Culture - Zoe Kent

Apologies for the late post. I have been having some issues with the set-up. In this write up I tried to explain the cherished culture I have observed during my two weeks in Germany. Enjoy. 





One feature I really admire about Deutschland/Germany is the fact that they 
have treasured their culture and offered it for others to appreciate. 
October is an amazing time to see the culture in Deutschland as many 
festivals begin, the most popular being the Oktoberfest. After two weeks 
in October I have had so much exposure to new experiences and I have found it 
incredibly interesting.

The majority of the homes in Germany are not redeveloped and still have 
their original structure. There is a specific architectural 
structure to each of these houses and it is easy to tell they are 
from the same tradition, however each of them has some sort of carving 
or frame creating uniqueness. Coming from Australia, where most of the 
houses are suburbia looking or weatherboard styled, it was fascinating 
to see such a pronounced difference.

The Dirndl (female) and Lederhosen (male) is the traditional dress worn 
in Southern Germany. My host partner, Daniela, wears her Dirndl to 
festivals, celebrations and church. I noticed some elders (mostly women) 
using the traditional clothes on an everyday basis. These were other 
characteristics that showed me how sincerely Germany treasures its 
culture, especially the Bavarians.

Unlike Australia, Germany is an old country with history dating back many centuries, and features many old recipes that I have been lucky enough to enjoy. The flavours of the traditional dishes and foods I  tried in the past two weeks were very exotic to my taste buds and they also had exotic names such as Schweinebraten, Knödel, Brotzeit, Weißwursch,Brezeln, Käsespätzle, and Dampfnudeln. I have only ever experienced one Australian dish that was passed down from generation to generation. It’s incredible to see so many features of a culture passed on.

There are many traditional Bavarian dances and I often see people 
performing at festivals. Daniela was six years old when she began 
learning the dances from her culture and she dances once a week in a one 
hundred year old restaurant. The Bavarian dances look especially unique. 
Often the females speciality is her twirl and the males is the sound and movement he makes with his hands and feet. It’s impressive to see 
how Germany has held onto to so much of its culture.

Coming from a young country I haven’t had much exposure to culture. 
These past two weeks has broadened my mind and I have much 
respect for the culture I have been introduced to. I hope to continue 
broadening my mind.





Zoe Kent





Below are some pictures of my time in Germany.