Christmas and Potato Salad
Having spent Christmas in three countries, there is one thing which will never change for me: eating potato salad and sausages on Christmas.
Germany
Fifty years of meat, sausage and community
The Deli, as it is fondly nicknamed by so many, is a local icon to most Yukoners (not just those in Whitehorse), as well as to many travellers from around the world. (This tribute was written to help celebrate its 50th Anniversary on December 14, 2018.)
Ten days in Germany
Sherri Green won our 2018 Condor competition with her ‘pretzel itinerary’ If I were to go to Germany, where would I go? There are so many possibilities. I usually have trouble deciding what to order off of a restaurant menu! I asked some friends and they helped me narrow down the possibilities. Their suggestion? Tour …
Black forest cake in Namibia
In Swakopmund, Germany and Namibia come together like the Namib Desert and the ocean just outside the town. If you didn’t know that this is an African country, you would think that it’s a town somewhere in Germany.
Yukon writers gear-up for Frankfurt Book Fair
With over 280,000 visitors and 1,000 authors, the Frankfurt Book Fair is the largest book fair in the world and an important event for international trade deals, with over 7 000 exhibitors from 100 nations, according to the fair website.
In The People’s Voice
Ross River musician Dennis Shorty grew up in a musical family that spoke Kaska and performed at social events. Now he is sharing his love of the language through the musical duo he formed with his wife, Jennifer Froehling, is called Dena Zagi, meaning “people’s voice”. In August, they toured in Germany with their first …
Glück Auf! A Mini-Mining Tour of Germany
I’m not a miner, but on a recent visit to Germany my friends took me on impromptu mining tours of their regions. First Clemens and I drove 100 kilometres west of Leipzig to Wangen and the Arc of Nebra (Arche Nebra) museum, where the Himmelsscheibe (Star Chart) of Nebra was discovered in 1999. Dating back …
Setting Forth for New Frontiers
Yukon musician Jona Barr is pumped. He’s going to Germany – and he’s going to be playing his first set outside of Canada. “I’ve traveled to a few upper American states while touring Canada, but this is my first international festival,” says the Old Cabin frontman. “It’s surreal being 30-years-old and never having been somewhere …
From the East to the Beautiful South
Keen on history? The Castle Wartburg in Wittenberg in Eastern Germany offers an opportunity to learn about the 500th Anniversary of Martin Luther’s Reformation. The castle is the place where Luther translated the bible and lived with his family. The castle’s origins date back to 1067. The castle is hosting an exhibition until November called …
Celebrating Sausages
The Germans are known by the nickname “The Krauts,” which comes from sauerkraut, a famous German dish comprised of fermented cabbage. Maybe Germans should be nicknamed “The Sausages” instead, because we have 1,500 kinds of different sausages in Germany – according to the Deutscher Fleischer Verband (German Meat Association). There is a sausage for every …
Experiencing Theatre in Namibia
It’s 15 minutes before our performance starts and one of my actors has a meltdown. “No, I am not gonna play,” he says avoiding eye contact. Philo is 12 years old and usually confident. I would never have expected that from him. It’s Valentine’s Day and we rehearsed for our little performance the whole week. …
Making All the Right Stops for a Delicious Evening
Let’s make this as easy as possible. No cooking and no fussing, follow these directions and you will arrive at a delicious dinner destination. First stop, sushi night! Sushi is one of these tricky food-wine pairing combinations. Wasabi, pickled ginger, soy sauce, raw fish, sweetened rice – gah – it is a pairing nightmare. Luckily, …
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Bringing Yukon literature to the world stage
Each October, the city of Frankfurt in Germany plays host to the second largest literary trade fair in the world, with 7,153 exhibitors representing 106 countries present in 2016. The Frankfurt Book Fair (known as the Frankfurter Buchmesse (FBM), in German,) is a tradition spanning more than 500 years, with the first book fair being …
The Long-Awaited Day
This day, I woke up at 6:45 a.m. I must say I was surprised to have such a good night’s sleep. No stress, no sadness. But the anxieties arrived as we get closer to the airport. My fear of the plane finally bit the euphoria of departure. We quickly found a parking space, tested the …
Unexpected Awesomeness
