What is KROSSE?

Our whole exchange is embedded in Krosse - a network of media content production at University of Bremen. But what is this "Krosse" we are talking about?

The german group of participants "Krosse" is a mixed group of bachelor students (communication and media sciences) and master students (media culture). We all have one thing in common: We all work for the project “Krosse”. 

 

The name “Krosse” refers to the german term “crossmedial”, which says that borders of media are being crossed. According to this, Krosse is not only an online magazine, but also a TV station and (starting in a few weeks) a radio station. Each has its own editorial which meets weekly, to talk about possible content and how to realise it. 

 

Krosse.Info

The online magazine is called “krosse.info”. As it is a very young magazine and also its members are young writers, it is not divided into “classic” departments like news, economy and sports. The magazine features articles about culture, media and leisure time in the local area (the north east of Germany). So you may read about music festivals in northern Germany, there are reviews of upcoming movies but also socio-critical articals and dossiers. Also check out their Facebookpage for further information!

 

Krosse.TV

The TV-Station linked to Krosse is called Krosse TV. You might view some of the shows on Youtube. Krosse TV is also produced on campus and follows the slogan: “jung.nah.bremen” (“young. close. bremen”). Every episode of Krosse TV tries to answer a certain question or  introduces something noteworthy happening at our University. That’s why in many parts of the show you may see different buildings of the Campus in the background. Furthermore there are surveys with students passing by. All parts of the show including generationg ideas and content, the shooting, the moderation and the cutting process are done by students. 

  

Krosse.FM

The third part of Krosse has just been launched. It is a radio station called “Krosse.FM”. Krosse.FM tries to establish a radio show made by students. Here, articles are written, music is chosen and moderations are being recorded. Similar to Krosse.TV there are also interviews with students or people working at our university. Once all the materials have been collected and recorded, the different parts of a show are being cut and put together. The show is then uploaded and may be streamed via krosse.info/krosse-fm/. Again, check Facebook for further information. 

The German New Year's Eve

Happy New Year everyone! We hope you all had a great Christmas time as well as a memorable New Year's Eve ... But how do Germans actually celebrate this one night that separates 2014 from 2015? There are only little other events that are connected to such a variety of little traditions and customs like New Years Eve. For most of the people, it is a well-planned night that rises one's expectations to the maximum. And here are the top five traditions that make this night as special as it is:

1. Decorating. There are some items that represent luck in the new year. Most important is (lucky) clover that you can buy almost everywhere the weeks before New Year's, often decorated with little chimney sweapers in it. Little pigs represent luck and fortune during the next year as well. The decoration is placed on the tables, shelves, maybe outside ... Confetti and paper streamers complete the decoration.

2. Eating. Families and groups of friends have different traditions when it comes to food. Well-known is herring salad or egg salad and so-called "Berliner": ball-shaped fried dough with jam in it. There are other sweet bakery products made of the same dough that are very popular. People also love doing fondue - sticking little pieces of meat in broth or fat - or raclette. With raclette, you put different already cut food on tiny pans and eat them up on a raclette grill. Both are very social and can feed a large group of people.

3. Games. Only for New Year's Eve, people do "Bleigießen" (casting lead). Here, you heat up a small piece of metal (it used to be lead) on a little spoon over a candle. Once it is liquid, you quickly drop it into cold water. After this, you examine the little figures that were created because the metal got cold so quickly. Sometimes, you can see different figures like animals or things and can interpret how they might be connected to your upcoming year. There are also little books for explanations which symbols stands for what. Thinking of own interpretations is the most fun anyway though.

4. Countdown and fireworks. Close to twelve, bottles of sparkling wine or even champagne are opened. Then, there is normally a countdown and at twelve, everyone is hugging each other saying "Frohes Neues" which means Happy New Year. Some Germans love to have their own firework and light it up in the streets. There are strict restrictions though: You can only buy fireworks right before christmas and they can only contain small amounts of some chemical ingredients. Safety first!

5. Watching TV. There is one show that is very popular and is only watched once a year: on the 31th of December. It is called "Diner for one" and is a british short movie where a rich old lady and butler have dinner together. Since all of the lady's friends already died, the butler has to drink each and every drink they would have drank if they would still live. Obviously, the butler gets massively drunk and repeatedly stumbles over a certain fur that is lying on the ground. People know this movie by head yet still laughing about every scene.

I hope you got an impression of New Year's Eve in Germany - of course, there are tons of parties everywhere ... the most known might be the one in Berlin in front of the "Brandenburger Tor" but a lot of clubs, bars, restaurants and private people host parties all over Germany.