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Sommer, Strand und Sonne - life in Germany and Austria

764 replies

LinzerTorte · 23/05/2011 11:38

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

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admylin · 16/09/2011 13:23

Linzer that's so sad about dd's friend's dad Sad
Well done for the teaching english set up. It may not earn you alot but it will be on your CV and you can even get one of the parents if you need say 3 references for a job later on. That's one of my main worries if I ever get back into applying for jobs, where the heck to I get 3 relatively up to date references?

Thanks for the statement advice too - will get dh to sit and think about what else he could add. I read one article online that said, even if you don't have much teaching experience you should think back to your time as a student and which professors taught you in the best way and use that as a start for how you would like to teach.

Silken, glad your dd wasn't upset today. Hope she doesn't forget over the weekend and can carry on in the same way on Monday.

LinzerTorte · 16/09/2011 15:02

Yes, I always found Monday mornings the worst too - the DC would get used to being at home over the weekend - so don't despair if your DD seems less settled again on Monday, silken.

admylin I was trying to get DH to be a bit more constructive about what exactly he could add, but I suppose it's hard to know as he doesn't know exactly what your DH has done. It all sounded good to me, anyway - I'm more of a proofreader and DH is better on the content.

Yes, references are a problem, aren't they? I think his lack of references is one of the major things putting my brother off applying for jobs, as he's been back at my parents' since he graduated four years ago and has only done casual shop work since. Luckily, as a freelancer, I can get away without needing references most of the time since most new clients don't ask for them - I'm more likely to be asked for a sample translation. I did need three when I applied for membership of a translators' organisation though, and that was quite a hassle.

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tadjennyp · 17/09/2011 00:41

Good news silken! Here's to a great Monday morning too!

Sorry about your dd's friend's Dad, Linzer. That's a horrible thing to happen to them. Good news about your English classes and trip to London, though.

Going out for breakfast sounds yummy, canella! I might do that on Sunday as dh is taking dd and ds1 camping. I'll still have the baby, obviously, but he's no trouble (unless you count the pulling off and looking around while feeding!)

Good luck with the application admylin. It does sound very exciting.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

MmeLindor. · 18/09/2011 22:24

Hello all.

Could I ask if any of you have experience with schools, in particular the Übergangszeugniss at the end of 4. Klasse?

If so, could you have a peek at my thread about German schools. Danke.

Canella · 19/09/2011 05:54

Have replied on your thread mmelindor.

hupa · 20/09/2011 09:28

silken I hope this morning went well.

Linzer sorry to hear about your friend´s dh.
We took the children to the Science Museum last year and they absolutely loved it. The Launch Pad is particulary good as they can carry out lots of experiments. It was extremely full, so choose your times carefully.

I was in London at the weekend and had a lovely time. I went without dh and the dc and met up with 3 friends. We spent the whole time chatting and eating and generally relaxing which was fantastic.

Canella how´s ds getting on this week? I think after the intial novelty has worn off, it can come as a bit of a shock that this is the reality for the next 10-12 years.

silkenladder · 20/09/2011 09:46

hupa Thanks, no crying at kiga drop-off today or yesterday [wiping brow emoticon]. DD went to PIL's yesterday afternoon and once again failed to nap, so I decided to try leaving her at the kindergarten for her nap today. I hope she understood - she kept saying "after sleeping, Mummy comes back" in the car and on the way in. Who knows whether she will actually sleep, though!

Your weekend sounds like it was fantastic, btw.

Linzer also sorry to hear about your friend's DH. It must be very hard for her and her daughter.

admylin · 20/09/2011 11:38

Good news silkenladder, hope your dd settles atlast.
Hope all the Schulanfänger are still happy and enjoying. How is dd liking Gymnasium canella? Does sh elike her teachers? Did you decide what to do about English? My advice would be to just let her stay in her class like all her clas smates, there's enough stress and stuff to learn so she might aswell have one 'easy' lesson!

Ds has somehow managed to shoot to the top of the class in maths (with no help from me for sure) just by having a different teacher. Last year the maths teacher gave the weaker students a maths buddy, so one of the top dc was paired with one of the weaker dc and ds was one of the weaker ones. Suddenly, new teacher and he gets it. Wish dd could get a new German teacher as she's finding it hard not to take it personally that he won't accept her dyslexia even though he should by law.

