Nigel

Jan 94 min read

💥 Colliding worlds 2つの世界が衝突する

January 2024 1月

New Years Eve/Morning

The sun rises over Langen on December 31st 2023. Little by little, the days are getting longer......

大晦日/朝

Why not try that Ramen recipe again? I have a friend coming to stay who's vegetarian: ideal. A veggie Ramen needs a bit of a kick to get it going, and my recipe recommends a dash of that Korean fermented cabbage - Kimchi. Good excuse to hop on the Sbahn to Frankfurt Konstablerwache and pop into GoAsia supermarket. I look in vain in the Japanese/Korean section. Of course. It is on the cool shelves. Otherwise it probably would explode.

あのラーメンのレシピをもう一度試してみませんか?

Now all I need is beansprouts. I approach a member of staff, who is checking the products.

"beansprouts?"....."Was ist beansprouts?"

Somewhere in my brain a faulty connection is expecting this Chinese lady to use English. I nudge the neuron to German: "Sprossen...." I say...

"Ah....Kommt am Freitag erst......" (coming on Friday).

But in this second something else has happened. Her colleague has spun round and tapped me on the arm, smiling broadly..."Geige!" (violin🎻!) she cries.......There then follows a quick explanation for her colleague in Chinese. Yes - I changed the strings on her son's violin two days ago.

💥Colliding Worlds.

Both get quite excited about this chance meeting. The other lady then whispers conspiratorily into my ear ("....her son is very good boy you know!.....") .

You never know who you will meet do you? Such friendly people. It made my day.

Before I left GoAsia I picked up some tasty-looking snacks.....

私はフランクフルトのアジア系スーパーマーケットにいます。スタッフの一人（中国人）が私を認識しました。息子さんのヴァイオリンを修理しました！二つの世界が衝突する！

....which prompts some kanji head-scratching........

米 = Rice (but also "America" !) Gome

菓 = Confectionary.....(+ 子) Kashi

Very More-ish......

I was braver this time round making Ramen. And I remembered that important ingredient - Kelp - which adds a special tang to the broth......

Mmmmmm.....yummy!!! おいしい 😋

At Christmas other tasty morsels had arrived at my table. Frankfurter Bethmännchen.

These little almond blobs have a history........read here....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethm%C3%A4nnchen

Here is a close up......

Not quite so yummy, but attractive to look at, are things growing in our woods. Yes, I actually did a hike around Langen last weekend with two other hiking colleagues......

このキノコは食べることはできませんが、とても美しいです

It was a bit wet. But hasn't it been wet for the last 4 weeks here in central Germany?

4週間も雨が降り続いています…

photo: Bénédicte

Exploding toadstools.....

New Years Eve.......

I put my trust in DB to get me to Göttingen.....

大晦日……ゲッティンゲンの友人を訪ねる

where the river looks wild and fast.......

川はとても速いです

Wild and fast were the fingers on the keys of this organ. Sometimes too much so.

Only in Germany.......A Silvesternachtkonzert (Organ Recital) at 10 pm in the Rats- und Marktkirche St. Johannis, Göttingen.

Lutheran splendour.......

午後10時にゲッティンゲンでオルガンリサイタル

...and a lovely organ,

huge long stops, purely mechanical.......

美しいオルガン、すべて機械式

which meant that the organist needed two assistents (Registrantinnen) to do all the pulling and pushing....

taking a bow.......

オルガン奏者

The first week of January is perhaps not the most exciting week of the year. I finally get around to removing an awful light in my dining room.....

1月の最初の週。家の中でやるべき仕事

and despite the gloomy weather, got some friends together to re-visit the Rhein Valley.......

ライン渓谷でのハイキング

The route......

道

wild oaks.....

古い樫の木

wild humans....

一部の人間 😄

...and a Hellebore ("Winter Rose") (according to our honorary biologist, to whom we sent this photo).....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellebore

or https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%98%E3%83%AC%E3%83%9C%E3%83%AB%E3%82%B9

......🥾

After a modest 13km we caught the train back from Lorch, but not before taking a look into the local church......

ロルヒの教会

There are a lot of churches in this post. Must be the time of year. We now take a leap from the Gothic to the.......baroque. This is Mannheim. The Jesuitenkirche.

ここはマンハイムです。イエズス会教会。