Kultur 8

From all the previous Kultur articles, I got the sense that Germans possessed a different and quirky culture. But at least all of those quirks were understandable and could be said to have rational motivation. But now, knowing their intense fear of air drafts and their mysterious illnesses that don't seem to occur anywhere else - I am just baffled. Surely their air is not that different from the air anywhere else. Surely their people don't have genetics too different from everyone else's that would lead to different diseases.

If I go to Germany and make German friends, I will definitely tease them with air drafts. According to the article, this phobia is even sanctioned by German doctors (though I doubt the veracity of this claim). How could drafts possibly impact a person's health? If it does at all, I'm sure the effect is negligible and safe enough to ignore.

As for their strange ailments - could they be a psychological byproduct of German culture, rather than real things? I don't quite understand how the effect would work, but stranger things have happened.

I was very surprised to learn the status of German students. They would seem to be much lazier and less competitive than even American students! Why would anyone want to take years to complete a semester, as the article indicates? I cannot imagine graduating at age 30, wasting years of my life on school. Although, I suppose, I do envy them a little - being an eternal student does sound like something I might go for if I had the time and resources. Perhaps it is easier than being in the workforce full time. Still, it's good that Germany is finally trying to put an end to excessively drawn-out educations: such a culture does not seem sustainable.