Frühlingserwachen - spring finally seems to have arrived in Germany and Austria...

[LinzerTorte]

... or at least I hope so.

For everyone in Germany and Austria, and anyone else who would like to chat!

Oooh we do have a Real - another one I don't go in habitually but no reason not to - I will try there for my next shop if there is a chance of beans, thank you Bananamad !

MIL is cleaning my kitchen floor, oops! She is far more helpful than my own mother but I feel bad and criticised by the fact she is doing it, but am hiding behind late pregnancy as an excuse for house not being spotless when she turned up, and her housework standards are higher than mine so she thinks things need doing when I think they are fine! Rather embarrassing... oh well!

Afternoon!!

2and1 - dont be embarrassed - just let her clean the floor!! you're very pregnant!!
I'm impressed with your ds's bike riding!!! But i agree - those balance bikes are the best! we didnt have one for dd and she was 6 before she learned! but we came to live here when ds1 was 4.4 and 3 months later, after being on a laufrad, then he learned! But like your ds, my ds2 was on one from a very young age and was then so quick to progress to a normal bike. But all my friends with dc in the UK still all use stabilisers for their dc!! i'm on a mission to spread the word for balance bikes!! or even just normal bikes with the pedals and stabilisers taken off!

bananamad - the park sounds like a great place to study!!! hope you're enjoying the sun!! the weather is still nice here too - was forecast rain all weekend but it never appeared! Feel like its been dry for weeks now!

linzer - have you got some quiet evening plans for the couple of nights that your dh is away? what does he do for a job that means he gets to go to all these interesting places? I'd love some more DVD's but no hurry - still got a couple of episodes of Outnumbered to watch - i'm loving it!! its so dry funny!

admylin - glad the DVDs got there!! Like our chain DVD system!!

So made a decision after all my moaning about my german lessons!! had some C1 level homework at the weekend that i just couldnt do so went this morning and asked if i could make a date to sit my B2 exam then i'll finish with my lessons (for now) after that. I dont need anymore than B2 to work in Germany in the future so there seems no point in torturing myself with work that i'm not up to. Feels a bit defeatist but maybe i'll have more of a chance next year. But the exam can only be booked 6 weeks in advance so think thats prob the beginning of May.

Feel better for making a decision about it!! but really thought this learning a language was going to be easier than all this!!! oh how deluded i was!!

this was the homework!

""Das Amüsante ist, dass es nun, seit dem Auftreten des Menschen, auf einmal Vergangenheit und Zukunft gibt (von vielem andern ganz zu schweigen), als hätte die ganze Wirklichkeit nur darauf gewartet, sich von ihm in vorn und hinten, oben und unten, früher und später usw. einteilen zu lassen. O Mensch, du Kindskopf aller Kindsköpfe, o Wissenschaft, du grandioses Orientierungssystem dieses Kindskopfes, nichts weiter!""

I had to discuss it and answer literary questions about it!!!

No chance of C1 for me!

Crikey Canella! That homework sounds hardcore.

It sounds like the decision you made was the right one - if you only need B2 for now then stick with that - I'm guessing there is nothing to stop you taking up C1 again in the future, should you ever feel the need/brave enough!

Just think of the money you'll be saving on stress balls and medication to get your blood pressure down now :o

I don't blame you Canella - I think learning languages is useful up to a point but once you get to the stage of discussing literature, then it stops being quite as useful for everyday life! My grammar isn't perfect - far from it (I was struggling to help DD1 when she was writing out the imperfect tense of irregular verbs the other day) - but it's fine for everyday conversation and that's really all I need.

I'm hoping that I'll actually manage to enjoy a few quiet and relaxing evenings this time round and that no work arrives while DH is away (it's looking good so far today!). He works for a large electricity company, in their renewable energy subsidiary - they have quite a few joint ventures with companies abroad plus he sometimes has to go on site visits (mainly to Spain and Turkey). He's going to be visiting a wind farm somewhere in Turkey tomorrow, which will take up the entire day (6 am to 9 pm) and involves a limousine and ferry journey!

Banana Studying in the park sounds like an excellent idea. I haven't tried Heinz beans here, but the beans we buy definitely have a thinner sauce than in the UK and there's more of it - although the beans themselves taste OK.

