Kultur Blog 2

It was obvious that the articles for this Kultur Blog were a bit exaggerated.  However, I'm really glad that I took the time to read them; they made me feel like I should go spend some time in Germany! While I don't think that would like living in a society that is very much about precision and order I would greatly appreciate a society that was more willing to embrace contradiction.  I completely agree that in the United States we are often "encouraged" to lie.  Often these are just little "white lies" about things that aren't really so significant in the great scheme of things, but I see this as all the more reason to voice your opinion.  I often find myself in a position when I feel necessitated to voice a certain opinion or a positive and it drives me CRAZY!!! How many times does someone ask us "How's it going?" and how many times do we say "good" even if things are exactly the contrary, just for the sake of avoiding a negative conversation?  I think a lot of Americans are raised to think along the lines of "if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all," but so long as opposition is expressed politely we should be able to decline an invitation, or voice a contrasting political opinion, or express a negative feeling towards something without having to worry about upsetting someone; there is a way to be honest without being mean or rude. For example, I am currently in an Italian literature class that assigns a lot of reading. Before class I often students talking about how they hardly did any of the reading because they hate the book and because the pace of the class is more than they can handle. At the beginning of the class the professor always asks if we are able to keep up and if we are enjoying our reading and EVERYONE SAYS YES!!!  If people just said no, he would know to lessen the pace of the class and may not assign that book the next time he offers the course; this would be beneficial to everyone.  It is only natural that people are going to disagree, and in fact, we can learn so much from talking through these disagreements. In fact, having to verbalize and defend your own opinion may help you to see some of its flaws! The idea of agreeing all this time is just unrealistic, there will be times when disagreements do arise and it is important to practice handling them in a polite and professional manner.