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.

That's what I thought admylin, but I've just had an e-mail from DH and he said he still doesn't have a good feeling about going because the trouble has spread to other cities. He also wants to book his train ticket from Stansted in advance as it's much cheaper and wants to do so today, so I think we'll probably just cut our losses and have a day out somewhere instead.

Glad the Einschulung went well, hula. I'm sure your DS will calm down fairly quickly if he's not normally that loud. My three are the opposite - very quiet in new situations or with people they don't know. I can't imagine the DC going back to school in August - not that I would complain about shorter holidays (still another four weeks to go here).

Thanks everyone - best wishes to you all

Hupa, it's a big day and I think the dc get excited with the big change from playing all day at kindergarden to having to sit at a table and listen to a teacher, and getting a schultüte too. I'm sure your ds will settle - only hope he doesn't go too quiet as the louder and bolder the dc, the better the oral grade from my experience of having a fairly quiet ds and a far too quiet dd!

My ds didn't take too well to having homework when he started school and a page of tracing over giant M or S letters was just too much for him (his sister did a couple of his homeworks even).

Linzer, it's a shame you'll miss the day in London (and the shops) but it's not worth the risk is it. Can you still get some decent shopping done around your area? I have the problem at my parents' place that they live in the middle of nowhere and I only ever get a mad rush around a city shopping centre once or twice when someone has time to take me.

Sorry citizen, I don't know anything about bfing in Germany. Maybe 5moreminutes will be along to help? She's recently given birth.

Blimey sorry about that, it didn't show half those posts. Ignore me while I go back and read what everyone said!

Glad the Einschulung went well, even if he got a bit over-excited, hupa!

Sorry about the London trip Linzer. I hope you manage to do something wonderful instead.

Love this thread where people can use the word 'bastel' in the middle of the sentence and everyone knows what it is! At uni we always used 'unfreundlich' because it seems so much more so than the English!

Jenny It's great being able to mix and match languages, isn't it? DH thought it was hilarious that I recently texted an English friend to ask "are you still unterwegs?" He's awful for using English words in the middle of German sentences; it's pure laziness most of the time as I'll often be able to correct him with the German equivalent.

admylin Hmm, decent shopping isn't normally a word that I'd associate with my home town. There are always rumours going round that some decent shops are going to open, but they never seem to come to anything. We're thinking about having a day out nearer by (although the nearest place with good shops that we can get to by train is two hours away), which won't be quite the same as going to London but better than nothing.

I booked DH's train tickets for him online earlier - he's now coming straight here from Stansted - so the London trip is definitely off now. Maybe in 2012...

Sorry, CitizenOscar, I'm afraid I can't help with the breastfeeding question either. If it helps though, the cafes in the area where I am are always full of prams and pushchairs (the city seems to be full of mums and babies - not that I'm complaining, that will be me very soon :) )

Linzer Sorry you had to cancel your trip to London. It sounds like it is for the best though. The online papers today seemed to think things have calmed down a bit but you never know what might happen. Would the 2 hour train journey be too much for your DCs or would they quite enjoy the fun of being on a train abroad? (Grasping at straws, I realise, but anything for decent shops!)

Jenny I love the language mixing - although I have to admit it does make me lazy as I just don't even bother to try and think of the word in the appropriate language anymore if it doesn't come to me immediately. DH is just as bad, but it somehow seems less lazy when he does it as Germans always seem to drop English words into their sentences. English is trendy dontcha know :o

Hupa I'm glad the Einschulung went well! That must be a weight off your mind.

My Amazon parcel of waterproof bedsheets has just arrived . I seem to have got the idea in my head that my waters will break in the middle of the night and the mattress will be ruined, but we won't chance to buy a new one as I will be in labour etc etc. I figured babies leak a lot too so it will be a bit cheaper just to grab a few sheets than to have to buy a new mattress. I miss the time when all Amazon parcels were exciting new books or DVDs!