2and1 Agree with Canella that you don't need to feel embarrassed; you're in your third trimester (and have two other DC) so cleaning the kitchen floor is the last thing you should be worrying about. (I wish I had an excuse!)

Canella - I don´t blame you for giving up when faced with that for homework. I wouldn´t want to do that exercise in English, let alone German. As Linzer says, as long as you can get by o.k. in day to day life I wouldn´t worry.

2and1 - just sit back and make the most of it. You´ve got the perfect excuse not to be doing it yourself.

I seem to be the only one on the thread that can´t stand baked beans. I did buy them for the dc once - the look of horror and bafflement on their faces was a sight to behold.

The only downside to this lovely weather is that I realised how filthy my windows were, so spent the morning cleaning them. I thought I´d done a good job, but now that the sun is streaming through, I can see they are a mass of smears. Oh well, I´m not doing doing them again in a hurry, that´s for sure.

That homework sounds really difficult! I must get back into it again. It's amazing how quickly you start losing a language.

Beans here are imported, I'm sure, but they are still cheaper than the American version which is full of sugar and bacon!

Ds1 stuck a piece of the operation game up his nose and dh had to take him to Urgent Care to have it taken out! That kind of stuffed up the weekend plans.

Snow again this morning. It is supposed to warm up later in the week, thank goodness. Really had enough of the winter now.

Don't worry about getting people to help clean while you are heavily pregnant, unless you want to do it to start off labour. I was scrubbing the floor, went ten-pin bowling to get ds2 started but in the end the OB broke my waters!

Hope everyone has had a lovely Monday and the evening will be pleasant and relaxing.

Ah yes, I remember American baked beans - 20 different types but 19 had bacon in them.

Sorry your weekend didn't quite go according to plan, Jenny. DS put a Playmobil carrot up his nose once and I was convinced we'd have to take him to A&E, but luckily he managed to blow it out in the end.

Have just reread my last post - I meant to say "language classes are useful up to a point", not "learning languages". The most useful part of my degree was my year abroad and getting to practise my German in everyday situations.

No work has arrived so I'm looking forward to a nice quiet evening now - once I can get the DDs back into bed. DD1 has promised she'll go back to bed once she's crocheted another six rows - she's supposed to be practising the feste Masche, whatever that is - but seems to have got distracted by trying to teach DD2 to crochet.

'feste Masche' now that is the kind of vocab I have no idea about! It's the sort of thing my American students would probably ask about as a few of them are into needlework/quiltmaking etc.

Here's to a relaxing evening. I might watch another episode of 'State of Play' tonight which Dad sent me for Christmas. I know it's old but I hadn't seen it before and John Sim is a bit of a crush of mine!

Hi

thanks for not all calling me a slacker for not sticking with my classes!! but hupa you hit the nail on the head - i wouldnt be any good at discussing that in English so how is that helping my german? I've got a science background - not a literary one so no matter how good my german got, I'd still be shit at doing literary work!

I was discussing it all last night with dh and my german is at the level where i can organise everything we do in the day - it's me who makes all the plans for sport, music etc, its me who makes all the doctors/dentists appts, its just me doing all the everyday stuff and thats what we wanted me to be able to do. I can have a good chat with friends here so it seems a bit pointless to take it to a level where i dont need it to be. And i'm sure by the time the dc are at a level where i might look for a job (not rushing tho!!) then my german will have naturally improved thro living here for years. Feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders - was proper stressed about how much i was struggling!

linzer - glad you're getting a nice eve!! enjoy it!! hope the dc are asleep already!

hupa - i dont eat the beans either but buy them for the dc! good on you for doing your windows - i always have that smeary problem - maybe we're using the wrong stuff to clean them with?

tadjennyp - oh that sound sore about having a bit of operation up your ds's nose!!! but glad it came out ok! these kids really test ur patience some times dont they!!

Well off to eat some salad (trying again to be good!!) then off to bed early!

Well, the DDs are in bed - the only problem is that they're in my bed, as they've decided to keep me company while DH is away. So much for an early night with my book... reading downstairs just doesn't seem the same somehow, so I've been on the computer most of the evening and feel like I've been very unproductive. Am not complaining, though - I rarely get the chance to go on MN in the evenings.

