Wenn es im Winter stürmt und schneit, haben wir eine Flasche Glühwein allzeit bereit - life in Germany and Austria

[LinzerTorte]

As I couldn't find a suitable poem mentioning Glühwein, I composed my own. Please don't laugh.

All welcome - anyone living in Germany, Austria or anywhere else who would like to chat.

Hello!

Just a quick post as I've been wondering about passports & citizenship etc too recently as I'll need to get DS a passport soon for our trip to the UK in the summer and Canada at Christmas. I was going to apply for a British passport as I thought it might be easier if he had the same passport as me and for travelling to the UK and Canada, but I'm not sure where I got that idea from, it might make no difference at all.

I found this link which might help:

Silken It seems you don't need to register a birth to get a British passport for a DC

DS has just had a 2.5 hour nap, which is unheard of during the day at the moment! He obviously needed it, bless him. I think his first tooth might be coming through too but am not sure. We shall see!

Hope everyone is well.

Crikey - a child passport costs ?102 plus courier fee plus photos etc!
I think I'll stick with a German passport for DS for now :)

Canella if you need a gastroscopy, or a second opinion, then DH can see you as an outpatient . Otherwise I know he'd be happy to chat to you on the phone about it if you just want some reassurance that you don't need to get it investigated again.

Gator Thank you for that link. Much reassured now. Re difficulties travelling, DD has a different surname to me and when we flew to the UK without DH last year, the immigration official in Frankurt (on the way back) was really irritated and told me off at length. Fortunately he couldn't quite think of a way to punish me properly for it, since we were both entitled to enter Germany freely and let me go. I wanted to tell him they would only need to try to separate me from DD in order to prove I was her mother, but decided not to push it.

I think I registered my dc at birth but I know they had at least one British passport as babies so that means they are in the books somewhere! One day if they want/need they can decide but for the moment we have German passports for the same reason as Canella - easier and cheaper to get!

I have a what would you do question: Dd is in the hockey club, they are quite full on about winning and playing in the team although dd isn't really that bothered, she just wants to play hockey. Anyway, we had an email from the team 'mom' saying that her dd (who is very good at hockey) is playing in the A team (usually in B team with dd) at the weekend and they need supporters - if we can make it, we should e-mail the trainer. We couldn't make it but I didn't e-mail as I understood only to e-mail if we could.

We then had a 2nd e-mail from mom saying we're expected at 14.30 at this address please turn up 'am Samstag untzerstützt Ihr ja die A-Mädchen. Bitte seid um 14,30 Uhr beim xx' . Thought it was a mistake so ignored it.

Now an e-mail came, oh poor dd, we missed you, wo warst du denn, probably you have transport problems but you can always call one of us from the team list if that is so.

I could read between the lines and she obviously wasn't happy that we didn't go and cheer her dd on but my dd just had other things to do at the weekend. So, do I ignore or reply that my dd does not have transport problems at all, apologize for not coming or tell her why we didn't go?

admylin I don't think I'd apologise - well, I might just say something like "sorry we weren't there but..."; I would just briefly explain why you didn't go. I don't think you should have to go to watch a match that your DD isn't even playing in, unless you/she really want(s) to.

silken No, you definitely don't ned to register the birth to be able to get your DD a passport - I only registered DD1, but all three of them have British passports.

Gator The first time we travelled back from the USA to Europe with DD1, I had a British passport and DD1 an American one but it didn't cause any problems (the fact that we have the same surname probably helps). I just needed to fill in a form for her when we landed at Heathrow, but it didn't take long and was all very straightforward. We'd all have to travel on different passports if we went back to the USA as she's an American citizen, so would need to have a US passport to enter the country (unless she renounced her American citizenship).

At the moment our dc have British and German passports, but I think I´ll just renew the German ones. It´s actually dh who insists they should have both, but I think it´s just a waste of money. I know in Germany it used to be that the dc had to decide at 18 which nationality they want to have, but I think this might of changed. To be honest neither embassy knows that the people have more than one nationality, so there must be loads of people who never give one up.

admylin I think I´d probably just ignore the e-mail. I can´t believe your meant to go and support when your dd isn´t even playing. Next time I´d just send a quick e-mail saying you´ve already got something planned.

Canella sorry you´re not feeling well. Being nauseous is so horrible especially if you don´t get the relief of finally being sick.

Dd and ds have just got back from celebrating Rosenmontag at school. They´ve both said they don´t want anything to eat as they ate so much crap at school.

Hupa what were they dressed up as? I think the last time my 2 celebrated was in Berlin and they had so much food in school that they ended up taking a load of left over stuff to the obdachlosen at the U Bahnhof Friedrichstraße!

