Marion's Miscellaneous Musings

Things I had to see whether I knew it or not

I had two items (other than see my exchange students) on my list to do in Europe: Get a bunch of Niederegger Marzipan and see the Prague clock. And, once I got to the Netherlands, I discovered that I wanted to see a windmill.

I got the marzipan. I wonder why I had no other goals in Germany?

The Prague clock not only measures time, but also the movement of the sun and the moon. I first heard about this while helping in my daughter's third grade class. More information can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Orloj
Every hour, tourists gather for the figures coming out of the windows above the clock, and take pictures. (The funniest thing is that they use a flash -- I was there about dusk -- and a flash is good to about 20 feet (oops, 3 meters) max.) It is a fascinating things -- and I not only saw the clock but I bought the t-shirt and the coffee mug. (Which also works for tea, I tried it.)

I decided long ago that things advertised for tourists do not always represent what the country is now. I came to that conclusion when I hosted my Chinese kid. She came from a city of 2 million people, with high rise buildings, modern parks, and shopping all night long. Some well-meaning friends showed her a book about China: quaint villages without electricity or running water, people wearing traditional clothes and cooking over open fires in the front of the house. Which is true in rural China, but there was nothing about the big cities. So, I have resisted touristy things ever since.

I also learned this from my German kid. He had brought us books about Germany: the castles, the town squares with wonderful architecture, quaint villages nestled in bends of rivers -- and not a car or a MacDonalds in sight. The third of fourth book was about German technology, and I asked the dumbest questions I have ever asked: "Oh, there is industry in Germany?" There was a long silence, after which the German Kid said: "Who do you think makes Porsche, Volkswagon, and Audi?"

It is at this point that I should probably mention that my first two cars were Volkswagon Rabbits.

Nobody wears lederhosen in Germany, nobody wears wooden shoes in the Netherlands, nobody lives in all those castles, so I wasn't that excited about windmills.

Until I toured the one in Leiden. I learned all sorts of things: The technology was brought to Holland from the Arabian peninsula during the crusades. Necessity being the mother of invention, the Dutch changed things. They are used for grinding grain, power and draining land. (really important in a country that is mostly below sea level) This particular one is 8 stories tall and is still used occasionally, but most of their money comes from the tourists. The cap rotates so that they can efficiently use the wind no matter what direction it comes from. They can put canvas sails on, so that even low velocity wind can get some work done. And the traditional windmills turn in the opposite direction from the modern windmills. (Is that chance? Or does that have something to do with the direction that modern motors turn?)

I asked one of my Dutch hosts if the emphasis on windmills and wooden shoes and traditional clothing bothered her, and she just shrugged. But I'm sure some people mind.

I also discovered why the Netherlands has so many windmills.

I learn a lot from my exchange students. I have developed this list:

French fries are not French
German chocolate cake is not German.
Chinese food isn't Chinese.
Danishes aren't.
Arabic numerals are not Arabic.
And just last week, I learned that Swiss cheese is not Swiss.

posted by Marion @ 8:46 AM