Schenk ein den Wein - as autumn comes to Germany and Austria

[LinzerTorte]

Der Nebel steigt, es fällt das Laub;
schenk ein den Wein, den holden!
Wir wollen uns den grauen Tag
vergolden, ja vergolden!

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

Always good to have an excuse to open some , and this poem seemed quite appropriate!

5more, I'll always remember ds getting points taken off in an exam for not using the British version 'have you got' - he used 'do you have' and was told that they hadn't done that yet so it was wrong!

You should do a class with your group on all the little differences between British and American English. I have a list with the most common words somewhere that I've used before if you want it!

Linzer it must be even harder with your own ds half-participating and wandering in and out. Does he have to be there? Can you offer him a substantial bribe to stay away/join in properly? Are there any girls in the group? One of my groups is kept in check by the girls being tasked with reporting on the boys' behaviour to their group teacher!

Re fruit, I taught my groups
"Pick an apple,
Pick an apple,
In the garden,
In the sun.
Then I wash it
And I eat it.
Then I pick another one."
(to the tune of "Oh my darling Clementine")
I got the idea from the internet, but have simplified the text somewhat. We wash all fruit, even watermelons, oranges, etc, but you could peel or cut some if you want to add different actions.

5more Did it read like I meant all babies measure 50cm? I meant that was supposedly average, although possibly not if some are 61cm . Anyway, I agree with you that sizing based on age is nonsense. However, sizing based on length doesn't seem to be much better: DD has a pair of tights in size 86 which nearly reach her nose and tights from M&S which should be for a 90 cm child which are too short (she is 84cm and has short legs for her height).

No, DS doesn't really have to be there - he was quite upset that he couldn't see my other English classes (I teach them before he comes home), so I thought it would be nice for him to be able to take part in this one as the other three boys are all the same age as him, but if he can't behave then I'll have to rethink. Normally it's just the four boys, although the 3 year old sister of one of them was there yesterday too - she'd come to play with DD2 but I said she could join in if she wanted, and she was as good as gold. Two of the boys are definitely a bad influence on each other; they're in the same group at KiGa and start play-fighting if I take my eye off them for a few seconds. The other boy (DS's best friend) was really good to start with, very interested in learning English and very well-behaved, but unfortunately I think the others' behaviour may be starting to rub off on him.

I like the fruit song; am always on the lookout for songs, but it can be quite difficult to find one about particular topics.

I don't find the sizing here great, either - DS is about a metre tall, but most of his trousers are 92 cm and he fit into 86 cm trousers until recently. Maybe he just has short legs!

DD1 got a 4 in her maths test, so DH will probably feel vindicated - he did loads of revision with her for the previous test, which she got a 3 in, and I said I thought she could probably have got a 3 without any revision (she can be very good at maths if she puts her mind to it, although has been struggling more with it recently). Anyway, Gymnasium next year is looking increasingly unlikely but I think we've more or less decided on the Neue Mittelschule; it definitely made the best impression on us at the parents' evening last week.

Linzer, the Mittelschule sounds good from what you've said. Can your dd sit the Abitur or the Austrian version if she goes to Mittelschule? Was the maths test with lots of textaufgaben?

Dd just had another German Klassenarbeit. They had to write an Inhaltsangabe for a given text. First they had to note the anhaltspunkte (or something like that) and after the test the teacher said you should have had 6 punkte. Dd had 11, one boy had 20 and her best friend had 7! I suppose she had some sort of middle thing and lets hope the rest is OK.

Dd also had a 4 yesterday - big tears but more about telling her papa. My dh sounds a lot like yours linzer - but its hard on the dc. Its a lot of pressure.
Is the Neue Mittelschuhe like a realschule?? Is there a possibility to transfer to the gymnasium later if she wanted? When do you have to decide?

It's difficult when you see them so upset, isn't it Canella? DD1 was very quick to tell me that she'd done her best, but she did say beforehand that she'd found it difficult so we weren't expecting too much - I think it's her first ever 4 in a test, though.

