O du wunderschöner Herbst - life in German and Austria thread

[admylin]

It is a wunderschöner Herbst at the moment isn't it. Lovely sunny bright blue sky with a chill in the air. Shame we're stuck in the house, ds has a flu like virus so the balcony is as far as we'll get.

Morning all!
It does feel colder suddenly...sigh. California sounds great now, admylin!

any news on the incident westvan? It is very worrying.

Yes to healthcare being better here, so far. DH had a sports injury 3 yrs ago in the UK, GP took one look at knee (no xray, nothing) told him to get a private physio (who gave him exercises that made him nearly faint from pain). He is getting it sorted here now, but it was the attitude of not investigating at all that was weird. But on the other hand, I have sometimes felt it was a bit much. I spent the first 6 months of pregnancy with DC1 in Berlin, and had monthly check ups with scans and internal examinations every time. urgh. I much preferred the UK experiences of nothing being done unless necessary. But of course, my preference not to be examined is a different matter to what is medically necessary and safer. Plus my pregnancies were totally uncomplicated and straightforward (complicated births made up for it though).

The comment on wearing so many layers made me laugh...we have that constant little battle here. BUT there was a study recently that showed that wearing warm clothes etc did help prevent illnesses. I must dig it out and have a careful look at it as I refuse to believe the evidence.

Linzer- never noticed the Cafe in M and S - thanks for telling me where to find it. We were going to go to Bratislava this weekend but all felt a bit rotten so postponed. My course goes on till Xmas. But this week is not too bad, I am sitting the ÖSD C1 Exam on Friday and Saturday so am only going to the course from today and tomorrow.

Speaking of, must go. Have to be at the course at 8am, and drop off DC before that. Have a happy monday all and a good start to the week!

Wow bananas you were up and on the computer early this morning! i was supposed to be up and at my german course but dd is poorly - full of a rotten stinky cold! so no german for me this morning! but need to go food shopping so will have to drag her out!

maybe she's got the cold cause i dont wrap my kids up enough!! they do have a few layers on and scarfs/hats when its cold enough but i dont do the weird neckerchief things that seem really popular here when its a wee bit cold but not cold enough for scarfs!! maybe thats where i'm going wrong!

bananas - i'm impressed your doing your C1 exam. Thats kind of where i'm working too - its only at B2 level at the moment but after xmas goes towards C1 - will be interested to see how u get on!

glad i'm not the only one who sees the really good side of healthcare here! didnt know the thing about people not taking paracetamol tho - my dh and his family take them at the drop of a hat! we bring them back from the UK every time - they are so expensive here! like you said bananas healthcare is just a bit more proactive here and although it feels like too many investigations at times they will try to get to the bottom of a problem.

well better go and do the food shopping - and they've got snowboots for dd's big feet in aldi this morning but maybe since its 9am already they'll all be gone! wish me luck!

Morning. Canella, we're Aldi nord here and I find their special offer stuff not half as good as the sud chain, those boots look good. Hope you get some.

Can't you leave dd tucked up with a blanket and dvd or does she not like to stay alone? Ds started with earache on Friday night, thought we'd have to get a dovtor at the weekend but thank goodness it cleared up with home remedies!

Yesterday I was so frustrated again about maths. Dd is doing percentages and I had to go back online and search for the rules for myself so I could check she was doing it right. Honestly, it's basic stuff but I've forgotten it all. And thank goodness ds seems to manage without help as I don't get a thing that he's on in maths.

Linzer, did you get snow yet? My parents have snow covered hills back in UK. No sign of the cursed stuff in Hannover yet though.

No snow here yet, admylin - it's been forecast for the end of the week, so at least DH will be back by then and can clear any snow off my car while I'm getting the DC up. The school run is stressful enough in the mornings as it is without having to allow extra time for snow!

bananas, I must admit I liked having a scan at every check-up; I found it quite reassuring. DD1 was born in the USA and I only had one scan throughout the entire pregnancy, which didn't feel like enough somehow! (I'd already had a couple of ultrasounds in the first trimester in Germany, but wouldn't have had any more than one in the USA even if we'd moved over earlier.)

