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!

Aw congrats 2and1 (you need a new name!!!) - glad henry came as scheduled!! Enjoy every moment of watching Henry grow into a gorgeous man!!

Conratulations 2and1, enjoy all the cuddles!

Congratulations 2and1! Have lots of fun with the little one and best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Glad you had a lovely birthday bananas!

Congratulations 2and1 - glad all went well; hope you have a quick and smooth recovery from the C-section. It's lovely that your DD is so interested in her little brother, although can understand it must be a little tiring for you.

bananas Sounds like you had a lovely birthday. I am also discovering more and more white hairs, and think I may have to go down the dyeing route soon but am putting it off for as long as possible!

Jenny Can't believe you still have snow; I hope it warms up as forecast.

It was cold and wet here yesterday, so a perfect day for going shopping (we postponed our trip to Bratislava from Saturday). We went to Tesco this time too, which doesn't have much in the way of British food unfortunately, but the non-food bit of the store is huge and (apart from books and magazines) all seems to be proper British Tesco stuff. We managed to fill two trolleys before moving on to M&S, where I actually found some clothes I liked for once. Had a slap-up anniversary meal in the cafe - undercooked jacket potato!

morning!!
Linzer - glad you had a good day in Bratislava - sounds like a perfect anniversary to me (except the food!!).

bananas - glad you had a good birthday despite your dh not being there. I am very lucky and dont have a single grey/white hair yet (touching wood furiously!!!). I have red hair and i think it holds its colour for longer. Its not a family thing tho - my sister is very grey and spends a fortune dying it. So i'm not sure what the answer is - think its brave to go grey naturally but its also expensive to colour it - a proper dilemma!

we had a fab weekend - was a Maibaumvoll weekend. They put our village one up on sat eve - was lovely to be in the village with good friends while the children ran around. It is a great wee village to live in. We then cycled to the neighbouring village yesterday (over the fields) and they put theirs up with a bit more pomp! The weather was great - really sunny although windy (that may explain my slightly sunburned face this morning!!). We then cycled back to our village where they were having their fest and after 2 glasses of wine I had to go bed straight after the dc!!! But i am such a slattern - i've not cooked once all weekend - its been a bratwurst/steak/bread weekend! great!

But i'm going to use self control and switch the computer off after i post this - need to do some cleaning then some serious studying!! But by this time next week it'll be nearly all over and we can crack on with our running linzer!!

2and1 - Congratulations! Glad everything seems to be going well. It does sound sweet that your dd wants to be so involved, but I can imagine it´s a bit wearing.

bananas - I´ve had grey hairs for about the last 10 years. Until now I´ve used a semi-permanent dye, but really need to start using a permanent dye as I´ve now got too many grey hairs and they start showing through after only a few washes. I keep putting it off as I´m a chicken and worry about choosing the wrong colour.

Linzer - I´m very jealous of you having M&S and Tesco so close at hand. Dh loves Vienna and I suggested the next time we visit we could have a day trip to Bratislava. He couldn´t understand why I would want to do that and I felt a bit embarrassed to explain it was because of the shops and nothing to do with the town itself.

Canella - sounds like you´ve had a lovely weekend. We took the dc to play crazy golf because a new place has opened near us. Unfortunately ds just can´t lose and made such a fuss that we abandoned it after 6 holes.

Lovely and sunny here, but freezing cold.

Whoo hoo - dd got into the gymnasium!! She needed better than 2,33 and got 1,66!! Including a 1 in German! So proud of her! In McDonalds to celebrate - her choice!

Well done, 1,66 is great! Enjoy the burger! The Maibaum fest sounds good, I remember that from when we lived in a little village in the south. There was a coming of age tradition of being thrown in the village pond next to the Maibaum...didn't quite get it but everything was to do with a Verein and if you weren't in it you don't get it!

Bananas, no grey hair here yet but I would maybe do those colours that hupa does if I did! Dh has a few but they really show up as he has black hair, and he plucks them out when he sees any which he will have to stop doing soon as it's thinning out abit as it is!

