leise rieselt der Schnee - for all those lovely people in Germany and Austria or whoever wants to join us!

[Canella]

a new wintery thread in honour of Hupa's first snow of the season!

bananas - glad the interview went well. I agree it is very hard to work unless you have family around to help out with sick days and holidays.

I spent yesterday morning in school baking Plätzchen with the children. It is the last day today, so they planned to eat them today listening to Christmas music. We got a phone call at 6:45 this morning to say school had been cancelled, so no doubt the biscuits will spend the next 3 weeeks getting stale - what a waste of time.

We´re meant to be driving to Köln today to visit dh´s sister. I´d rather not go as I think we´ll spend most of the day sitting in jams. Dh on the other hand thinks it will be a great adventure and would actually be quite fun if we ended up having to sleep in the car .

bananas- sounds like an interesting job. I think everyone goes through that thing of thinking back on the interview about what they did/didn´t/should have said etc. Do you think you´ll hear before Christmas?

DH was quite sober when he got back from the party last night; he had to drive back from the station and (unlike most Austrians) never drinks any alcohol when he's driving. He's always been far too sensible and I've never known him to have a hangover (I think he got it all out of his system before we met!). He said the party was good but he's glad it's out of the way as he doesn't really enjoy big events (the company itself is very big, although he only works for a small subsidiary). He was freezing cold when he got back too, and said it was -12° out.

It's "warmed" up to -9° this morning but DH's car wouldn't start so I had to drive him to the station and drove the DC to school too. I also posted my last two Christmas cards (also to the UK) this morning and am keeping my fingers crossed. The post seems to be quite efficient atm though; even cards to and from the USA and Australia are taking less than a week.

I don't really know about the standard of English here either bananas; the only Austrian I speak English to grew up in Ireland and you wouldn't know that he isn't Irish. Like I said yesterday though, DH often complains about his colleagues' English - I think most people can get by but aren't great at the subtleties of the language. Good luck, anyway - is it next week that you said you'd hear?

Shame about the biscuits, hupa. We're going to my ILs this weekend and no doubt the house will be full of Weihnachtskekse - I'm surprised my MIL hasn't sent us any in the post this year. Hope you get to Cologne OK if you do go and that you don't end up sleeping in the car!

Re standard of Austrians' English: have just remembered DH telling me about a business trip to Wales that he and a few colleagues went on last year. One of his colleagues handed over a box of Mozartkugeln to their Welsh hosts, saying "We've brought you some of our balls". A few people fell about in hysterics, apparently.

Ad- we cross posted earlier.I hear something next week though they might not make the final decision they will let me know what is going on.

Shame about those biscuits, hupa. Can you not storm the school to rescue them?!?!Is school closed because of the weather? Hope you have a safe drive to Koln and no sleeping in cars. My DH is from near Koln, we used to go there for Christmas and remember freezing down by the Rhine when we went into the town centre.

Love the balls story, Linzer. Hope you have a good weekend at the ILs- are you taking your book with you like last time?

We´ve been snuggled on sofa, nice for a change!

The school is closed due to the snow. To be honest I think it´s because it´s the last day and the children were only going in for the first 2 hours in any case. Nearly all the children walk, as do most of the staff, so no real reason to close. Dd is just annoyed that she didn´t get to eat the biscuits.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

My 2 were glued to the radio this morning at 6:30 in the hope that their school would be closed! No luck though!

Loads of snow here but it'S not snowman or snowball snow so no good to anyone! Just cleared my drive and it was easy as it was all powder. Warmed me up too!

Good luck on the road hupa. Take plenty to drink and eat in the car and blankets just in case. Linzer, enjoy the weekend, is this the Christmas visit or will you see them again before you go to England?

Dh might be back at the weekend, hope the trains are running properly from Berlin. Have to take dd to Weihnachtsmarkt at the weekend sometime but will try to go quite early so it isn't too busy. She wants one last glögi and a Lachs Brötchen (she can have one for her breakfast if we get up early!)

Bananas, how is your dd - has she settled back into school and sleeping OK?

ha ha linzer - liked your balls story!! have fun at the IL's (or is there no chance of it beign fun?)

Admylin - glad your dh is back soon! feels like he's been away ages! enjoy the Weihnachtsmarkt - we went yesterday to our local one which isnt even that impressive and it was heaving!

Hupa - thats rubbish about the biscuits! school closed here but thankfully the kiga was open! there was a huge snowfall in the night - think there was about 20cm on top of my car when i pushed it off with the brush before! hope you have a safe drive - agree with the others! pack blankets and food and drink! you never know how long you might be stuck!

well i missed the german course xmas party this morning cause of the snow - dd was home and the roads in and out of the village were treacherous - didnt think a xmas party with people i dont know very well was a great reason to drive! so the course is now finished till the 10th Jan!! whoo hoo! looking forward to a few mornings to myself next week - dd doesnt finish till thurs!

