May

Ten Fun Facts About Chocolate

by Meredith Mullins on May 21, 2018

Mexican chocolate, showing the cultural traditions of chocolate and the cocoa bean and fun facts about chocolate. (Image © Viennetta/iStock.)

The appeal of chocolate . . . worldwide
© Viennetta/iStock

Cultural Traditions of a World Favorite: The Cocoa Bean

There is nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with chocolate.—Linda Grayson

Chocolate is high on the favorite list of many people. It soothes stress, is a weapon against depression, heightens awareness, elevates mood, and rouses passion. It is the choice of many as the answer to “What one thing you would take with you if stranded on a desert island?”

Meredith Mullins 4 Comments

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/Worldwide Sites

May

Time Travel Adventures

by Joyce McGreevy on May 7, 2018

Skydivers over Queenstown, New Zealand inspire the author to consider the true nature of time travel. (Image © New Zealand Tourism)

There are many ways to fly to Queenstown, New Zealand.
© New Zealand Tourism

Finding New Perspective
in New Zealand

Do you remember Tuesday, April 3, 2018? I don’t. I never experienced it.

A man, with his dog, who has slept through the alarm may soon wish he could time travel. (Image © iStock/WebSubstance)

No, I didn’t forget to set the alarm.
© iStock/WebSubstance

A woman falling on the ice inspires thoughts of time travel adventures. (Image © iStock/Astrid860)

Nope. Wasn’t in a coma.
© iStock/Astrid860

I just had one of those time travel adventures.

Crossing the Line

Every day, thousands of westbound airline passengers leapfrog over an entire day. They take off from, say, Oakland on a Monday and land in Auckland on a Wednesday.

Yet only 14 hours have passed.

Which really crosses a line.

No, really. It’s what happens when you cross the International Date Line. The line is imaginary, but the effects are real.

Global Gazing

Remember when everyone’s home had a globe? In the 1960s, advanced technology meant that through the magic of electricity and a toggle switch, a globe could light up from the inside. Whoa!

An illuminated globe inspires an author in New Zealand to consider the true nature of time travel. (Image © iStock/Vrobelpeter1)

As a child, I found globes illuminating.
© iStock/Vrobelpeter1

If you were a kid back then, you gazed in awe at the illuminated raised relief, marveling at mountains and the depths of the bright blue oceans.

And wondered what that line meant.

Dust off that globe now and you’ll see that the International Date Line isn’t a fixed line. It zigzags giddily to either side of 180 degrees longitude like the wake of a drunken sailor.

A map showing the International Date Lines illuminated globe inspires an author in New Zealand to consider the true nature of time travel adventures. (Image in the public domain)

In 2011 Samoa skipped Dec. 30 by “moving” to the NZ side of the International Date Line.

If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Wednesday

Some of Magellan’s sailors probably thought they’d knocked back a pint too many after their own time travel adventure in 1522. As Antonio Pigafetta reported:

On Wednesday, the ninth of July, we arrived at . . . Santiago . . . And we charged our men in the boat that, when they were ashore, they should ask what day it was. They were answered that to the Portuguese it was Thursday, at which they were much amazed.

So amazed that, once Magellan’s impeccable record keepers figured it out, they sent a special delegation to alert the Pope. He, in turn, was so amazed that he called a conference. A mere three centuries later, the International Date Line became official. The boundary between one day and the next was set.

Racing to Places

By definition, travel is moving from one place to another place. Like a token on a game board, you advance from Country A to Country B.

For some, travel is a competitive game. Recently, travel magazines profiled a woman whose mission is to become the fastest person to visit all 195 of the world’s sovereign countries.

A woman racing toward travel symbols inspires an author in New Zealand to consider the true nature of time travel adventures. (Image © TK)

“Let’s see, 195 countries times 3.5 hours per airport plus x hours per flight . . .”
© iStock/PRimageFactory

Places in Time

But travel is also about time. Exploring it, experiencing it.