Wow, hupa a whole weekend away by yourself. Well done for managing that! Did you get any good shopping? Linzer, you can have a field day in London, hope you get to have a good shopping session inbetween the sight seeing. I would just love to manage a trip to the UK to stock up on clothes and shoes again. I'm having trouble getting nice affordable stuff for the dc here.

LinzerTorte · 20/09/2011 13:15

Well, I've just taught my first ever proper English lesson (i.e. not at school), not counting the Nachhilfe I gave about 15 years ago, and it seemed to go well - the children all complained how quickly the time went and how it never goes that fast at school! In the meantime, I've spoken to another couple of mothers who are also interested in sending their children so I'm thinking of starting a second group after school on Fridays; it would be more or less the same age group so wouldn't require much more preparation. It's definitely much easier to teach 6 children rather than 20 or more. And getting paid for doing so is an added bonus. Grin

That's great news about your DS, admylin. It's amazing what difference a good teacher can make. It must be very frustrating for your DD not having her dyslexia accepted, though; I'm worried about that happening to DD1 too (her dyslexia tutor told me that some teachers take it into account, but by no means all).

Good news about your DD too, silken. I hope she managed to have her nap at KiGa today. I can't imagine that any of mine would have napped at KiGa (they only ever slept well in their own room in the dark), although they'd all given up their naps by the time they started so it was never an issue anyway.

hupa Your weekend in London sounded great. Do you remember what time of day the Science Museum was busiest? We were thinking of going to museums in the mornings and then doing other sights in the afternoons. It's been so long since I did any of the sights in London; all DH and I tend to do there when we go is shop and eat! I'm hoping we'll still manage to fit in at least a little shopping, even with the DC in tow.

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admylin · 20/09/2011 16:41

Sounds good linzer, are they all dc who you've taught in school before? How did you decide where to start the lesson today? I was asked to help tutor a child before but I had no idea wher eto start with a child who could maybe only count to ten and say a few words in English but nothing else.

I think we're pushing it now with Sonne und Strand, it's getting abit chilly. Any Autumn ideas? The wine one you mentioned a while back was nice and warming!

Dd is in a foul mood, she has to write a Reisebericht but can't get into it and has torn about 4 pages up already! Hmm, a long evening I think. Ds is completely cool, learning about the brain for biology and chatting to friends on Skype at the same time.

tadjennyp · 20/09/2011 19:06

It's still mid -twenties here - but we've already had frosts! I have read all the posts but as always happens when I haven't posted for a few days, all the comments I had in my head have gone again! It's ds1's 4th birthday today so have been running around trying to organise his party. Dd's very short school day doesn't help with this either.

Well done on all the school starters and for your English lessons Linzer. Hoping to get a few full night's sleep again soon... (Did we frighten Lannook off? Confused )

Hope you are all having a lovely evening.

LinzerTorte · 20/09/2011 19:24

Yes, it's been very chilly and wet for the last few days here so definitely time for a new thread! I'll look up the wine autumnal quote again and can start one later this evening unless anyone else particularly wants to (and/or has a better idea for a thread title).

Hope your DD manages to get her report written without too much more upheaval. DD2 was a nightmare homework-wise today, even though she only had four sentences to write and half a page of maths to do, as she kept having a tantrum every time she made a mistake. She was obviously very tired so I sent her for a lie-down, but it didn't help much.

Four of the children I'm teaching are from DD2's class, which I've been teaching for a year now, but the other one has only just started school (she's the same age as the others, but went to the Vorschule for a year) and was struggling a bit - she told me she was finding it difficult. I thought I'd pitched it at a fairly easy level (we sang a couple of songs, had some circle time where we practised saying their names, ages and where they lived, and then I got them to write their name and age and do a drawing of themselves), but the year of English that the others have already had has obviously made a difference. She possibly also felt a bit left out as the others are all in the same class, but I suggested to her mum that she comes along on Friday instead, as she's friends with the other girl who might come then too (and the other girl whose mother is interested in the classes is also in her first year, so it might be a better mix for her). I did enjoy teaching the class today, but I find it takes ages to prepare lessons, probably because I spend far too long on the Internet researching ideas, songs, etc. And now I've got the two lessons still to prepare for school on Thursday... must have a think about that now.

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LinzerTorte · 20/09/2011 19:28

Happy birthday to your DS, Jenny! I can empathise re short school days; it's gradually improving as I now get a full five child-free hours twice a week, although that will be back to four hours next year when DS starts school. Hope the party goes well!

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LinzerTorte · 20/09/2011 20:10

New thread here.

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