Not sure exactly what a Realschule is (don't you have three types of secondary school in Germany - Gymnasium, Realschule and something else?), but the NMS is supposed to be replacing the Hauptschulen, the alternative to Gymnasium for less academically able pupils (although DH also went to a Hauptschule as he lived out in the sticks and it was his nearest school). It's only for four years so she'd have to transfer to another school for at least one more year - she could transfer to a Gymnasium although I think it's more likely that she would go to a berufsbildende Schule, where she could also do the Matura (Austrian Abitur).

We're off to the Elternsprechtag in about 15 minutes, DH is coming too as he wants to speak to DD1's teacher but I may go and see DD2's teacher on my own if the appointments overlap. He wants to have a word with the teacher about why 20 out of 25 was only a 3 in her last maths test, but she only got 15 out of 30 for this one so I think a 4 was justified.

I agree - its horrible to see them upset but I also dont say its all ok because she could have done better than a 4 - I try to explain what mistakes she made & how to do it better. Bit more constructive but I'm not as cross about it as her papa is - i dont think that helps much. Just makes her more upset. But think your dh is right about the marks - when i was at school anything above 70% was an A but here it'd probably be a 3!

The Realschule here is between the Gymnasium and the Hauptschule but I dont really understand it all. Think you've got the right attitude tho about where to send your dd - its about what kind of school will suit her.

Sorry your dd is upset canella. We used to have the same problem that they would be more upset to tell dad about bad marks than about actually getting the bad marks!

But then we found his old report cards from high school and he was reminded of his 60% in quite a few subjects (and a couple of 50%) and that still being a pass grade. I also remember 70% being a good B+ atleast at school and it's often a 3 at Gymnasium so hard to compare. Which subject was the test in canella?

In biology. Which makes it worse since dh and I are both in that field and it was about the skeleton so we could have helped her.
We've gone thro it all now - good lesson for my medical german. I didnt know most bone names till this eve!

Canella, my 2 still haven't had a proper test on the skeleton, both at Gymnasium and I've been expecting it (skeleton poster, interactive CD at the ready) but it hasn't happened. Ds has just had the brain and the eye.

How did the parent's evening go Linzer?

My 2 have got the dentist today, just check-ups and hopefully he won't say either of them should have a brace.

Dd had another bad hair morning. She stands brushing her hair in her room for ages, then decides it has to be tied up then gets mad that a couple of hairs are sticking up or whatever and in the end storms off to school - I see her stamping down the street from the window. She tells me she calms down by the time she gets to school though. I have no idea how to deal with her when she gets mad, she's a quiet calm girl who suddenly turns into a wild screaching witch.

The parents' evening went OK, thanks. DD1's teacher was surprisingly positive about her, said that her Referat was very good, that she now takes part in the lessons much more and will put her hand up in class and that she's no longer as abgekapselt as she was. She even thinks she would cope at Gymnasium (with a bit of extra work), which DH was very surprised about considering that she's had 3s and 4s in her Schularbeiten so far.

DD2's teacher was much friendler than usual, thanked me for the English lessons and said that it's absolutely no problem if I ever need to cancel (as I have done today because I'm so busy with work this week) but was in typical Austrian-teacher-focus-on-the-negatives mode. The only thing she had to say about DD2 is that she's very monotone when she reads in class and we should practise reading out loud with her at home. Admittedly, she did say there are no problems otherwise and all her work is fine, but you read all these gushing reports on FB about what teachers have said about people's children and I just think that would never happen here!

Canella I think that's the right approach. The only thing that DH told DD1 off for was the fact that she hadn't brought her maths books home to revise; he kept asking her and she kept forgetting them/saying they weren't in her Bankfach and she wasn't allowed to take them from the pile, etc. (It turned out the teacher had reminded the children several times to take the maths books home and that they are allowed to take them from the pile!) She'd obviously tried in the test, though, so there's no point telling her off for that - it's just good to go through her mistakes (which she has to do anyway) so that she'll know next time.