I've just looked up feste Masche and it seems to be "single crochet" in English. Not a huge help, seeing as I can't actually crochet!

Canella It sounds like your German is more than good enough for what you need on a day-to-day basis. If you do decide to go back to work when the DC are older, I'm sure you'd pick up so much on the job anyway - I know I did. Obviously you have to have a certain level of German to start with for most jobs, but a lot of what you'd need would be job-specific and not necessarily what you'd learn in a course. I still remember struggling with the sentence "Shall I put this in your shared directory?" and tailing off at the end of the sentence as I had no idea how to translate "put"!
I suppose learning about grammar in-depth, literature, etc. could come in useful when the DC are at Gymnasium. Then again, I think the DC's German will have overtaken mine by that stage, if it hasn't already (DD2 was complaining about the "lahmer Traktor" in front of us yesterday, which DH found very funny but I just didn't have a clue!).

Hope you slept well Linzer with your dd's keeping you company! My dd also comes in our bed when dh is away! I have to have her pillows, her polar bear and her blanket too!

Speaking of cleaning windows everyone, I'm starting to think there is a reason for having net curtains. The last people in our flat left all the curtains and net curtains as they didn't fit their new place, but I took them all down, now if I had those nets up I wouldn't be able to see how quickly the windows look a a mess.

So is everyone starting spring cleaning? I only moved in Summer but if I started with the shoe cubboard and all the grown out of clothes I will get a few big bags of stuff to throw. It's far too sunny to cvlean windows today but all mine are in need.

Canella, that is a high level of German you had for homework. If that's your level then you're great and to think when you first came over you weren't happy about being thrown in at the deep end but it obviously helped. I think as long as you don't live in an English speaking bubble like alot of expats you'll constantly improve anyway.

Must get going, I have loads of empty wine and alcohol bottles to get rid of, I've been shoving them to the back of a cupboard in the hall for far too long so now I have loads.

Morning
Right at this moment I am hard at work preparing for my evening course teaching this evening... honest (how this always leads me to have a "quick" internet browse I am not sure...)

Canella I don't understand a word of your homework task ! However it is also me who makes all day to day arrangements (doctors, dentists, kids lessons and clubs and playdates and KiGa admin and communication, parents eves, chatting with other mums etc. etc.) - all in German, and I manage too - most days the only people I speak English to are DH and the kids (not counting internet or teaching) and everything else is somewhat dodgy German! I couldn't do official paperwork tasks though so leave those to DH, who is German - surely courses would more usefully cover everyday tax, health insurance, and other bureaucratic language found on forms we encounter in every day life! It would have been nice to be able to understand my own paperwork for my Mutterschutz and Kindergeld etc. Although maybe I am just lazy and would have done it if I'd had to,using dictionaries/ Leo etc. if DH wasn't a native speaker! I am actually a an English graduate who focussed on literature but still think the literature is better kept as a special interest course rather than a core requirement when learning a language!

Linzer one of the best things about DH going away for work (or the odd ski trip with his mates) is having the bed to myself! You are a nice mummy letting DD in! I only let the kids in my bed in the mornings once their little sleep clocks have told them they are allowed to get up (after 6.30) - by that time DH has left for work and I really ought to get up and in the shower, I never let them in when I am sleeping! Mean mummy hey? I am very go with the flow (not at all a routine based parent etc.) about everything else parenting wise but my kids are such squirmers I cannot sleep with them in my bed - we have a spare mattress for the kids to sleep in our room if they are ill and need to be watched, but not in our bed!

Thanks for all the reassuring comments about MIL washing my floor! I know she judges tbh but then again at least she helps - my mum comes sits on the sofa and waits for me to bring her a cup of tea and if she is here alone drops snide comments, though if my dad is here she doesn't say anything in front of him (she has a cleaning lady herself and hasn't washed a floor in 30 years!). MIL mucks in but then gives me "tips" and goes on and on - yesterday she was giving me a lecture on how I should buy a different kitchen cleaner product as there was apparently limescale around the plug hole in the kitchen sink... Forgive me for not being obsessed with that, the sink was clean! After she had been talking about it for 5 solid minutes I pretended not to be able to follow what she was saying (even though I could) as I had got the message was just not interested in hearing more and was sick of coming out with the humble and self depreciating replies - so when DH got home she told him I hadn't understood and told him the whole speel again! I am very ungrateful aren't I? Tbh I would rather just be left alone and not criticised, though I know the help is very well meant and I should appreciate it!

