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!

Happy birthday, Moo.

Happy Birthday Moo! Is it not Mothers' Day in Germany or Austria either?

Congratulations on job Bananas.

Happy Birthday Moo! Glad you had a lovely day out in the sunshine :)

As far as I am aware it is only mothers day in the UK, nowhere else in the world!

Every year since we moved here I have sent my mother flowers (ordered in advance on internet so I don't forget, due to it not being the same day here) and called and said Happy Mothers day, and every year she asks me what I "got" for mothers day (I don't like that expectation of presents, kids birthday style, anyway tbh) and every year I tell her again that it isn't mothers day here, and every year she argues that it must be, as she says it is a church festival... but it just isn't the same day, not this year, not last year, not the year before... and her conviction that it must be doesn't change that!

We had a lovely afternoon in a beer garden this afternoon though - after 4 years we finally seem to have found the perfect one to suit us - good food, not too far to drive, and a play area for the kids that is both safe looking (as in no rusty exposed edges on equipment etc) and visible from the seating area - so many have playgrounds but out of sight of where you sit - so much more relaxing when you can watch the kids from your table and they can run back and forth! Wondering why we never tried this one earlier, we will definitely be spending a lot more Sunday afternoons there this summer!

Hope everyone had a good weekend; glad to hear your DD enjoyed her birthday bebe. We went to my ILs yesterday as it was their golden wedding anniversary, but just went for the day as staying overnight seems to set DS's allergy off. Had a nice meal out, although it was a bit on the early side for me; we arrived at 11 am and left for the restaurant (a five-minute drive away) five minutes later.

We've decided - or rather, I managed to persuade DH - to go to the christening in September, so booked the flights last night. I did look at flights from Budapest and Prague, but they were about twice the price of flying from Munich and the flight times back weren't as convenient. Does anyone have any experience of flying with easyjet from Munich? I was wondering whether we should book priority boarding; I always do when we're flying with Ryanair, but it's only ?4 p.p. - we'd have to pay over ?100 for all five of us on both flights with easyjet, which hardly seems worth it (esp. as both flights are quite late, so I'm hoping they won't be too busy).

DD1 finally got her test on the Romans back on Friday; she got a 3, but I didn't think she'd done too badly as she got 15 out of 20 and some of the questions were quite difficult.

morning!! skiving off german today so possibly way too much MN time!! Its a student teacher who's taking the class and she's not a native german speaker and she did 2 classes the other week and a few times gave people the wrong meanings for words. I've got loads of possible German studying I can do at home and i'd rather do that than sit in a class where i'm not sure if i'm getting duff information!

linzer - glad you had a nice time at your IL's and so excited that you've decided to book the flights!! How far is it to Munich from you? I've not flown easyjet in a few years so not sure. I've never booked priority boarding with any other airline and it all seems to work out ok but i can see why if you want all 5 of you to sit together. I think 15 out of 20 for your dd's test is a really good result but it frustrates me that that is a 3! we used to get percentages at school and 15/20 is 75%!! that would have been an A when i was young!

bebe - glad your dd had a nice birthday!

2and1 - that beer garden sounds perfect! and the weekend was definitely the perfect weather to be sitting there! Cant believe how quickly its changed tho! DS1 was asking if he could wear his sandals today!! def not!

bananamad - too exciting that the bump is getting there!! its so exciting to see some proper bump after what feels like being pregnant forever! with dc1 i was really late having a bump - was about 26 weeks before it looked like a pregnant bump and not just wind! Was so excited the first time someone asked me when i was due!! wont be long before the same happens to you by the sound of it!

bananas - so did you celebrate getting a job? hope so!! and will cross my fingers for your friend - what an exciting time for everyone!!!

we had a nice weekend - ILs were here all day on saturday which was lovely!! made some nice plans to get together around easter. my MIL and I are leaving the dc one day with my FIL and weirdly her and I are going to go kitchen shopping!!! dh doesnt have time to do it and we cant do it with the dc there so her and I are going to make a start on it!! i havent found a kitchen that i like yet so think it might take more than 1 trip!

