Lizzy Karp grew a great appreciation for German expressions as an English student at the University of Toronto.
“German words are so impactful in modern stories… especially fairy tales and children’s lit and there’re a lot of concepts we take for granted, like schadenfreude, being joyful about someone’s misfortunes,” she said.
Now the producer of the Rain City Chronicles series has joined forces with edible pop-up producer Ken Tsui and German sausage purveyors in Chinatown, Bestie, for a storytelling and supper event called Das Lexikon at the Vancouver Alpen Club, March 22.
“I’m really interested in historic and under-used spaces in the city. I’ve always been obsessed with the Alpen Club,” Karp said. “It feels like a time capsule. There are lots of collections of German books and photos and other antiques throughout the space and you don’t feel like you’re in Vancouver at all.”
Karp unearthed intriguing German words to inspire “meaty” tales from a roster of nine storytellers.
“Like katzenjammer, which is a really bad hangover or a general state of depression and it is actually translated into a cat’s wail,” she said. “[And] kummerspeck, which translates directly to guilt bacon or the guilt that you feel after stress eating.”
The immersive experience builds upon Rain City’s previous two Tales from Public School events — one at Strathcona elementary, the other at Templeton secondary in November — that included meals and quizzes in their cafeterias.
Bestie’s chef Colin Johnson will serve meat and veggie bratwurst and Black Forest cupcakes, and the Alpen Club will sling German beer while new connections are made.
“Rain City Chronicles, we’re all about diving into and exposing different communities in the city,” Karp said.
Web entrepreneur Boris Mann will share his experiences of growing up as the son of German immigrants in Vancouver, writer and storyteller Wong Wing-Sui will share a fight story, actor-turned-storyteller Melanie Ray will talk about a haunted house she once lived in the Fairview neighbourhood, and writer Jenn Farrell will take the meaning of torshlusspanik, or the fear of growing older, to a dark place.
Other storytellers include comedian Paul Bae, writer Ryan Knighton and musician Colin Cowan. Stories will be served with a side of German drinking songs played by a Bavarian-style “oompah band” and a selection of Krautrock.
Das Lexikon starts at 6:30 p.m. at 4875 Victoria Dr. For more information, see raincitychronicles.com.
