’s hauptbahnhof is movie-esque.
9) Walking out of the Hbf felt kinda like walking out of NYC’s Madison Sq. Garden
10) Germans have better beds/sheets
11) All my google/blogger pages are “automagically” in german. This is good- maybe I’ll learn the language faster!

Dunno why or how exactly I came across this, but here’s some of what I hope to study in/for a MA/PhD in Philosophy. And yes, I do understand 90% of it!

And for comic relief..

So call me crazy, but I agree with the German Rationalist (see the end of page 3).

Speigel has a funny LONG article on the role of religion on the continent and in the states.. and it’s kind of a kludge. The writer has some good insights from some people who have something good to say, but they seem to be connected to some ill-logic (9/11 = rise of christian fundamentalism in states). Maybe I’m out of it, but I think religious fundamentalism has been going on in the states from before 9/11. Maybe I’m missing something though. I’d see it more in generational terms: my grandparents were the atheists. My parents are the old-school religion=good. In between those 2 generations, you have the ’80’s liberal christianity kids. I’m in the 90’s “nihilism didn’t do me any good and Jesus did” crowd. Somewhere between me & the 80’s generation (now in their late 40’s), those in their 30’s now are the pluralistic ‘little gods’ who view life as all about themselves, including the ‘use’ of Jesus. And younger than me are an interesting set of kids who are born of the 80’s liberal /cultural christianity- 100% christian schooled, and twisted views of what america is(usually indoctrinated with/holding to ‘pet theologies‘)

So where’s the fundamentalism? It’s a kludge itself, mostly in the old-timers (in their 50’s) who still have an affinity from religion mixed with the 80’s  culturalized-into-conservitism-so-much-that-it’s-liberal and the kids who’ve been raised in it.

9/11 didn’t so much do anything for those who don’t believe so much as helped to polarize those who were “looking for the devil behind every bush.” Sadly, this will leave america completely missing the point- not seeing the devil’s work in our own souls.

But like Jurgen Habermas, I seem to think that rationalism and religion have often been nipping and biting at each other so much in their zero-sum tug of war that fundamentalism has arisen inevitably. Why not merge the two, “like in the good ol’ days” (Augustine/Boethius/Aquinas/Calvin). Where are the volumes of logical, well-thought out worldviews? I like Piper as much as the next guy, but the fundamentalist can use him as fuel. I’d LOVE to see Piper write “Contra American-stupid-religion.” I think what he has written can well be used for this purpose as well, as one of the underlying pillars, but it’s not explicit.

(comments are preferred about speigel over my own silliness, but i’ll take what i get)

Ok, so now that you’ve already judged me because of the title of this document, you don’t need to read any further, so just go along your merry way ranting & flaming about how racist/judgemental/fundamentalist/american I am.

So a fellow SBTSBlogger posted this dandy article set on Speigel. Since I’m tryin to head over there in a few months, I figure I should have a clue (btw- anyone willing to help that clue-having process is encouraged to comment & let me know anything german!!!).

So while reading this article, it occurs to me that Europe is alot like Chicago. I’ve heard (unconfirmed) that Chicago has the least number of churches for it’s size of any american city. Hmm.. Europe has churches, but no one goes. Chicago churches all up & moved to outside the city limits 30 yrs ago: result: the blatent sinfulness of humanity grew. Honestly, if you have any spiritual “read” on your environment, you can FEEL the darkness set in as you enter into Chicago.
So christians up & burb-ified themselves, leaving the city sick, free to be filled with anti-christianity. Hmm.. christians have ‘given up’ in Europe & are allowing anti-christianity (islam) in.. And muslims are procreating, unlike liberal europeans, and they are taking over. (This is a simple statistical statement– don’t read into this)
The church in Chicago I’ve been going to decided to buck the trend & stay in the city & reach the city. They’ve been rather “successful” (whatever that means). My pastor saw the white-exodus & took it as opportunity. Hmm.. perhaps Deutschland is my chicago..

