So being in the Cross Cultural Communication class is making me realise some things about Germany that I didn’t realise before. I am not sure what I expected Germany to be like or what kind of values I expected Germans to uphold but I am definitely getting some idea of these things now.
Firstly I am starting to realise just how environmentally friendly Germany is. I have already noticed the bins and how they are separated into different sections for different types of waste. However, I did not realise just how concerned with the environment they are. Conversations with my Cross Cultural Communication class have made me aware that Germany is concerned about saving water (although maybe not to the same extent as Australia) even though their need to save water is not particularly crucial. They also decided to opt out of nuclear power after the crisis in Fukushima in 2011, and are planning to shut down their remaining 9 nuclear reactors by 2022. They made the decision to immediately shut down 8 of their oldest 17 reactors after the nuclear crisis last year. On top of this Germany also has decreased its greenhouse gas emissions by almost 24% since 1990, already fulfilling their obligations to the Kyoto Protocol. These facts have really impressed me and have made me realise that maybe Australia is not as environmentally friendly as I had originally thought.
I am also realising a bit more about German people. While some of them find the fact that you are foreign a novelty and are always willing to help, others are a bit reserved and wait for you to make the first step. I find that when I make the effort to talk to my host family more and encourage conversation, then I get a rewarding response back that leads to interesting discussions. This also helps me to feel more at home. So I am coming to realise that German people are quite friendly but some of them need you to make an effort to talk to them first. My Cross Cultural Communication teacher described German people like a coconut, hard on the outside but really nice once you get past that.
So I’m finding that Germany is starting to feel more like home. I am getting used to the people and the places, and I think that I could find my way home from most places now. But I think that I still call Australia home! And I’m looking forward to celebrating that tomorrow. Happy Australia Day Everyone! =)
I was quite interested by those facts on Germany's environmental commitment. For me, a few things in particular stand out: how in detail they recycle glass (white, brown, green), how they are committed to saving water even though there is no real shortage of it, and the German response after the Japan nuclear crisis. I think it gives us an insight into a part of the German culture: the German people are a very caring and cautious people- they do as much as possible to ensure nothing is wasted (EVEN when they could afford to not bother as they have plenty of resources), and they are incredibly mindful of their safety- Nuclear energy is a large part of Germany's power supply but the fact that it poses a threat to lives (as shown by Fukushima), warrants looking toward more sustainable and safe resources, such as wind energy.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good class. It is interesting, all the statistics you have put up. The recycling is very thorough and they are very environmentally friendly. However, when it comes to things like smoking they don't seem to have much against it which seems really unusual to me.
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