DH also claims that being cold makes you more susceptible to illness. On that basis, I should be constantly ill as I'm always cold! Quite a few years ago, I read about a study where they proved that wasn't the case... but of course that's only one study, so hardly conclusive. I like to believe it (and quote it at DH) though!

Sorry to hear about your DD, Canella; hope she's feeling better soon. Our neighbours' DC always have those neckerchiefs on (they have about 20 layers on when they come over to visit us as soon as it drops below about 15 degrees, despite the fact that we're only next door) but somehow they're ill far more often than our DC.

Have just had a text from DH to say that he's arrived in Berlin safely. He's at a conference in Dahlem, which I don't think is very likely to be a terrorist target! However, he hasn't told his parents that he's in Berlin this week as his mother is even more of a worrier than I am.

Wonder if he noticed higher security and more police than usual Linzer. I'm booking dh's stay in Berlin now and he's going by train to the Hauptbahnhof. Must remind him not to go to any busy Christmas markets (not that he would, he hates cold and doesn't 'get' the Christmas market thing!) but his ex-boss who he is going to to be working for loves it and will be wanting to drag them out for drinks here and there.

Yes, all dd's friends wear those palestine scarf/cloths round their neck and already thick coats, winter boots and gloves. Ds tells me how many layers some of his school friends wear, they seem to be on 4 layers at the moment so I guess they'll be in 5 or 6 when it gets really cold then!

I have a dilema. Had an email from home saying please, please come and make our Christmas nice, we'll have a lovely time. The strangest thing is it was written by my dad, he never writes. They heard that we aren't flying to Dubai and have missed most good offers for the holiday time. Now I don't want to sound mean but the dc used to say oh yes, we'd love to go to the grandparents place but now they just said they must be joking. How do I get out of this one?

Westvan update us on the school situation when your boys get back from school. Have you spoken to any of the other parents?

DH had a text from a German colleague yesterday to say that a friend of his at the Auswärtiges Amt told him that the situation is safe (am a bit sceptical about whether they can really know) but to allow extra time for security checks while travelling. We flew back to Europe from the USA when they were on orange alert, and I found it quite frightening - lots of policemen carrying huge machine guns all over the airport. Have just remembered that DH will be at a workshop near to Friedrichstrasse on his last day, but I'm still not overly worried - the likelihood of anything happen is so remote. When will your DH be going to Berlin, admylin?

Have you definitely decided not to go back to your parents' for Christmas? I must admit I would feel quite guilty if we didn't go, especially if my parents had written to invite us, but if you really don't want to go could you tell them that you've already made plans with friends in Germany? We didn't go back at Christmas a couple of years ago but went at Easter instead, so my parents were OK about it.

I asked my parents whether they could look after the DC if we went to London for a couple of days (one night) and they said that was fine, so we've just booked a hotel. It cost a bit more than we were planning on spending, but a lot of the hotels we looked at were fully booked - we originally booked with a cheaper one but it had really bad reviews on tripadvisor, so we cancelled and went for another one instead.

You're so organised Linzer! Great that you will get a couple of days in London too. Will you be going by train or driving? Have also been looking at hotels at the weekend for London but as you say, the nice ones are quite expensive and I want something central not too far out as I don't find the idea of spending half an hour on teh London underground every day as very exciting (or 100% safe).

I know, the invitation came as a surprise though, it sounds bad not to accept but last time we wete there we had some problems and they weren't exactly loving grandparents to ds - they don't like boys but ds is so quiet and not looking for trouble at all but he still got shouted at. They never praise him, he reads books at a much more advanced level than his age group and all I got from them was don't you think it's bad for him to read that. Dd who is a moody hormonal creature sometimes, could do no wrong. Anyhow, you might get the feeling!