So here’s an post from a yahoo group I’m a part of. Incredible eye-opening. I need to hunt this book down.

Mon Sep 18, 2006 4:24 am (PST)

Sorry to be contributing late to this thread, but another good book about cultural differences is “Americans at Work: A Guide to the Can-Do People” by Craig Storti. You’ll find this book in many European airport bookstores,
pitched to business travelers going to the U.S.

The author’s an American who has spent most of his life working internationally. The book is obviously mostly about the differences between American and non-American workplaces (and is spot-on and helpful in this regard) but also contains more general observations:

P. 13: “The first thing that probably needs to be said in a book about Americans and foreigners is that the former don’t really believe in the latter. Oh, they realize that there are a large number of so-called foreign countries teeming with odd-looking people who speak strange languages, but deep down Americans have a hard time believing that these people are fundamentally different from them. While they accept that people from other cultures may be foreign on the surface, Americans believe that ‘underneath we’re all alike.’ They believe, in short, that any differences that do exist between themselves and non-Americans are ultimately insignificant. “

p. 16: “To put it another way, not believing in culture means that Americans have a hard time accepting that there is any legitimate reason – any ‘excuse’ – for the odd way foreigners sometimes behave, and they conclude
therefore that all such behavior is simply arbitrary. . . . If there is no real logic or reason for the strange things foreigners sometimes do, then why should Americans (or anyone else, for that matter) have to put up with them?… When Americans encounter cultural differences, there is an underlying assumption, a deep conviction, that once they point out odd, counterproductive, and illogical behaviors, foreigners will drop their annoying habits and start behaving normally.”

p. 85: “In general, individualistic Americans regard people from more collectivist cultures as timid, conformist, not willing to stand up for themselves, and overly concerned about what other people think. They’re too deferential, don’t insist on their rights, and spend too much time worrying and trying to get a consensus before acting. They seem to lack confidence and not to care enough about whether they get credit for their achievements. “

p. 118: “Americans will go to almost any lengths to avoid sounding negative, pessimistic, or defeatist, even if it means being somewhat less than honest or candid. They try to stay away from topics they refer to as ‘downers’ and to stay out of conversations that ‘bring you down,’ as in down from the giddy heights of optimism and happiness. These topics include anything to do with evil or the dark side of human nature, which Americans either ignore or try to explain away, anything that suggests failure, defeat, or any kind of setback – especially with death, the ultimate setback – or anything to do with limits or limitations, such as reasons why something cannot be done, should not be tried, or is impossible.”

Some people (like my mom) might claim this comic is loosely based on my (or my dad’s) dietary consumption of our mandatory daily staple food group..

“In other news..”  I’ve managed to hunt down contact info for both Campus for Christ & the Navigators in Germany. Now to convince such ppl for me to bum with/shadow/interview ‘em in 8 months… wait.. are ppl at the universities in may??  hmm.. this may be a problem..

Seems my random attempts of finding out about Euro/German culture keeps rolling forward despite their well, random qualities.

Today’s find: Matt. I’ve gotta say, I’m really jealous of his ability to ‘go’. I’ve personally came so very close to having such abilities– right now my work is 100% telecommuting from 300 miles away. It’s great, but hard to ‘get work done’ with the lack of an actual office. & since my job is transitioning more towards clients, that means being local is becoming necessary. Drat. No continent-hopping for me.

But Being a web-programmer by trade, Matt’s blog has what we’ll call today’s “geek quote of the day”:

I returned the volley with a more left-brained challenge: give me the highest prime number under 10,000. He opened his laptop, wrote a prime number generator, and gave me the answer in 5 minutes

Good man.