Reading back though my post, I realise the waters breaking idea is a lot less silly than the fear that kept me up in the early hours that a huge boa constrictor had escaped from somewhere and was living under our bed. I came to the conclusion that it couldn't have eaten for a long time if it was under our bed so would see the baby as the perfect snack when he arrives. In the end, I decided I was going to have to buy a puppy or something to distract the snake with so I could get the baby out in time.
Funnily enough, when I was trying to explain this to DH the next morning (whilst trying to trick him into checking under the bed) the whole thing seemed a lot less scary and a lot more ridiculous and embarrassing - especially when it turned out the noise that had kicked the whole thing off was a moth, and not even a big one at that. (I should add that I was disgusted with myself about the puppy idea.)

The men in white coats are on their way.

Please tell me I'm not the only one to develop completely irrational fears during pregnancy?!

Later, I can reassure you irrational fears during pregnancy are just the start. When the baby arrives you will get even more and you won't believe what a fantasy you have! They will carry on until the dc leaves home and is all grown up. Anyone else have the dc falling out of window one? I used to hate that one. But after googling it I found out I wasn't alone!

The waterproof sheets will indeed come in very handy too. A wise choice and good thinking, you really are prepared now.

Dd is happy today, her friend stayed over last night and they sat talking in her room until after 11pm and this morning they were up at 9am and have now gone swimming together. This time next week they'll be exhausted after the first day back at school! How is it going Hupa? Is ds enjoying being a big school boy?

Glad to hear that your DD is feeling happier, admylin. My three have been playing quite well with my brother's old Lego today and have watched far less TV than usual, although they're still driving me mad with their squabbling. Have just been out for lunch with an old school friend and they were also quite annoying with their constant interruptions, DS wanting to sit on my lap while I was still eating, etc. - I probably notice it more when I meet up with friends who don't have DC (which doesn't happen v. often).

Later admylin is right, irrational fears during pregnancy are just the start! The waterproof bedsheets sound like a good idea. Do you have to call for an ambulance to take you to hospital if your waters break? You were just supposed to make your own way to the hospital if that happened in the USA, so I was quite surprised to discover that you have to go by ambulance in Austria.

If we did go to Shrewsbury, we'd probably leave the DC with my parents. They'd be OK on the train but would be fed up after about 10 minutes of shopping (we tried it once with the DDs and it was a disaster).

bebe has just posted on facebook that she had a baby girl this morning, born in the hall!

Oh wow - congratulations Bebe!!

Born in the hall?!

Linzer I think if your waters break with an almighty gush then you have to call an ambulance here and they have to take you to hospital lying down (in case the umbilical cord slips down and the baby traps it with its head), but if it's just a gradual trickle then you make your own way to hospital. That's the way the midwife at our ante-natal class explained it anyway. Cue visions of lying on the floor in the middle of Kaufhof or somewhere with my handbag under my bum waiting for an ambulance!

Admylin Glad to hear your DD is feeling a bit happier today. It must be hard, having to provide non-stop entertainment for the entire summer holidays. I bet you'll be glad of the peace and quiet when they are back at school! (Not that you won't miss them, of course.)

It's our last ante-natal class tonight - they have gone really quickly! We're off for a meal with the midwife and the class afterwards, which should be nice. Then, in a few weeks time I have 'geburtsvorbereitende Akupunktur' booked - I'm intrigued, but it's supposed to be quite nice and relaxing too. My mum has just booked to come over for a week in the middle of September too so no chance of me getting bored over the next few months! I think she's secretly hoping the baby will come early (i.e. while she's here), even though she has another visit planned with my dad for a month or so after the birth.

Sorry, Linzer, I meant to add: What is Shrewsbury like? I've heard it's very pretty, but have never been myself.

Shrewsbury is lovely, a nice place for a day out and some good shops too. There's actually an MN meet-up there next Friday, but as it's the day before we fly back I'm not sure whether I'll be able to make it.

Hope the last antenatal class and meal go well, Later. I've heard some good things about acupuncture - my gynae offers it during pregnancy - although I've never had it myself.

I'm not sure whether bebe was planning a home birth anyway as she said that the EMC (midwife?) only arrived just in time - although it sounds like it all went too quickly for her to get to the hospital - but I was quite worried about DS being born at home/on the way to hospital as DD2's birth had been so fast. In the event, however, I had an EMCS with him - the last thing I was expecting or worrying about.

Congratulations to bebe!

