Betriebsausflug: a field trip about ... windows?

Bright and early Monday morning, I boarded a chartered bus to a town I had never heard of: Marktheidenfeld, Germany -- 100 miles northeast of Stuttgart and 50 miles southeast of Frankfurt, basically just south of the middle of the country. Why, you ask? It was my department's annual "industry field trip" and this year we were headed to the "solar management" company WAREMA.

What exactly do solar managers do? They manage the sun's rays, of course. And what does that mean ...? WAREMA designs and manufactures blinds, shutters, and awnings, as well as window treatments to protect against too much sun and even to ward off insects. This all sounds rather bland unless you've experienced German window technology -- and yes, it is both technology and an experience.

Let's look at blinds, shutters, and awnings. German blinds basically look like what you would see in the U.S., the only major difference being that they are more frequently operated by remote control than the typical American household blinds. Shutters, on the other hand, are not clap-shutters but rather heavy-duty blinds. They are operated via pulley or remote control, and resemble the rolling metal doors of garages or store entrances (when the store is closed). Awnings are far more common in Germany than in the U.S. and are also operated via remote control.

Rolladen: Germany's shutters, or heavy-duty blinds. (Imagine the snow.)

View of Rolladen from the outside.

Looking at the top Rolladen picture, you may notice the metal handles on the windows. I have been told that U.S. windows are "old-fashioned": do we really still open windows by sliding them up and down? What happens when they get stuck? Don't we want better ventilation? German windows have handles that operate in two directions: when the handle is vertical, the window opens from the top outward (usually a few inches); when the handle is horizontal, the entire window opens just like a door. There is one drawback, however: there are no screens. This may be fine in the winter, when opening the window for fresh air, but in the summer? Hello, mosquitoes! I joke with my roommates: they will never have to worry about mosquito bites -- the spiders take care of their share and the remaining mosquitoes take care of me! Actually, American screens wouldn't work well with German windows anyway. The screen would have to cover the entire length of the window and doing so would impact aesthetics, not to mention ventilation. (Business opportunity, anyone?)

After touring WAREMA's production facilities, which despite my lack of photos were actually quite fascinating, we returned to the bus and drove onto Würzburg, about 25 miles southeast of Marktheidenfeld. The big attraction in Würzburg, aside from the Main River, is the Marienberg Fortress. We stopped for an hour to explore the fortress grounds before continuing on our way to the local Biergarten for dinner. It was rainy gray day and everyone was in a rush, but I still took my time to get a few pictures.

The "refuge castle" as seen from the fortress.
If I ever return to Würzburg, I definitely want to tour the castle.

Würzburg from above, and from behind the flowers.

Würzburg, the Main River, and beyond.

Some of my work colleagues, thinking "Briana is still taking pictures??"
(Well yes, because where else do you see fairytale cottages like the one below?)

Cottage for the park service? Hobbit summer home? I simply don't know.

Soon it was time to board the bus again. I left the fortress grounds with a general impression of the area, but I would really like to return to wander around more and also tour the castle. I'll just have to add this medieval town to my growing list places to visit, or revisit, as the case may be.

Where does the next door lead?

Schlossgarten

With 90-degree temperatures and "naturally ventilated" buildings, I spent a lot of time in the tree-filled Schlossgarten park this weekend. Most other Stuttgarters seemed to have had the same idea, but luckily the park is big enough that it wasn't completely overrun with people.

"Lower" Schlossgarten. There are upper, middle, and lower sections of the park. 

A big old oak tree, but be careful! You may not want to sit up against it ...

The sign reads: "Caution: Oak procession moths! In the area of oak trees, one can count on finding oak procession moths." I'll let you Google these little critters. 

After avoiding being eaten by oak procession moths, I found this bird by the lake. Great blue heron? I don't remember what the wings looked like and I would expect a Great Blue Heron to have more ... blue.   

Anyone want to take a guess?

Tomorrow is Monday, the start of a new work week. I am not at all looking forward to working inside all day, but maybe it won't be so bad. I just have to channel the shade of the Schlossgarten ...

Until next time, dear readers!

Just another Wednesday night ...

... or not. Stuttgart is currently hosting an open-air global cultures festival and the opening act Wednesday night was the four-woman band Iva Nova from St. Petersburg, Russia. I don't even know where to begin to describe Iva Nova's genre: wherever traditional Russian and Slavic folk meets modern electronica with sometimes eerie and possessed vocals and dancing to match. During the show, I heard people asking the same question that I was wondering myself, namely: "How does she dance with that accordian around her neck?!" On stage, the women covered accordian, bass, percussion, keyboard/synthesizer, and vocals. They also had an eventful day behind them. They had driven directly from the German border to Berlin to Stuttgart in one day, almost getting stranded twice with car trouble. The concert therefore started 45 minutes late, but with an incredible amount of energy on stage and almost as much energy in the crowd. Summer + good music + friendly people: you can't ask for much more!

Iva Nova at Stuttgart's "Summer Festival of Cultures"

Ducks

Sometimes you end up with photos you don't know what to do with, but also don't want to delete. Case in point: my trip to Vienna last month. In this vein, I introduce to you The Ducks of Burggarten:

News Back Home

I remember my first trip abroad. I was 14 and traveling with the German Language School Conference. Our three-week trip consisted of two homestays: two weeks with a family in Germany and one week with a family in Austria.

