Homework College

Hab gerade meine Hausaufgaben für meinen Collegekurs zurück bekommen und hab ne 85/100. Naja geht besser aber auch schlechter. Wollte die Hausaufgabe mal hochladen für diejenigen, die es interessiert. Geht um deutsche und amerikanische Erziehung, Feiertage und Essensvorbereitung. Keine Ahnung, ob es wirklich gut ist und evtl Leute, die es besser können drüber lachen aber egal haha. Immerhin hab ichs selbst gemacht und sogar mehr Wörter, als gefordert.

Part I:

Parenting style and discipline techniques

There are a couple of different parenting styles. Even, if parents do not always follow just one style, there are a few main styles.

First, there is the Authoritarian style. It reflects a style of high behavioral control but also low warmth towards the child. The parents give strict rules and if the kid does not follow the rules, the parents will punish him or her. The parents also demand obedience no matter what. The parents have high expectations to their kid to fulfill. The parents following the Authoritarian style are also demanding but no responsive, which means, that they will not explain why the kid gets punished and therefore the children do not learn what they did wrong or how they can try to change. They are not giving any choices or other options to the kids then obedience.

Another parenting style is Authoritative which kind of sounds like the Authoritarian style but there is a big difference because this style is much more democratic. Authoritative parents show understanding but they still want to establish the rules. Here, the parents are willing to listen to the kids and to explain any reactions or punishments in order to make them understand the reasoning behind a rule. Also, they will forgive their kids rather than punish so there is less penalty in total. The parents enforce their own perspective as adults, but also recognize the child's individual interests and special ways.

The next parenting style is the Permissive style. Here, the parents show less behavioral control and try to appear as a friend to the child instead of an adult. They have only few demand and almost no expectations in the kid. They do most things on their own instead of letting the kid to something. They also do not require mature behavior from the child. Another fact is that parents with a permissive parenting style avoid confrontation. They seem afraid of stress and arguments.

The last main parenting style is the uninvolved or passive style. Here, the parents seem non-caring because there is no behavioral control. They act neglectful towards the kids and just fulfill the basic needs of a child but they do not care about the rest or special requests by the kids. Uninvolved parents would care more about themselves then the kids and are also uninterested and distant in the education.

Parenting in Germany and in the United States is different like it would be different in any other country.

Child rearing in Germany is usually a mix between a caring love and a good strictness.

For sure – not every German or every American is like the rest but I’ll just go to write out of my perspective.

German kids always have a lot of free time. That’s the time where they get creative and get to entertain themselves. Germans focus a lot on school and education. Kids get a lot of homework and practice also after school.

Even in school, German kids have a 10 minute break after each lesson to calm down or to get some fresh air outside.

In my opinion, Germans are also really strict which means that the tolerance for misbehavior is not high. Germans actually handle a lot with consequences and staying in the room is a well liked punishment. Also since the past years the taking away from electronics is a common punishment.

In addition since the rearing, raising and discipline styles in World War II, Germans are a lot against authoritarian education. In that time, the showing of emotions was not allowed and now we care a lot about showing emotions. From the toddler age, kids learn not to be shy, to say what they think and to not be afraid for example, when they have to cry and that they don’t have to be ashamed or anything.

In addition, Germans give a lot of responsibility to the kids themselves. For example, when the family has any pets, caring for them is a big thing and the kids have to do some stuff, too.

There is an assigned responsibility to every person in the household and so the kids.

Politeness is also a very big thing in Germany. In the bus kids learn, that they should give their seat to older or disabled people. Children should say hello, goodbye, thank you and please. It helps them to learn that they aren’t the only ones with feelings and needs and they learn it from the youngest ages on.

Lunch in Germany is the main food a day and after that the kids have to help (depending on the age) with setting the table, loading the dishwasher or clean the table or the pans.

In Germany, kids know who the “boss” is. The parents decide and no one would doubt that. That’s why kids in Germany do not contradict a lot. The kids don’t want to fight about every little thing because they know that it wouldn’t help anything and they would just get punished for misbehaving.

