Questions

1. I don't feel they had a system for organizing their protests. The people that supported them just seemed to be their by holding signs and yelling and screaming outside popular buildings. If they did have an organization to their protest I really didn't get how they managed to do that.

2. I do not really feel like I was in any way  able to identify with the group. I understand that if you want to make a change you may need to use some violence, but all the innocent people that the killed and the ways they went about things I did not agree with. They would kidnap people and do what ever it took to get what they wanted but I feel like they would go to far sometimes.

3.When it comes to Andreas he seemed to have all the power. He got what he wanted and I think people were scared to say no to him. They did not want to be killed for not agreeing with what he wanted so they played along with whatever was said to save themselves.

What about German class?

           Coming into German class I knew little to nothing about Germany. I pretty much knew they were known for making and drinking beer but that was pretty much the end of my knowledge. I though the class was going to be about learning the language and a little about the culture. I was a little bummed about not to be learning the language but wanted to stay in class because I was interested in learning about Germany.  Some of the projects we did I really enjoyed. We first broke up into groups and researched the 16 German states. That project was interesting, like I said I knew nothing of Germany so I did not even know they had 16 states, it helped us learn a little about each state and their role in Germany. I had Hamburg and found out that it was really big for the trade industry.

We then read All Quiet On the Western Front, I remember reading this book previously in High School but never looked at how it affected Germany. Being in German class I think I paid attention more to detail and found how Germany struggled during the war and the conditions. We then watched the movie of the book and that really showed the struggle, this helped put the things from the book into perspective.  

Then we looked into German politics. In the U.S. we seem to have two primary groups, Democrat and Republic. I liked to see all the different political groups that Germany had and how people had all these options when it came to politics. I had the Pirate group which I still pretty new but growing at a fast pace.

We also took a look at different things such as role of women, art and medicine from the 18^th, 19^th and 20^th century. I really enjoyed this project. I liked to see how things were back in the 18^th century and how they have changed over the years. I had 18^th century medicine I Farley enjoyed doing this project and all the ways that they handled medical conditions back then. For example, they thought that masturbation for men was horrible but now in Germany there are sex shops everywhere.

                Lastly in class we watched a couple movies. Berlin Calling was one of the movies that we watched. These movies are different from the U.S. in the fact that they were so open with the sex and drug abuse. I was not a huge fan of this movie or the other movie we watched in class. Berlin calling I don’t think I liked it seemed very unrealistic that I almost couldn't handle it.

                Overall I really enjoyed the class. The teacher was awesome and made class fun along with always keeping things interesting. He gave clear directions on everything he wanted along with giving opportunities to make up points. The blog was kind of fun for me I have never had a blog before so it was fun to see how the blogger worked.  This class was fun and really enjoyed it I felt I learned a lot in class about Germany.

Rouladen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rinderroulade-zutaten-02.JPG





This German dish is normally pickles, bacon, mustard and onions wrapped around a thin slice of meat, as seen in image, then cooked. The meat that is wrapped around varies in places. It could be pork, steak or even veal. The filling on the inside is called the pork belly consisting all the ingredients stated previously. This is traditionally served as the main course with a glass of red wine. Along with the red wine this dish also can be served with cabbage, potatoes or dumplings. The word Roulade mean to roll, which makes sense seeing as you roll the other ingredients around the meat. This is served in all different parts of the world each having their own unique twist on how to make it. Roulade is not strictly to the Europeans it can also be known for sushi and types of cakes.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roulade
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German_dishes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rouladen

RAF

                The Red Army Faction, or commonly known as the RAF, was founded in 1970 by Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Horst Mahler, and Ulrike Meinhof. They existed until about 1988 and wanted a , fascist state, which pretty much means that wanted individual freedom for all people. In 1977 the led something called the German Autumn which killed thirty four people. The RAF kidnapped and murdered the president of Federation of German Industries. Between 1973 and 1995 the RAF was responsible for 296 bombings and other attacks. Ulrike Meinhof was the founder of the group and history in the communist party. Andrea Baader was another main leader, he escaped prison in 1970. She was a well-known journalist in Germany. The RAF had three generations. The first generation consisted of just Baader and some of her associates. The second generation went until the end of the 1970’s and the group grew adding some socialist into the group. The third generation was in 1980’s to 1990’s.