Your DD sounds very similar to DD2 temperament-wise, admylin - she can go from quiet and well-behaved to a screaming tantrum in a matter of seconds.

Must get on with work so that I can fit in a run this morning - I was going to go out first thing, but the pavements were too slippery. Haven't been for ages as my knee starts hurting whenever I run, but I've got the second part of my Vorsorgeuntersuchung and want to check whether it's still a problem before I ask the doctor about it.

linzer I´ve got Elternsprechtag later today. It will be ds´s first, so I´m really interested to hear how his teacher finds him. He tells me absolutely nothing about school, although I assume from the homework that he is getting on o.k. Dd´s teacher is lovely and always manages to say positive things . I think it´s a shame your dd2´s teacher couldn´t be more positve - it doesn´t take much to say a few positive words.

I don´t envy you having to teach 5 year olds English. I suppose part of the problem is that it´s probably the parents rather the the children themselves that want them to learn English at that age. I think focussing on rewards is probably the way to go. Have you got any cheap stickers you could hand out? They often seem to work well with that age group.

canella I hope you got some nice baby clothes today. We bought dd a snowsuit from H&M to come home from hospital in after her birth. It was size 56cm and she was 54cm long so shouldn´t have been a problem, but it was absolutely huge. We´ve got some hilarious pictures of her tiny head sticking out of this huge snowsuit. We had to fold loads of material over befroe we could get her in the car seat. It finally fitted her properly the following winter. I think it must have been mislabelled.

I hope there´s an end soon to all of those of you with broken nights sleep. I really don´t think I could go through that again. I know that if I ever get broody (highly unlikely) that I should come back and read this thread.

I´ve just got back from the hairdresser and for once my hair actually looks like I´d hoped it would. Let´s see if dh even notices.

I have STILL not got the baby clothes! A friend phoned and asked if I wanted to meet her for a cuppa after I did my food shopping and of course I said yes. And it was in a different direction to where I wanted to get the baby clothes. Ah well will do it tomo then. Now sat here wired to the moon after a large cup of tea - I dont drink caffiene unless I'm out - now I remember why - I hate the feeling.

hupa - glad the haircut looks good. I still need to brave it at sometime. Let us know how the parents eve goes - I'm sure the teacher would have said something if he was having problems.

linzer - that was good news about dd1. Shame dd2's teacher couldnt have been more positive. Why do they feel the need to be so negative? It doesnt help the dc! Ds1's teacher is also one of those negative types - ds1 is managing really well at school so she just said random negative things which I just ignored but she's really harsh to his best friend. He is a quirky little boy who doesnt always pay attention but surely common sense would tell you that being negative to him all the time is going to make him thrive there. Feel sad for him sometimes.

admylin - sounds like you've got a right teenager on your hands there. Think it might get worse before it gets better. No advice tho - dd is only 10 and her hair only gets a quick brush thro - sometimes without a mirror!

Canella, yes dd used to be like that too, she never bothered about her hair, just tied it up. Anyway she came back in a slightly better mood as she got a 2 in chemistry for mundliche mitarbeit which counts for 70% of the grade.

Linzer, it really use dto annoy me how negative the teachers are here - I've got to a stage where I try to just ignore it but it's such a shame for the dc, especially teh ones that are trying hard. In Berlin ds was in a small class of 15 to 17 pupils and he was top of the class and the best behaved as alot of the dc had 'problems' and his teacher sat there at the one to one parent meeting trying to find something negative to say, she couldn't so she went quite red and said she was sorry but she didn't have anything to say about him really! She'd totally forgotten that she could have just praised him!

admylin Yes, that's exactly it - DD1 is also very well-behaved (at school, at any rate...), one of the best in the class, but children just don't seem to get praised here. At the last parents' evening we were only with her teacher for about a minute as she said she didn't have anything to say about her! Instead, she ended up telling us about the one badly behaved boy in the class.