Another big fact is that German parents are not afraid to say no. It is important for the kids to give them room but also to border them. They know what they are allowed to do and what not.

German parents set the standard of their parenting style early. The sooner the kids know the rules the better.

Parenting in America on the other side is way different. When foreign people come to America they may think, that Americans are too careful and too nice in raising the children.

Nearly every American child is overscheduled. There is always a lot going on starting even before preschool. Kids go swimming, dancing, playing soccer, piano or something else. Because of that, kids could get problems in entertaining themselves. That is a way different thing in Germany since there is a lot of free time for the kids.

On the other hand with all those activities the time for school gets rarer. In another way, Americans are too nice as well and they have problems saying no. Kids get rewarded for nearly not achieving anything which could later be a problem. They get presents on another kid’s birthday or get rewarded for doing sport or something. Sure it is important to reward kids but as soon as it is too often they know that they don’t even have to strain to achieve something.

In my opinion, Americans are a little bit permissive. Many parents try to be the kid’s friend and a lot of parents try to avoid difficult conversations as well as saying no to the kids because they are afraid that the kids will not love them anymore. Many American parents also work a lot and they don’t see their kids a lot that’s why they might be afraid of the kids not loving them anymore.

Not every American family might be like this as well as not every German but I can just speak out of my perspective.

In my opinion, I like the German parenting style better. Discipline is an important thing in today’s world and everyone who wants to be part of it has to adapt.

I will rear my child from the beginning on, setting rules and borders and making clear who is the boss. Children cannot always get what they want that is why I will start to say no early and without discussions. I will definitely tell my kid why I make discussions and I will also explain important skills of behavior in the world. My aim is not to be too strict but also not too soft. Kids need a balance between a strict and a loving parent. Although anyway weather I am strict or not, I will love my kids.

I will support my kids in every situation and I will be there for them. Kids go through a couple of phases in life and I will try to understand and support every single one of them. Puberty is one of the hardest times because the kids just have their own head and they don’t want anyone to tell them what to do but the best thing parents can do in that phase is to understand, to calm down but still set boundaries for the kids.

In my opinion, the Authoritarian parenting style is a not good one since it is too strict and it does not show the kid what he or she did wrong. Children need loving and caring parents to let them know that they are loved because otherwise they could get mental trouble about thinking that they are not loved by anyone.

I want my children to be happy and content as well as polite to people in their environment. It is really important to me that my kids will be liked because they are nice and friendly to everyone. I will teach them in early age how important understanding and supporting is and that without the basic mental skills life is a lot harder.

All in all, in my opinion it is really important as a parent to find the perfect balance between a strict and a loving parent to make the kids feel good. If a child feels good, it will act nicely towards other persons.

Part II:

Holiday traditions in my home country

My home country Germany has a lot of old traditions and public holidays. The first one every single year is January 1^st. It is our New Years Day and it is a national holiday. Here, we celebrate the first day of the Gregorian calendar. It is like a new beginning every year, a new start for a lot of people with new aims to reach in the following year.

At midnight of the New Years Day, there are usually fireworks all over the country. A lot of households buy fireworks in a local store and then every house has a small (or sometimes big) big firework at their house.

That already is a big difference between Germany and America because in America there are just big fireworks for the cities but there are none in private.

Germans most likely spend the New Years Eve and day with friends and family depending on the age. On New Year’s Eve, Germans enjoy to do lead-pouring. Here we hope to get fortunes by the shapes made by molten lead dropped into cold water. I personally have never done it but it is famous in my home country.

The next public holiday in Germany is Epiphany “the holy three kings” or “striking appearance” how we call it in Germany. It is celebrated on January 6^th and it is a religious holiday. Not every state is celebrating it in Germany and it is mostly common in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt.

In our community, it is usual that kids dressed like the holy three kings go with some grown-ups from door to door to sing and to raise money for a good purpose. Usually, they will bless the household and put a sign above the door to show everyone that those people have been blessed by the holy three kings. Epiphany also is a day 1       that celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ.

