Name： Hans Koller
Nationality： German
Occupation： Expert for HydrogeologyTime in China： 7 yearsHe is a doctor， an expert in hydro-geologyfrom Bavaria， Germany， but you can’t helpthinking he looks like a farmer. He is called“Doctor Garbage” because he is keen on collectingChinese “junk”。 He is Hans Koller.
246 “Cola Man Hans， 56 years old， a doctor and an expert in hydro-geologyfrom Bavaria， Germany， looks like a character from an old filmwith his goatee.
A few years ago， Hans， who has never liked to dress up formally，but on a business suit and came to Jinan City in ShandongProvince to join an aid program， helping find water sources and digfor wells in drought-prone areas in the countryside. He was called“Doctor Garbage” by his colleagues. At first this struck us as veryawkward， but later we learned that he was called this because he iskeen on collecting Chinese “junk”。 He regards all this junk as treasure.
We discovered upon entering his home that every corner waspiled with junk. Although there was nothing costly in his home， theroom was filled with containers， and looked like a storeroom.
It seems that Han’s collection includes almost every type ofjunk. He has collected second-hand photo frames， wooden humanimages， used scrolls， waste copper coins， bamboo rods， zippers，iron locks， etc， and he even once had a human skeleton. Hanspicked up a plastic statue of a seated Chairman Mao from a demolishedbuilding in a residential area. Hans regards this statue asa treasure; the statue was very dirty， and Hans told me later， quiteproudly， that he had taken a bath with Chairman Mao.
I was quite proud of myself for giving Hans Koller the nickname“Cola man”。 In my opinion， this name was perfectly suited to this cheerful man who rejected rank and fashion.
The German HNK Hydro-geology Co. is situated inside theHydro-geology Center of Jinan City. Hans， who usually wears flipflopsand rides a bicycle， became a famous foreigner in that area.
No matter where he went， there were always people who touchedhis shoulder and greeted him.
Hans’ frugality doesn’t seem very “German”。 At first， he wasnot fond of drinking and only drank a little， running only the firstleg of the “beer marathon”； furthermore， he can’t stay up too lateat night; when his German colleagues were just starting their nightlife， he was already fast sleep.
“How strange！ Right when things are getting exciting， thisGerman has already fallen asleep.” Many Chinese guests werequite puzzled by his behavior.
But no matter how loud the music is， or how noisy the partyis， Hans’ sweet dreams are never disturbed.
Hans usually gives others the impression that he is a farmer.
With his red face and thin goatee， nothing about him is “upright or “finely-cut”， and he has no air of the expert. At first， when Iheard people calling him Doctor Koller， I was always in a daze.
However， my first impression disappeared so quickly： while en28 joying tea， I chatted with Hans about Zen and Salvador Dali; hewas so sensitive to musical instrument that he knew when a toneplayed on the violin decreased by half a beat or increased by half abeat. Sometimes he clapped big earphones on and wagged his headmerrily， enjoying his job and the music of Mozart and Bach at thesame time. Hans had a camera which looked like a machine-gun.
The picture of a lotus he took with this camera would immediatelyremind people of the poem by Yu Guangzhong， “I’d like to stay，to accompany the lotus， to keep this small and boundless universe，and to keep this mystery.” Hans， who hides himself under a peasant’scoat， was actually brought up amid culture; however he iswise enough not to dress himself up as a civilized man， and simplydisplays his peasant characteristics under the sunshine.
Hans has such a passion for China that while he’s here hefeels he’s at home.
While working in the countryside of Mengyin County， Hansfully tasted the attractiveness of Chinese food at his first dinner.
He commandeered an entire chicken himself， with the result thathe was still digesting the chicken at noon the next day （in fact， hewas absent from the next two meals because of indigestion）。 Overthe next few days， he kept going out into the sunshine during lunchtime; it seemed he did not need food to replenish him with energy，and to recharge from the sunshine was enough for him. Whilehe stretched his hands under the sunshine， we were just comingback from eating and drinking. Then， full of energy， he re-joinedour group which was occupied with liquor; however， it was we，replenished with food， who had become lazy. We became quite accustomedto his “sun bathing” and now no one felt it was strangewhen Hans went absent during lunch time.
On our way to the open country， Hans always shrank into theback seat， where we kept the baggage， curling into the shape of abag and sleeping the whole way while his Chinese colleagues satnormally in the regular seats. Hans told us that he had once riddena jeep holding around 20 people when he was in India， of coursesome of the passengers sat on the top of the jeep. He seemed quitehappy with his experience and gave no sense that he had enduredhardship.
Hans resembles a person living in the 19th century： he ig nores the existence of electronics， but is keen on mechanics andhandiwork; his hands are scarred by labor， and the latest fashionsare completely alien to him. He once appeared in an outdated imagewith a pocket watch， a worn straw hat， and a pair of squaretoedshoes， quite out of touch with the reds and greens of moderncivilization. The regard that people have for German experts isquite wasted on him. He was born to reject special treatment. Hispenchant for rejecting formal situations became so strong that hewas incompatible with the typical German who emphasized forms.
Hans made me feel as though he were just muddling along amonghis German colleagues， and I later understood that his “meticulousnesschip” was typically German-made.