Better stop going on and on myself and get this lesson prepared before it is time to fetch the kids!

2and1 - i'm with you - i cant sleep either with my dc in the bed!! Its taken till the last 6 months for ds2 to sleep thro every night - spent many a night carrying him back out my bed!! so wont be encouraging him to get back in!
Think you just need to nod appropriately to your MIL and just tune out to what she's saying!! You dont sound ungrateful - its hard to be criticised in your own home but its a very german trait - all this direct speaking - so think we just have to cope with it!

linzer - glad you enjoyed your eve!! I think i knew a lahmer traktor is a slow one? is that right!! i always imagine your german is perfect what with all the translating you do so its reassuring to find out that even you have moments of confusion!!!

admylin - not much particular spring cleaning going on here!! our house is really tidy most of the time (i'm sure dh has OCD!!) and i keep on top of the cleaning but maybe i could do with pulling things out and cleaning behind them!!! but thats feels like to much effort! I'm also not a fan of nets but i agree they def hide the windows behind them!

I'm patiently waiting for a heating engineer to come - our hot water system keeps switching off at night so then there's no hot water first thing in the morning. Dh can get it lit again but it just keeps happening and he waits till the last moment possible to get out of bed in the morning then gets pissed off that there is no hot water! But the man was supposed to be here already - dont want to carry on my hoovering cause i'll not hear the door!! so i'm having a MN break instead!

I've just finished preparing tomorrow's English lesson so now have about half an hour before I have to pick up DD2 and her friend. I've been trying to tidy up all morning but kept getting distracted, so the house is still in just as much a mess as before! Still, at least I've filled out the form to re-register as an overseas voter (I only applied last year and didn't realise I'd have to reapply so soon), have parcelled up my book club book and also have the DVDs ready to send to you, Canella.

Yes, lahmer Traktor is a slow tractor (which I guessed from the context!) - I only know lahm as meaning lame, but DD2 helpfully informed me that you can also talk about a lahme Schnecke. Man lernt nie aus. (Oh, and my German is far from perfect!)

2and1 That would annoy me too if my MIL started telling me how I should clean. I have to restrain myself with my MIL sometimes and just nod and smile politely when I'm longing to contradict her - luckily she doesn't give me cleaning tips, but she has been known to give me advice on contraception (e.g. not to rely on bfing), which I refuse to discuss with her!

admylin I'm often shocked at how many empty wine and beer bottles we manage to accumulate and often hope that I don't run into anyone I know when I take them to be recycled. I rarely have more than a glass of wine a night, so where do they all come from?

The DC are only allowed into our bed if DH is away, but I'm sort of regretting allowing them to get into the habit as I miss not being able to go to bed early and read. I normally sleep OK with them in the bed as it's fairly wide, but woke up with a stiff neck this morning which I'm sure isn't unrelated to them keeping me company.

oh thanks Linzer!! we finished the last night - loving Outnumbered!

I've also filled the basket to go to the recycling - i'm also wondering where it all came from!! i rarely drink during the week - only at weekends! and never more than half a bottle of wine!! but it all adds up!

Heating man has been - sadly i was baffled as to what he was telling me was wrong but i'd probably be baffled by it in English too!! But hope its working - i need a shower!

hope you have a warm shower canella. I have been reading the German learning stuff with interest. I think you have done the right thing. That text is horrid in any language. What do you need that for? Did you get to practice it on your heating man? I bet you did not, than forget it! You´ll continue to learn as you hear and speak German. In my experience I got to a point when I was sick of classes, too much grammar and analysis being thrown at me - with one teacher we would spend 2 hours reading a couple of paragraphs because we analysed the text so carefully. Aargh. I am really frustrated with my level at the moment, but feel I have to keep going because I need/want a job (money-wise and mental health wise) and the only chance of finding one is if I improve my German. I have been going at my speed (like the lahmer Traktor) with a private teacher....most of the time we just chat away - she´s lovely.

