MOCHI zips around Braunschweig

• MOCHI at the Apfeltag (28 Sep '25, Magnikircheplatz, hand-pushed, 3.4km, 1h)

Apfeltag was the first time MOCHI went out to explore the city streets. With MOCHI, we rolled out from Nord Campus and followed the Ringgleis to Spielkombination Drachenland, then kept going south past the main campus of TU Braunschweig, the Oker River, and the Staatstheater, before rattling over the stone-paved streets into the old town and arriving at Magnikircheplatz for Apfeltag. Along the way, MOCHI made plenty of stops, snapping photos everywhere—from streets to buildings—which explains why we arrived an hour later than planned. Luckily, MOCHI and the button machine were a big hit, especially with the kids, who climbed and played on MOCHI with boundless creativity. When the button-making materials were used up, we pushed MOCHI all the way back along the same route—this time in just an hour.

• MOCHI at the Botnikjubiläum (04 Oct '25, Botnik, hand-pushed, 0.5km, 15min)

Urbane Botnik is close to the Nordcampus — it took only 15 minutes to bring MOCHI there. The real challenge was getting MOCHI inside: even though we were confident about MOCHI’s new wheels, the soft, rain-soaked ground trapped it again and again. MOCHI wore its raincoat for the first time and offered some shelter for everyone. Standing under MOCHI’s transparent roof and looking up at the sky, it felt like being underwater. After an afternoon with a garden tour, cakes, music, and an open fire, MOCHI finally served a warm meal and a pot of aromatic herbal tea in the cold, dark evening. MOCHI stayed overnight at the Botnik, and we picked it up the next morning.

• MOCHI at the Kartoffelfest (11 Oct '25, Stadtgarten Bebelhof, truck-carried)

Maybe MOCHI was worried about getting carsick, but since the distance was too far, we decided to transport it by truck — with kind help from Dietmar and his colleagues — to Stadtgarten for Kartoffelfest. As usual, the button machine was a big hit with the kids. We also cooked two Chinese dishes featuring potatoes: potato braised rice and Boboji. The two empty pots at the end said it all — people enjoyed them a lot, even though the Boboji were a bit too spicy for most people. On top of that, our question poster collected lots of sticky-note answers from participants.

MOCHI is very grateful for the help from all the kind people at these three events — special thanks to Mingyan, Jannik, and Manjitha, Birgit, Saskia, and Kristin from Opencultures, Ute from Nachhaltigkeitszentrum, Marie and other members from Urbane Botnik, Britta from Ernährungsrat Braunschweig & Braunschweiger Land e.V., and Florian from Stadtgarten, and to the lovely Yiwen for all the beautiful photos.