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.

Hmm, bananas, hope the weather is good over the weekend and you can get out for a while. Maybe the fresh air will do dd good if she's wrapped up? Although in Austria it's probably a no no to even think of giving a sick child fresh air (from the draft=flu theory)

My pressure cooker broke last week so I was cooking a beef curry for lunch (that usually takes 25 minutes) but it wasn't ready as I'd forgotten how long it takes in a normal pan so ds had 2 slices of cheese on toast and dd had grießbrei which is classed as a hot meal for lunch in Hort so I don't feel guilty! The curry will be ready for tonight.

Just sorted ds's drawers out and half of his socks have gone out. He now has a shoe size more than me! Have to go and look for socks (and t-shirts for dd) this afternoon when I've dropped ds off at his table tennis club.

Wow, 7:30 is early isn't it Linzer? How long would the train journey be? So glad we don't have the hassle of bus and train aswell as the early starts.

Admylin, I have not lived there but I have spent a lot of time out there on a regular basis.

Hi Linzer, one of the organisations I work with holds its european meetings in salzburg. I go for every two months and love it!

If your DH can knows if its possible/easy to get a prepaid sim that would be great [happy]. I tried looking online but my german wasn't good enough to understand all the jargon .

2009 - i thought maybe you could get a prepaid sim from Aldi etc without registering but i just looked on the german website and they want you to have a german address (and i realised after that that you need it for austria.

hope someone with some more knowledge than me can help you!

hello boffinmum - you're very welcome!! come and chat! but hope it doesnt make your homesickness worse!

admylin - i used to do the hot meal at lunchtime thing when we lived in the UK as dd had school dinners and it just meant they all ate sandwiches in the evening. But we've changed to the other way since living here - i just dont find the kids so desperately when they get back since they've had their breakfast here and then a second breakfast at kindergarten/school. so then for them to not eat their hot meal that i'd made at lunchtime would drive me mad! so just bread or rolls for us between 1 and 2 then abendessen about 6! but think every family i know here makes something warm at lunchtime!

admylin - It depends which town the school is in, as there would be a few different options - DH thinks it might be a good idea for her to go to the Gymnasium here for four years and then to a more vocational school in a nearby town. The train journey itself probably wouldn't be more than about 10 minutes, but she'd need to get to and from the station at both ends (we're about 30 minutes' walk or 5-10 minutes' drive from the station here).

bananas - Sorry, have just realised I forgot to answer your question earlier. I've been using the resourceful cook website, which was recommended on another thread, to plan my meals recently - most weeks I would give the DC pasta, chicken (often in the slow cooker), fish (usually fishfingers), a vegetarian dish and something with mince/sausages for dinner, and then a Jause or something quick (eggs, beans on toast, etc.) in the evening.

2009 - I asked DH about prepaid SIM cards, but he didn't know whether you can get them here. Have you thought about buying a pay-as-you-go mobile just to use in Austria? I've done so the other way round; I bought a cheap PAYG phone for when we're back in the UK and just need to use it every 180 days to make sure it stays activated.

Actually, after having read canella's post I'm wondering whether you need an Austrian address to buy a PAYG mobile. I remember needing to show my passport when I bought mine, although I think I could have paid more and then not needed to show any ID. I'm sure I didn't have to provide proof of an Austrian address, although I may well have given the shop my address.

I've just had a look at the Hofer website - they do sell this starter set, although as canella mentioned you need an Austrian delivery address. I'm not sure whether you can buy it in store without proof of address, however; I'm sure I've seen yess products for sale at Hofer (as Aldi is called in Austria).

random change of conversation - can i get my ears syringed at my Hausarzt? my left ear is quite blocked and i've had it done years ago and it really helped!!

or do i need to go to some special ear doctor?

wow thanks all!
I'm wondering if it would work if I put my name and the hotel address in (we always stay at the same place).
The starter set from hofer is quite cheap so it might be worth a punt, even if it doesn't work....
will have a proper look at the ordering process on a night when I've not had ein glas wein

I know when I bought the dc their cheap mobiles at Tchibo they needed to see my passport but there is no proof of address on it (unlike the German identity cards) so I guess it would work if you just gave the hotel address on the form.