Canella I couldn't do without my morning caffeine kick! (Actually I think it's more psychological than anything.) That's sad about the teacher being harsh to your DS's best friend; so many teachers don't seem to make allowances for any child who doesn't quite fit in and just focus on the negatives.

hupa Yes, I do have some stickers that I bought for the English classes somewhere and then didn't get round to using them - and a sticker book for each child too - I really must dig them out.
Your teacher sounds lovely. I'm sure there are very positive teachers here too and that I'm no doubt over-generalising; it's just that we've had quite old-fashioned teachers so far with fairly old-fashioned ways of teaching. DD1's first teacher retired at the end of her second year, her second is retiring next year and DD's teacher is in her late fifties so they've all been of the same, fairly strict generation.

Went ice skating again this afternoon but poor DS's new skates were far too big for him so he was struggling to stay upright. We really should have tried them on before the lesson; I didn't even check that they were adjusted to the smallest size (they're 31-34, and he's only just size 30). If the worst comes to the worst, we'll have to hire skates at the rink next week - that'll be ?30 down the drain on the skates!

Oh, and I got told off by an Oma because DS only had thin socks on when he was ice skating. (But he had trousers and ski trousers on top, so at least there wasn't the dreaded gap!) Have just asked the DC whether their feet get cold when they're ice skating (mine don't and I get cold very easily). The DDs said no, but DS said his were (although he's never complained before). Even so, grrr... what makes her think it was any of her business. I suppose I got off lightly as at least she didn't tell me he would catch cold.

Talking of which, about half of his KiGa group are off sick - there were only 11 there yesterday, so we got lots of the Gesunde Jause food back. I am just amazed at how DS has managed to avoid coming down with anything so far; he regularly refuses to put his coat on between KiGa and the car, frequently goes out without a hat and ice skates in thin socks. Oh, I forgot - he's hardened.

Wow Canella I drink at least 6 cups of tea a day (DH found a place to order me 3kg bags of PG tips tea bags online, as it was one of the few things that it made me really miserable not being able to get here - "English Breakfast Tea" that they sell here has to be made with 2 bags and left to infuse too long to get any decent strength, and it still doesn't taste quite right even then - and I like to drink my tea hot...), and feel nothing, I must be a caffine junkie who needs a strong "real coffee" to know I've even had caffine...

Linzer I had to take the fruit into KiGa this week (must be the equivalent of your Gesunde Jause, but we only take fruit and veg on a rota) - was quite annoying as DS has been off sick the whole week, so I popped in on Monday morning to deliver fruit and veg, leaving the boys in the car, DS1 clutching a sick bowl and wearing his dressing gown over his clothes and under his coat! Still I guess he eats the fruit other mums bring every week so it is fair really... I still send him with sandwiches and his own fruit every day and see the fruit plate as an extra - they only started doing it this year.

Well done on the good (considering sulky grumpy teachers and good being non negative) parents evenings to both Linzer and Canella 's DC. We haven't had a parents eve - well there was a letter but DH assured me it was just an opportunity for those who couldn't make the teacher's office hour in the week to talk to her in the later in the afternoon/ early eve if they needed to so we didn't make an apt - he isn't too keen on attending school things so I hope this is right!

My dd seems to be quite naughty at school! Well not in a major way, but she comes home at least once a week and tells me she had to sit at the back of the class or stand behind her chair for talking or wriggling, and on Wednesday she came home with lines! TBH she could have got away with telling me it was just part of her homework but she explained she and Luca had to copy the words 3 times and that this was extra for sharpening pencils in class time! she does always have a tale of injustice - it was always actually someone else talking/ sharpening their pencil but she doesn't seem overly worried about getting in trouble, and the offences seem so minor, things that would not even raise an eyebrow in an English classroom, that I just acknowledge what she's said but don't really pass comment, am definitely not cross... wonder if other parents would be? I'd rather she keeps telling me, as I clearly remember making a concious decision to stop telling my mum anything bad when I was 7, when I told her about something I'd done (which she'd never have found out about) and she was furious and went on and on (I told her when I was in the bath and remember it so clearly!) and from then on there were lots of minor things I kept to myself.