But crazily our weekend seems to have been dominated by frogs!! we've got a pond and it was most definitely the frog/toad mating weekend!! cue far too many discussions about mating frogs! and time spent rescuing them when they'd got lost!! i've just found 2 - mid mating - on the pavement so picked them up with the net and put them back!! we quite often find a lot killed on the road outside so we try to do our good deed and rescue as many as poss!! I hate having a pond but i suppose its interesting for the dc! a biology lesson in the garden!

Well off to measure the kitchen - be prepared for much stressing about this new kitchen in months to come! i know nothing about new kitchens!

Linzer I have flown Easyjet from Munich and didn't book priority boarding but just got it automatically as I had a 2 year old and a 4 month old with me - so it was no problem, just annoying that you even have to pay for water on the flights! How old is your youngest? I am not sure what the cut off age is for free priority boarding - maybe 5? Worth checking... There also seemed to be 2 priority groups, though I forget what the difference was - or I never knew. With a baby I was in the first call but don't know if groups including slightly older children and people who have paid for priority boarding are the second group?

15 out of 20 sounds worth at least a 2 to me, 3 is mean!

bananamad congratulations on the bump, forgot to say before!

Canella Don't blame you skiiving German with that teacher! Enjoy your unexpected free morning (always more enjoyable than a morning you are "meant" to have no commitments as if you are "meant" to be at German you have no obligation to do chores (that's my logic)!) I also forgot to say before that I did manage to see the profile pic of your DD - very pretty girl! Happy Kitchen shopping - we got ours from Ikea as we moved in a big rush and it was quickest, plus our house is only rented so weren't going to spend silly amounts - DH ended up "designing" it with the advisor in Ikea while I chased nearly 2 yo Ikea with a big bump - memories :lol: He is proud of his decision to have a high level cooker and no knobs toddlers could kids could reach (which were both good ideas) but he never cooks himself so didn't think of work top space, so it is very limited in our kitchen!

Does everyone have this rain this morning? It's amazing - black skies and the roads are like rivers, kids gone to KiGa in wellies, waterproofs and carrying umbrellas and I got soaked just getting them there despite the fact we drive (it's 4km away)!

that should be chased a nearly 2 year old around Ikea - DD is not called Ikea!

Nice and sunny here this morning, but I think rain is on its way - my iPod was forecasting rain tomorrow and Wed just before it gave up the ghost yesterday.

2and1 That's useful to know about priority boarding, thanks. They're very strict with Ryanair and won't let you on first even if you're travelling with a baby if you haven't booked priority boarding. (Although when I've flown on flights with allocated seats, I would sometimes be asked if I wanted to board first when they saw I was flying on my own with three DC.)

DS will be 5 when we fly over, so fingers crossed that he'll still be under the cut-off age. We're not bothered about all five of us sitting together, as long as DH can sit with one or two of the DC and the other one/two with me, but hopefully people would be willing to move seats so that none of the DC would have to sit on their own. I did sit next to a little boy (6 or 7) on a Ryanair flight once who had to sit separately from his mother, but there was no way I could move as I was sitting next to DS and had the DDs sitting across the aisle from us.
Lol at your DD being called Ikea - it's certainly different.

Canella I don't blame you for skiving German either. We had two teachers at the VHS; one was really good and very funny (despite not being a native speaker - he was Dutch) but the other was pretty useless, so I used to skive her classes.

We are - according to our sat nav - 4 hours 10 minutes from Munich airport, which is an hour or so less than we thought. At least we have plenty of time to get there on the Thursday as we're not flying until 10 pm; on the downside, this means we don't land in Manchester until 11 pm.

Have just discovered on the easyjet website that we are entitled to priority boarding - the second group (after the people who have paid for priority boarding) includes families where at least one child is 5 or under. Thanks again for the info 2and1 - I would have been really annoyed if we'd paid for it (not that we were really considering it at that price) without realising that we were entitled to it anyway!

oh no Linzer has your ipod died? i'd be lost without mine!! thats still a while in the car to Munich! There'll be some tired dc by the time you get to your friends!! whereabouts in the NW is she - i'm going back for a week in June - will be really excited to see everyone again!! got very fond memories of living there!

2and1 would think we'd have to banish you from the thread if your dd was called ikea!!!!

well wasted so much time this morning looking online at kitchens!! done all the measurements but the plans we had for one corner wont work so wasted too long looking for an answer!! might be better to just wait till we go to the kitchen shop and i'm sure they can help me!