We were given much advice to ease the culture shock and to transition into the immersion experience. In particular I remember that we were advised against calling home. Of course, we all called our families immediately upon arrival, but thereafter we were advised to stay immersed in the local culture and not worry about what was happening on the other side of the Atlantic. This was before online social media and just barely after e-mail started to take off. Immersion, for me at least, was relatively simple.

Sixteen years later--theoretically 16 years wiser--I find it far more difficult to stay immersed in the local culture. Some of the [dis]connection is intentional and some of it just happens. During the week, I work in an office where I am constantly connected to the Internet. It is very easy to check Google News or the Rachel Maddow Show or listen to English-language podcasts on iTunes, for example. I do read the German news, but not nearly as often as I should. That said, I don't surround myself with English-speaking expats either. I live with native German-speakers, speak German all day every day, and enjoy exploring German (and European) culture.

Then something happens that draws my attention back to the U.S.  This week it was the Supreme Court  rulings, in April it was the Boston Marathon bombings, in January it was President Obama's Inauguration, and so on. And it's certainly not all bad. The mid-morning timing of the Supreme Court's DOMA and Prop 8 decisions, for example, combined with the 6-hour time difference to Germany and the wonders of Facebook and mobile technology, allowed me to celebrate the historic victories yesterday online with many of my friends while they in turn were celebrating in the streets in the U.S. And this is a key point: so many current events that happen in the U.S. don't make the news here until the next day. (Of course, the reverse applies to global news reaching the general U.S. public as well.) Not only is there a time lag in communication of events, there is a conceptual lag, too. We simply care most about the things we know best. My mind may take in and process German news and culture, but when it comes to major U.S. events, my heart is most often immediately there on U.S. American soil -- and I think it's okay that way, too.

Miksang & the Good Eye

Miksang is a Tibetan word meaning "good eye". The goal of Miksang photography is to reveal the true nature of things, just as they are. The Miksang photographer tries to share their perception as directly as possible, without letting any other ideas get in the way. You take the picture, capture the moment, and move on. It's a deliberate way of seeing.

I was first introduced to Miksang in Pittsburgh last Spring when I participated in a workshop led by teacher Brian Sano. (Check out Brian's website and gallery. Highly recommended!) Each of the three days, we focused on a different element: first color, then pattern, then texture. Each day included lecture, discussions, exercises, and then 2-3 hours on our own taking pictures in the neighborhood. In the afternoons we would regroup, sort through our photos, and create a slideshow of our top picks. Below are some of the photos I took during that first workshop and shortly thereafter.

Color in Pittsburgh, PA

Color in Pittsburgh, PA

Color in Pittsburgh, PA

Pattern (and color) in Pittsburgh, PA

Pattern in Pittsburgh, PA

Pattern in Pittsburgh, PA

Texture in Pittsburgh, PA

Texture in Pittsburgh, PA 

Texture in Pittsburgh, PA

A few weeks ago, I took the second Miksang workshop in the series (there are five total). This workshop was held in Vienna and focused on uncovering the essence of things. We considered, for example, the tree-ness of trees, the water-ness of water, the sidewalk-ness of sidewalks, the people-ness of people. Each object is different--this tree is different from that tree, for example--but every tree has qualities that make it instantly identifiable as a tree. These are the qualities that together form the tree's tree-ness. (Don't worry if you're confused about all this "-ness" talk.  It took us three days of intense workshop to even begin to grasp the concept.) Perhaps some pictures will help.

Sidewalk-ness in Vienna Austria

Sidewalk-ness (and water-ness) in Vienna, Austria

Sidewalk-ness and water-ness in Vienna, Austria

Water-ness (and color) in Vienna, Austria 

Tree-ness in Vienna, Austria

Tree-ness in Vienna, Austria

Tree-ness in Vienna, Austria

The trick to learning any new skill is, of course: practice, practice, practice. I love taking my camera out into the city, or simply along with me wherever I happen to be going. It doesn't have to be anywhere special to be interesting. The opportunity to notice and to capture our perceptions is always there. While paying attention to "-ness" has been more difficult for me than color, pattern, or texture, it is already proving to be worth the effort.

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If you are interested in learning more about Miksang, visit the Miksang Institute for Contemplative Photography at: http://miksang.com.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen

On Sunday, my friend Hart and his friend Vanessa invited me to wander along the Isar River with them in Garmisch-Partenkirchen near Germany's southern border. The water of the Isar is bright turquoise due to the minerals in the area and the surrounding landscape is a mix of sand, rocks, low shrubs and forest. The river was higher than usual due to the recent flooding, but surprisingly not completely overflowing. (It was actually dry in some places.) Overall it was a gorgeous day for wandering through the park and cooling off in the river. After a few hours, we drove to Vanessa's mother's house, where we were served elderberry (Holunder) pancakes and blueberry cheesecake. Yum! Afterwards, I took the train back to Stuttgart, arrived around midnight, and got some sleep before Monday morning. What a great way to spend a Sunday!

Landscape along the Isar River

Hart and me

We amused the horses. Silly humans.