All my 3 kids have horrible coughs and are home, hacking away and with bags under their eyes from coughing all night, though touch wood for the first time in a week nobody has a high temp this morning - dd has had 2 days off school and it's ds's 6th day off kiga, hope they are well enough to go back on Monday!

Linzer, yes we're all definately hardened against catching a cold the German Austrian way! When I've been told offfor not wrapping my dc in several layers of hand knitted woolen jumpers and socks and tights I always say oh don't worry we have Scottish blood, it makes us tougher! Usually shuts them up.

Hope the coughs get better soon 5more, it seems to drag on and on doesn't it? I think your way of dealing with your dd is great. I try to react in a similar way so they don't stop telling me things.

Hupa, how did the elternsprechtag go? How did you manage to get the haircut that you wanted too? Did you have a photo to show what you wanted? Every German class for foreigners should do one lesson on terms to use at the hairdresser. I can never get them to understand what ds wants and he always comes out with the bits cut off or too short that should have been left longer and we're talking about quite a classic boys cut!

I agree about the hairdresser lessons admylin! Ds1's hair never turns out right. We've decided we're going to let the top of his grow a bit longer- not long long but just to stop it sticking up like a bush every day.

Think thats the right attitude 5more about your dd - these things arent important in the whole scheme of things. Does it really upset everyone if she sharpens her pencil! Doubt it. Ds1's class arent even allowed them in the class. A bit übertrieben if you ask me.

Am impressed with your tea intake - i'd be in hospital with that much caffiene. I had heart problems when pregnant with ds1 (so over 7 yrs ago) and was advised to stop all caffiene so I've been a long time without it. Didnt stop my heart problems coming back this year but its not a hardship to do without. Just means I need to import decaf tea - the german one is a bit blah.

linzer - disgraceful! Only socks in iceskates amd only thin ones! Shocking!. Agree - we're all hardier than these continental types!

Cant get motivated this morn - become obsessed with "who do you think you are" on youtube. Must switch it off.

Lots of poorlyness going round here too - there was a coughing chorus in our playroom again yesterday. Hope everyone's poorly dc are better soon.

admylin forgot to say I'd love that list of English v American English expressions if you have it in a format that is possible to PM or email easily - would be good for a "fill in" lesson - we roughly follow a text book but I go off on tangents and skip bits to suit the group, and sometimes I go too fast and have to invent filler lessons to prevent running into the next course's content - which I can't do as new people start at the beginning of each course, as well as some people carrying on and others dropping out.

We were talking about contents of rooms (to do Have you got/ do you have/ does she have, I don't have / I haven't got etc. etc. and also prepositions) and for some reason I told them that in England it is perfectly normal to have a washing machine in the kitchen - I knew that'd cause shock and horror so unexpected cultural differences as well as different types of English are good food for filler lesson content I think :)

canella sorry, I'd forgotten that was the reason for your avoiding caffeine!

In

Just back from a very time-consuming visit to the doctor's - it was the second part of my Vorsorgeuntersuchung and she went through my blood test results in great detail, explaining every single thing. Was just pulling up outside our house when the receptionist rang to say I hadn't paid for the calcium tablets she'd given me - ?32. (I thought she was giving them to me for free - I wouldn't have taken them if I'd realised they cost that much!) I had to go all the way back and pay, which took up another 20 minutes, so that's half the morning gone.