Forgot to say, dh is going from 5th to 20th of December to Berlin to finish a project with his old group (to get a couple of more publications) and I guess he'll speak about the job possibility, his ex-boss has suggested dh for a job in a new lab as leader.
Don't know what to think about that really!

PLan wa sto come back from Berlin, dc break up on 22nd then fly somewhere to relax. Still not decided...

I don't think I'm that organised - I should have asked my parents/started looking at hotels when DH first said he'd like to go to London at Christmas, which must have been a couple of months ago. We really wanted to stay in the Marylebone area, but couldn't find anything there so have booked a hotel near to Euston now - which is where our train gets in, so it's quite convenient I suppose. I think the train is probably the cheaper and easier option (remind me of that if I come back to complain about the horrors of rail travel in the UK!), as we won't have the use of a car over there.

I do know what you mean about visiting your parents; I've usually had enough after two or three days (and I think they have too)! Mealtimes are a nightmare as the DC don't sit in silence and eat (we get lots of comments about how DD1 has always been a poor eater), it's clear they think we don't discipline the DC enough, etc etc. OTOH the DC love going there and it is nice to see my parents; it's just a shame we can't go over just for a weekend!

So you'll know more about the job in Berlin by the end of the year? The DC would love to go back to Berlin; DS is still fascinated by the Fernsehturm and DD2's answer to "Mein schönstes Erlebnis" in the friendship books she keeps bringing home from school is our trip to Berlin in June.

Wondering if we should go to Berlin in the holidays, or just some nice hotel in the south of Germany or even Austria! It looks more and more as if we're going to miss out though!

I was just going to get ready to go out for a quick walk to the shops but have turned back as it's too cold. I can't get warmed up today, freezing cold feet too and that's although I've done all the ironing. Just turned the heating up in the kitchen so it's nice and warm when I go in later to get lunch going. I am so glad we can heat this place, often read about people on here who can't afford to keep their houses warm. Maybe that's one advantage of a flat rather than a big house. I grew up with ice on the inside of the windows as a child, no central heating, getting dressed downstairs infront of the gas fire for school and electric blankets on the beds.

What about Vienna? Shame we won't be around; we could have met up otherwise! It would be busy, but there are lots of Christmas markets to go to, ice skating at the Rathausplatz if you're into that kind of thing, nice coffee houses, etc.

Another thing that puts me off going to my parents' at Christmas is their unwillingness to turn the heating on unless it's absolutely freezing - and even then, they only ever used to put it on in the evening. Having said that, they are getting better and will actually put it on in the mornings for an hour or so now - I always used to be able to see my breath when I had a shower!

It has just started to snow here in the last half an hour. It hasn t started to settle yet, but it is cold enough that it probably will later. I remember being a student and my friend had a room with an icicle in her room for a few weeks over winter. My clothes used to steam as I held them in front of the fire before putting them on.

I d just tell your parents that you ve already made other arrangements. Do you think your dad realises he was unfair to ds and this is his way of making amends.

Apologies for the lack of puntuation. Our keyboard is broken and I m on dhs laptop and cant find some of the keys.

Lol, freezing cold bathrooms same at my parents' place but absoloutly boiling hot like a sauna in the evening in the living room so you have to sit in your t-shirt.

We really must discuss it again, where to go and what to do for Christmas. Dh has to try and switch off for a few days and relax. He's working 7/7 days at the moment. I always fancied Vienna. Still would like London for a few days. Last night I found an offer for 4 nights with flights included for around 2000? - does that sound like a good deal? I know I could do it alot cheaper at other times of year which is what puts us off abit. Is it worth the money?

A new idea just came into my head, we just get the 2000? and really treat ourselves here, nice shopping, a few meals out, treat the dc...? Just have to hide dh's lab keys and his mobile!

Hi hupa, the first snow! Do you have to clear it outside your house when it does settle? Here there is a hausmeister but out garage is down a slope and I'm sure he won'thav eit cleared all teh time. As soon as ice sets in our car will be really difficult to get in and out (difficult enough as it is, very limited space).

