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.

Just saw this thread for the first time- I just moved to Cologne a month ago! Still miss home a lot but it gets better.

Spending money a lot at the moment because it feels like monopoly money or something

Thanks Linz!

Morning all. Welcome to the new comers too - it's been quiet on here lately. I've never been to Cologne and Frankfurt (although did saty in Nied near Frankfurt once and Mannheim). Are you planning on staying long?

Linzer, dd had low iron in Berlin and she had headaches and was tired alot. I realised that she wasn't eating enough meat as I'm vegetarian and I was just giving the dc what I ate. I think she might be a bit low at the moment. We got the passport photos done and she looked ill on hers with black rings under her eyes, ds didn't look much better. How do you get those rosey cheeked healthy looking dc again?

Good morning, and hi to battyralphie and OnceUponA. We used to go to Frankfurt sometimes when we lived in Mannheim (the M&S there was a big attraction; I think it closed about the same time as we left Germany) - I know the Taunus area too as I went there a couple of times on the school exchange. I don't know Cologne quite as well (have just spent a couple of weekends there), but it's also a nice area from what I can remember.

I didn't realise you were vegetarian too, admylin - do your DC eat much meat? I've no idea how to cook it (I've been vegetarian since I was 14) so can just about stretch to putting fishfingers and chicken nuggets in the oven, but not much else. Having said that, my new slow cooker is great - I tried it out for the first time yesterday. I just had to put some chicken breast fillets in (plus pasta sauce and veg) and they cooked without me having to do anything to them. What's more, the DC ate all their dinner without complaining - I can't remember the last time that happened!

Wrt looking ill on passport photos, maybe it's the colouring - yours are both dark haired with pale skin, aren't they? I've always been very pale (even before I was vegetarian) and often used to get people asking me whether I ill when I was younger (they're probably just too polite to do so now!). Goodness knows how I've managed to end up with two out of the three being blonde; I thought the gene for dark hair would be dominant but obviously not in our case. I think it's easier to look pale and wan when you have dark hair!

Yes you could be right about the pale skin. My 2 got their dark brown hair from their dad as my side of the family has a lot of ginger and blonde. But they have very pale skin. If they went in the sun for a few hours they get tanned very quickly and never burn. I think they should get more fresh air and sunlight though. They seem to spend such a long time studying at their desks that the outside activities get pushed down to a minimum.

I cook meat because dh eats it but I do really easy chuck-everything-in-pressure-cooker curries! I've got a Sauerbraten sitting in the fridge waiting to be cooked today, hope it works. Decided to try some German style food this week so we've also got Linsen und Spätzle on the menu.

I've got proof reading work waiting but it's the most boring document ever - about data analysis and methods. How I am going to get through it I do not know.

yes my dh is German so I guess we are staying more or less for ever. Ive been here for 12 years now. In our BC (before children ) days we used to go to the Cologne carnival every year which was really great.

On the iron topic, have you thought of a supplement? I was recently pregnant and hat Floradix for low iron levels. Very good as they didnt upset my stomach like some iron supplements have done in the past.

Yes, I've been taking ferrous sulphate tablets for about 15 years (ever since I was diagnosed with anaemia) - I've been taking one a day to stop the anaemia returning, but the doctor has recommended I start taking two a day to get my iron levels back up.

There must be a great atmosphere at the Cologne carnival. I must admit I've never really been able to get into Fasching here; the DC love going to watch the procession, but that's mainly because of all the sweets that get thrown out of the trailers.

Did you get your proofreading done in the end, admylin? It's strange how I can find almost any text interesting if I'm translating it, but not necessarily if I'm proofreading it. I do quite a lot of proofreading for DH, which is rarely very exciting - and even worse, I can't charge him for it...

Welcome to all the new people. I´m in North Hessen, but we only venture to Frankfurt about once a year to meet dh´s cousin.
Dh´s sister lives in Köln and I think it´s a great city. We managed to do the carnival once before having the dc and it was a fantastic atmosphere.

admylin - I´m impressed with the German cooking. I must admit I´m pretty rubbish in the kitchen and tend to find tradtional German food a bit heavy. Dh luckily has a patient who invites us once a month for food and cooks us something tradtional. Actually it only lucky for dh because it´s usually something like gefülltes Kraut oder Schwarzwurzel which I find revolting.
Any more news on your mil?