2and1 - shame that help comes with criticism. Could you send mil to vienna please? does she do bathroom floors too? I have some earplugs already.

Such a nice day here. Windows are so dirty it is time to get nets. Must take note of working in the park, sounds great. jenny, I hope the snow melts soon - one of the things I remember most vividly about Finland is how fed up I got when it was April and there was still snow and it was still cold. I was ill for the whole of April too - I think the Spanish bit of me just went into meltdown. I hope spring arrives soon! How is your ds doing?

Must go as preparing for interview and exam today and then interview on Thrursday. The Thursday job I would not take even if I got (too long an explanation on complicated Austrian employment rules) but I am only going because I get to meet Linzer for a coffee..yipeee.

Good luck with the interviews abnanas, even if you don't want/getthe jobs every interview is good for experience. I think you can also ask for feedback if you don't get it which helps too. Dh has done that a couple of times. Once he was told he didn't get the job because although his profile and experience was right he didn't sound as if he really wanted it!

Same here 2and1, ask your MIL if she wants to adopt us too. My MIL is too far away to come and visit and my mum is the type to sit and wait for the meal and coffee to be served then go out for a drink while I tidy up and put the dc to bed!

I didn't make it to the recycling place but I hope to go this afternoon if ds agrees to get his hair cut. Those of you with boys, how often do you take them to get their hair cut? I went with ds a few weeks ago but it's in his eyes again. This time he's having it really short (I hope). Last cut was by a trendy young hairdresser and he said he wouldn't cut it any shorter, fashion etc. I've been told by dd that all boys flick their hair out of their eyes constantly during the day. It's the Justin Bieber syndrome so she says!

Sorry abnanas, didn't preview again..bananas

good luck banana with the interviews and exam! Meeting Linzer for coffee is obviously a good reason to go but its also good experience to have the interview. But maybe you'll get the one today and be able to just go for coffee on thurs instead!

Oh admylin - the justin bieber syndrome!!! so tragic! thankfully my boys are too little to know who he is (altho ds1 looks quite like him we think!!) but i prob take them every 6 - 8 weeks to the hairdresser. Might take them today if we've time. I've also tried to have them get their hair cut quite short - but the hairdressers are always reluctant to do it. they obviously want you to bring them back sooner!!!

well was at the dentist yest afternoon with dd and today its the orthodontist!!! dread when there's 3 of them needing braces in years to come! will be camping out there!

I can go on and on and on about haircuts, and hairdressers who refuse to cut short (esp as my dds had short hair for a long time and hairdressers refused to give them a boys cut). ds went once in summer and once about a month ago - but he is only 3.5 and has fluffy little boy hair. Now I know why the big boys around here all have that funny hair - every single one of them. I was looking at them the other day thinking "wtf? If I were your mother..." and then realised if I were their mother I would probably have given up long ago and would be having a good silent giggle at how silly it looks. Good luck admylin and let me know how you get on!

hope orthodonist is not too bad. dd1 has to have a brace...circa 3700 euros and are waiting to hear from the Krankenkassa to see how much it will pay. We just don´t have that kind of money at the moment. Remember some children never need braces, you might get lucky.

Thanks for the good luck wishes. If only the interviews were in English!It´s the job-specific vocab which is getting me into trouble. Oh, and I hate having to sell myself - all a game. off to play it...

We dont pay anywhere near that much for dd's brace bananas so maybe it wont be so bad for ur dd! We pay every quarter and the max we've paid was 80?. And she's had it 18 months and we're onto the second one. She only wears it when she's doing her homework and all night so dont know if thats the same kind that your dd will need? We were also worried but the krankenkasse def pay most of ours.

Phew! That is great to know, I was really worried about it. Yes, it would be a removable brace to wear in the afternoon and at night at this stage. She really wants one as she things it looks cool and like a teenager!

and better news from the Orthdodontist - we've now got to pay our last bill then we can claim the 20% of the total bill we paid back from the Krankenkasse because we completed the bulk of the treatment. Not sure how that works since we're still going to him but think its only on maintainance for the next few years.

Hope its the same for you bananas!

How did the interview go?