Kapitel 9 Kultur, Gabrielle Lewis

Since I have family in Germany, it comes as no surprise to me that German's organizational  OCD manifests itself in the form of a binder. The Leitz Ordner sounds like a normal feature that any student or professional would have. I do wonder if Germans place such high importance on paper records, and I wonder why many of these documents aren't computerized. When or if the Leitz Ordner gets a facelift, people will suddenly obtain significantly more space on their bookshelves.

I know that Germans love structure and rules, but no silence between 1 & 3 pm daily in Hesse?  I wonder to what extent these "laws" are inforced and how many domestic disputes erupt as a result. I think if one of my neighbors told me to be quiet during the afternoon I would laugh at them, or promptly send my dog to do a number on their azaleas!

The subject of patriotism in Germany post WWII is a rather touchy topic, and rightfully so. I have encountered vast differences in Germans regarding WWII awareness. Some are plagued with guilt (generally the older people) and some don't even know of the holocaust's existence (my generation, sadly). Regardless of what happened nearly 100 years ago, I am surprised that German flags are scarce in Berlin. I wonder why the flag wouldn't be displayed. Germany was a country before hitler's regime, and it  has continued being a country since. If Berliners were to openly sport the swastika on flags, that would be inexcusable. But flying their country's flag proudly? There shouldn't be anything wrong with that. Germany contributes to bettering the world and is continuing to grow and progress, despite the atrocities she committed. It makes no sense for a country not to proudly fly its flag because of mistakes a maniacal despot committed nearly a century ago. I feel they one hundred years from now the flag will be flown and will have virtually no stigma associated with it. Anything else would be a country abiding in an archaic memory and futilychasing ghosts.