Time travel lights up the raised relief map of your brain, revealing the Valley of Jet Lag and the Mountains of Giddy Realization: I’m here! I’m on the other side of the planet!

It toys with your internal clock, making you narcoleptic at noon, insomniac at midnight, and ravenous at four a.m.

It makes you silly: “Greetings from the Future!” you text your family, who are back in that earlier time zone.

A text message about coffee in Christchurch, New Zealand inspires an author to consider the true nature of time travel adventures. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Even 7, 241 miles apart . . .
© Joyce McGreevy

A text message about coffee in Lincoln City, Oregon inspires an author to consider the true nature of time travel adventures. (Image © Carolyn McGreevy)

. . . sisters have coffee together.
© Carolyn McGreevy

It makes you grin: As a traveling freelancer in New Zealand, you’re one day ahead of U.S. deadlines. Yippee!

It makes you hyper-aware: After clearing customs in Auckland, you enter the bustling airport café. It’s 5 a.m. local time, yet the woman who hands you a mug of coffee sings, “Here you are, lovey” with a bright-eyed smile.

A night skyline of Auckland, New Zealand inspires an author to consider the true nature of time travel adventures. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Auckland, New Zealand as seen from Devonport across the harbor.
© Joyce McGreevy

It makes you think: While you were snoozing over the South Pacific, she was catching her bus in Manukau, the dim silhouettes of suburban bungalows slowly un-fuzzing as dawn edged over Hauraki Gulf to etch steel and glass towers against the sky.

Oh, I see: Below the surface of what we experience and exchange lie the complex route maps of all our time travel adventures.

A Planet for All Seasons

In crossing the International Date Line, I’ve also crossed from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere. Like other imaginary map lines, its effects are real. As I write this in May, it’s autumn in New Zealand.

Autumn leaves at the River Avon in Christchurch, New Zealand inspire an author to consider the true nature of time travel adventures.(Image © Joyce McGreevy)

“April in Paris” celebrates spring, but in Christchurch, New Zealand,
April is the middle of autumn.
© Joyce McGreevy

Across New Zealand, forests are ablaze with autumn, their vibrant leaves glowing against snow-capped volcanic peaks. New arrivals from the Northern Hemisphere say, “Oh, the seasons are reversed.”

But are they? Or is this another example of Earth’s symmetry? As spring surges toward summer in one half, autumn yields to winter in the other half.

As Earth’s seasons perform their balancing act, we humans seek an impossible balance between defying time and deferring to it. What if we simply observed its presence and its passage?

ake Tekapo in the Mackenzie Basin, New Zealand inspires an author to consider the true nature of time travel adventures.(Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Reflecting on seasonal change at Lake Tekapo in New Zealand’s Mackenzie Basin.
© Joyce McGreevy

Imagine if your travels through a place were moment-to-moment. Imagine that, in the time it takes for the world’s fastest traveler to blaze a record-breaking trail through dozens of countries, you were still meandering along, savoring the slowly shifting here and now.

World’s Slowest Traveler?

The number of countries I’ve covered in 5 weeks plus the number I’ll visit in the next 7 add up to a grand total of (drum roll) . . . one. Over the coming weeks, I’ll share stories of New Zealand, from its staggering natural beauty to its wonderful people.

A starry sky in Castlepoint, Wairarapa, New Zealand inspires an author to consider the true nature of time travel adventures. (Image © Daniel Rood and New Zealand Tourism)

Stars seem closer to Earth in Castlepoint, Wairarapa, New Zealand.
© Daniel Rood/New Zealand Tourism

Until then, imagine that each of us was traveling on the surface of an illuminated globe. Imagine that every night we sailed through an ocean of stars, and every morning we woke up in a place of new possibilities.

Just think of all the time travel adventures we could have.

