Day 11: Jaded Cuisine

We stayed near our grandparents place on Wednesday. Some out of town relatives were in town to have dinner with us. We went out to the local Chinese restaurant (Jade Garden) in Bochum-Linden. This was a most interesting experience.

We filed into the restaurant one by one, each saying "Guten Tag" to the host, except Karen and I who decided we'd use our more natural tongue and said "Knei ho" in Cantonese. The host, rather surprised, answered back in Cantonese but then had a rather distressed look on his face. Perhaps he was worried that we might overhear conversations in the kitchen or perhaps he was worried we might have undue expectations on his restaurant.

Actually it didn't take long to figure out what he was worried about. It was quickly exemplified when I tried to order Chrysanthemum tea. The look on the waiter's face was priceless. It was one of "what do you think this is, a chinese restaurant?!" To my tea request, he replied in Chinese, "we only have the stuff the white man orders". So I said, "fine" and received Chamomile tea.

Well tea mix ups aside, it was quite amusing to watch as we ordered what we considered more traditional Chinese dishes, and most of the other guests ordered what it seems most Germans liked to eat. In hindsight, perhaps we should have caved and ordered the popular dishes too as ours looked like it was a bit out of practice.

In all fairness though, restaurant owners really do have to cater to their guests tastes. This case is no different even if it does mean changing the meaning of "chinese cuisine". We did have a fun time getting to know the staff (as the only other chinese in town) and Erich got to know his great granduncle and aunt (seen in photo).

Wii: Get off the couch!

My father-in-law is a funny character. Sometimes he comes up with the most hair brained ideas, we wonder whether we ought to take him seriously. So when he suggested he get his parents a Wii, we thought he had gone completely mad.

(You need to understand that Erich's great-grandparents usually sit around the table after dinner and play Uno... sans TV on.)

Anyhow, after much coaxing, we managed to get them to try it. Off the couch they went and into the virtual bowling alley. They had so much fun that Nintendo should have been there to film a commercial. :-)

Day 11: Hello Mr. Beethoven, may I please come in?

We traveled to Bonn, Germany on our 11th day of our trip. Those of you who are musically inclined will know that Bonn is famous because it is the birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven. It also has some of the best shopping in the Westphalia area of Germany, so you can guess who did what. Since shopping isn't terribly interesting to blog about, I will share briefly about my run-in with Mr. Beethoven.

We went to the house where he was born. Erich was especially keen and knocked promptly on the door (as shown in the photo). Once inside, I explored the various rooms. Though I had actually been here briefly once before (on tour with the VYSO), I finally had the chance to see the museum in detail. I found particularly fascinating the collection of Beethoven's actual instruments that had been amassed. To hear actual pieces as they would have been played on Beethoven's own instrument is certainly a rare occasion.

Day 10: Off to the zoo!

Germany is known for is its abundance of world-class zoos. We went one nearby called ZOOM Erlebniswelt Gelsenkirchen where they had a "real" African Safari. (We put "real" in quotations because they also had a section on the Pacific Northwest where some claims of authenticity were somewhat questionable...)

Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun touring the landscape and seeing animals not normally seen in North America. We saw hippopotamuses, giraffes, lions, tigers and even zebras. Erich especially liked the pink flamingos. :-) What fun it is to actually see animals we previously only identified in books!

Of the many stories that came out of this trip, one animal encounter was particularly memorable. Midway through our African safari tour, we were taken on a 'boat ride' through a man made canal. Just as we rounded the bend, a flock of birds decided they would use our (open) boat as a potty... you can guess the rest.

Day 9B: The Evangelical Church in town

One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post was that it was a Sunday. Being a Sunday, and realizing that we were going to be staying mostly in town that day (going to the eisenbahnmuseum), we decided to attend a church service that morning at the local evangelical state church. Grandma seemed pleased that we desired to go to church, and grandpa promptly asked his neighbours when the service times were.

Although they did not attend with us (to my knowledge, they are not believers), we had an enjoyable time nonetheless. Three things struck me about the church:

1. It is very much about community: unlike North America, German towns for the most part still close shops on Sundays. Therefore, at church service, you meet the local baker, the local shoe repairman, even local chinese food restaurant owners.