Canella, not sure but I'd think you need to go to a HNO doctor. Could be you have a good all rounder Hausarzt though who would do it, but they generally like to send you to specialists for everything. It's worth just asking the Hausarzt.

Ds came back from table tennis tonight and said on Mondays the training time is going to be from 6pm to 8pm instead of 3pm to 5pm. It's a bit late for my liking but he loves going.

2009 - I'll have a look to see if I can find out any more information next time I go to Hofer. I'm sure they wouldn't expect to see your Meldezettel (proof of address) if you bought a mobile, etc. there although they might want to see your passport I suppose (as you're always expected to have some form of ID on you).

canella - I don't know either, sorry. DH said you'd probably need to go and see a HNO-Arzt here, but some GPs are willing to do more than others - like admylin said, it's probably worth asking your GP.

It's the start of a four-day weekend here, although being on my own with the DC on Monday and part of Sunday isn't my idea of a nice relaxing weekend! Still, DH has said he'll take the 15th November off work to make up for missing out on the bank holiday (all the schools and kindergartens are closed on the 15th for St Leopold, the patron saint of Niederösterreich).

bananas - Have just seen that children's winter boots are on offer at Hofer next week (from Tuesday); only up to size 28 unfortunately, but it says that they're warm and water-resistant.

About the pay as you go phone question:

My DH bought me a BOB pay as you go phone before we moved to Austria so didnt need to show any ID beyond paying for it in a A1 shop.

The tops ups last for ages and Ive had no problems (except it doesnt work in our kitchen for some wierd reason!).

I normally lurk but thought this might be useful. Another mumsnetter in Vienna.

Have a good long weekend everyone!

2009- no idea on the mobile situation, sorry. Is it worth hunting for a UK provider which gives you a good deal while in europe? But I guess you have thought of that already.

Linzer - thanks for the info. I´ll have a look at Hofer for DC3 who is still within that size range.That resourceful cook link looks great..I just had a quick look and will explore further soon. Finding inspiration is hard. Maybe I should ask your MIL for ideas . Sympathies on a weekend alone with the kiddies....

We got out for 1 hour this morning to the park. DD has no fever and though DC3 had 39 fever yesterday afternoon he had none this am, so i took the chance and went out. I got a call from the kindergarten and I took him straight to dr who put him on antibiotics for an ear infection. I feel a bit split about that since the NICE (following some US Research I think) said it was not worth giving antibiotics for ear infections. My GP in the UK stopped prescribing them to us.I find these different medical cultures quite interesting, if a bit puzzling.

Canella. Talking of ears and medical structures...the Spanish system is really similar to the one in Austria, and I would say a HNO dr would do it for you, but, as others have said, may be worth asking the Hausarzt just in case.

admylin - how old are your children? Does 6-8 table tennis interfere with your new bedtime?

DC asking for a fruit snack....now that is a request I can´t ignore!

It's very quiet here this evening - DH is on his way to Turkey and the DDs are sleeping at the neighbours' after going trick or treating with them, so it's just DS (asleep) and me here. At least we have quite a busy day ahead of us tomorrow (visiting friends in the morning and then having friends over in the afternoon), so hopefully won't miss DH's absence on the bank holiday too much!

bananas - Glad to hear your DC are on the mend. Some doctors here do seem to be a little quick to prescribe antibiotics; DS was put on antibiotics recently when he had laryngitis, but I read afterwards that laryngitis is usually caused by a virus so antibiotics wouldn't have been much use.
The chorizo is for a recipe I found on the resourceful cook website btw (Spanish chicken, I think) - I eventually found some on the deli counter at Spar yesterday, so thanks for your help!

Sticki - Hi, I think I remember you from another thread about moving to Vienna. I'm slightly of those of you living in Vienna as there's so much going on there, esp. in terms of English-language activities. I'm wondering about joining a book club, but it seems like such a trek to and from the city - particularly late in the evening.

2009,when we were coming over regularly to view properties but didn't have an Austrian address we bought a card from the post office that you could top up.Can't remember the name of it but you could ask if they still do one.

Hope you have a nice Feiertag linzer. Sounds as if you've got it well planned anyway!