An antique clock inspires an author in New Zealand to consider the true nature of time travel. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Even clocks need to unwind sometimes.
© Joyce McGreevy

Why is New Zealand vanishing from world maps? Solve the mystery in this hilarious video featuring NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Adern, here.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy 3 Comments

Adventure Travel/Crossing Cultures/New Zealand/Secrets to Life

Apr

Healthy Recipes for Your Body and Spirit

by Meredith Mullins on April 30, 2018

A tribute to healthy eating: Spinach and polenta gratin

A Cultural Encounter with Healthy Eating

Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are—Brillat-Savarin

Our eating habits and cooking strategies often reveal something about us.

Since I find this revelation to be true for myself, I’m sharing a story about inspiration . . . and how eating and cooking patterns can be influenced after experiencing life-changing OIC moments.

Green wild herb soup with flowers, a soup for healthy eating showing a cultural encounter with healthy recipes. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Wild herb soup—made with nettle, dandelion, and wild garlic
© Meredith Mullins

A Fasting Tale

Full disclosure. I am not a cook. I am also not a particularly healthy eater, which I conveniently blame on genetics. However, twice a year I go to the Buchinger-Wilhelmi clinic in Germany for a cleansing fast. (See OIC story.)

I come away with much more than a new lightness of being (physical, mental, and spiritual), a rested digestive tract, and the joy of fasting euphoria (although those treasures alone would be worth the trip). I see my visit as a cultural encounter with good health—in the moment and for the future.

A range of vegetarian healthy recipes, showing the cultural encounter with healthy eating. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

A variety of choices for healthy eating
© Meredith Mullins

I am inspired to continue the program of healthy eating and to actually take the giant step of preparing some of the recipes that I have been shown. I also look forward to practicing some of the tips introduced in the demonstrations and lectures.

Salad with sprouts and apples, a healthy recipe from Chef Hubert Hohler at Buchinger-Wilhelmi clinic in Germany, showing a cultural encounter with healthy eating. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Sprout and apple salad—so fresh, so easy
© Meredith Mullins

First-Time Memories

I pause here to mention that the first time I came to the clinic, I was not especially embracing the idea of fasting. I updated my will before I made the journey and said goodbye to friends and family as if it were the last time I would see them. I was not convinced I would survive.

I had never fasted before, and had visions of hunger, heartburn, and hallucinations. As it turned out, I was pleasantly surprised.

Vegetable soup from chef Hubert Hohler at the Buchinger-Wilhelmi fasting clinic in Germany, a healthy recipe for fasting, showing a cultural encounter with healthy eating. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

It seems I was a natural. No hunger. No heartburn. And only a few hallucinations on the famous Day 5 of the fast (where they say one often begins to feel the fasting high).

At the clinic, it’s not just about what you are eating (or not eating). It’s about a total reset of your body so that healthy eating becomes a natural rhythm once you return to the outside world.

Chef Hubert Hoholer of Buchinger-Wilhelmi Clinic in Germany, a chef sharing healthy recipes for a cultural encounter with healthy eating. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

A Spirit Guide with Heart

A large part of that healthy food experience comes from the heart of Chef Hubert Hohler. He has been with the clinic for 25 years and brings passion, exacting standards, and joy to his job.

He also is an expert in plant-based cooking with pure organic materials, and shares his knowledge with clinic guests via twice weekly cooking demonstrations.

Pan with zucchini and rosemary, a healthy recipe from chef Hubert Hohler of the Buchinger-Wilhelmi clinic in Germany, showing a cultural encounter with healthy eating. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Chef Hohler is a good role model for clinic guests. He understands the fasting process, as he has fasted every year for the past 30 years. And, most of all, he loves to cook.

He is dedicated to creating delicious healthy organic food—the tasty broths for fasting and the vegetarian meals to lead in and out of the fast or for people who prefer just a low calorie healthy program.

chef Hubert Hohler at the Buchinger-Wilhelmi clinic in Germany, showing a cultural encounter with healthy eating. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

He visits other cultures and brings the best of those worlds to his recipes. He experiments constantly, all with a goal of increasing the health value of the food. And he knows that certain recipes, the ones that long-time guests look forward to, should remain as is. It is not necessary to make them “new.”

