My week: April 3 ed.

German learning: there were two tandem partner meetings but there was no class because of the holidays.

I invited a newer friend, A, over for dinner. Well, actually, she asked if I had any of the rajmah masala left over (she's the one who had taught me how to make it). I think that meant that she wanted to be invited over so I suggested she come over to eat some then. Funny, huh? I enjoy inviting friends. She's the newest Moo Fan Club Member and lavished some attention on him. He enjoyed that too.

On Saturday, A and I drove to Stuttgart for the Lange Nacht der Museen, or Long Night of Museums, in which cultural institutions keep their doors open late (even until 0200!) and offer special exhibitions, lectures, and events. For 18 euros, which grants one entrance to dozens of institutions and use of local public transport, it's a good value for a taste of the museums.

I stayed with a friend whom I had previously stayed with several years ago when I was taking a class in the Stuttgart area. It was a pleasant reunion, and interesting to meet his new wife, who is quite an interesting person herself.

We got in at about 0200 on Sunday morning from the museums and woke up at 0700 so I could drop off my friend at the train station and attend the baptism of my coworker's baby. Although I was sleep-deprived, it was great to celebrate with coworkers. As expats, it can be difficult to be away from family, especially for special events. However, it's also great to have a strong rapport with your colleagues; we support one another and have formed a work family of sorts. I feel very lucky to be in such an office.

More photos from the Staubsauger Museum

A small group of us really enjoyed our visit to the Staubsauger Museum in Bruchmühlbach-Miesau and wrote about it here.

I took tons of pictures; here are some more. They are mostly of old advertisements for vacuum cleaners. I was incredibly fascinated by the mechanical vacuum cleaners that used no electricity.

When I first saw this ad, I thought, gee, the guy's just sitting there reading a newspaper while his wife is busy vacuuming. How rude! Herr Steffgan told us that this is a patent drawing for a vacuum cleaner that is provided suction by the person rocking back and forth in the chair. Apparently the husband pictured isn't as lazy as I had thought.

 

 

Another interesting contraption. The woman creates suction by walking on bellows.

 This vacuum is activated by turning the wheel. The photo above it is an ad for this model.

Close-up of the ad.

Staubsauger Museum, Bruchmühlbach-Miesau, Germany

Staubsauger Museum
Website

Miesau Pfühlstraße 15
66892 Bruchmühlbach-Miseau
Museum visits are by appointment only. Call 06372-5090051.
Entry is free but a donation is suggested


About two weeks ago, some friends and I were searching for a bit of fun on a cold winter day. I enjoy visiting eclectic little museums, so I suggested the Staubsauger Museum in Bruchmühlbach-Miesau. It's a short drive from Kaiserslautern (about fifteen minutes) and made for a pleasant and local trip.

Entrance to the Staubsauger Museum

What is a Staubsauger? That is the German word for a vacuum cleaner. I was initially charmed by the fact that there was a museum dedicated to vacuum cleaners. As the tour continued, I was charmed by another element.

The museum is open by appointment only. When I contacted Herr Steffgen, the proprietor of the museum, he informed me that the museum is normally closed during the winter because the building was not heated. However, if we were willing to have a chilly visit, he was willing to accommodate us.

Since our group of friends is accustomed to hiking during the winter and spending time outdoors, we gladly took Herr Steffgen up on the offer and met him at the museum, which was previously a cow barn and is now a neatly organized and displayed collection. It had been my impression that we would just look at the museum but we were in for a treat as he took us on a tour. He said that normally he would prepare a customized tour based on the participants' interests, whether it's focusing on history or more on technology. Since we hadn't specified our interests, he covered a bit of both.

He started by showing us the vacuum cleaner that had started the collection. Shaped like a milk can, it is at first glance nothing that extraordinary, other than antique. However, as Herr Steffgan told us, the vacuum cleaner's back story is rather unusual. In 1993, an 83 year old man from the local community gifted the slightly rusty vacuum to Steffgan and told him about its history. The elderly gentleman had bought the used vacuum cleaner from his boss in the 1930s. He had used it regularly but during World War II, he had to evacuate the area. He couldn't take the vacuum with him so he buried it. After the war, he returned and dug it up, finding that although it had rusted a bit, it was still perfectly usable. It was so usable, in fact, that he continued cleaning his floors with it until 1993!

Pictured on the right is the vacuum that started the collection.

Herr Steffgan continued the tour, taking a historical approach. When pointing out the earliest vacuum cleaners, he even gave me the chance to try a few mechanical models, which had been introduced starting in the 1860s. Phew! They are quite the workout, requiring the user to pump the handle up and down in order to create suction.