After 15 countries, 34 cities and 99 days backpacking through Europe I can honestly say that it was not the big name cities that ended up being our favourites. It turned out to be the smaller cities and towns that we had never heard of. These were the gems that other travellers recommended – or …
The Cancan as Theatrical Spectacle
On June 20, 1819 the composer who was destined to pen the cancan theme song was born. His name was Jacques Offenbach. Born in Cologne, Germany, he grew to be a virtuoso cellist. At 14 he was accepted into the Paris Conservatoire and travelled there to begin his studies. The year was 1833 and a …
Learning About Ubuntu in Namibia
My African friends think that Yukoners are cannibals. When I told them the story about the Sourtoe Cocktail I expected the usual reaction: laughter and amusement. But instead I got wide-open eyes and mouths asking me: “You did this?” they asked me. “You drank this human-cocktail?” I did my best to explain the history behind …
Book Fair Fever in Frankfurt
British artist David Hockney displayed his latest piece here: a complete collection of his artwork in a huge book. The book costs about 2,500 Euro and contains 62 years of Hockney’s work. It was set up on a stand so visitors could browse through it. The Arts+ exhibition shows that books are not only about …
Interview at the Embassy
The status of one’s permanent residency quickly becomes the crux of conversation among the Yukon’s new Canadians. And it’s the crux of this column. No two people have the same story to tell. Not only are there various ways to immigrate, each person’s reason to immigrate is different. Some are poignant, others humorous, like this …
Healing Through Art
Dennis Shorty created his first sculpture when he was eight years old. It was a moose carved out of poplar with a burbot fish skull for antlers and a bit of “fish glue” to hold them in place. He was proud of the sculpture and showed his father, Alec Shorty. Alec told the young carver …
More than Just Coffee
I catch Heike Graf between the lunch rush hour at the Caribou Crossing Coffee and picking up her five year old daughter from school. “It was busy today,” Graf, the owner of the coffee shop in Carcross, says while wiping the counter and putting a tray of fresh pizza on the display. The smell of …
Farewell Winter, Hello Summer
After a long Yukon winter, you look forward to packing away your warm winter coat. We all look forward to the warmer days.
Mark Zuehlke and the Remittance Men
Mark Zuehlke grew up in the Okanagan, hearing tales of Remittance Men – those eccentric British immigrants sent here in the late 19th century by their families who didn’t know what else to do with them. They were called Remittance Men because of the funds they received from their families to support them. The funds …
Germans love Jack London
Why is Robert Service so much better known here than Jack London? This question comes from Wolfgang Robert Greiner, one of five German journalists I was invited to meet for breakfast at the Aurora Inn in late February. Their primary literary interest is in Jack London, whose Yukon themed short stories were standard fare in …
Newspaper-Making in Namibia
Murder, betrayal or New Year celebrations – these are the topics on the list. It is December 30 and we have to decide which story will be on the cover of tomorrow’s newspaper. Unfortunately, there will be blood leaking from the newspaper on New Year’s Day. The murder of a German-Namibian farmer is breaking news. …
Next Stop, Serab
I love to travel; seeing new places, meeting new people. Experience, after all is priceless. I also love to knit. Imagine my delight when I purchased Silk Road Socks by Hunter Hammersen, with 93 pages of history and knitting. The book is published by Cooperative Press, Cleveland, Ohio, 2010. Hunter Hammersen has designed 14 sock …
D – The Deli – “Euro-mazing”
The minute you walk into The Deli at Yukon Meat and Sausage you know you are in a special environment. The place simply smells like, well, like Europe. The shelves are stocked with delightful offerings from Germany, from Holland, from Denmark, from England. Many of the items are imported directly from overseas, but Yukon Meat …
Gift of Giving
If you’re searching for a little inspiration this holiday season, then perhaps this story is for you. Many of us give to charity and volunteer our time here and there, but for Sarah Ott, it’s a way of life. At only 17 years of age, Sarah has given countless hours back to her community and …
Tannenbaum
Historians agree that our modern Christmas tree tradition originated in the German Renaissance period (circa 1500). Martin Luther added candles as decoration. Prior to candles, Tannenbaum (or Christmas tree in English) were decorated with apples and nuts. The practice of bringing evergreen boughs into the home at Solstice is much older. Egyptian culture used evergreen …