                The group started by getting charged with arson, they were supposed to get three years in prison. They got parole and went to Italy. They then returned to Germany where Baader was arrested but as started earlier escaped from prison. They got a lot of support for their actions. They got most of their support from west Germany and the United States. Once they were caught they grew a lot of support. They had went on a hunger strike where one man died of starvation and others were force fed food. On their 192^nd day of trial there was only three remaining and were sentenced to life in prison.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army_Faction

Baader-Meinhof Complex

            This movie was extremely interesting to me. It was about German terrorists called the Red Army Faction (RAF). This movie was very graphic and real about people standing up for what they believed in and not backing down from the police, or anyone for that matter. When the movie first started I was very confused and did not quite understand why the police were beating the crap out of everyone, I feel like that was handled very poorly from the police. Watching the movie more I then started to get what the people protesting were standing for but I did not think they would take such actions. They went around killing people and bombing things like it was no big deal because they were fighting for a course. All the things they did I could not believe that they got away with it because today you would not. Even when in jail they managed to find ways to escape and help each other out. When they finally got in jail f or good they even had people they didn’t know about fighting for their release. It was crazy to me to see all the supporters they had on their side and even on trial they stood up for what they believed in. Their people were getting sick in jail and people were outraged. This movie is so far very interesting but I am not very happy with the way that police handle the situations and how the RAF goes around killing helpless people that makes me mad!

Berlin Calling

1.1.       I think drugs serve a sense of relaxation and escapes for Ickarus. He is able to listen to his music and just forget about everything else that is happening around him.

2  2.     Ickarus fans take drugs before, after and during his gigs. They take every kind of drug from pills, smoking and snorting them. They would take ecstasy and ketamine. I feel as if they do it the same reason as Ickarus so they can escape in the music and forget about everything else in their lives.

3.   3.    I think the music is an escape and Ickarus felt he could not fully escape unless he was on drugs and he liked the feeling they provided him so he could forget about everything else.

4.  4.     People I know from home do not take as strong of drugs that are in the movie. I have seen a lot of marijuana, which seems to be the drug of choice here, but not a whole lot of the heavier stuff.

5.    6.   The work ethics of Ickarus would not be something that would be tolerated here. When stuff like this happens to celebrities today they get put all over tabloids and even loose fans for their action while Ickarus doesn’t seem to get any sort of shame. Alice on the other hand seems to be in it just for the money. She dropped him as a client because of how unstable he was but as soon as she found out the record was good she wanted him back.

6.   6.    I just recently saw the movie Flight. It was very graphic in drug and alcohol abuse. Other than that there are movies that abuse marijuana such as Grandmas Boy and Ted but they do not do, or show, the harsher drugs they use.

This entire movie was very interesting. I was surprised how they showed that everyone at the show was on drugs making it seem like that was the normal typical night at Ickarus shows. Everyone seemed to be having a good time but they had to be on drugs to do it and this seems like an image you do not want to portray for the younger community in Germany. I was surprised at the party house that they had. They was everyone was drinking and doing drugs in the middle of the day. If something like that exited here it would be busted and shut down. I was also surprised at how Ickarus girlfriend seemed to have a girlfriend and when it seemed like he was mad about her cheating on him they ended up having a three-way, which made no sense to me. This movie was very graphic in the sex and drug abuse which I was kind of expecting from what we had talked about in class but it was weird to actually see it because that stuff does not really happen here. I already said this earlier but if a celebrity today did what Ickarus did they would be all over tabloids and they would lose fans. He goes into rehab and gets a top selling record which I also feel sends a bad message. The hospital was a little weird to me, how they let Ickarus come and go as he pleases and how they let him completely destroy the place and stay that would not e tolerated here he would have been sent somewhere else. I was not a huge fan of the movie it made me really mad a lot and I did not care for the main character and his attitude nor for his girlfriend and the way he treated her and how she kept taking him back. The ending of the movie sucked it was very unclear of what had happened and what was going on. They did not say whether he was drug free or not or if he and his girlfriend were together for sure. This movie was not something I would probably watch again.

Role of Women

                The way women were treated, not only in Germany, but all around the world has been an ongoing battle that still goes on today. Sexism still exists whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. Women are still paid less in the work place and are still though as of weaker and not properly educated. In the earlier centuries women were viewed as purely home makers. Their main responsibilities were the three K’s: Kirche, Kinder and kuche, these meaning churches, children and kitchen. In West Germany women were the minority. They had men to do the hard work so they can take care of the children and house. They were not even considered part of society. Two third of women were unemployed and some that could work worked in factories and with the war effort. Most women worked during the war to help fill the spots of job that men would normally fill while the men were at war. By the end of 20^th century there were 700,000 working women. East Germany had a soviet style of government and in the 20^th century some women were able to receive an education. Mothers were working and abortion became legal and free choices were beginning to be granted for women. German’s Organization for women was found in 1894 and they fought for equal rights and social conditions such as education to women. After a long fighting battle, 1919 was when women were granted the right to vote.  Women started making progress in getting rights that men had but as we can see today it is still a struggle. It was very interesting for me to see how men were treated and how some of these still go on today. I know personally I am not a woman to be tied down and kept in a kitchen to raise kids by myself. I like to be a working women and not relying on men for everything