Another holiday in Germany is the Good Friday and we call it “Karfreitag”. It is celebrated two days before Easter Sunday and it is a religious holiday celebrated all over Germany. It is traditionally celebrated as the day on which Jesus was crucified.

A lot of Christian churches in Germany celebrate Good Friday with a subdued service, mostly in the evening, in which Christ’s death is remembered with hymns, prayers of thanksgiving, a message centered on Christ suffering for our sakes, and observance of the Lord's Supper.

I believe, that in America, the churches celebrate Good Friday also with a mess.

Two, respectively three days after the Good Friday comes Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. Here, we celebrate the rising of Jesus Christ from the dead, described in the New Testament. It happened on the third day of his funeral after his crucifixion.

Traditional for our family is to build an Easter basket. When I was little, I usually built it with my grandpa. We went to the forest to search for moss and little branches and when we came home, we started to build the basket for the Easter bunny to come and bring presents. We usually did that on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. On the Sunday, I always woke up really early approximately around 6am (like the kids here on Christmas) and I looked through my window to see, if there is something in the Easter basket. After that I always woke up my parents and we went downstairs. I took a little basket and then we went outside to search for the Easter Eggs that we colored about a week before Easter. The coloring was also a big tradition in our family and we always decorated about 50 eggs. After we would be done searching for the eggs, I would go to the Easter basket that we built to check if there is something in there for me.

Usually I found something like a DVD or some roller skates or something in there.

After that we usually had a big brunch with the whole family and we went on a bike ride or took a walk in the afternoon.

On Easter Monday, we continued to eat over the day and we usually just stay with the family and enjoy our time together.

I cannot really say how Easter is celebrated in America because I was not with my family on Easter since my family from Germany came to visit me.

On May 1^st, Germans celebrate their labor day. Here, no one has to work and it is a national holiday. It is celebrated all over Germany. Youths usually spend Labor Day and the evening before with celebrating.

In our family, we had the tradition to hike to a nice spot in our town where you have an awesome view. We took a handcart with us, filled with some snacks and drinks and beer for the men. After that in the afternoon, we went back home and had a big Barbecue with the whole family. 

We did this until I was about 14 years old and then I started to go hiking with my friends and we also always had a Barbecue after that.

39 days after Easter Sunday, we celebrate Ascension Day. Here, Christ’s believe that Jesus Christ ascent to heaven to unite with God, his father. Ascension Day is usually celebrated on a Thursday and schools all over Germany are closed from Thursday to Sunday that week.

Here, we do not have any special traditions from our family we just had Barbecue, because everyone was off from work.

50 days after Easter Sunday, Whit Monday follows. It is a public and religious holiday so no one has to work and it is celebrated all over Germany. Pentecost remembers the Holy Ghost's descent on the Jesus Christ's disciples, according to the Bible.

On this weekend of the year, there is always a big festival in our town called “Kultur Pur”. A lot of musicians come and it is just a thing, where friends and family come together. I was off of school every year from Saturday to Pentecost Tuesday.

In Germany, we also celebrate Pentecost with worships.

The next public holiday is held 60 days after Easter Sunday and is also a religious one. It is called Corpus Christi. It celebrates the tradition and the belief in the body and blood of Jesus Christ and his Real Presence in the Eucharist. It is usually celebrated in a service with a Lord’s Supper.

It is usually on a Thursday so we are off of school from Thursday to Sunday again.

On August 15^th some states of Germany celebrate the religious “the Assumption of Mary”. It celebrates the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her earthly life. Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ. In the Catholic Church in Germany, it is common to bless herbs on this day.

On October 3^rd, we celebrate the German Unit Day. This is a political holiday and it remembers the anniversary of the German reunification in 1990.

On October 31^st and November 1^st, we celebrate the Reformation Day as well as All Saints. 

Reformation day is a civic holiday and it is just celebrated in a few states. All Saints is a holiday in honor of all the saints, known and unknown. Our family usually goes to the cemetery to think about all the loved ones, that we lost.