Tomorrow is a party for the kids who go to Turnen and Tanzen in the village - the women who run it have organised a party for the kids and the parents with possibly an open fire with bratwurst etc! not sure if that'll go ahead since the snow is so deep but we'll see! there are so many young kids in the village that it'll be fun for them! the village only has about 300 residents but think i've just counted over 20 kids under 10 in my head! may be chaos tomorrow! think i'll be relying on the Gluehwein to get me thro!
hope you all have a good weekend!

Hello all.

I'm being very cheeky here - I was wondering if anyone could help me with some translation?

The situation is, my brother is getting married to a lovely German girl, whose parents have sent us an invitation to the wedding! The invitation is bilingual but I feel it'd be polite to reply in German (especially as I know they had my brother translate, and he won't be with them for a while!).

So, if you are German or fluent, could you translate for me? I want to say:

Thank you for the beautiful invitation - we like the description of [name] and [name]! Unfortunately, [name] will not be able to come to the wedding in Germany, as his visa does not allow him to travel. I [name] will be very excited to attend, and look forward to meeting you.

We send congratulations on your grandchild-to-be!

Much love, and Happy Christmas,

[name] and [name]

Er - is that ok? If anyone can translate I'd be immensely grateful. Feel a bit stupid that I can't work it out myself, but I gave up with the online dictionaries early on!

Answered on your other thread too but this is the slightly better version of your online translation - still not perfect though. I could get ds to check it as he speaks better German than me but he's asleep already.

Vielen Dank für die schöne Einladung - wir mögen die Beschreibung der [Name] und [Name]! Leider wird [Name] nicht in der Lage sein, auf die Hochzeit nach Deutschland zu kommen, da sein Visum nicht erlaubt, ihn zu reisen. Ich [Name] würde mich sehr darüber freuen Teil zu nehmen und freue mich Ihnen kennen zu lernen.

Wir senden Glückwünsche zu Ihrem zukünftige Enkelkind!

Viel Liebe und Frohe Weihnachten,

[name] und [Name]

Thanks so much admy - it is very kind of you!

We have finally, FINALLY got our DSL connection! A mere 3 months after our move.

So happy Christmas everyone.

Am white eyed with panic, as have been unable to do my Internet shopping so have got 3 boy, plus 1 birthday to sort out, including loads of other stuff as everyone has decided present buying is too much hassle and just bungee me money, so they won,t get any presents at all except for what I rush out and buy. Feel ESP stuck for ds2 as his birthday, so need to be buying double if swim, Inc 1 big present. Apart from iPod touch, which he would LOVE, but dh vetoed (grr) I can,t think straight!

Hope everyone ok. No time to read, but I am almost back in the modern worl, just hoping snow will thaw and allow sat man to come and sort out our bloody Telly then we,'ll be sorted

At last ernest!! Pleased that you have got the dsl sorted out. Shopping is a problem - can you make it to a big shopping centre in time? Maybe the older 2 will be OK with the money and a promise of a shopping trip after Christmas? That's what I've done this year with grandparents money. I've told them they can go after new year even and buy something they really want.

Just had to send a dvd back to amazon as they sent me a bluray - the dc can't watch bluray on their laptops so hope the replacement gets here.

Dh stuck in Berlin - he set off from his hotel and the trams stopped at häckescher markt and put everyone out. He managed to get a taxi to the hospital to hand in his data from the work he's been doing and now is trying to get a train for this afternoon - chaos at Bahnhof apparently and still snowing.

ernest - great that you´ve finally got the connection sorted.
If you ordered stuff today, is there any chance amazon would get it to you before Friday?

admylin - hope your dh makes it back. The travel situation everywhere sounds like a complete nightmare.

We managed to get to and from Köln with no problems, but there was an horrendous jam going in the other direction on the way there.

Dd´s teacher has said she will go into school tomorrow so the dc can pick up their biscuits and Christmas decorations which is really kind of her.

blimey A, how long has he been stuck? Is it worse up north then? All seems ok here really. In fact had lots of rain so lots of it going, for now, hurray. hurray. really hope he gets home safely soon.

He got back in the afternoon! He said 2 trains were late but he got on 3rd one and even got a seat!

Hope you get your shopping sorted ernest. How did the meeting go about English?

Forcast says it's all going to melt soon, even before Christmas. As much as everyone thinks a white Christmas is great, I don't mind if it all melts!

Westvan, how did your check up go?

Good news about your DH, ad - I heard on the radio yesterday that they were advising people not to travel within/to Germany.