Yes, and I am lost without it! It just won't switch on any more, so I suppose I'll have to look into getting it repaired. It's 15 months old so I can't send it back to Amazon, and I can't find a receipt/guarantee anywhere but I'm sure the guarantee was only for a year anyway.

Were you at university in the NW then, Canella? My friend is from the Wirral. She's said that they can pick us up from and take us to the airport and also that we can stay at her parents', but I don't feel I can expect them to put all five of us up (particularly as my friend, her DH and their two DC will be there too). We're arriving so late that we'll probably stay at an airport hotel the first night and then look for somewhere else to stay the following two nights. (Does anyone know Manchester and whether it would be worth spending a day there? We're thinking about spending the first day in Chester, unless Manchester has something better to offer!)

wow- glad you got your flights sorted Linzer - sounds good. How long are you going for then?

Happy birthday little moo! Sounds like a lovely day for all!

I like the sound of that beer garden too. It will be great with a little baby! Hope this dc does not get called Ikea!

canella - enjoy the freedom. There is really no point in sitting in that class by the sounds of it. I also had a terrible teacher at the VHS and it was so hard to get myself there. It´s so unmotivating! Hope the kitchen planning goes well. did you get some ideas looking at sites? We got the info back from the Krankenkassa who said they would pay 790 euros a year for 3 years towards the braces. That still leaves a big chunk to pay.hmm...lots of Viennese go to Hungary for their dental work. I wonder if I should look into it. I am just a bit concerned about this dentist because she wanted to replace my perfectly okay amalgam fillings and charge me 1,200 euros for the new fillings. I refused.

I thought I was starting my job this week as on the phone the woman said I would start "on Monday or Tuesday" but did not give a date. I now have the contract and luckily I have 2 weeks before I start my job (it´s 30 hours a week Linzer) and have plenty of sorting out to do. We celebrated with a Japanese meal out - discovered the dds like sushi, ds just likes saying "shoeshi" but spat it out.

Came across this at the weekend www.the-british-shop.at and their strap line is "Die feine englische Art". When, oh when, will people learn there is a difference between British and English?!?!? It used to drive me mad when I was studying in Scotland and I would go home to Spain and people would ask me how it was going in England! They also looked at me as if I were being pedantic when I said "I am having a great time in Scotland". Enough, I shall get off my soap box. Anyway, there are some real strange things on there and extortionate prices for Yorkshire tea!

That site is following me around at the moment, bananas! A German friend sent me a link to it last week, and then DH brought home a catalogue for it at the weekend. Def. agree about there being some strange things on there and most of it is ridiculously expensive; you can tell it's run by Germans (I think it's based in D rather than A) and is aimed at Deutschsprachige who are fans of "die feine englische Art" rather than expat Brits living in Germany/Austria. I've just ordered these delightful Wohnaccessories. And can you imagine using this teapot?

That England meaning the UK thing really annoys me too. People often ask me when I'm flying back to England next but it's quite hard to correct them as we do fly to England, but then travel on to Wales! Even DH does it, so I'll turn the tables on him by referring to Germany rather than Austria (well, they speak the same language in both countries...). I am on a mission to educate the children in DD1's and DD2's classes that England is only part of the UK (alongside my mission that you do not need to pronounce the letter a as ä when you're speaking English, e.g. we won't be flying to Mänchester in September but to Manchester).

LOL they are hilarous Linzer! I´d missed those beauties!!!!

I like your missions- fully agree with them! Had a discussion this weekend with DD1 about it being Hannah Montana, not Hännäh Montänä! sigh....

Speaking of missions - Just noticed Colgate has a "Österreich wird Kariesfrei" campaign and thought we should set up a Verein. The aim would be to stop every shop, dr, school teacher giving children sweets as rewards!! Oh, we would have a special campaign for your PILs and for my dentist - she gave them a Kinder egg . I know it´s not as bad as boiled sweets but...

oh the ongoing "a" problem!! it drives me mad that they teach them that in the English classes at school!! glad you're fighting back against it linzer!

