Germany
Things that interest me about Germany these days are more touristy in orientation. Things like the language, Oktoberfest, and autobahns.
Learning the German language is one of the things I wish I could have done more of in my secondary school. I had taken half a year of the language, but there was a scheduling conflict for second half-year with Orchestra class. Needless to say, I dropped German in favor of music. I was going to start learning German again this semester, but it was pushed aside in favor of Russian. Part of the reason I have put off learning German is that I do not enjoy trying to learn romance languages. Another part may be because most native German speakers I have met say that they hate the German language. One thing my friend said about the language that still sticks in my mind years later is that "German is a fucker language." I will just have to take the word of my friend as it is and with a grain of salt, as I do not know enough German to know differently.
Oktoberfest, or locally as die Wiesn, is a two-week celebration of beer which lasts until the first weekend of October. I enjoy many types of beers, so being able to sample many beers in such a small area in a short amount of time sounds great. It sounds much like New Orleans Mardi Gras, but with its actual focus on being beer instead of just what many are partaking in.
Autobahns are basically freeways with stretches of it having no speed limit. Despite no limit in some parts, not everyone is trying to go the speed of sound all the time (1). Such high speed poses many dangers but are mitigated a bit with being so well-maintained and having very strict road laws. I would love to one day be able to push the accelerator to the floor in my car and not worry that I may get a traffic violation.
German language, Oktoberfest, and autobahns are mainly the touristy things that interest me in Germany. I hope to be able to visit Deutschland one day and drink beer while driving on an autobahn. Doing those separately may be just as good though (and safer).
Japan
Japan as a country has interested me since I was a child. So many things are different: the language and culture and two big ones.
Written Japanese can be separated into three types of script. One can get away with just two of them: hiragana for Japanese words and katakana for borrowed and foreign words. Kanji is the third, which consistst of Chinese characters that are used in place of hiragana characters to be more specific in meaning and to be less ambiguous, as there is no spacing between words and there are many homonyms in Japanese. Take the Japanese word hashi by itself, without context or being written with kanji it is ambiguous and can mean either chopsticks, bridge, or edge. The language is also lexically different than English. For example, take the word order in English phrase, "I go to the store." The word order for that in Japanese would be, "I, to the store, go."
The culture of Japan is much different from western ones. Much of it can be summed up in the text of a widely-distributed on the Internet: "Japan: Producing 78% of the worlds (sic) weird shit. Since 1952" (2). Many of the taboos in western cultures are non-existent in Japan. As such, one can find many things ranging from as innocuous as Japanese popular music to pornography with refrigerators or tentacle-monsters to most people celebrating Christmas despite only 2% of the population is Christian. Christmas is view differently in Japan though: it is more of a date night where couples view the decorations and lights in the cities instead of having any religious context. Japan does have its own taboos. The number four is considered unlucky, as a one homonym of it means death. Another is that it is considered rude to look directly at another person.
The language and culture of Japan are really what interest me the most.
Russia
Russia, the largest country on the planet, yet the vast majority live along the western edge. Things that interest me specifically about Russia are the language and the architecture.
I am currently taking a Russian language class this semester. While not a fan of romance languages, I am tolerating the language fairly well so far. The alphabet appears to have many resemblances to the Greek one. The cursive-form can be fairly difficult to read though, a few letters, when combined, cannot be easily distinguished at a quick glance (3).
Much of the architecture in Russia is simplistic and purpose-built; however, structures like the Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow look extravagant beyond reason. If the inside looks even half as good as the outside, that would still be the likely the most exquisite building I have seen. If my Russian language professor tells true, Russia has many structures that are similar, though the majority are cathedrals. The Moscow Kremlin, which is adjacent to Saint Basil's Cathedral, is another I would like to see. The red wall, the towers, the cathedral inside, and more all look good from the pictures. There is just so much history in those structures and one day I hope to see each with my own eyes.
Russian language and architecture are of great interest to me. I hope to learn more as time goes on and visit the country one day.
Works Cited
- Purcell, Brian. "Brian's Guide to Getting Around Germany - The Autoban." 11 Jan. 2012. Web. 8 Oct. 2012. <http://www.gettingaroundgermany.info/autobahn.shtml>
- "Japan." Web. 8 Oct. 2012. <http://www.lolquacio.us/1061/>
- BOBKA. "You are so Evil: Russian Cursive Writing." 7 Aug. 2010. Web. 8 Oct. 2012. <http://yeliseev.blogspot.com/2010/08/russian-cursive-writing.html>
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