2. Though there are language barriers, Christians worship the same God, read the same Bible and believe in the same Saviour. At its most basic form, worship can be understood regardless of language. At this particular service, there was confirmation and an entire trumpet band perched secretly on the balcony to announce it! One's heart was overjoyed at the sound of the trumpets blasting throughout the sanctuary.

3. State churches create an interesting (though not necessarily healthy) dynamic. Toward the end of the service, some kids (who had obviously not been around earlier), came in, sat down and kindly asked if I was going to keep my bulletin. Puzzled at why they would want my bulletin, I said they could have it, and the boy thanked me profusely. It was only after did I realize that the kids went to get their bulletins stamped by the pastor. I wonder if it allowed them some sort of thing (free transit perhaps?) in return?

Comments regarding state funding of the churches also came up a few times in conversation with grandpa. In particular, there was some bewilderment as to why they still take offerings and donations in light of (big) state funding. As I said, it creates an interesting dynamic.

Day 9: Full steam ahead!

We took Erich to the Eisenbahnmuseum in Bochum-Dahlhausen today where he drove a locomotive German workers have turned a former industrial rail yard into a modern museum about trains. In stark contrast to our visit to the Bluebell Railway in the UK, much of the museum was devoted to the area's industrial roots - particularly that of coal mining. As such, much of the machinery was industrial sized.

We saw numerous steam locomotives - many of which were so big that Erich dwarfed in comparison. There were locomotives from as early as 1920, to more modern things from the 80s. Surprisingly, many of the earlier locomotives (i.e. those built in 1920) were in production until the early 90s in East Germany. Now that is German Engineering!

Perhaps what was most interesting (to me at least) was to see the various political and historical remnants on each train. Some of the trains still had "Deutsch Reichsbahn" from the pre-World War II era printed on them. It is a bit eerie staring at these magnificent machines and imagining the kinds of cargo they saw over the years.

To Erich of course, even being near trains brings a huge smile to his face, and being able to see a rail house JUST like that of the Thomas the tank engine rail house must have been a real treat for him.

We ended our day with a little bit of "eis" (ice cream) from a local Italian shop. Evidently, Erich remembered this very well too, as every time I show him this picture, he says "ou-oma give me ice cream". :-)

Day 8: Hats off to Hattingen (and other very old cities)

Day 8 was spent shopping and strolling in the nearby old town of Hattingen. Resembling much like a textbook middle-aged city (complete with city walls, square, hall and church), Hattingen offers some unique looks into the past. Of particular fascination is how modern life has integrated into these old buildings. Adjacent to where the above photo was taken is a bar, complete with modern beer-branded lamps adorning its side. It too is in a very old building built around the same era.

What is also interesting is how long these ordinary buildings have survived. ~500 years is an awful long time for a building (especially compared to North American standards) and makes for some interesting comparisons in workmanship. (Think leaky condos vs. 1576 A.D. building...)

Apart from the stroll, I also had some interesting fun with off-camera, strobist style flash. (This was much to the chagrin of my travel mates of course.) Thanks to my father-in-law who reluctantly acted as a light stand, and to Karen and Erich for being my guinea pigs models.

Strobist Info: "Daylight effect by overpowering daylight". Camera set at 1/50, f7.1 to capture ambient at ~ ev -1/3 stop. Flash at 1/2 power, to the top left of my subjects to overpower ambient sunlight. Fired using Cactus (eBay) triggers.

Day 7: Willkommen in Deutschland!

1 plane, 1 shuttle bus, 1 ICE train, 2 S-trains, and 1 city bus later, we finally arrived at Karen's grandparents home in Bochum , Germany. With all the traveling behind us, we took comfort in the fact that we were going to be staying here for the next ten days. The full weight of what we had just gone through on Day 6 was finally starting to set in. The irony was that all German train workers were actually supposed to be on strike the day we were arriving, yet postponed their job action at the last minute. Had they actually been on strike that day, I'm sure our travels from Cologne to Bochum would have been even more adventurous!

Nevertheless, by Day 7, none of us were anxious to travel anywhere far, so we mostly stayed put. Unfortunately, I was nursing a cold by now also, so resting was a good thing. In the afternoon, grandpa took us for a short stroll in the neighbourhood (Linden) and we went to have coffee and cake.

Before long Erich was settling in too. Here, in this photo, Erich Guenther looks up at his namesake (his great-grandpa Guenther) as the family takes a stroll down Ax Strasse (Ax Street).