I have given up a little bit with the England/ Great Britain thing. If people ask me where i come from I always say Scotland but if strangers think i come from England then i cant be bothered to explain it!

bananas - glad you celebrated your new job!! that still seems a lot to pay for dd's brace. Wonder why they are all different? we will get all the money back that we paid the KFO - will your krankenkasse do that too?

linzer - Manchester is a good place to spend the day but not so much with dc - its a good day out shopping! i would think the dc would find chester much more interesting with all the roman history and the wall etc. And its much prettier. Did my Masters at Chester so know it fairly well.
I'm sure you would easily find a hotel to stay in - unless her parents live in a mansion then it sounds like there would be a lot of you staying! the wirral is so nice - great place to spend a few days. I didnt do my undergraduate degree in the NW but worked there for nearly 12 years - met my dh in Liverpool and all 3 dc were born in the NW! Its not the prettiest part of the UK but it will always have a place in my heart!

bananas Excellent idea re the Verein! DH was quite harsh with MIL yesterday, who tried to give us a whole bag of various types of sweets to take home for the DC - he took three tubes of Smarties, and that was it. The way she reacts when we refuse sweets for them, you'd think we were depriving them of food altogether.
Next time you must come over to us for tea, which I shall serve from my feine englische Big-Ben-Teekanne. It's just a shame that I find it harder to get my tongue round Großbritannien than England - I tend to get blank looks if I say Wales (apart from the one time that someone thought I was from Wels).

Forgot to answer your previous question, sorry - we'll be staying for three days. Originally we were just going to go for two, but DH thought that we might as well make a long weekend out of it as we were going all that way.

Canella I'd be quite happy to spend the whole day shopping in Manchester, but it sounds like Chester would be the better option with the DC in tow (esp. with the Roman history for DD1). The NW must hold a lot of happy memories for you; you must be really looking forward to going back in June. I don't know the area all that well; I've been to Liverpool and Chester a few times, and used to go and stay with my friend in the Wirral when we were still students, but that was years and years ago now!

Stilvoll wohnen!!!!! ROFL

Am also stalked by the British Shop. MIL seems to have forgotten it of late, fortunately!

My name begins with A. People actually ask me if I'm not really Ä.... when I've introduced myself as A..... Do they really think I don't know my own name?!!!

Have I beaten Canella's most-exclamation-marks-in-one-post record set earlier today? Possibly not!!!

Afternoon all!

Well after a rotten, grey, drizzly morning, the sun is out again! After yesterday's downpour I had almost given up hoping spring was underway.
We had a lovely day in Düsseldorf on Saturday, sitting by the Rhine, eating and drinking, soaking up the rays, then MIL treated us to the biggest plate of Schnitzel I have ever seen on Sunday afternoon - heaven!

Bebe Happy (belated) birthday to little moo! I'm glad you had a lovely day at the zoo.

Canella Doesn't the teacher make such a difference?! I did a Spanish course at Cervantes a few years ago and ended up dropping the second part as the teacher was just so awful. Saying that, it was in winter, from 5-7pm, straight after work (providing I got away on time) so my motivation wasn't great to begin with. She was so dull and grey and she made a lot of mistakes, from what I could gather.

Linzer Ooh I'm very jealous of you heading to Manchester! I lived there for 10 years and love the place. It's great for shopping and the Museum of Science and Industry might be good for your DCs but for a family day out I would also say Chester is a bit nicer. There are the lovely Roman walls and it's smaller and not as hectic (in my humble opinion). We are hoping to head over for a wedding at the end of August but I'll be just under 36 weeks by then so am not massively confident we will make it :(

2and1 Congrats on finding the perfect beer garden - there is nothing more pleasant on a nice summer's day! By the way, I will definitely be adding Ikea to my list of baby names - let's see if DH spots the new addition :)

Bananas Enjoy your 2 weeks off before starting your new job! I hope the weather stays nice enough for you to get a few sun hours in.

I LOVE that website! I think those dogs would make a stunning addition to any dwelling. In fact, I may order a few (hundred) myself...

I hope everyone is well!

Oh and they opened a Legoland Discovery Centre at the Trafford Centre - not sure if that would be something for your DCs, Linzer? As far as I remember it was quite expensive though, but just a thought.

Anything Lego-related is good for our DC, Banana - will definitely have to look into the discovery centre. (As long as it doesn't encourage them to buy yet more Lego...)

silken When I was in Berlin, I had some German friends who were really into the singer (well, I say singer - she just seemed to talk over the music IIRC) called Anne Clark. But you can guess how they pronounced her name. I was very surprised to discover, months if not years later, that her name wasn't actually N. Clarke.

