Sommer, Strand und Sonne - life in Germany and Austria

[LinzerTorte]

A thread for all those living in Germany or Austria, and for anyone else who would like to chat.

Sounds like you've got a good plan for the holidays linzer - it is easier to persuade younger kids to do things i imagine than teenagers!

I'd love some DVD's but dont worry if you've no time to post them before you go away. Think i've got a few still to passon to admylin too.

To escape from the kitchen chaos we've booked a week in Austria - think in Steiermark - in a fereindorf. Really looking forward to it but still dream of going somewhere like Greece but dh refuses to take the dc on a plane holiday while their still little. Maybe next year .......

Todays boring kitchen update - went to the tile place - they had millions of possible tiles! So they let us bring a few home and they're all lying on the kitchen floor and i'm still none the wiser. Can find a few we like but the wood of the door and frame is quite dark and then i cant decide if the tiles will match. And we cant change the doors since the kitchen leads onto the hall and all the hall doors to other rooms are the same dark wood. Decisions decisions!

Sounds difficult canella, you could always go and ask for some other tiles if there's nothing you really fancy. Feriendorf sounds good, how did you find it? I'd love to go away for a few days to the coast but I can never decide on anywhere.

Linzer well done for trying the fitness thing, not my cup of tea either. At least you tried it. Hope your dd has got her energy back.

My 2 are finished for the summer, ds was sent home at 9.30am and dd turned up at 10.30am even though school is meant to go to 11am today. All round reports were nothing to get excited about but they both go into the next year so no sitzenbleiben. Dd abit fed up as she really tried hard but it didn't get her any better results. Dh will have his nagging hat on for a while when he gets home but it won't make the reports any better.

Congrats to your dc admylin on their reports - think they are maybe being hard on themselves! Hope dh doesnt moan too much! We found the fereindorf from a website - think its maybe called homeaway fewo direkt. Its got holidays all over germany so maybe you'd be able to find something.
I do like the tiles but i'm just not sure if they match the door. If i went back i wouldnt know which different colour to pick. Think we need an interior decorator to help us! Or changing rooms!

Great tip canella, thanks for that website. Looks as if we might get a few days in Berlin. Shame our old friends there will mostly be away for the summer but still nice to go round our old favourite place sto eat (authentic mexican and American diner) and I know my way around atleast.

So, dd had a 3 Gesamtnote and ds managed a 2,5 Gesamtnote. Problem is, ds's 2,5 wa swith no effort and absoloutly no extras and poor dd worked really hard, did every possible extra and still only made a 3. I still think it's OK for a German Gymnasium, it's not too bad for 2 foreign kids!

admylin It's depressing when no matter how hard they try, they see other children doing better than them, isn't it? DD1 wasn't over the moon about her Zeugnis but at least DH kept telling her that the grades weren't as important as doing her best.

Canella I should be able to send the DVDs before we leave; I'll get DH to take them to the post office as he goes past one on his way to work. There must be about 12 altogether but we're not getting through the older ones as we've been glued to The Apprentice recently!

Steiermark is lovely although the accent can be a little hard to understand at times! Most of DH's university friends are from there as he studied in Graz and I used to really struggle to keep up with their conversations.

Managed to distract the DC from the idea of the Strandbad (just seeing all the cars parked outside put me off) by telling them about friend's invitation. DD1 has already got a huge pile of things ready to take, including her dinghy and oars, but now the sun seems to have disappeared.

Sounds like a nice afternoon next to a lake Linzer. That was one of the cool parts of growing up in the lake district, summer holidays with free entertainment, packed lunch and lakes and rivers to paddle in! I don't know where to go here to find that sort of thing.

Dh applied to Stanford today. Still haven't heard back from Canada job but deadline was ages ago so I presume they aren't going to give feedback at all.

Such a lot going on with kitchens and lakes etc! Feriendorf sounds lovely! Isn't Stanford near San Francisco? That could be a really cool place to be and its research is top-rated too. Over 30C here today but cooling down a bit for the next couple of days. Dd is having her tonsils out on Friday! Hope you all enjoy the rest of the week.

Wow Jenny it doesnt seem that long since you had cold weather - thats a big change in temp! Good luck to your dd for fri - think dc do really well getting their tonsils out.

Admylin - did wonder if you meant Stanford USA - that would be a big life change for you all.

Thanks Linzer in advance for the DVD's. I've also become obsessed with the Apprentice. Think Helen should win - she seems to make the most sense. But havent seen last nights prog yet - keeping that for later.

No Canella, it's not that long really! There's around 60C difference between the lowest and highest temps here as we have the Cascade Mountains 30 mins in one direction and the High Desert 10 mins in the next. I have watched the Apprentice here but I think I prefer Alan Sugar to Donald Trump really!

Never seen The Apprentice. We have no UK TV so only watch German rubbish! I tend to sit glued to it if I go to UK, even sit watching the adverts. They seem to make a totayl different style of advert in UK. I've even had ds hooke don youtube watching old adverts liek 'Charlie says..' the old safety advets and old bird's eye beefburger ones!

No plans here for today, dc at dentist then as I will have them both out ofthe house at the same time i should spontaneously go somewhere with them even if it's just to get ds shoes.

Dd got a wave board yesterday, went out in the evening and she did quite well getting the hang of it but she fell and grazed her elbow so she wants knee and elbow pads now.

My parents are recording The Apprentice for us admylin so I'll be sending the DVDs on when we've finished with them - I can send them to you first as Canella will have already seen them, although there are some other programmes on most of the DVDs as well. We're a few weeks behind so I have to avoid any Apprentice talk on MN/the Internet in general. The Apprentice - You're Fired (where Dara O'Briain talks to the candidate who's just been fired) can be very funny too.

