AboutKevin Johnson Expertise I lived in Germany my whole life. Since I have strong ties to the United States and an active interest in American life, I know the fine differences between the two nations.
Expert: Kevin Johnson Date: 5/27/2008 Subject: germany project
Question ok so for my germany project instead of posting a ton of different questions im just going to put all the rest of the questions of have together on this post. please try to answer as much as possible.
gender roles:
who is the dominant person in the fmaily?
who is the discliplinarian?
who handles the money, etc.?
children:
do they attend school?
do they have to travel a long distance to get to school?
do the children have to work to help out the family? if so, at what age do they begin to work and why?
what type of clothing do the children wear? do they wear designer clothing, hand-me downs, etc.?
what sorts of play activities are the children involved in?
adolescents:
do they attend high school?
do they attend college/university? if so, do they have to travel to another country to attend college or university?
do they work? if so, at what age do they begin to work?
do they wear designer clothing?
what sorts of things do they do for fun? (attend clubs, play sports and what type of sports, music, etc.)
food and nutrition:
what types of food do they eat?
what would a typical menu for a meal include?
do they grow their own food?
do they raise animals that will be used for food?
who prepares the meals?
does the family eat meals together?
how many meals would the average family eat each day?
holidays:
are special meals prepared? what dishes are prepared for the meal?
are there special costumes that are worn? describe the costume and discuss why it is worn.
what special activities take place on the holidays?
comparison:
how does family life in canada differ from family life in germany?
thank you SO much!
Answer Hello again Katie,
Ah, so you are from Canada. Well, things are very similar in Germany. I will try to focus on those points that might differ.
Gender roles: In more traditional families the wife handles the day-to-day decisions regarding money and children, while the more important long-term decisions will at least involve the husband (usually the breadwinner) who then tends to have the final word. The situation that the husband gives his wife a fixed amount of money each month for the household (like an allowance) and has all the power in the family (acquisitions, decisions, dicipline) is a very outdated model (although I guess it still exists in rural parts).
Children:
They must attend school from 6 to 16 (mandatory). Although there are licenced private schools, most children go to public schools (state schools). Home-schooling is virtually impossible. Schools are relatively small (60-150 pupils per grade, divided up into classes of about 30 pupils per class) so most children need not travel too far to school (brief walking distance or school busses, mostly not more than 20-30 minutes travel).
Children do not work since child labour is forbidden. Even odd jobs like paper routes would violate the law.
Hand made clothing is nearly unheard of. But children usually do not get expensive designer clothing. Department store clothing will do.
Children usually have lots of playthings (including electronic games and computers), but dolls, stuffed animals and construction kits (e.g. Lego) are also very popular. Role play (like "family", "school", "doctor") and hide-and-seek and the like are also popular.
Adolescents:
They must attend a secondary school until they are 16. After that they either do an apprenticeship or continue school until they are about 19 and make their "Abitur", which opens the window to higher qualified jobs and tertiary education (universities, technical universities, business schools and other academies).
They can start working at 16, either an apprenticeship or part-time jobs parallel to school. Their income is usually theirs to keep and not necessary for family upkeep.
Of course they wish for expensive designer brand clothing, and will take jobs to be able to afford them, but this depends on family wealth.
They will enjoy a wide variety of leisure activities (sports - usually in a sports club, music, going out, parties, "hanging around" with their friends). Soccer ("Fußball") is still the dominant sport, but basketball, volleyball, swimming, tennis, horseback-riding, martial arts and lots more offer a great variety.
Food:
Food comes from the supermarket (the trend is towards organic products) and is usually prepared by that parent that works less hours. Three meals per day is the norm. Families will try to have meals together, schedules permitting. The cuisine has become very international, traditional German recipies are marginalized.
Just a small selection of typical meals:
breakfast:
- cereal with milk and fruit juice
- rolls with butter and ham/cheese/marmalade
- fried eggs
lunch OR dinner (one of these will be a warm meal):
- Meat (chicken/veal/beef/pork) with potatoes/rice/dumplings/french fries and peas/beans/broccoli/corn/red beet/cauliflower/sprouts (choose and combine)
- Potato salad with sausages
- Pizza (very popular)
- Spaghetti with sauce bolognese
- ... (too many to enumerate)
The other meal will be cold, usually bread with cold cuts, cheese, sausage (e.g. salami) or left-overs. Or sandwiches.
People only go out to a restaurant for special occasions (not like once a week or so). But "Imbißbuden" (roughly tranlatabla as "snack-shacks") are popular for french fries, sausages, a sandwich to eat while standing or on the go. South-eastern European variants like a gyros sandwich or souvlaki are also firmly established in this niche.
Holidays:
traditional food customs:
Easter: lamb
St. Martin's day: goose
Christmas: goose or a roast
but usually one just gets together and something special is prepared.
No costumes.
Christmas: Gift giving on the 24th in the evening.
Easter: Easter egg hunt (children).
Lots of people only go to church once (Christmas) or twice (Christmas and Easter) a year.
There is the holiday of "Karneval" ("carnival"?) where one puts on costumes (clown, pirate, cowboy, police-man, ...) and has a good and fun time at parties, parades, shows and in the pubs for four days before ash wednesday (and drinks a lot of alcohol (beer and schnapps)). The customs here vary greatly depending on the region.
