Kultur 10

Last semester our class watched an excerpt from "Dinner for One," the short film seems to be the German equivalent of "It's a Wonderful Life," in that it has become an annual holiday tradition. However, "It's a Wonderful Life" is more serious, but also more uplifting than the German film portraying an old lady who's friends have all died. I prefer the American film, but I suppose the German sketch is received well with the inebriated audience on New Years' Eve, anyway. The Germans also have extensive markets set up during the Christmas season. Here Germans can celebrate the spirit of the Holidays by waiting in line and buying food and gifts, not at all dissimilar to what we do here.

 In the travel blogs about Switzerland, Swiss chocolate seemed to be a common theme, not too surprising. Seeing the picture of stacks of chocolate in the shop made me want to visit Switzerland. It also seems as though the border between Germany and Switzerland is more open than the U.S. borders. An airport in Basel even has three different exits, one each for Germany, Switzerland, and France. Naturally, a smooth and relatively easy transition between countries is probably important when so many people travel across borders through mainland Europe.