When we moved onto the 1930-50s, we found vacuum cleaners that were more than just devices to vacuum. Companies had been developing the motors for the vacuums and found that these motors could power other appliances. One could change out the vacuum bag for a blender, for example! Even better yet? With the proper attachment, it is possible to turn some of the vacuums into airbrush painting machines. Herr Steffgan allowed us to "paint" a board with some water in one of the airbrush attachments.

A futuristic vacuum cleaner, ca. 1950s, that hovered above the floor when in use!

We also learned about the power of vacuum cleaners. Herr Steffgan demonstrated a board that can be held to the wall with only suction. To prove the power of the connection, he had one of our group members sit on it.

The seat o' suction. No worries - the suction holds the seat on the wall.

The tour lasted about an hour. I did find that my feet became quite cold because I hadn't worn my hiking boots, but that is definitely my own fault as Herr Steffgan had been very careful to communicate that the museum would be cold.

Herr Steffgan and the vacuum that started his collection

Despite the cold, our small group really enjoyed the visit. I had mentioned earlier that in addition to the museum, there was something else very charming about the visit; it was Herr Steffgan himself. His enthusiasm for vacuum cleaners is catching and it's clear that he loves sharing his hobby. I had never given much thought to vacuums before but was sucked into the fascinating stories and information that he shared. Both adults and children can enjoy the museum with its mix of history, hands-on experimentation, and enjoyment of one man's hobby.

You know it's been a bad day when...

...as depicted in in the painting, after just minding your business, all of a sudden you have seventeen people hanging off your tail...

there's random nudity, a person (dead?) on the ground, and even worse,

part of your tail has fallen off.

Seriously, you're just being a devil, walking around with a weird, non-effective pitchfork that is missing the middle tine and the villagers get all snotty and start pulling on you. How rude.

This is the painting "Les Parisiens tirant le diable par le queue" by Jean Veber and it's housed in the Musée Carnavalet in Paris. It's worth a visit, especially since it is free and has many entertaining oddities such as this painting.

The problem with such a painting is that it awakens a bad case of what I call "teh* curiosity." Who can't look at this and think, what the heck is the back story on this? Did the devil kill the naked person on the ground? Why did the villagers think it was a good idea to hang onto his tail? Is this some literary reference or was the painter just whacked out on paint fumes? Is it even possible for a devil's tail to be pulled off? Darn you, painting! You have awoken a deluge of questions.

*"the" is intentionally misspelled.

My Week: February 1 ed.

-I gave a training at work earlier in the week, which made me happy (though a little bit stressed because I was having both a coughing, hiccuping, and asthma flare just before I had to give it! What the heck?). I enjoy helping others learn and it was meant to be a major component of my job. We had been short staffed for a year and a half so I didn't do much training at all during that time as I was taking on the job duties of the person who had left. That was fine, too; I added quite a bit to my job skills and knowledge with the new duties. Now that the other position is filled, I'm able to focus on my original job's duties.

-I made some delicious crock pot vegetable soup and kicked up it a notch by adding some red wine vinegar and a small amount of red chili pepper flakes. I didn't use an exact recipe; I was scrolling through some vegan soup recipes and just couldn't find anything that suited my fancy at the time. However, one recipe mentioned adding red wine vinegar and I was intrigued so I added it. That worked out great! The soup tastes a little bit like hot and sour soup from Chinese restaurants, but with a thinner consistency and not so slimy. I wrote up a description of how I made the soup here.

-In German class, we discussed what products we missed from our home countries. It was very interesting to hear what people missed and why. I'll have to write more about that later.

-My friends are so awesome, and so helpful, too. I'm truly thankful for that. One friend came over and helped me replace a part on my car. Well, he actually did the work; I just handed him the tools. We had watched a video online on how to do it and I thought I'd be the one replacing the part while he passed the tools. I was quite happy that he took over because I don't enjoy doing mechanical things. It was cute because he brought tools over and even wore a headlamp since we were working outside; he looked ready for an expedition and was so proud of himself!

-I attended a party/game night at a friend's place and played the game called Werewolf for the first time. It was definitely interesting, but I'm such a weirdo: I feel awkward during bluffing games because one has to lie and I felt a bit guilty about lying (even though it was a game). Yes, I'm weird.

-Some friends and I attended the Staubsauger (vacuum cleaner) museum near Miseau. It was charmingly eclectic and the museum's owner/guide was so enthusiastic about vacuums that it was adorable.

-I had a wonderful house guest for the weekend. We had some great conversations and it was a very pleasant visit. Moo was thrilled with all the extra attention and I was thrilled to be invited to Hannover to visit, where I will be taken on a personalized tour by bicycle and shown all of the local favorites. I'm excited; I think it will be quite lovely.