Sounds like my sort of celebration too linzer. Oh to be able to wander around M&S and Tesco. Going mad at the moment trying to get jackets sorted for the dc. The winter ones are no good now and especially dd can't find anything she likes or the buttons are wrong or there's a heart or butterfly embroidered on a corner and that spoils any item of clothing for her! Can't find anything online.

congratulations 2and1- I am glad all went well and is going well! Maybe the novelty will wear off for dd.

canella- huge congratulations to your daughter! Must be really pleased. How is your exam revision going? you´ll be celebrating your passing of your exam next! in mcdonalds?????

hupa - your ds sounds like my dd1 - finds it hard to just enjoy it, always keeping score of who is winning and upset if it is not her. aaahhh, these ambitious little ones. How long have you been in Germany? How often do you get back to the UK? I think going to Bratislava for m and s and tesco (don´t forget there is also a next and a debenhams there) is a perfectly legitmate right of an expat wife!!!! Did you ever live in the UK? When we lived in the UK my dh used to drive us 50 mins to buy Zwieback (in a Polish shop), just wondering if you have any similar ammunition....btw Bratislava is pretty beautiful and relaxed day trip from Vienna. The shopping centre with m and s, next and debenhams is on the Danube and there is a nice walk along it....

Thanks for the grey hair comments. I did not even know there was a difference between permanent and semi-permanent dyes. I also have red hair and heard that it held its colour , but mine has faded and faded and it is now quite grey. Yours must be true red, canella. I knew a woman who was in her late 50s and her red hair had gone a beautiful shade of blonde but no grey.

off to pick up children and take ds to dr...he´s had a persistent cough for 2 weeks now in spite of inhalers. It´s not sounding good.

will pass your congrats on to my dd! they enjoyed their mcdonalds but i managed to avoid eating anything there - i never really enjoy it so missed lunch all together! now starving and nibbling on biscuits! So def wont be celebrating passing my german exam there - maybe some chinese food would do the job.

I'm really surprised your red hair is going grey bananas - i thought it was all red hair that held its colour. And red hair is tricky to colour - think you might have to do some tests on some bits before you did the whole head!.or maybe you might want to go a different colour all together?
Hope your ds's cough gets better soon.

Admylin - think i'd have been glad i wasnt in the verein if they were going to throw me in the pond!!!!!! But i agree these little villages really get into the spirit of things. I feel your pain with the shopping with dd - another one here where nothing is right - will it get better?

Hupa - the mini golf sounds like a nightmare - think you were right to give up after 6 holes. DD was like that at his age but is growing slowly out of it - she used to sob if she didnt win at board games whereas her brothers never bother - she was def a PFB!

We should tell each other when we manage to buy clothes that please them! Up to now I have very few tips to pass on - except for NewYorker for t-shirts, tops, sweatshirts. The XS size fits dd so she has abit more choice than the pink and purple stuff at C and A or H and M childrens section!

It's the oral exam for Abi on Wednesday so the dc have the day off, just gone back but they aren't complaining.

That's fantastic news Canella, you must be very proud of your DD. I think DD1 would choose to celebrate at McDonald's too (although I must admit I was quite relieved she decided not to have her birthday party there in the end).

admylin DD1 is completely uninterested in clothes and will wear whatever I give her to put on. DD2 used to be the complete opposite and was very fussy about what she'd wear; thankfully she's much better now, but I can imagine it getting worse again when she's a teenager. Our problem at the moment is that she loves Peppa Pig clothes, which generally only go up to age 6 (she'll be 7 in July).

bananas Your hair didn't look at all grey to me, more like a subtle shade of red. I wish my hair was going grey rather than white, which means maximum contrast against my dark hair!

hupa The old part of Bratislava is supposed to be lovely, but I'm ashamed to admit I've never seen it as shopping has always taken priority. There's an Early Learning Centre/Mothercare in the new shopping centre too, where I've often bought clothes for the DC and have also managed to find a few toy bargains. I bought some Jolly Phonics books in there for ?1 each recently; I can't imagine there's much call for them in Slovakia, somehow (and have never heard any other English speakers in the ELC, although there seemed to be more than usual in M&S yesterday).