It's supposed to start thawing in the next couple of days here too, but I'd rather the snow started melting in the UK where they're a bit less efficient at dealing with it! Spoke to my mum at the weekend, who said they're virtually housebound as the pavements and roads are too icy to go out. They hadn't had any post for a few days and my dad was suffering as there were no newspapers getting through either! No trains either apparently, so I hope they get things sorted out by next Monday...

bananas - I did take a book with me to my ILs, but didn't have to read in the car this time as there's no book club meeting coming up in the next few weeks! I also took some trashy magazines with me (passed on to me by a friend, I hasten to add), which were immediately seized by DH's niece - goodness knows what kind of English she'll learn from them!

nice to see you back ernest!! bet your glad to have the internet again - i would be stressed without it! how are things with the english teacher?

admylin - glad your dh got home ok!

Bananas - how did you get on with the job? hope its good news!

well cant see the snow melting here - its been shocking the last 4 days! think in total there probably has been over 50cm fallen! havent cleared the balcony and its well over half the height of the sides! and yet again no school bus this morning!! I've got so much to do this week - and just need to give the house a proper clean (not like the normal quick going over it gets) and dd is lolling around like a spare part! and if she says "i'm bored" one more time!!! GRRRR!!!

but hope the snow settles enough for everyone to get on with their christmas plans! we're staying here so not worried but my IL's are going to S Africa on NYE so they are obviously stressing already!

hello. Glad dh back in 1 piece Ad.

It´s really melting here. now i just need to chase bloody satellite company who are now proving elusive. Will have a nervous breakdown if it starts to snow before they come!!

Made a lot of progress on ds3 room today. Poor boy has lived in chaos since the move, just bought him new furniture, so his room coming together at least.

How old is dd Canella? Nothing makes me see red like kids saying they´re bored while I´m up to my eyeballs, grrr. can´t imagine the schools shutting. In the 10 years we´ve been away from uk I´ve never heard the like!

sounds like life is starting to get organised ernest!!

dd is 9 (going on 13)!!! she was a PITA today - just wanted her out from under my feet or to help me but got neither! the school has been closed the last 2 fridays because of the weather and she's missed another 2 days because of the bus not coming so 4 days of no school because of the snow in 2 weeks! not bad going for the dc! but a PITA for the parents! it snowed constantly all morning here but its not snowed again since lunchtime so think she'll get to school tom - fingers crossed!

Canella, I get the 'I'm bored' from ds and school finished yesterday so I'm in for it today. Worse is - I've got dh saying 'I'Äm bored' too as he's still off work so on top of all the other stuff I have to do I will haveto try and think of jobs for those two. Might send them off to get their hair cut actually when they arise from their beds! Although, the longer they stay in bed the better really.

Could you send me your yorkshire pud recipe if you get time please? I tried them and they worked but the middles weren't fully cooked so need to leave them 5 minutes longer. I used a recipe from the internet but can't remember which one now so maybe yours would be good!

Did you manage any shoppig ernest? Are you just on 4 channels if you don't get your sattelite? Better stock up on a few dvds if so!

Linzer, I hope the travel chaos eases by the time you have to set off. How do you get from the airport to home usually? Must be awful for the travellers stuck at the big European airports.

Hupa thank goodness you got to Köln safely. When do you set off on holiday? Nice of the teacher to open the school though. I've given up baking Plätzchen, they just get eaten so quickly so I'll be buying a few packets!

Oh ad - sorry i forgot to post the recipe!! So here goes

175g plain flour
2 size 1 eggs
175ml milk
110ml water
2 tablespoons fat (says beef dripping but i'm sure any'll do)

Sift the flour, make a well in the middle & put the eggs in. Add some salt & pepper.

Mix the milk & water in a jug. Start mixing the flour & eggs till its stiff then gradually add the milk & water while keeping on whisking till its smooth.

Put the oven on to 220, put the fat in a 28 x 23cm roasting tin then put it in the oven till it gets to 220. Then take it out the oven, put it over the heat on the hob till its smoking a little. Then pour in the batter and tip it evenly around then put it in the oven on the highest shelf for 40 mins or till brown and crispy.

Let me know how u get on!!

My yorkshire pudding recipe was off that little dumpy tv chef. Easy. I cup flour, 1 cup milk, 1 cup eggs (large eggs tend to be 4 to a cup, smaller are 5) I don't tend to measure up me eggs! Then like canella, with the oil and heat. V important oil v hot and batter sizzles on pouring in or it won't rise and will stick

finally get a chance to catch up and post! good to hear that all travels so far were okay. It sounds like chaos out there...I hope it all clears up in time for your trip Linzer.

ernest - great about the internet. any sign of the satellite men? Hope you managed to get your christmas shopping done.

oh no, not that "I am bored" whinge....dds still at school until tomorrow, but expecting that within the next few weeks. Hope dd got to school today canella.

I have good news and bad news...I passed my exam :-) but did not get the job :-(. I am disappointed about the latter but also know it would have been very stressful to work in a German environment and write in German. So, back to full time German learning.

Do you buy the kindergarten and teachers a present at christmas? I have no idea...

Right, time to go to the post office and then get the children early....