The next religious holiday is Christmas. In Germany, we celebrate it over three days starting on December 24^th. On Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. In our family, Christmas means the togetherness of our loves. When I was little, my parents and I started Christmas on the evening of December 24^th and we call it “Holy evening”. We went downstairs in our living room and we found our tree decorated and also a lot of presents under it. Our living room was usually locked the whole day so that the “Christ Child”, who brings the presents in Germany, could come in, decorate the tree and place the presents under it. After opening all the presents, we drove to my Dads parents to see all of my aunts, uncles and cousins there. We ate dinner there and then opened a whole lot of other gifts.

Around 8pm, we drove back home and went to my Mom’s parents who live right next door. There, I got a lot of other gifts and we just stayed there throughout the evening.

On our first Christmas day, we went to my Mom’s parents again to have a big lunch with typical German meals. We played board games with my aunts and uncles and in the evening we had dinner again. On the second Christmas day, we usually just hung at home and I played with all the new toys that I got or when I turned older with my electronics.

In America Christmas is different, since Americans don’t really celebrate on December 24^th. Here it starts early in the morning of the 25^th (depending on your kids age).

Christmas is a lot about presents, but in Germany we care a lot about the family as well. This Christmas in America, we also had a lot of good food, but I personally like the German meals better.

 

Part III:

Cooking in Germany is a big thing. It is family time. Many Americans think of German food as being all about Bratwurst and Sauerkraut but there is a lot more.

German put a lot of effort into cooking and also into the quality of their food. We always try to find a healthy balance and there are vegetable in almost every meal that we prepare.

Traditionally, Germans eat three meals per day and it is common in almost every family. On weekdays, the main meal of the day is lunch, and it is traditional for shops and businesses to close down at this time usually from noon to 2pm. A lot of German people go home for lunch at 12:00 if possible and do not return to work until 1pm or even 2pm. Families eat lunch together if they can, mostly at home but sometimes in a restaurant or beer garden. Dinner is a light meal, similar to the American lunch. We often just eat bread or rolls with all kinds of cheese or cold meats.

On the weekends, most Germans have the main meal at dinnertime. In the summer, we often have Barbecues around 5pm as a combination of lunch and dinner.

We try to keep our meals balanced which mean that we have many combinations of ingredients. Germans use potatoes as their staple food because you can combine it with almost everything.

There are a lot of traditional German meals that have been changed during the years but we still enjoy some classics like Bratwurst with potatoes, Sauerkraut and beer.

A typical dinner at our house would be for example asparagus with potatoes and “Sauerbraten” (roast beef cured in vinegar and wine).

Another really important food for Germans is bread in all variations. We eat it for breakfast, as a snack and for dinner as well. We eat soft bread like toast but also hard ones like our “Schwarzbrot” or dark bread.

In Germany, it is also very expensive to go out for dinner that’s why only few families go out to eat.

This is a big contrast to America. Here, it is really expansive to buy your groceries to cook and going out is a lot cheaper. That’s why a lot of Americans go out for dinner.

Also, in America the mean meal of the day is dinner. It is technically our German lunch.

American cooking seems a lot like heating up to me. Whenever I “cook” I mostly just put the meal in the microwave.

Also, when you go through the grocery store in America, all the vegetables are pre-cut. Even the boiled eggs are already pealed.

In Germany, we do all that at home right before starting to cook. We think the fresh cut ingredients taste better, than the pre-cut ones.

Americans have a lot of different traditional meals than Germans. On Thanksgiving for example they eat stuffed turkey or sweet potatoes.

Although both countries are really different, I like both kinds of meals a lot.

 
Gestern und heute musste ich beide Tage arbeiten. Gestern hab ich ne Menge Hausarbeiten erledigt und das schöne Wetter draußen genossen und heute ziemlich genau so. Ach, gestern abend hab ich noch Brot gebacken!!:) Ich finds ziemlich lecker, auch wenn es nicht wirklich aufgegangen ist.
Heute morgen war ich mit Jill in der Christiana Mall, weil sie sich noch ein Kleid kaufen musste (ich hab zum Glück mal kein Geld ausgegeben... wo nichts ist...haha)
Bis bald, xx!!