Yes, profreading finished now, it was very dull! Ever heard of wavelets and stationarity methods of measuring signals?!

The Sauerbraten was disgusting. I cooked it according to instructions (online reasearch) but it won't be on our menu again soon! I'll still try the linsen and spatzle recipe but if that's a flop then it's back to good old English style or Indian.

Yes, mil is in treatment. My BIL is a doctor in another city but he's moved down to get the therapy started. To top it all she has TB aswell which isn't uncommon over there.

I'm off to make muffins for dd to take to school tomorrow. We're coming up to half term at the end of the week so they are doing a relaxed music lesson with songs and cake. On Friday, much to their disgust, the dc all have to Spring/Autumn clean the whole school!

Sorry the Sauerbraten didn´t work out. It´s always really annoying to make an effort and then it doesn´t taste good.
Your poor mil - lung cancer is bad enough without TB to complicate matters further.

Is the cleaning the school something particualr to the school or is it quite common? I´ve never heard of it here.

admylin : imo Sauerbraten is always disgusting so unlikely that it was your fault.

Have never made Schwarzwurzel but do actually quite like them. My SIL told me that they were difficult to cook because if you do it wrong they go all black, which sort of put me off. Is that right? How do you make Schwarzwurzel.

I´ve only ever eaten them once when they were cooked for us. All I can say is that they tasted as if they had been boiled to death and then coated in a salty glutinous grey sauce. They were really disgusting, but I imagine there must be ways of cooking them that make them more edible.

I hadn't heard of Sauerbraten before but have just googled it and discovered it's considered to be Germany's national dish. I don't think I'll be in a rush to try it after what you said about it though, admylin. Indian is one of our favourites too; otherwise I tend to stick to British recipes. I made the MN recipe of the week today - baked hake, which the DC seemed to like. Whether it was actually hake is another matter, however; the only type of frozen fish you can get here apart from salmon is Dorsch. Have just looked it up and it's apparently cod, although I always thought cod was Kabeljau.

Must admit I've never come across the word stationarity before either. It must be a relief to have that job out of the way. Work is so quiet at the moment; I'm wondering whether I ought to look for some more - on the other hand, it could be the calm before the storm.

Right, must find out where DD1 is hiding - I've been trying to get her to do her piano practice for a few hours, but she keeps coming up with excuses to delay it. ... She's just appeared with a mandarin, and has promised faithfully that she will do her practice as soon as she has finished eating it. In the meantime, DS and his two friends have appeared downstairs and she'll probably claim it is too loud for her to concentrate.

That sounds familiar - my 2 are so good at thinking up excuses I once told them to write a book and try to get it published! '100 ways to get out of anything your parents ask you to do'

Well, my first round of muffins are good and the second round have done the annoying flatten out instead of rise trick! Oh well, they'll taste good.

I've had Schwarzwurzel veg, I think it was tinned or in a glas. Was OK but I like most veg. Ds is into okra at the moment. Chopped up and fried with onion and garlic and cumin.

We can't get anything as exotic as okra here. I have noticed butternut squash starting to appear though; DH found it quite amusing that it's called Butternusskürbis. Cumin is another thing I have to stock up on in the UK; I asked my MIL where I could buy it, but she'd never heard of Kreuzkümmel.

I think it would probably take less time to list all the food I can buy here.

Well, the dc have left for school - dd with a big bowl full of muffins and ds to face his first geometry test. We live just under a 10 minute walk to the school door and I've just noticed that lots of dc got in the bus (bus stop next to our house). I would never think to use a bus for such a short distance.

I have also just noticed the missing Y in the title for Germany, and I don't suppose it's correctable is it? BAd marks for me. Roll on the winter thread so we can get rid of it!