The Twelfth Night, Lumbersexualized
Attention all lovers, poets and dreamers: this holiday season The Bard is returning to the Whitehorse stage. The Guild Hall will launch its second show of the season on Nov. 26 with Shakespeare’s classic comedy Twelfth Night, Or What You Will. The play was first performed in 1602 and takes a comedic spin on mistaken …
Laughter Is The Same In All Languages
Temperatures were in the mid-30s while we were in Munich. Many of the people spoke English, but many others did not. Neither Joanne nor I speak German. We did experience moments of frustration because of miscommunications, but some of that kind of thing was to be expected. In the late afternoons we would retreat to …
A dispatch from the Frankfurt Book Fair
The Frankfurt Book Fair is the biggest book fair in the literary world. Publishers, agents, authors and readers from all over the world come to the five day event. It is a place for business, readings, culture and discussion. This year 300,000 visitors came to the book fair. During the event there are many literature …
The Survivor Tree
Germany: a land of farms and old cities, and the destination of my travels every two years. It is a land with a past. Most towns here still hold scars of war in the form of bunkers that are sprawled throughout the country. A reminder of what once was. One such reminder is a tree. …
Two Tones
Today, Sid sits outside the Beaver Creek Visitor Information Centre basking in the warm summer sun. As he waits for visitors to arrive, he admires the bodywork of his 1956 Pontiac in the sunlight. “I bought the ’56 in Whitehorse a few years ago. I just put a brand new motor in it and new …
The Condiment that Some Take For Granted, and that Others are Really Into
Mustard. It calls to mind sausages, one side of the inside of a sandwich (the meat side), pretzels, Dijon, grainy, spicy, Germany, France, omnipresent condiment, pestle and mortar, seeds, curry, and for some reason, fine beer. But Saskatchewan? No. Roslyn Woodcock recently learned that 90 per cent of the world’s mustard is grown in Canada, …
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The Sound of Home
I dream of my hometown. Walking through these streets again, listening to music floating from open windows like light. Harmonica, accordion. Walking these streets where I know every corner Like my own body, where I left my thoughts hanging on walls, buildings Like a pair of shoes tossed into a tree I dream taking harmonica …
Homage to a Yukon Birder
Yukon birds, and its birding community, have lost a true friend. When he died last month, at 75, Helmut Grünberg had spent over 40 years promoting the enjoyment, study, and conservation of Yukon’s bird life. He found his way to Whitehorse in the early ‘70s when, en route to climb Denali in Alaska, he was …
Can I Come Along Again?
Germany is green and clean — there’s not much garbage, and there are recycling bins everywhere. The people are friendly. Being on a train is fun and comfortable, and riding in a first class compartment is better than flying. We went to a Catholic all-boy school in Mainz for a day, which was different from …
One Autobahn, Many Stops
If you win the Take Me To Frankfurt contest, here are some suggestions for what you should do in Germany. Fly to Frankfurt and take the InterCity express-train (ICE) to Stuttgart. Stuttgart is famous for its car manufacturing industry, like Daimler and Porsche. Visit the Porsche Museum, the Mercedes Benz Museum and the Art Gallery …
Wanderlust
My wife Marion grew up in Grossposna, a small village a few kilometres outside of Leipzig in the Eastern part of Germany. Twenty-five years ago, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, she left everything she knew behind and persued a new life in Canada with her young son Johannes, and un-born daughter Isabel. Tuning …
Sharing Traditional Art with Europeans
On May 30 Dennis and I left a big flood behind in Ross River, and landed in Germany where many cities, towns and villages were also flooding. We are here on our annual trip to promote tourism, culture, and Yukon artists, including and Dennis’ artwork. It’s something we volunteer to do – we are promoting …
Beer Bottles Make Beautiful Music
The year was 1798 and the place was Helgoland. Helgoland is located in the North Sea, 70 kilometres off of the coast of Germany. This is important, since it is the remote location that made Helgoland, in 1798, the birthplace of the beer bottle organ. The church that was located on Helgoland in 1798 had …
Closing out the Old Year and Ringing in the New!