Canella Very impressed with you being able to go without caffeine for so long - I'd definitely miss coffee, even though I don't drink a huge amount of it, but if you can drink decaff tea it's not too bad. A friend of mine always buys decaff tea and I can't tell the difference.

admylin Yes, hairdresser lessons are a must for anyone coming to live in Germany/Austria. I've picked up a few useful phrases, but am stuck with having to have just a trim, slightly layered and with my hair blow dried straight as that's about all I can ask for! I get DH to take DS as he knows all the men-at-hairdresser's vocab (Ohren frei etc). and should probably get him to take the DDs more often as well as they always come back looking much better than when I take them (they also have "just a trim", although I do usually say that DD2's fringe is getting a bit long too).

5more Sorry to hear that the hardy British genes aren't working at the moment - hope your DC are all better soon. Did they perhaps go outside without a hat for a few minutes without you noticing.
Sounds like you're taking the right attitude with your DD; the important thing is that she'll tell you what's going on at school. I wish mine would; I usually only find it out from other parents, although DD2 does tell me slightly more than DD1.

DH wants to go to Bratislava tomorrow but I really have to work for at least part of the weekend. I'll have to see if I can persuade him to go on Sunday instead, once I've got work out of the way, although I think he wants to spend a good part of Sunday helping DD1 to revise for her German Schularbeit (on grammar, so I've been printing out lots of practice sheets from the Internet).

Did you also tell them that some people have carpets in their bathrooms, 5more? That always causes shock and horror too!

The Elternsprechtag went really well and both teachers were really positive.I´m glad to see they seem to be an exception to the norm. DS´s teacher mentioned his speech and language problems which I was expecting, but everything else was really good. Dd´s teacher had asked the children to be at the appointment. It was great for dd to hear good things, but I was pleased her teacher mentioned her messy handwriting because she refuses to believe me when I say it could be improved.

admylin I think I was lucky at the hairdressers because the hairdresser had a very similar style, so I just needed to ask for it to be a bit shorter.

Linzer That´s really cheeky of the doctor. I don´t think doctors here are allowed to sell medicines and the only things dh gives out are Musterpackungen that are free.

We´re planning to go geocaching tomorrow with friends. We´ve never tried it before, but thought it sounds interesting. Has anyone given it a go?

Glad the Elternsprechtag went well, hupa. How disheartening for the DCs when everything is so negative, like Linzer & admylin have experienced.

I'm with you in the decaff tea, Canella - the stuff here is vile! I haven't been to the UK for a year but was in Canada over Easter and picked up some fairly nice decaff tea over there. Once I've stopped breastfeeding I will be back on the full strentgh PG Tips - something I'm really looking forward to.

I hope all the various colds & illnesses are clearing up. It really is that time of year now, isn't it. I agree about the hardy British genes, I'm always being told off for my lack of jumper/scarf/coat, but DH callse the human radiator so at least he understands :)

5more I have a washing machine in my kitchen! There is nowhere else for it in our little flat. People do find the carpet in the bathroom thing odd here though.
Where do you get your 3kg bags of PG Tips? Are they quite pricey or are they reasonably priced?

My Amazon goodies arrived yesterday! (I have another pair of boots on the way and am tempted by the Kitchenaid today). After today I will be implementing a self-imposed Amazon ban.

hupa Yes, that's it - I've often been given free samples by various doctors and assumed it was the same today as she didn't mention a price. I would have felt a bit silly giving it back to the receptionist and saying I wouldn't have taken it if I realised I had to pay for it, though!

Have never been geocaching, but have heard it's great fun - hope you have a good time.

Am just finishing off some work and getting distracted by MN before I go and pick up the children from school. Having claimed I can cope OK with the older children, I may well be back later to complain. Two of the girls are really good and very quiet, two (including DD1) can be a bit silly but are generally controllable and two... well, let's just say they're a bit of a handful.

Btw do we need a new thread? It's definitely feeling more wintery than autumnal here. Would anyone like to start one? I don't mind doing it, but don't want to hog the thread starting.