Great news for your DD Canella! That's amazing! Sorry for anyone who is getting the odd grey strand. Dh is away the first half of this week so must go to bed and try to get some sleep at least! Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday.

Congratulations, 2and1. Hope your dd is letting you feed her new brother in peace now, although her wanting to change nappies sounds like a bonus.

Happy belated birthday, bananas.

Congratulations to dd, Canella. You must be proud.

Haven't caught up completely with the thread, so if I've missed congratulating anyone else, sorry!

It's been very quiet on here this week. I know Canella is busy revising, but where's everyone else?

Hope you got on OK without your DH, Jenny. Mine is in the Ukraine at the moment, but will be back this evening.

I'm getting more and more fed up with the school English lessons. I spent goodness knows how long planning yesterday's lesson, laminating flashcards and photocopying handouts, but didn't get so much as a thank you from DD2's teacher. DD1's teacher is better and at least recognises how much work I put into preparing the materials; she gave me a ream of photocopying paper last week and has also said she'll buy me a printer cartridge from the class kitty. My only consolation is that I'll be able to reuse all my lessons plans and flashcards etc. for DS.

I wouldn't know where to start teaching that age group linzer. Do you do it all in English or explain in German? I've seen someone do an English class for small dc and it was more like being an entertainer with a hand puppet and coloured floaty scarves that she threw in the air!

I've been busy trying to sort paperwork (still) as had 2 Mahnung letters this week. One of them is so hard to understand - from Rentenversicherung place and I don't get what they really want so I'm sending a huge wad of photocopied contracts and information from 10 years ago and hope they find what they want! Off to photocopy now - outside as my printer ink will be used up otherwise. Why is printer ink so expensive? Must try those no name ones next time.

hello! still here (just about!) Have done myself proud with studying so if i dont pass it tomorrow then it wasnt meant to be.

Linzer - hope you enjoyed the dh free evenings. My dh is away for over a week in a few weeks time but i'm quite looking forward to it. Not that i've told him that - but i laid it on thick how i thought i deserved some special present for being left alone with the dc while he jaunts off to America! I tried my luck by asking for an ipad - you can imagine that he laughed at me!

Admylin - grr hate paperwork so good on you for getting it sorted. hope you've sent them the right things.

Well off to finish lunch then got to go and buy a birthday present for a party ds1 is going to tomorrow, then buy new trainers for both of them before getting ds1 back here for 3.30 so he can play with his friend. Busy few hours! but tomorrow is even worse - cant even be bothered to type the amount of stuff i have to cram in tomorrow afternoon. But at least my exam will be over!!! whoo hoo!

Good luck for tomorrow, Canella. What exam is it?

I seem to spend a lot of time laminating flashcards as well, Linzer. At least I get paid for my teaching. I wasn't sure where to start either, admylin, but I've been surprised by how much fun it is. (I teach 4-6 year olds.)

Well done on all the revision Canella, and good luck for tomorrow! So are you all set to start C25k on Monday? My running gear arrived from Tchibo a couple of days ago, so I no longer have any excuses. Apart from waiting for you, of course.

I quite enjoy my DH-free evenings (and I think he suspects as much!); I was worried I might have to work yesterday evening, but the job didn't materialise in the end. A friend's DH brought back an iPod from a work trip to the USA, but I think he won it in some kind of competition there rather than actually buying it. The most exciting thing my DH ever brings back is chocolate or magazines (but only if I remember to ask for them and I have to tell him exactly what issue I want).

admylin Good luck with the paperwork; I hate Austrian paperwork with a passion (there's just so much of it). What kind of printer do you have? We used to have a laser printer and the cartridges were so expensive, although the ink jet ones aren't exactly cheap either. My brother uses no name cartridges (I've sometimes bought them for him as I often print out things if I have to work at my parents') and they seem to be fine.