Later I had acupuncture for dd as she was a week overdue so my midwife gave me a session that was meant to just relax everything. It was great, I was so relaxed that I went into a daze and had really warm feeling from inside going right through my whole body. It was amazing. Dd came a couple of days after. Enjoy the meal out tonight.

I'm tired today, just feeling as if I could do with a long weekend away. I'm saying that because I know that this weekend is the last chance to go away. Although I wish I had babysitter-taugliche grandparents or something for the odd weekend to get away.

Off to drive dd's friend home. I think she'd stay another night to be honest but I think her mum wants her to keep the little sister company tomorrow when she has to go to work.

Yay, congratulations bebe! Is she back in the UK or still in Germany?

Have a headache as drank some wine last night so can't remember individual posts except for irrational fears with dcs! Yep, me too! Hope you all have a lovely evening.

bebe came back to Wales at the end of July/early August IIRC - glad the baby waited!

Hope your headache is better soon, Jenny. I'm missing my evening glass of wine - my parents only ever used to open a bottle on Sunday evenings, but have even stopped that now. I've told them that I'll buy them a bottle for this Sunday. Not that I'm desperate or anything.

Hi everyone

Wow congratulations bebe - wonder if we'll ever get to hear her tell us how that birth place came about!

Later hope you have a good meal out. I had irrational fears over dd when preg with ds - was convinced she would fall down somewhere and I wouldn't be able to leap after her as I'd be holding the baby (she was not quite 2 at the end of my pregnancy). When expecting dd (my first) it was the dreams - I was always dreaming I was giving birth in the kind of huge temporary shelter in a sports hall or similar you see people evacuated to when there are disasters on the news, and when she was born she'd fly away (really) and I'd chase her but she'd keep getting further away... really shook me each time I woke from the dream but she was born by emergency c-section in a normal hosp, with an APGAR score of 10 and no wings lol so meant nothing!

BTW I can't help but comment that you seem to be being endlessly patient with your incredibly spoiled, immature and rather unpleasant sounding niece! As mother to a 5 year old girl I can confirm her behaviour does not sound normal for 5 at all, and assume she must be horribly spoiled, over indulged and babied by her parents and grandparents to behave the way she does! Your patience with her while preg amazes me - I'd be telling dh I wasn't willing to spend time with her unless her parents addressed it!

Hupa glad ds is enjoying school - and homework! DD can't wait to start but we're only 2 weeks into the holidays here.

On the subject of the riots I used to live 2 mins walk from the carpet shop on Tottenham High Street! It's unbelievable! People at work laughed at me for buying a flat in Tottenham, but it was a 2 bed flat, 5 mins walk to the station then 20 mins by overland into Liverpool Street station, all for 60k in 1998, and I always found the people there pleasant and friendlier than "posh" areas of London...

On a personal note Henry has started rolling about to get from A to B and getting wedged places - tiled floors are non ideal as he has banged his head more than once already,plus I'll need to hoover a bit more often and work on the big kids not leaving Playmobile etc. all over the floor! Not easy given its the holidays and Henry has also decided to howl when I hoover!

Sorry I've missed replying to so many people but better stop writing I think! Henry's stirring anyway.

5more We only see them every few weeks so that helps - I have to admit I'm not that patient, I have a tendency to explode in a fit of hormones and tears about it when I am alone or with DH, but then am never sure if I am overreacting. She is an only child and the first (and until ours is born the only) grandchild, so she is quite spoilt, but I guess that's not really her fault. I think we'll just keep a close eye on her when the baby is here and see how it goes - we've raised the issue within the family and they live a good 2 hours drive away which is now a massively uncomfortable journey at my size, so there is a chance we won't see them now until the baby is born. And breathe!
I hope Henry's 'rolling' is going well and that there haven't been too many head banging incidents this weekend :)

Hupa How did your BBQ go? Did the weather hold out?

Linzer Did you get your glass of Sunday wine?

Admylin I hope you're feeling a little refreshed after the weekend - did you manage to get away in the end?

Hello to everyone I've missed!

