Rachel Mullen

A lot of my cultural knowledge first came from my mom. She would talk about how small her first apartment was and how she used public transportation to go to school. I heard stories of the political state of Germany and her experiences with the Baader-Meinhof Group, a far-left militant organization. I heard about her dad, who was sent to a Siberian POW camp. As I got closer to the age where I could legally drink alcohol she talked about how young people in Germany start drinking. 

Our family also kept up with German traditions.  My mom is an exceptional cook, so she often makes traditional German foods. When the family gets together she would make Schnitzel (breaded pork or veal), Leberkase (a loaf of spam), Spaetzle (noodles), Bratwurst (sausage), and Kartoffelpuffer (potato pancakes). We’d go to a nearby Oktoberfest to drink Gluhwein, eat nutella crepes, and buy Christmas ornaments (which includes the Christmas pickle). Germans also have a tradition where each person in a household gets to open 1 present on Christmas Eve. When we lived near Chicago, we would visit the Hofbräuhaus. 

Throughout my years taking German classes, I learned a lot about the culture as well. On unit we had was on the German school system. It's different from ours in that after primary school (grade 4) they have more decisions on where they want to go. That way they can ignore unnecessary fields of study early on. I also learned about transportation in Germany, such as the various types of public transportation and street signs. Cars are also required to get checked after a certain amount of time, and that certification is shown as a sticker on the license plate. 

One semester at Drake I took a class specifically on Berlin. I looked at a wide range of topics including architecture, history, politics, and art. I did a presentation on why the German people chose Berlin to be the capital instead of Bonn. I also did another presentation on Museum Island, which is exactly what it sounds like. It's a piece of land that juts out like a peninsula, and it has various museums, a park, and a cathedral.