Kultur 1

Of all the articles I read, one that interested me the most is the driving one. I have heard before that driving laws in Germany are very strict and that it is very easy to be penalized for breaking them. I've also heard from Tomasz, the instructor from the previous semester, that drivers in America seems to be less aware of their surroundings compared to those in Germany, which I presume is due to more tolerant driving laws.  However, it was a bit surprising to find some actions we consider to be of minor offense or tolerable, such as forgetting to use the indicator, can earn a person a ticket. I was also surprised that on the contrary to my impression of "civil" atmosphere of driving in Germany(due to all those strict laws), it is pretty easy to offend another motorist by giving just "the finger" and consequently a road rage.
The article about getting in lines(queing) in Germany also surprised me, like the point about offending another motorist by giving just "the finger", as my impression of strict and organized nature of Germany did not match with an image of "jostling mob".