Aug 18, 2018

How the Rosengaertchen in Oberursel got its Name

When we still got letters by regular post, friends sometimes commented on the beautiful street name: Im Rosengärtchen (lit: In the Little Rose Garden).

If they did come for a visit, they were a bit surprised to see this high-rise settlement. Well, we do have some roses climbing up on the side of our building.

I started asking around who might have been in charge to name a big part of this area ‘Im Rosengärtchen’.

Our local historian, Manfred Kopp, had the answer:

In the 16th century, the ‘register of arable land’ had named this area ‘In the Rose Garden’.

In 1972 (at the time of construction), the diminutive form was added, hence ‘In the Little Rose Garden’.

Dec 7, 2014

German Lesson: die Wickelkommode

My niece is about to have her first child and so my sister informed me that she could use a money present to buy the baby’s furniture. Among the needed items listed is a Wickelkommode (baby dressing table or diaper changing table). This triggered some memories for an item I never had, a Wickelkommode.

I have raised two children and didn’t need one. I guess the reason being was that our first child was born in Japan and we occupied a tiny teachers housing flat, with tatami mat rooms. First of all, these apartments are not equipped to room a baby changing table. Also, the traditional Japanese mom changes her baby’s diaper on the tatami floor, which I did too.

And one thing I never had to worry about was the baby rolling off the dresser.

A few years later, when we came to Germany and we had our second child, I continued changing the baby’s diaper on the floor, just the way I had learned it in Japan and I had gotten very used to it as well.

A Wickelkommode, in my viewpoint, is a very commercial item. It is much more comfortable being on the floor with the baby, there is plenty of room to put items aside, it is more relaxing, and does not cost a cent.

 

Jun 25, 2014

Safe Drinking Water in Oberursel

Stadtwerke Oberursel supply high quality drinking water from the tap

Over the years, many expats have come to live in Oberursel. Some come from countries where only bottles water is considered safe drinking water and are really surprised to learn that in Oberursel, we can drink the water straight from the tap.

Forty-five years ago, on exactly the 1st of January 1968, the Stadtwerke Oberursel Taunus GmbH (Municipal Utilities, est. 1967) took over the water supply in Oberursel. Since then, the Stadtwerke Oberursel represents a safe and reliable provision of the number one resource – drinking water of high quality.

About 80% of Oberursel’s drinking water comes from the Haidtränktal, and its level is rated “soft” in accordance with the current Detergent and Cleansing Agents Acts. 15% of  Oberursel’s drinking water originates from the waterworks Riedwiese, and around 5% of Oberursel’s drinking water needs are covered by the Water Procurement Association of the Taunus area. The latter two water supplies are rated “hard”. As drinking water is the most important and best-controlled resource, it regularly undergoes quality control and is analyzed in accredited laboratories. Each year, 200 water samples are taken from the Oberursel water production plants, containers, and pipe network.

To ensure a safe and reliable drinking water supply, Oberursel provides a 295-kilometer long pipeline network. The Stadtwerke staff monitors, renews, extends and maintains these pipes. This way, optimal safety is ensured. In 2012, 38 new water connections were created, and a total of 86 water connections were renewed. A total of 501 meters of water supply lines were re-laid or renewed.

Wasserwerke Oberursel

Wasserwerke Oberursel

Drinking water from the tap in Germany is better than store-bought mineral water. The Stiftung Warentest, an agency which measures and evaluates safety and quality of consumer products and service, regularly arrives at this conclusion. Bottled still water often has fewer minerals, but more germs than tap water. Additionally, drinking water is very affordable: For €1.20, you can draw one liter of fresh tap drinking water each day for an entire year. For the same money, you can only buy six bottles of mineral water from a discount store (source: O-TON magazine Stadtwerke Oberursel, issue 1/2013).

Advantages:

* Much lower cost

* Better Safety and Health

* Home delivery into your kitchen

* No storage space needed

* No bottles to return

 

Vocabulary:

das Leitungswasser (tap water)

das Mineralwasser (mineral water)

stilles Wasser (still mineral water) + spritziges Wasser (sparkling water)

Ordering water at the restaurant:

A: “Ich hätte gerne eine Flasche Wasser.” (I’d like to have a bottle of water)

B: “Stilles oder spritziges?” (Still water or sparkling water?)

A: “Stilles, bitte.” (…)

Jan 12, 2013

Student Life at University of Nottingham – A Roar Or A Snore?

This guest-post has been written by Thomas Shipley, a former Frankfurt International School (FIS) student and a current English Literature student at the University of Nottingham. And yes, we are related.

After spending months at home in post-IB rehabilitation, I wondered what living in England and going to university there was going to be like. Were the rumors of sleeping in, little work, and much partying true? Was English food going to be as bad as us continental Europeans make it out to be? Would I have difficulty making friends?

After a term at the University of Nottingham, I have already gotten my fair deal of student life! Freshers’ week, or week one of university, was probably one of the most exciting times of my life – seven days of meeting new people, going to clubs and events, and drinking. Lots of drinking! Oh and some introductory lectures too, let’s not forget about those.

Settling into my course wasn’t easy, as was the navigation around campus, enrolling myself into modules, and figuring out my timetable. I was so used to having my academic life all laid-out for me that it almost felt like too much freedom. Lectures were a bit daunting at first; two hundred students in one hall, all quiet, all listening to one professor’s voice. Seminars (lessons in a small group) felt like being in school again, just everybody was speaking in various English dialects.

As an international person, part-American part-German, I’ll admit that I felt a bit of an outsider in an otherwise quite homogenous group. Sure, there were foreigners – mostly Chinese – but otherwise I was surrounded by English people. The one thing that helped me along was the fact that English is my native tongue, albeit with an American accent, so the “wrong” type of English. At least that’s what the perpetual teasing has taught me. One English friend would greet me with a grin on his face, yelling at me in his best American accent: “Oh my gawd!” Since this fellow is a Northerner, I would retort: “Ay up!” (a typical Yorkshire greeting to a Lancastrian is not always advisable… see The Wars of the Roses for more information).

I guess what I like most about university life are the societies and the social life. However, there won’t be any more hall socials next year, as I’ll be forced to live in a flat. And maybe I’ll have too much work next year to attend any of the numerous societies’ (e.g., Philosophy Society, Chinese Society, Sailing Society) meetings; I already have a considerable amount of assignments as it is. But all that might get old anyway once I’m in year three. Who knows?

I wonder where my degree in English may lead me. I have a few ideas that I will delve into, such as journalism or advertising. A friend scoffed and asked, “A degree in English? You know what they say about English majors…” Some German friends and family have asked: “English? That’s a useful language to learn nowadays! It should be easy for him, he has an American father!” To them all I say: Well, then you try explaining to me Dickens’s view on the effects of utilitarian education and rapid industrialization on our society!

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