If the weather in Germany is anything like it is here, it won't be too long before we need a winter thread. It's raining quite heavily here this morning; DD1's class were supposed to be going on their Wandertag today (postponed from last week due to the weather), but I can't see it happening somehow.

We're also a 10 minute walk from school, but I usually drive DS to Kindergarten first (we don't manage to get up early enough to walk) and the DDs walk from there, which also takes about 10 minutes. I was fully expecting to take them in the car today, but DD1 insisted on walking with her friends - I did drive DD2 though, as the rain was quite heavy.

It looks like I won't get out of today's English lesson if the Wandertag is cancelled, but I don't mind too much - as long as the teacher gives me handouts etc that she wants the children to do, it doesn't involve too much preparation.

canella - Saw your thread about your DD's English lessons, but didn't feel like I had anything useful to add as I think it's good for DD1 to take part in English at school - it's a different situation though, as your DD's English must be much better. DD1 only lived in an English-speaking country until she was 15 months and her English spelling is atrocious, so I think she needs all the help she can get! Not that they're doing much writing at the moment, but she's not always the quickest/first to volunteer with her answers either. There are two very competitive boys in her class who have been going to English lessons since they were 3, and they're always the first to put their hands up - DD1 prefers to stay in the background. I've also noticed when I've been in the English lesson that there are quite a few gaps in her English that wouldn't be there if she was growing up in the UK. I think I should really encourage her to read more in English (DD2 is much more interested in reading and her English spelling is far better), but it's hard when she's not that keen - v. impressed at your DD being able to read Harry Potter, canella; we're some way off that level!

Can I just scream

and

moan
about

the permit system here

aaaaaaaaaaaaaa
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
gggggggggggggg
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

thank you
I feel a bit better now

Are you still having problems, Cinders? Has the solicitor been any help?

What's a permit system?

I've booked the car in for TÜV etc - should I get the winterreifen put on already? What do you think? It's not going to be really frosty for a month is it?

Didn't see canella's thread, will look for it. My dd is abit like your dd Linzer. She can't spell and she doesn't enjoy reading. Ds is teh opposite - he'll read in either language and he reads alot. He's just read The Alchemist from my shelf as he ran outof decent books.

We're getting our tyres changed next weekend, although I don't think the cut-off date is until November. It's definitely getting colder here, but not really wintery/frosty yet (just cold, wet and miserable). I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get your tyres changed at the same time if your car is going to be in the garage anyway - I kept my winter tyres on my old car all year round as DH thought the car would probably outlive the tyres (he was right) so there was no point in changing them.

I'm very impressed at the books all your DC are reading - DD1 will read German books (not anything very advanced, but it's definitely progress) but rarely picks up a book in English of her own accord. She likes reading her Horrid Henry book while listening to the CD, but that's about as far as it goes - still, that's better than nothing I suppose.

Linzer, I can reccomend the Diary of a wimpy kid (Greggs Tagebuch) for your dd1. Those books got dd reading and she has 3 in German and 1 in English.

I think I'll get the Winterreifen change over done then. Might as well get it over with!

Thanks, admylin - it's got very good reviews on Amazon so I'll add it to my next order!

Have a look at Die Rottentodds too - very easy reading and pictures too but I've never seen dd read so quick and then rush out to buy book 2!

wow this thread has been busy! admylin thanks for posting on my other thread - just wanted some perspective on it from other bilingual parents! promise i wont push her too hard since it sounds like she'll get the stuffing knocked out of her at the gymnasium!
linzer - it realy is a different situation for my dd compared to my ds2 - she was in year 3 in the UK when we left so had had nearly 4 years of UK education! but she is also a proper bookworm - before we left the UK (she was only 7)we would go to the library every 3 weeks and she's borrow 6 books each time and have them read! she's not quite as bookwormy in german but its getting there! so you can see why counting to 20 for a whole lesson drives her mad! doubt ds's will be so bothered!

was thinking of your iron levels this morn - do you take a vit C tablet - thats supposed to help iron absorption?

grr - winter tyres again!! doesnt seem like a minute since i had them changed over to summer ones!

well better get off MN - too much house work to do!

welcome to the newcomers - the more the merrier!