Soufflé with vegetables, one of the healthy recipes from Chef Hubert Hohler at the Buchinger-Wilhelmi clinic in Germany, showing a cultural encounter with healthy eating. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Five Basic Tips for Healthy Eating

Here are five tips I’ve learned at Buchinger-Wilhelmi from Chef Hohler (with a reminder that I’m not a cook, so I have much to learn.) I am happy to report that these have now become a part of my everyday healthy-eating processes.

Control oil (quantity and quality). Sauté vegetables without oil, as the natural liquid in the vegetables is sufficient. Add a touch of oil to your dish at the end to give taste. Make use of a variety of quality oils. For example, use almond oil to sweeten a bitter taste or walnut oil to add astringency to something sweet.
Use natural sweeteners rather than sugar. Ripe fruit serves as a sweetener (bananas, apples, apple juice).
Create salad dressings using blended vegetables (avocado, carrots, tomatoes) to minimize fat and calories. (Try the avocado vinaigrette in the free recipes below.)

Salad with avocado vinaigrette dressing, a healthy recipe from Chef Hubert Hohler, showing a cultural encounter with healthy eating. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

4. For soup or sauce, start with the basics: onion, potato, and a vegetable. The only difference between soup and sauce is the amount of liquid in relation to the vegetables and the fact that a soup must stand on its own, while a sauce accompanies something to complement it.

5. Use fresh herbs for seasoning rather than salt. As you think about seasoning, taste to see what you’re missing on your tongue’s taste buds (sweet, salt, bitter, sour). In other words, don’t just add salt. Be more creative. Think about what herb or spice can add the missing taste.

OIC invites you to download the special free recipes below for practical ways to use these tips.

A bouquet of wild herbs and flowers to be used in healthy recipes for a cultural encounter in healthy eating. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Beyond Tips and Recipes

In addition to the tips from Chef Hohler, his spirit of cooking organically is everpresent. He is careful about all the products he uses. He knows the producers and what processes they use. And he relies on seasonal products to ensure the freshest of ingredients.

From his time as a teenager helping to harvest his family’s asparagus crop, he has learned to appreciate the work behind products.

White asparagus in a pot, one of the healthy recipes of Chef Hubert Hohler of the Buchinger-Wilhelmi clinic in Germany, showing a cultural encounter with healthy eating. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Even though Chef Hohler had to wake up at 5 am to harvest his family’s white asparagus,
he still loves to cook with it.
© Meredith Mullins

He looks for producers who really care about what they’re doing. If something is grown with love, he feels that the love will be noticed. And, then, when the kitchen also prepares the food with love, he believes that combination is a real treasure for those who are eating.

Chef Hubert Hohler at the Buchinger-Wilhelmi clinic in Germany demonstrating healthy recipes for a cultural encounter with healthy eating. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

A Change in Everyday Rhythms

Yes, it may be difficult to watch a cooking demonstration when fasting. After all, those wonderfully fresh vegetables and fruits seem very different from the broth for dinner. And the smells from the demo seem to touch all the senses in a cruelly heightened way.

Piece of lavender cake from the healthy recipes of chef Hubert Hohler at the Buchinger-Wilhelmi clinic in Germany, showing a cultural encounter with healthy eating. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

But what this theatre of food preparation is actually doing is providing a look into the future. This is what I’ll be doing when I leave Buchinger-Wilhelmi (albeit not in quite as nice a kitchen).

The sights and sounds and smells have found a way to some deeper place. This cultural encounter with healthy eating will now be a part of my everyday rhythm.

Ready for some easy-to-make, delicious, healthy food? OIC offers this free download of favorite recipes for healthy eating from Chef Hubert Hohler.

Thank you to the Buchinger-Wilhelmi Clinic for this inspiration for healthy eating.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 6 Comments

Cultural Encounters/Germany

World Views:

Topics

Category Archives: Different Cultures

Ten Fun Facts About Chocolate

Cultural Traditions of a World Favorite: The Cocoa Bean

Time Travel Adventures