Jenny Hope your DD's op goes well. We've watched a few series of The Apprentice USA but I prefer the British version. Donald Trump just seems to fire people on a whim sometimes; I remember in the last series he suddenly fired someone because they'd called themselves "white trash".

Are you planning on going back to C25k, Canella? I doubt I'll get much chance to run during the summer holidays but I did manage to finish Week 8 this morning - it was far too muggy out, though.

admylin I like the sound of Stanford but I must admit I know absolutely nothing about it! Have just googled it - I didn't even realise it was in California. The company I used to work for in Heidelberg had quite a big research centre in Palo Alto and I know a couple of people who spent some time there, but I can't remember what they said about it.

hi all, lovely to hear of all your lovely holiday plans :9

ds2 & 3 had sports day yesterday, and ds1 today, in the baking heat. think only ds3 enjoyed it.

Packing today for me to fly to london (tomorrow!) and ds2 who will be on the Schullandheim all next week. I won't see my baby for over a week ! :( Bet he'll have a brilliant time.

Linzer that would be great thanks. I miss UK television but I can't think of setting it up here if it includes contracts and attatching a dish to the balcony etc, just not worth it until I know we're going to settle down.

Ernest, hope you have a good time and the builders have been busy.

Just saw that lidl has British food again next Thursday too, canella have you still got baked beans left from last time? Great thing to do in the microwave with a baked potato when you're on minimal kitchen appliances!

Well done to your DC on the school reports admylin , it must be so hard for your dd though working so hard but seeing her brother get better results with no effort!

Thanks for the schuletüte and first day outfits tips, I am going to slowly gather a few bits to put in - have a little money box as I will start giving pocket money, a fancy hello kity pen, some glittery pony hair bobbles,a tiny mini radio that works, and a couple of bits of plastic tat (hello kity surprise egg and similar filly thing) so far, will def get some pencils and a notebook type thing, and putting things like knoppers in is a good idea rather than pure sweets. Not sure dd will need to get up earlier, although she will need to catch the bus at 7.10 the kids are already up around 6am most days. We will have to be more organised though as we currently don't leave the house til 8.10 for kiga.

Bought all the stationary on the school list today, wanted to do it now not wait til the shops are manic just before term starts in sept, and spent E70 even with a money off voucher - with that and schuleranzen, schuletüte it really adds up! Parents in the uk don't know how easy they have it only buying uniform! Still need a few more bits like new sport shoes and house shoes, but they can wait.

Ernst hello - baby is 10 weeks and having a velcro phase! Think its partly not knowing what to do with himself in the heat.

Big kids have gone on a KiGa trip today so I have an extra 2 hours before picking them up, but baby H is unputdownable and I am not feeling like doing much housework with him in the sling in the heat!

ad, we don't have a contract for UK TV, just a Humax box and dish. I think you can get dishes on stands, so not nec to actually fit. I think it would be better maybe without, as although we have German TV I never ever watch it, but it's a little home comfort.

Do you have Edeka where you are? I find their baked beans fine, and even dh who loathes supermarket own labels, and especially any baked bean rip off grudgingly acknowledged they were OK.

Who cares about houseweok, enjoy the cuddles 5more, they grow up so fast and that age is so adorable. Sounds like you're almost sorted for school. Is she going with all her village friends to the same school?

We've already spent 140? to borrow next years school books and a 73? order of other books from amazon that we had to buy ourself. Next we need the paper, files, paint boxes need added to etc and then we'll get a 20? bill for photo copying at school. By the time all that's dealt with they'll both have grown out of sports stuff and need winter shoes and jackets again, never ending. Dd is 11 and just went into shoe size 38 so none of her old shoes will fit any more.

Ernest, we get out baked beans at Rewe, not sure which make but they also have heinz at an extortionate price! The lidl ones are worth stocking up on just for the frugality factor!

the edeka ones are edeka own brand (have Edeka on the front) and are half the price of Heinz. I think 99c a tin, can't remember. But they are good. Wish more than 50% of dc liked them. Ds1 & dd yes, ds 2 & 3 big no no. To all beans. Anything quick and easy to prepare in fact.

Thank goodnes both mine like beans, it's an easy meal! Just gave them burgers with salad, it was ds's breakfast as he'd just emerged from his bed. Hmm, still no plan for the holidays but will let him have today and then have a talk at weekend. He's just said oh no not the dentist, that means I have to go outside.

you are quite right admylin - he is only really happy on the breast today which is less ideal than cuddles without being chomped on! But he is my last baby and will be big in no time. Wow at paying all that to borrow next year's school books - is that a refundable deposit or "rent"?

Ernst we are in Bavaria too but our Edika stopped stocking beans, boo hiss!

Here's another silly school question - do you label all your dc's school items, (Grundschule kids) and if so where do you buy or order the labels? I can find loads of places selling all sorts of name labels from the uk, but would make more sense not to pay international shipping on something like that

That's just to rent the books. Buying them would have cost over 300? just for ds's year 8 books. I don't mind buying books but they would honestly not look at them again after the year. Also they change books so dd wouldn't even be guarunteed the use of them if we bought them.

If it's so hot maybe your baby is thirsty? When ds was tiny we had a heat wave and I gave him luke warm baby fennel tea in between the milk meals.

Yes, I also have labels from UK though.
I noticed alot of people just write initials on the inside of clothes - we even had to write names on every single pencil in Year 1! I think Jako-o catalogue do labels (maybe even iron on ones) in Germany so worth checking.

we had to label everything. Never bothered with labels. Every pencil etc wrote surname with permanent marker, still clearly labelled now at end of school year, and used biro on the clothes labels. Biro doesn't wash off.

He may be thirsty, I have no bottles but maybe I should get some. It isn't scheduled growth spurt week or anything... Thanks for label info, must get some then.