Banana The Museum of Science and Industry sounds good too; the DC love the Technisches Museum in Vienna (where DH is also, needless to say, in his element). I have an excellent idea - I shall send them all there while I go shopping.

Ha ha Silken!!!!!!!!!! I am a serial exclamation marker - should really have tried to give them up for lent. How crazy people here dont believe you know how to say your own name - why why why do they say the "a" wrong.

Bananamad - think your optimistic about travelling to the UK at 36 weeks pregnant. A friend did it and just lied about her dates.

Glad you all thought i wasnt a skiver today - it wasnt just that the teacher had made some mistakes in translating words its also how defensive she got about it - was all too uncomfortable. My normal teacher is also not a native speaker but like someone else said that can still be ok. Will go back on fri when the normal teacher is back.

(how did i do - was that less exclamation marks - really had to concentrate)

Have any of you had SPD during pregnancy?

Bananamad I am 36 weeks pregnant now and think you are mad considering getting on a plane and flying to the UK to go to a wedding at 36 weeks - but maybe you are better at being pregnant than me! (Mind you I am very un-girly -that is a word honest - and don't much like weddings generally, so motivation would be lower for me perhaps!) I am so uncomfortable if I sit in one position for long - plane, wedding ceremony, reception - all involving much sitting still and probably none of it in late pregnancy friendly chairs, possible enforced periods of standing, possible late night - can't imagine that being any fun or worth it unless the wedding is of somebody you are incredibly close to!

Bebe never had SPD thankfully, though a good friend in the UK who had her first a couple of weeks after I had my first had it in both her pregnancies and was on crutches and had to wear a special belt - do you think you have it?

Linzer and Bananaananas the tat on that British shop link is amazing! On the England /Britain / UK thing - I have taught my evening class participants and the kids at the grundschule I worked at the difference/ constituent parts of the UK, but I doubt they will remember - but then I am ashamed to say I am sure my geography of parts of Europe is limited - for example I probably could not correctly label all the constituent parts of the former Soviet Union I don't think... and I am sure the majority of Brits think Germany is Germany and don't know how much difference from each other and independence the different German states have on lots of levels... In fact lots of Brits don't even know the difference between Britain and "The United Kingdom", so it is expecting a bit much of Germans to know/ care perhaps... ?

DD's real name (not Ikea...) begins with A and she herself pronounces it differently when she speaks German!! Nobody has ever told her to, she just does, I guess she translates it in a way! I have always found this weird but sort of clever too - she does the same with DS's name, which starts with E though, and he has picked up on this too so they both say their names differently when speaking German than when speaking English! Luckily the ä does not seep through into their English - but then they are not yet at school being "taught" English - I hope it doesn't change! DD is a bit too eager to please and fit in sometimes, and it annoys me no end when she sings the English version of "Happy Birthday" along with her friends and pronounces the English words the German way "Hippy Birstay to you, Hippy Birstay to you, Hippy Birstay Liebe Lena" etc when her English is accent-less (apart from a subtle th/ f problem if I am honest) and you wouldn't know she spoke another language if she is in a 100% English speaking context - argh!

I am very uncomfortable this eve with back and bump ache and a nasty stitch like pain in both sides tonight, so think I need to spend the rest of the evening in the bath, which has become a habit most evenings now! I am not looking forward to being on my feet/ out teaching tomorrow night, but only 2 to go at least! I also put off several errands today due to not wanting to trundle around in the pouring rain (both kids need to take in Buchs for KiGa Easter crafts on Wed - having finally found out what it is I need to source some with only tomorrow to do it, and think I need to go to a florist or the market, as well as 4 blown eggs each and a meter each of "Easter ribbon" - KiGa craft lists are much too demanding IMO!) , which I will now have to do tomorrow as well as preparing my class, so am not looking forward to the busier day at all, although it is my own fault!

Sorry if I missed replying to anyone, not very focussed (though very waffly I see) tonight!

Fortunately not, but I did really strain one side of my groin towards the end which was a real problem during labour. It hurt like hell and I kept trying to fight the contractions. Hope you haven't got it, bebe.