Learning more about German culture.. this time, humor The article is actually more helpful for understanding Brit-com, which these germans seem to appreciate in their jokes..

taken directly from:http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,,1781004,00.html

Some Germans tell us their jokes …

Tabea Rudolph, 26, StuttgartThere are problems in the woods. The animals of the forest are always drunk, so the fox decides to ban alcohol. The following day, the fox spies a rabbit hanging out of a tree, clearly wasted. The fox ticks him off, and carries on his way. But the next day he sees the rabbit drunk again, and gives him a final warning. The next day, the fox does his rounds and there’s no sign of the rabbit, but he notices a straw sticking out of a stream. Wondering what it is, the fox scoops it out, only to find a very drunk rabbit on the other end of it. “How many times do I have to tell you that animals of the forest aren’t allowed alcohol?” says the Fox. “We fishes don’t give a toss what the animals of the forest aren’t allowed to do,” says the rabbit

Gerhard Bischof, Bad Toelz, 57

A man jumps out of a plane for the first time. At 3,000m he tries to undo his parachute, but the cord fails. At 2,000m he tries to open the emergency chute but that doesn’t work either. At 1,000m he bumps into a man wearing blue overalls, carrying a spanner. “Can you repair parachutes?” asks the first man. “‘Fraid not,” says the other. “I only do boilers.”

Wolfgang Voges, 56, from lower Saxon

Three priests hold a meeting to discuss where life begins. The evangelical priest says, “No question about it, life begins when the child is born.” “No, no,” says the Catholic priest, “it all starts when the sperm meets the egg.” “You’re both wrong,” says the Rabbi. “Life begins when the children have left home and the dog is dead.”

& the best for last– actually a Brit joke about Germans:

Our attitude to the Germans and their supposed lack of a sense of humour is best understood through the example of the joke known to comedy professionals such as myself as The German Child. It goes like this. An English couple have a child. After the birth, medical tests reveal that the child is normal, apart from the fact that it is German. This, however, should not be a problem. There is nothing to worry about. As the child grows older, it dresses in lederhosen and has a pudding bowl haircut, but all its basic functions develop normally. It can walk, eat, sleep, read and so on, but for some reason the German child never speaks. The concerned parents take it to the doctor, who reassures them that as the German child is perfectly developed in all other areas, there is nothing to worry about and that he is sure the speech faculty will eventually blossom. Years pass. The German child enters its teens, and still it is not speaking, though in all other respects it is fully functional. The German child’s mother is especially distressed by this, but attempts to conceal her sadness. One day she makes the German child, who is now 17 years old and still silent, a bowl of tomato soup, and takes it through to him in the parlour where he is listening to a wind-up gramophone record player. Soon, the German child appears in the kitchen and suddenly declares, “Mother. This soup is a little tepid.” The German child’s mother is astonished. “All these years,” she exclaims, “we assumed you could not speak. And yet all along it appears you could. Why? Why did you never say anything before?” “Because, mother,” answers the German child, “up until now, everything has been satisfactory.”

My 6 month old hope for a European trip has made a couple steps forward, and upon such, interest has grown to understand where I’d be putting myself. Hence, this article I google’d upon:

http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0402/articles/weigel.html

(Interestingly enough, he quotes Charles Dawson, who also came up on the google search.)

While I’ve not been to Europe & have heard hardly any stories, other than the label “liberal”, I’d like to think this guy is on to something. I fully agree with his statements of culture being driven by what it values/worships (as expressed in it’s ideals) & I like how he describes European ideals (whether right or wrong, I’ve yet to find out). And of course I can see American being a slow-moving, yet “beefed up” version of Europe. So his method I can agree with.

His questions in the middle of the article are.. (for an intellectual) ‘fun’. They’re the questions I’d like to ask “on the street” and in the universities if/when I go there ($533 ticket to franfurt! yeah air india!). They’re the kind of thing you could imagine people thinking about, but not saying to each other. Or if conversation would occur, then no answers/action would come of it.

So I guess I’m left to propose my own solution, per my own experience. These questions are the “face the reality of the situation” questions, much like (for Americans) questions of ’spiritual pragmatism’. “You’ve tried that.. is it working? You don’t like to admint, ‘No’, but you know it’s true! So try something that DOES work- JESUS.”

But I’m curious if they see ‘declining birth rate’, et al as a bad thing..