New to Oberursel? Then you might enjoy a guided tour around the old town (Altstadt), which is being offered on Saturday, 5th November, 2011.

The tour starts in front of the Vordertaunusmuseum at the Marktplatz at 2pm and costs €3 per person.

Oberursel Altstadt

In this photo, the Vordertaunusmuseum is the corner building on the left.

For more events in and around Oberursel, visit AllThingsGerman-events.

Some of you might wonder why I would report about Huang Ming receiving the 2011 Right Livelihood Award (a.k.a. alternative Nobel prize). My blog is usually about Oberursel, tourism, and my own trips.

But one of those trips took me to Mr. Huang’s home in 2005.

Starting fall 2003, I started tutoring his daughter who, at that time, was attending a boarding school in Switzerland. As half of her education was conducted in German, along with English, she then spent most of her school breaks with me in Oberursel learning English and German, respectively.

Mr. Huang had enrolled his daughter with HB.Language, a Swiss language agency, which places students for language studies in various countries. I am one of those teacher/host families.

During her first visit, her dad would call everyday to check on her progress.  With each further Study and Homestay program she enrolled, the phone-calls became fewer.

C. (name withheld) eventually left the Swiss boarding school to attend Frankfurt International School (FIS) in her final years, while being hosted by an FIS family.

Because of C., our son became interested in learning Chinese. After six years of private lessons, he had to give it up being a senior in high school now.

In 2005, with a little pressure from C. and our son, I agreed to visit the Huang family in China. Of course, we were splendidly hosted, but frankly speaking, I only learned about C.’s dad’s business/entrepreneurship while we were there. Yes, I was a little surprised to learn of  his 40 patents he holds in inventions, being a member of congress, the factory tour, and many other things.

During this time, we stayed in an apartment in Beijing. Then we were carted off to Dezhou (hometown), where we stayed in one of those worker hotels. The remainder we spent in a big beach house in Qingdao.

We were given many guided tours, served the best food, and were treated like special guests. Well, the Asian way.

The last leg of our time in China, we spent in Shanghai on our own. I like Shanghai the best, even though I learned there how polluted these big cities really are. While we were guests of the Huang family, we were driven around by a private chauffeur on every occasion. So we hopped into the van and out.

But in Shanghai, we walked everywhere. Each time we returned to our hotel to take a shower, we had blackened feet. We actually had to scrub our feet to get the dirt off.

Anyway, we got to see Mr. Huang a couple of times after that. This was usually while he was passing through Frankfurt on his way back from meetings in other parts of Europe.

Article in German: Alternativer Nobelpreis für chinesischen Solar-Unternehmer

Another article from news.xinhuanet.com

Congratulations to the Huang family!

A few weeks ago, we passed this house on the way back to where we had parked our car (An der Bleiche). For some odd reason, we chose to walk a different route, which was along the creek between Eppsteiner Strasse (leading to the Marktplatz) and An der Bleiche.

Internationaler Verein Windrose e.V. Oberursel

This house, at first glance, looked like a regular residence to us – until we noticed the menu in the showcase. It featured quite a bit of seafood, some appetizers and about six steak dinners to choose from.

Yesterday evening, we went there. Since the sign above the entrance said  Internationaler Verein Windrose e.V., we first had to inquire if we needed to be members to get a meal. “No, this was changed a few years ago,” we were told. The Vereinslokal (club house) is open to the public now.

As walk-ins we got the last seats in the house (back room), where we enjoyed the best meal we have ever had in Oberursel! My husband had the Bife Brasil ( Brazilian steak with mushrooms, bacon, and shrimp in saffron sauce, served with potatoes and rice). I had Espetada mista di carne ( beef of a skewer, served with pototoes, rice, and beans). We were also served a big bowl of salad to share. The Portuguese wine EA (red and dry) was also reasonably priced at €14, 50 a bottle.

Since this is a club house, you should make reservations beforehand. A bit unorthodox, but you have to make the reservation in person (not by phone, not by e-mail), this is what their website Windrose Oberursel Vereinslokal stated. It is best to locate the restaurant beforehand anyway, because it is quite off the beaten path. The website still has the remark club house only open to members, but as I had stated earlier, this is no longer true.

The hours of operation are as follows: Wed 18:00 – 24:00, Fri 18:00 – 01:00 and Sat 18:00 – 01:00

Address: Neutorallee 18 in 61440 Oberursel

Last, but not least, this association is very engaged in helping young foreign students integrate into German school life in Oberursel and vicinity. In 2004, it was awarded the Integrationspreis by the Hochtaunuskreis. New members are always welcome.

A few days ago, I had to go to the pharmacy to get our son’s prescription filled.

I was surprised when the pharmaceutical assistant pointed out the issue date. It had been posted by error for 01 July when the current date was 02 September. She went on to explain she could not fill the prescription as is. Only if I paid in cash, I could take home the medication. I dished out € 469,90, picked up the prescription, and called the doctor’s office.

After I briefly explained the situation and asked for a correct prescription to be sent by mail, I heard the doctor’s assistant saying, “OK.”. I waited two more seconds to hear a simple “Tut mir leid”, but instead she responded with, “Yes, we will mail it to you”. And the receiver was slammed down.

I received the correct prescription in today’s mail and have to return to the pharmacy once more to reclaim the funds.

They must have had some office problems, obviously. But friendly customer service and the usage of a simple apology are not on their maintenance list.

Sorry to have bothered you, Frau Naumann.

Among the new-to-me things I noticed in Oberursel yesterday was also this display of Knit Graffiti. Three big pillars have been wrapped in knitting and it is quite decorative.

As this is part of a yarn shop in the Rathausstrasse (next to city hall), the Knit Graffiti is an innovative way to advertise.

Knit Graffiti in Oberursel

The shop needs to advertise – we could not even find its name on the store front!

The internet was more helpful: Wollladen Wolllaus (wool store wool louse)  Rathausplatz 6

Unfortunately, my own Knit Graffiti, wrapped around a lantern post, had been cut down this summer. It was a fairly small piece of knitting, but probably did not adhere to German sidewalk regulations.