I'm trying to get the girls (DD2 has a friend over) to finish their homework before I pick up DS from Kindergarten, but DD1 just can't seem to concentrate and keeps distracting the others. Also need to make an appointment at the dermatologist's for my Muttermalkontrolle. I noticed when I looked up her phone number that she also offers botox - that will be the next thing to think about once I've got my white hairs sorted.

x-posted earlier, silken - I can imagine 4-6 is a nice age to teach. When I first started teaching DD1's class, they were all about 6 and so enthusiastic - it was lovely. Now that they're 8/9, they're starting to get a little more blase and for some reason, DD2's class just don't get as excited about their English lessons as DD1's class used to (they used to start cheering as soon I went into the classroom!).

admylin Sorry, have just realised I forgot to answer your question. I started off teaching mainly in German (as I was more like a classroom assistant to DD1's old teacher, who used mainly German in the English lessons), but am trying to use more and more German in both classes. I've also heard that using a hand puppet is good for teaching younger children, as they're often less nervous about talking to a puppet than to the teacher.

Good luck for tomorrow canella!!!! Hope it goes well and all your revision is put to good use! And that your hectic afternoon isn´t too bad...

Linzer - no thanks for teaching the class? That sounds totally off. She should be so grateful to have someone who is a native speaker and so committed. Is DD2s teacher a bit strange in other senses?

I have to report on my visit to the shamanic gynae - she was ever so lovely, and not at all mad. First pain-free smear test ever...must have been the spirits protecting me. Sorry to disappoint but have no strange tales to re-tell.

admylin - how is the paperwork? did you get it all sorted?

DH free evenings are sometimes a good thing. But I hate putting the children to sleep on my own - they just get upset because dh is not here and it takes for ever and ever to settle them. Dh is out tonight and finally I got them to sleep but ds is in our bed, so will have to move him at some point.

I had a scarey broody moment this week. My db had his 3rd baby on Monday and then I saw a woman who I had not seen in ages from dd2s old kindergarten and she was heavily pregnant. And I got broody at the thought of a tiny baby. What a shock. And thank goodness it passed.

have nice evening all!

Good luck for tomorrow's exam canella!

Hope the exam went well canella. When will you get the results?

Bananas, thank goodness the doctor was OK! So she does 'normal'treatment too at least. I'm looking for a new gynae as my old one doesn't keep appointments properly and I hate having to sit for an hour and a half longer than I should. Last time my appointment was for 9am and I only saw the doctor at 10:30.

Silkenladder, so where did you start when you first taught dc? I was thinking if you get a course book it should be easy but ds's (age 12) friend was here recently and they were revising tenses - he got quite a few answers wrong so I was trying to explain to him but it didn't work out very well.

Well, my paperwork is almost sorted, just have to manage a trip to the post office when it's open. My dh is also away next week for 4 nights (only in Hamburg though) - he usually brings the dc something but as he's a last minute type of person they often end up with a little bag or tin of luxury chocolates as that's the type of shop you seem to get at the Bahnhofs! Linzer, let us know what you get from Ukraine if he remembers!

thanks for all the good wishes but the exam was a nightmare! got back to the car afterwards and burst into tears . Was just so much harder than the ones i'd practiced. Trying to think positively - the letter i had to write was ok but i need 60% overall to pass and i'm not sure i got 60% in the lese and horverstehen. The oral bit isnt till Monday and that should go ok since i talk german a lot of the day but will be a long wait for the results - think i have to wait 6 weeks. Feeling proper sorry for myself now.

but wanted to give an example of the test - you have to fill in the missing words.

"Eine Untersuchung das Textilforschungszentrum Hohenstein brachte nun Licht, dass die Modeproduzenten den Grund dafuer, dass viele Konfektionsgroessen offenbar den Kundinnen noch den Kunden passen, in der Koerperlichen Entwicklung der Bevoelkerung in Deutschland suchen ."

Any ideas what words are missing? (sorry if there are any spelling mistakes!)

oh thats not come out right - didnt think to preview message! A word is missing before Licht, after offenbar and at the end. Sorry!