-I made a sweet potato/lentil/chickpea chili crock pot soup that is loosely based on this recipe. My house guest loved it and I have lunch for the upcoming week.

-A friend invited us over for dinner and to watch the German detective drama, Tatort. That totally fit with my goal of spending at least 10 minutes a day on learning German. Watching the show made me realize that I need to spend much more time on practicing German daily, and I definitely need to do some more listening activities. 

Review: Siegfried's Mechanisches Musikkabinett, Rüdesheim am Rhein

Siegfried's Mechanisches Musikkabinett
Oberstraße 29, 65385 Rüdesheim am Rhein

Best for: those who love gadgets, musical instruments, or curiosities

As part of our visit to Rüdesheim am Rhein for the Christmas market, we also wanted to visit some local attractions. The town isn't big so there aren't many, but one was odd enough that we had to visit: Siegfried's Mechanisches Musikkabinett.

It's a mechanical instrument museum located inside the Brömserhof, a former residence of the aristocracy. For 6,50 euros, we were taken on a tour that lasted about half an hour. It is only possible to see the collection by tour; the guide explains the collection and plays a selection of its pieces. Photography and video were allowed during our visit.

When we went, the tour was only in German but I was given a description in English to use to follow along. C said that what he was saying in German was exactly the same as what was written in English, so don't worry about missing out.

The guide played such interesting things as a Hupfeld-Phonoliszt-Violina, which is a combination of a player piano and automatic violins.

We also listened to a Weber-Maesto Orchestrion, which included even more instruments.

My favorite part of the collection was the group of music boxes with tiny birds that would pop up and sing via mechanical means. These were developed beginning in the 18th century. I was completely fascinated by their beauty and intricate details. The museum shop sells replicas created in the workshop of the museum's owners and I entertained the impulsive idea of buying one if they were several hundred euros. I found out that they cost several thousand euros, so I had to shelve that idea, but they are very lovely, nonetheless.

Our short jaunt through the museum was worth it, in our book. It was a bit touristy but I love strange and beautiful contraptions from bygone days. The museum offers just that, in a building that is interesting in its own right; within the former chapel, 16th century frescoes remain. It's worth a visit for those who love curiosities.

In the courtyard of the residence with Christmas attractions. Enter the museum through the door in the middle.

Düsseldorf trip, day 2

We wanted to fill our our second day in Düsseldorf with art. We started with a visit to the K20 Art Museum, which houses works by 20th century masters, including Picasso, members of the Munich Secession, the Blaue Reiter, and so on. Admission was a bit steep at 12 euros but we thoroughly enjoyed the art. 

Following the K20 visit, we had every intention of attending a really cool art market with djs. Unfortunately, we didn't note which district housed the address and the two places we visited were nowhere near where we needed to be. We ended up at the far edge of the local trains and then gave up.

We decided that it was time to head back to get the car, eat some lunch, then head home with a slight detour to Cologne. For lunch, we made a stop to Jade Vegatarische Küche, a vegan and vegetarian Chinese restaurant near the hotel. We enjoyed an inexpensive, filling, and vegan lunch.

After lunch we hopped into the car and made a quick journey to Cologne. I visited the city last year with my cousins and we enjoyed ourselves. However, we only saw about three of the seven Christmas markets. One market was especially curious; it was the gay and lesbian market. Though I'm not part of that community, I was extremely nosy and wanted to know what it would be like. Would there be naughty ornaments? Strangely shaped foods? Lots of sparkly things? I honestly had no idea what to expect so of course I had to find out.

C. and I wandered over after driving around the block several frustrating times while trying to enter the parking garage. The market was similar to most other Christmas markets but there were indeed shiny/sparkly decorations and some naughty chocolates and lebkuchen with very saucy things written on them. There was a booth of men's underoos and a booth with some mermen ornaments, which I thought were pretty cool; if I had a Christmas tree, I probably would have bought one.

The underwear booth! See the shiny decorations to the right?

We were delighted to learn that we were in time for a men's talent show hosted by drag queens. The show was fantastic and we thought that the guys were adorable. The whole show had such a local feeling to it; I wondered if the guys had been talked into competing by their friends. They had to showcase their talents. One guy made snowmen as a fundraiser and another guy did yoga. That totally cracked me up because it's not what I would think of as traditional talent show offerings. See where it felt like they were talked into competing by their friends? The winner lip synced and danced to Beyonce with one of the drag queens as his dance partner, which the crowd enthusiastically received. The whole thing was fantastic! C. and I decided that it was totally worth the trip.