Did you all see our new Bundespräsident last night? I had to sit through the extra long news report about it with dh - as Gauk was giving his speech you could see Angela next to him half asleep thinking get on with it man it's Sunday and I'm tired!

Canella I've had nausea quite often, wonder what it is? Is there anything that helps to ease it? Usually I try to drink fennel tea or fennel and cammomile. HOpe you get some good shopping - tell us what you got!

Linzer think I want to ignore the mail as not sure how to word it. Sigh, if only I could write it in English. Just bugs me that mom thinks I won't take my dd to events (which is what I read between the lines).

admylin Yes, it's tricky, isn't it? I probably wouldn't send an e-mail either if I was worried about the wording (I usually get DH to check difficult e-mails for me). You could always leave it this time and if it happens again, just send a quick e-mail before the event saying sorry, you won't be able to go (I don't think you need to give a reason).

hupa The DDs have Fasching to look forward to at school tomorrow, so will no doubt be full of doughnuts when they get home.

I'm looking foward to the Faschingsumzug even less now that I've realised I'll have to wear my glasses as I've got a sight test on Wednesday. I was hoping to be able to hide away at home the day before as I hate wearing glasses, especially when I'm out and about. DD1 knows that I don't like standing about in the cold and has just told me I can go running while they all watch the procession!

admylin can you not write something about there having been a Missverständnis about your dd going in the first place? Don't tell her what you were doing instead, just say dd had never been available and that you don't know how she got onto the list of kids who were going. Keep it really short and end breezily with "bis nächsten [training date]. That way it makes it sound like you feel bad that they think you messed them about, but not that you feel bad about not letting dd go.

Dd went as a princess. I really thought she´d outgrown this phase. She insisted on wearing the costume she had in Kiga (3 years ago). It only came to her knees and I nearly broke the zip getting it done up. Ds went as a pirate. One of his front teeth fell out last night, so it helped add a bit of authenticity to the look.

Linzer I don´t envy you about watching the Umzug - I think I´d go running if I was you.

Silken that's exactly what I was thinking of writing but I can't find the words!

How about: Meine Tochter hatte keine Zeit am Wochenende aber dd dachte sie musste sich nur anmelden und nicht auch abmelden, daher ist ein missverständnis passiert. Bis nächsten Mittwoch,
and keep your hair on

How peinlich, there are so many mistakes for sure.

Canella I hope you feel better soon. Nausea is one of the worst, isn't it.

Linzer Thanks for the link! I saw that thread a while back & it did help with the steriliser decision. Hope you survive the Faschingsumzug :)

Silken Surely it's not that unusual for children to have a different surname to their mother? It sounds like it was a right pain but I guess they have to be vigilant. Sounds like you picked the official who had forgotten his packed lunch that day! (Good news about the house, btw!)

admylin I don't think I'd apologise as such but would probably just send a quick reply along the Missverständnis lines and keep it friendly. Is she a bit of an Einser Mama? I can understand her DD maybe wanting her friends to cheer her on but it seems a bit weird that she sent three emails & is being a bit sneaky with the 'you obviously have transport problems' line. Some people are strange.

Gator yes you guessed it - she is an einser mama and I don't think her dd is so popular at hockey. At the game I went to she was rubbing some sort of oil under her dd's nose to give her more energy so she would win , my dd said it smelled really strong but she couldn't say what it was!

Hupa my dd was a princess for a couple of years then she suddenly turned into a vampire which was fine by me as she could use her costume for fasching and for halloween! She stayed a vampire until she grew out of dressing up! Ds had a short phase of being a pirate then he refused to dress up anymore.

admylin did you send the email yet? You could stop after anmelden and then put Es tut mir Leid, wenn ihr auf sie gewartet habt. And start with Es muss ein Missverständnis gegeben haben, if you want to include that. Otherwise you need a comma before aber and after dachte (I think).

If you've sent it already, though, I wouldn't worry. It gets your point across fine.

What silken said is good; yes, there should be a comma after aber. I would probably write something like Meine Tochter hatte am Wochenende leider keine Zeit, dachte aber, sie müßte sich nur melden, wenn sie zum Spiel (or whatever it's called) geht - but like silken said, what you've written sounds fine to me.

Right, must go and get the DC to bed - otherwise DH will insist that DD1 stays up revising if he gets home before they're in bed.

Or maybe even "falls sie zum Spiel geht".