Hello

I have been in Germany for 3 weeks and DD started kindergarten last week. It was going well last week but today she was really upset and I had to go early and collect her. I think we have rushed things and thought she was doing so well for a none German speaker. Neither of us speak German (yet - I am learning slowly). One of the teachers speaks some english and that is the one my daughter goes to (and she was late in this morning).

So just looking for any ideas to help her and any experiences you have had if you and your partner do not speak German

Hi lanook and welcome to Germany. Where are you? We're in Hannover but have lived in Berlin and near Stuttgart.

My ds tried kindergarten when he was 3 and only spoke English and he sort of attatched himself to the one teacher who could speak English, he'd hang onto her leg even if she walked away and he chatted away to her non-stop! Didn't help his German but then we moved and he went to a new kindergarten where he cried alot the first few days. Maybe your dd has just realised that everyone is speaking a foreign language or maybe it's the move, 3 weeks isn't long to get used to a new place and routine.

I hope she settles in soon. It must be very hard on you not speaking the language too ( I know it was for me at first).

Hi Lanook. Whereabouts are you? We've been in Hessen for about a year and a half now. Sorry I can't really help with the Kindergarten issue, but there are a lot of people here with far more experience than me who I'm sure will be able to help.
Hope you're managing to settle in! Do you know many people in the area you have moved to?

Hello lanook welcome to the thread.
How old is your daughter? I do think adults expect a lot of kids in terms of accepting new situations, and the "oh they'll soon pick it up" attitude to foreign languages is a bit blaze sometimes - some kids do pick a new language up no problem, seemingly by osmosis, others take longer. If your daughter is quite verbal she might find not being able to communicate verbally with the children around her harder than a more physical, less talkative child. Either way it'll come of course but you can see why she'd have wobbles after the initial novelty of the first week wore off!

I can't directly help with the non German speaking child entering Kindergarten wither though, sorry! My kids are nearly 6, nearly 4 and a baby, so we have been doing the kindergarten thing for the past 3 years already, but we moved here when my eldest was 19 months and the others were born here, so by the time my eldest started KiGa at 3 her German was not bad - in the year and a half before Kindergarten we did Mütter-kind groups (toddlers) and made an effort to get to know as many children as possible in the local playground, plus even though DH did not talk German to her (another story) he is actually German so she had contact with his German speaking relatives, which all helped.

My German was pretty much non existent when we moved here and is still a bit rubbish, but I talk to anyone and everyone and we live in an area with few willing English speakers, so I have now reached a hodge-podge stage where I understand most things and can say what I need/ want and be understood, but I sound ludicrous due to dreadful grammatical structures and accent, and people have to be patient with me - most are luckily!

My only advice is throw yourself in and try to speak German and it will come, though formal study is also a good idea so you don't sound like a mad woman like me :) For your daughter I guess you just have to view it in the same way as if she was having wobbles starting any new childcare situation regardless of language - even if you'd moved to Australia say, the same might have happened with wobbles after the first week in a new nursery/ preschool etc.

If she is a bit older though you could ask the KiGa about getting her some extra help - a 3 year old and a 5 year old are very different cases when it comes to suddenly being immersed in a new language in my opinion... Kindergarten may be able to access a German as an additional language programme, but these are often for the older Kindergarten children approaching school age.

All the best, sorry not to have been much help.

Hi lannook and welcome to the thread. Hope you're settling in well in Germany.

I don't really have anything to add to 5more's excellent advice - throwing yourself into situations where you have to speak the language is really the only way (and the best way) to do it. I studied German, which obviously helped, but I found that I picked up far more through actually living in the country (and far more in the way of useful, everyday language).

Wrt to your DD, it really does depend on how old she is. Neither of my DDs spoke much when they started Kindergarten; DD1 wasn't particularly verbal and DD2 was very shy (I don't think she spoke to the teachers for a whole year, although she was fine with the other children). Obviously it was their choice not to speak much so neither got frustrated by it; it would of course be quite a different situation for a 5 year old, for example. I'm sure she'll pick up the language far more quickly than at a later age; I read that children aged between 3 and 6 are able to learn new languages very quickly - although obviously that will vary from child to child. You'll probably soon find that her German overtakes yours! One week at Kindergarten is really no time at all and they're probably geared up there for children not yet speaking very much, even if your DD is a little older and already quite articulate in English.