Hi debinaustria, are you still in your hotel? Have you got snow yet?

Ds was up before me again today, I heard his spoon going in his cereal bowl so he's even advanced to getting his own breakfast! He was ready to go at five past seven.

Looks like the 1300 they owe dh at work go onto his pay for December - now I'm waiting to see if they give it to him fully or if he gets tax deducted from it.

Bananas, ds is 12 and he never wants to go to bed earl yof course so I guess I'll let him go to training from 6-8pm tonight. We'll see how it goes and how quickly he manage sto get ready for bed when he gets back. My dc are notorious for taking ages to get ready for bed!

Hi Admylin. yes we're still here but not for long!Our sale has been ongoing since February and we are finally signing this week and moving back to the UK in 3 weeks.Had snow but it's almost all gone with the warmer weather

Wow, in 3 weeks! You must be in the middle of packing! Good luck with everything.

linzer - hope you enjoyed the peace and quiet!! i'm always amazed at how different quiet life is with less children even just for one night! but i end up spending too much time on fb if i'm bored! hope you did something better!

admylin - thats good news about that money coming thro! not sure about the tax situation - would seem unfair to tak him since he had to pay it himself!

bananas - its a right poorly time in your house at the mo!! hope it stops soon!

we've had a long weekend too - it was also a holiday in bayern! think its something to do with people going to the graves of their relatives to light candles? but since we dont have any dead relatives here then we just used it to go out and about! dh didnt have to work at all this weekend and we didnt need to go to the ILs so we just made the most of the great weather! love the autumn colours at the mo - make sme smile to look at them!

but the clock changing has totally buggered up the kids sleeping patterns! ds1 woke up at 4.38am!! i could have cried! hope its better tonight!

Hope you all had a nice long weekend. It wasn't a feiertag here so school as usual etc.

Dd brought her Diktat home, she got her first 6 so was quite bad. She said the teacher was very mad and said it was the worst Klassenarbeit he had ever marked (to the whole class) there were 4 grade 6, about 3 grade 5 and lots of grade 4 and a few grade 3 which makes me think he has put the test at a higher standard than he should have.

Dd said quite a few of the dc cried but the teacher said you don't need to cry, you all had plenty of time to prepare, ihr seid selbst schuld.

The worst part was, most dc got 8 mistakes for forgetting to write Ihnen with a capital. It was in the dictation 8 times and counted as 8 mistakes if written small.

Oh no, your poor DD admylin - it does sound like the teacher has very high standards; too high if everyone got such low grades. It seems ridiculous to count one misspelling as eight mistakes - at least they're spelling it consistently!

Hope you enjoyed your long weekend too, Canella. I had to drive past the cemetery on the way to visit a friend yesterday and thought there must be a funeral as there were so many people there until the friend's DH pointed out that it was All Saints' Day!

Today is still schulfrei and I was hoping for a lie-in after DS got up at 6 am yesterday (the girls slept next door but were also awake at 6 apparently), but no - a friend phoned up at 7 am to ask whether there was school today! Amazingly, it didn't wake the DC (DD2 did hear it, but has gone back to sleep) - but it was probably no bad thing in the end, as it forced me to get up! I need to go out shopping this morning, as I want to look for winter boots and ice skates at Hofer and also need to finish off the shopping for the Gesunde Jause tomorrow.

Linzer, I think I should go to the Kinderarzt and see about getting her checked - have to phone up and get an appointment. Last night I was trying to find out on google how bad a 6 is and does she need to re-sit the year but it's not that bad.

Last year her dictation was a 5 with 24 mistakes out of 120 words. This year 39 mistakes were counted, but he took 2 points off because she wrote Dicktat which was on the board - she says but the c was there, I am sure there was a c there.

Dd is going to a friends house after school to learn for a music test. They have to learn some notes but also understand moll, terz and goodness knows what. I don't really see the point in it all if they aren't going to be using music for an instrument.

Did you get the boots you wanted Linzer?
8am is the best time to go shopping isn't it?

I'm waiting in this morning as the new sofa is being delivered. Have to be here as they could only say it'll be in the morning up to 13 Uhr.