As I reflect upon the approaching year end, I would like to thank you, the readers, for providing me with encouragement, enthusiasm and support for my articles. I hope that they have encouraged you to explore new wine territory and given you new ideas of wines to try. I look forward to continuing to taste …
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Berliner Weisse: The Champagne of the Spree
My colleague, Don Murphy, recently visited Germany and before he left, I sweet-talked him into bringing me back a special beer. Several weeks and 18,000 kilometres later, he appeared in my office with the booty: a squat bottle of Berliner Weisse. I had read about this beer but never tasted it. Known as the Champagne …
Unless you’re Santa, I’d say it’s one of those …
Everybody knows beer causes beer bellies, right? Why else would they call it a beer belly? Not so fast: a recent study, by German and Swedish researchers, of 20,000 people, calls that traditional wisdom into question. This was no flash-in-the-pan study but an eight-and-a-half-year period involving 7,876 men and 12,749 women. And, expected, they learned …
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A Happy Start To The Holidays in Dawson City
Christmas and New Year’s are fast approaching us here in the Yukon, and this weekend reminded me what a beautiful and magical place we live in. If Whitehorse was not beautiful enough, I just came home from driving 500 km through low-angle sun and fresh fallen snow to Dawson City. The Klondike Institute of Art …
Be our 2010 foreign correspondent
I visited Germany once. My brother was stationed there with the Canadian Army and he was dating a German lady, Gabi, who is now my sister-in-law. Germany has the Autobahn, but she took us along slow, winding roads with achingly beautiful scenes of lovingly cared-for farms and country homes. We stayed in “pensions” and sat …
2010 Condor Foreign Correspondent contest winner
Nathalie Ouellet was feeling the usual letdown after returning from a European vacation, when she saw an advertisement for the Foreign Correspondent Contest in What’s Up Yukon. “I love writing when I travel,” she says. “It re-enforces the experience.” Writing a story that pointed out the everyday whimsy of Europe, and the ironie s, and …
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Not the New Kid on the Block
Nobody likes a beer snob. Even beer snobs don’t like beer snobs. So, when someone wrinkles their nose at a Bud Light and then reaches for a Chimay Rouge, it’s hard not to get your back up as they start talking about yeast strains and overtones of cinnamon and ripe apricot. To clarify immediately and …
Sausage. Bier. Men in Knee-High Socks. It’s Oktoberfest!
”O’ zapft is!” cries the mayor of Munich. Translation: It’s tapped! What is tapped, where it’s tapped, and why it’s tapped is this week’s story. So dig out your lederhosen, dust off that beer stein and ready your arteries for a few links of bratwurst: it’s Oktoberfest! So … what the heck is Oktoberfest, anyway? …
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2012 Foreign Correspondent: Our Great European Adventure
Condor brought us from the wilds of the Yukon to the city of Frankfurt on a late summer day for our Great European Adventure of 2010. How amazing that only nine hours later, we were there! Here is a sample of our travel journal. Getting over the jet lag, we spent a few days visiting …
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A Walk Through the Wine Store: Pt. 5
I’m getting thirsty doing this ongoing wine tour of the Yukon Liquor Corp (YLC) store in Whitehorse, but I hope my articles in this series are causing you to think about tasting wines from some of the countries represented on its shelves. If you have a tasting experience, or other comment or question, please feel …
Hey! My lager is clear, light and fizzy!
So this week, Beer Cache is brewing a Marzen. Märzenbier is the beer style that is served at Oktoberfest in Germany. It’s usually begun in March (hence the name) and cold fermented – lagered – all summer, traditionally in ice-packed caves. But it’s not just the chilly temperatures and lengthier fermentation that makes your lager …
