American Gun Culture

In our last lesson we talked about America and their right to bear arms. Farrah told us lots of interesting information about this, and in the following I want to summarize some facts.

Americans wear weapons because of different reasons.

One is the struggle against the British. People have guns to make sure that the government doesn’t go bad.

Another reason is the frontier life. People who live at the frontier have to protect them of their own because there is no police around.

Guns have the least support in urban and industrialized regions. In contrast to the people who live at the frontier, people in cities are not “alone”. If they need help, they will go to the police. They don’t need weapons, because everybody is helping each other.

At the end, we also talked about the shooting in Arizona and Farrah showed us a short video on “Youtube”.

In Arizona, a young man wanted to kill a democratic congress woman. After he shot her into her head, he started shooting into the crowd. Fortunately, the woman lives. Doctors say that she is in good condition for someone who is shot in head.

In my opinion people shouldn’t be allowed to wear weapons.

The danger of a rising China

I read an article the other day in the online version of "economist.com" and it talks about the rivals China and America.



I thought you might be interested because America is the greatest power of the world by now and maybe China will take up this position.


Basically what it talks about is that China will be able to take its place at the top without using arms. So far, things have gone well between China and America but pessimists believe that they are condemned to be rivals because they mistrust each other. It is also said that while China has focused on economic growth, American security has focused on Islamic terrorism and war in Iraq and Afghanistan.


It is also mentioned that China and America have a lot in common, for example both benefit from globalization.
So in my opinion they should work together instead of treating each other like enemies but the danger is that spats will sour relations between China and America.





Vocabulary:

spat (Zänkerei, Kabbelei): I often have spats with my brother.


condemn (verurteilen): Don't condemn people because of their appearance.


common (gemeinsam): We all have acommon goal.




Link:
http://www.economist.com/node/17629709

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, it has been a time to give thanks for a good harvest.

Nowadays it’s celebrated on the 4^th Thursday in November. Families come together and eat lots of traditionally food.

The day after Thanksgiving is called “Black Friday” and it’s the start of the Christmas shopping season. Shopping Centers grant big discounts and stores open very early in the morning.

In my opinion there are advantages and disadvantages about the “Black Friday” as a shopping day. On the one hand it’s good for the economy because the stores make big turnovers and this urges the economy on but on the other hand it’s bad for the environment because more sales mean also more wastes. I think that it’s also bad for the consumers because of the fact that the stores grant high discounts people buy more and spend much money which they may need for something else.

Halloween, Octobeer 31st

Halloween is a shortened form of All Hallows' Eve.
Hallowed means holy. Eve is the day before a holy day. Halloween was an ancient British Celtic festival. At Halloween the souls of the dead returned. People lit bonfires to frighten evils spirits. Now bonfires are only burnt on November 5th.

Bonfire night!

• Masks
• Costumes
• Ghosts

Witches on broomsticks with black cats,...
skeletons, bats and spiders...
and Haloween lanterns have all become part of Halloween.
Children play trick-or-treat. They ask for a treat, hoping to get sweet.

Here is a short video of Halloween:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D-z1U5zcrQ

I chose this video, because it tells lots of informations about Halloween's traditions and where they have come from.

Farrah

Farrah, an American woman, visited us on Wednesday in our English lesson. She told us some personal things, general things about America and we compared Austria with America.

Farrah is 22 years old and she moved to America when she was 14. She lives in Maryland, which is 30 minutes north-west of DC, and has no brothers and sisters. She has been studying German for 3 years and now she will stay in Austria till the end of May to learn the language better and to get some impressions of our culture.

Farrah also told us, that in the states, the students often have a snow day in the winter. When kids want to have a snow day, they wear their pyjamas inside out, because they think that this brings luck.

The development of advertising

I've just read an article about "The development of advertising" and it talks about the history of advertising.

Advertising started in the Industrial Revolution (19th century) and it was mainly used to promote novelties and fringe products. Later, brand-naming of products became necessary because more and more companies started to promote.

On account of the economic depression were crises of over-production and under-consumption. At the end many firms realised that they would be in a better position if they combined with other businesses and widened the range of goods. This was the beginning of "monopoly capitalism".

At the end of the 19th century there had been many changes, for example in the soap trade. The leading companies embarked on more aggressive selling methods to take custom away from their rivals.

Lord Leverhulme realised that advertisements should contain "logical and considered" arguments as well as "eye-catching" and funny slogans. The period had reached the "state of persuasion" and smaller firms were bought out by the large companies.

My favourite spot

My favourite spot is the "Stiegl-Spot".

The spot is about a man, who flirts at a party with a girl and wants to get a Stiegl beer for her. As it is very loud, he draws the Stiegl sign, which are stairs, into the air. The girl thinks, that he wants to go upstairs with her and says no. Then an other girl shows the Stiegl sign to the man and when he wants to give her a beer, she pulls him upstairs.

I like this spot because i like the music in the background and the story is very funny.

Here you can watch the "Stiegl-Spot":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLRp0rqH2O0