As we headed home, we reflected on our trip and our impressions on Düsseldorf. Though we enjoyed ourselves and were glad that we checked out a new city, we weren't super impressed with Düsseldorf. It just felt kind of...soulless, perhaps. It had been bombed heavily during the war and it seemed to have a lot of ugly post-war buildings. The whole city is great for those who want to shop, but...well, it feels a bit like Mannheim in a very commercial sense (without Mannheim's great music scene). Most cities have some sort of pulse and we just couldn't connect with Düsseldorf's.

Seen in Paris: Flavor Flav's inspiration

Remember Flavor Flav, an 80s rapper who wore a huge watch around his neck? Well, I think that his idea wasn't original. I saw this old clock in the museum in Paris and think maybe the Flav just took the idea in a different direction.

A trip to Hamburg: Day 3, Part 2

After our delicious lunch at Teheran, we finished our Hamburg trip with a visit to the Hamburger Kunsthalle, which was an extensive collection of art. One of our main interests was the special exhibition called "Feuerbach's Muses -- Lagerfeld's Models," a juxtoposition of the 19th century German classicist painter and Karl Lagerfeld, a fashion designer and photographer who portrayed the story of Daphnis and Chloe.

Here's my thoughts on Feuerbach: he liked to paint tons and tons of paintings of his mistress, Nanna, with her head turned. Lagerfeld's photos look like a fashion shoot (which is not surprising). His model, Baptiste Giabiconi, who is deliciously handsome, cannot sit on a horse properly to save his life. I can't help it; I'm an equestrienne and it kills me to see such poor equitation, even though it has nothing to do with the art exhibition.

And, uh, yeah, we also saw a guy doing parkour* outside the museum.

You get on with yo' fancy self!

We wrapped our museum trip up then headed to the Hauptbahnhof, which was conveniently very close, to return home. I loved our visit to Hamburg and hope to go back again soon-ish. Every German I've talked to about it (granted, it's a small group) loves it there and I did too. It has a bit of the fun and funkiness of Berlin; a little bit of the old stately glamor of Wiesbaden; the bustling atmosphere of a port city; and the natural beauty afforded by the lovely parks.


*I call it "fancy walking." Yes, I know it's so much more than that, but that's what I like to call it.

A trip to Hamburg: Day 3, Part 1

On our third day in Hamburg, we planned to see a few museums before our trip back home. The first museum we visited was the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Museum for Art and Industry), conveniently near the Hauptbahnhof.

I feel that the museum is not necessarily a must-see, but we still enjoyed it. Some of the pieces seemed so mundane and everyday, but perhaps that's just because they were from within our lifetime or just before it. For example, a Nizza bathroom from the 1972 Munich Olympics was on display. Who thought that a plastic potty would be in a museum?

A special exhibit really made our trip, though; it's called Small Worlds and it's a collection of miniatures made by Willard Wigan, a British sculptor who uses materials like carpet fibers and paintbrushes made from his eyelashes (more about him here). His sculptures are completely amazing: they fit within the eye of a needle as he was influenced by the Biblical quote “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven."

During our visit, we entered the exhibit, which is in two small rooms with rows of microscopes to view the sewing needles and the sculptures within their eyes. We were completely blown away by the intricacy of his work; he had created everything from the Last Supper to camels.

I was incited to a fit of giggles when I read about his techniques. The first part is serious: he has to control his breathing and heartbeat to be able to work with such small sculpture; pieces can literally be breathed in if he's not careful. Poor Little Red Riding Hood met that fate as a misplaced breath sucked her in. I couldn't help it; I laughed about that one. After all, how many artists accidentally eat their sculptures?

It was a fantastic exhibit and a high point to our visit at that museum. Our next two stops were lunch and another museum. More to follow...

That is one jacked-up looking sheep

I love art and visiting art museums so it's no surprise that I made sure to visit a museum during my trip to Bruges in February. I chose the Groeningemuseum Brugge Museum as I especially wanted to see the crazy Hieronymus Bosch painting, The Last Judgment.

That wasn't the only interesting painting in the museum's collection. Flemish painter Lancelot Blondeel's Legende van de heilige Joris (Legend of St. George) caught my eye. This wasn't because of St. George's heroic deed of slaying the dragon (which looks like some sort of weird rat-dog-lion-man-bat). I was more interested in the super awkward supporting cast. I was so taken by them that I forgot to even take a picture of the main action in the painting!

 I would dub this part "Woman with Horribly Awkward Sheep."

"Derp!" says Mr. Sheep.

Man on an equally awkward (but for different reasons) horse. Um, Lancelot? Horses don't have legs like that* and unfortunately the foreshadowing didn't work for his stubby outside leg. Even the horse looks ticked off about this.

*Okay, I guess I have seen some horses with incredibly upright legs and horrible conformation, but if a real horse was put together like this painted one, he wouldn't be able to walk.