Yes he probably does realise. I will go over to see them for a week in the first load of school holidays next year. Just don't feel like being jolly with them all Christmas. They won't accept that they favouritise dd but it's painful when you see it happen.

admylin I think for Christmas that price is probably to be expected, but as you say you could do it for much cheaper later in the year. You have to also factor in the cost of eating out while you are away. London is not cheap and I´m always amazed at how much we get through, although I think stopping for coffee and cake every couple of hours is our downfall. We are still thinking of going in first week in January, but hopefully we can stay with friends and reduce the costs.

Luckily we have someone who clears the snow for us. Its someone local who has mini snowplough, so doesn t take him long and we get to stay in the warm.

hupa - you have officially the first snow of our MN thread! i think its headed our way tomorrow! and ds2 is at his GP's only 90 mins from here and they've got a snow drift this morning!

well was at aldi at 9.15 and no fecking boots for dd! grrrr this shopping mania in germany drives me mad sometimes! they werent anything exciting even - just plain black snow boots! guess i'll have to look in a proper shoe shop for some for her! dd would have been happy on her own with the tv on but its a good 15 - 20 min drive to the shops and thought that was a bit long to leave her when she's not well! but i promise she had loads of layers on and didnt take any of them off!

well need to go and sort out the pond - we cleaned it out yesterday but ran out of time to fill it before it got dark! we get water from the neighbours bore hole but i felt bad asking him since its absolutely peeing down outside! but the poor fish have been in a bucket since last night and could do with getting back! (was kind of hoping they would all die and we could fill in the pond but sadly they all lived!) not enthused about going out in the freezing rain to sort this!

Someone do a nice winter thread title now that we've had official snowfall! Autumn is well and truely over.

What happens to the fish all winter Canella? Is it deep enough not to freeze solid?

Canella - rather you than me in this weather

This Regenradar is always useful to see how much rain or snow is on the way. The link on that page to the Unwetterwarnungen is also good.

What about "leise rieselt der Schnee" for the winter thread title? It was the first - OK, the only - thing that sprang to mind! Or have you had it before? It sounds strangely familiar.

2000 euros does sound very expensive for 4 nights in London admylin; just think how you could treat yourselves if you stayed in Germany! It all depends on what the hotel is like - it would have to be quite a good one to be worth it. We're paying £110 a night for what sounds like a nice but not luxurious hotel; if that's what you're after, I'd have thought you could find two rooms for about double that, which means you're paying ?1200 euros for flights (we could fly to London at Christmas for around ?200 per person). I'm also assuming the ?2000 just covers b&b and flights. Like hupa says, the costs of eating out really add up (not to mention public transport, admission fees, etc.) so you'd probably be looking at well over ?2000 in the end.

How annoying about the boots, Canella; I find shopping at Lidl/Aldi for special offers quite a stressful experience, even if I manage to get what I was after! We managed to get some winter boots for DD1 at Deichmann at the weekend (?30, so not too bad), but they didn't have any in DD2's size so we'll have to carry on looking for her.

We haven't had that one yet I don't think Linzer, leise rieselt der Schnee sounds good!

I'm freezing and I am going to have to go out soon, don't fancy it but I need something from the shops, although wonder if I could bribe the dc to go. They're sat at their desks working now though.

will keep that link on my favourites hupa - i like to know what weather is coming! ta!

admylin - we moved here in March 2009 and after that winter lots of the bigger fish died in the pond - think the air thing they had wasnt sufficient!

but last winter despite the shocking snow the rest all seemed to survive (their just big goldfish)- we've got a fountain that runs the whole winter and that seems to give them enough air! but i hate the whole palaver about the pond - spent a lot of yesterday in it with frogs clambering round about me and my hands cold and wet trying to pull out the dead plants! wont be buying any more fish when these ones eventually die!

admylin - did you brave the cold?

new thread here