Thanks gilrs! I got a correction from the bilingual and langauges section on here and am going to send it now (just got back from elternabend). I might add the tut mir leid bit but I'm not really sorry just mad at the suggestion that we won't take dd to events/games.

This is the verbesserte version: Meine Tochter hatte am Wochenende keine Zeit und dachte, daß sie sich nur anzumelden hätte und eine zusätzliche Abmeldung nicht notwendig gewesen wäre, daher ist dieses Missverständnis entstanden. Bis zum nächsten Mittwoch!

I guess with that version you don't need to apologise as the misunderstanding bit is much clearer. I was going for passive-aggressive with "wenn ihr gewartet habt" instead of "dass" anyway . I agree that you shouldn't feel the need to apologise.

silken in the end I thought it was better to but the tut mir leid bit in so I added it too!

Now we have a 2 day trip to Berlin in a jugendherberge to watch hockey and a week in Hamburg to train in the summer holidays to get out of (dd doesn't wantto go and stay away over night), oh and a 3 day training camp at Easter still to come which dd will join as she gets to come home after training as it's in Hannover.

Ds's table tennis club is so much more easy going, ds goes to training twice a week around the corner in the school gym, trainer picks his team up and takes them if they are playing away and he only rarely sends mails to remind us about a game and the time.

Hello!

What a self righteous woman that Hockey Mama sounds admylin - glad you got the wording of your email sorted, I'd have been no help.

My parents are over at the moment so I have even less time than usual - thankfully they stay in a hotel though, as they like their luxuries, especially an en-suite, and can easily afford it. We don't have the easiest relationship and so I am deeply relieved they don't want to stay on our guest sofa bed in the attic/ study (or have our bed, which wouldn't work with the baby anyway). When they arrived this morning I had just finished BFing the baby and he had been asleep on my knee for about 3 or 4 mins (after a poor night as usual) so I let the 4 yo answer the door to them and suggested they make themselves a coffee (they like a coffee as soon as they get in through the door) as I didn't want to disturb the baby - you'd have thought I'd suggested they go and clean the toilets, their faces were a picture, and then they "rallied round" and took half an hour to make themselves a couple of cups of coffee (4 yo actually operated the coffee machine for them, he's just not allowed to lift the cup containing very hot water obviously - but oh the drama of finding milk and sugar, and the horror of having to refill the water container on the back of the machine for the second cup!)

DD got her first ever Zeugnis on Friday (we are on holiday this week in Bavaria) - they don't get number grades here in 1st class, it was a very comprehensive written report, and whilst I did see the evidence that they are less gushy and more direct about things needing work here than they would be in England, it was overall a good report, and tbh the teacher has got dd right I think - she is sociable, well liked, confident and thoughtful about contributions in class, able to do the work set independently, but on the negative side she tends to rush, her work is not always neat, and if she is having an off day she doesn't concentrate and stops participating - all true. The biggest relief was that her maths seems to be OK - the teacher said something like she can solve the maths problems independently more and more often, so I guess DH was right, that was a storm in a teacup! Her German report was glowing as were sport and Ethics, the rest were fine but room for improvement of course.

DS2 has decided that instead of learning to walk independently for now he needed to learn to climb stairs - he is up the whole flight like lightning now, scariest thing on earth, the other 2 never had stair obsessions until they could walk and we managed with only one stair gate - think we need at least one more, possibly 3!

Gator my DS2 has also only just got his first tooth and he is 4 months older than yours I think - we are a bit slow on the uptake with teeth!

Ooh, a C&A! DH and I have C&A initials, we could get monogrammed stuff on the cheap. :)

Think it is a bit off expecting people to turn up on their precious free time to watch another child playing sport, I could not be doing with that kind of pressure or commitment.

All good here, massive clearout going on in preparedness for packing what we are taking, and storing or selling the rest. Huge task, didn't realise how much stuff you can accumulate without really noticing. Being rather ruthless, and chucking loads at the charity shops. Definitely going to lead a more simple life, with more space and less clutter! Not got a moving date yet, but I know it will come round fast, and I will feel more relaxed once we have made more headway.

I'd forgotten about C&A; their children's clothes are quite good and I've had some nice coats from there for the DC.

Glad you got the e-mail sorted in the end, admylin. Good luck with getting out of the upcoming trips!

Well, I survived Fasching but can't pretend I got very excited about it. I didn't find the floats very impressive and even the DC were disappointed with the number of sweets they got - only about 3 or 4 each. Plus I find talking to people in wigs very disconcerting (people I know, I mean; one of my friends was wearing a white wig that made her look about 60 and it was disturbingly realistic). It's good fun for the children to be able to go into school dressed up and play games all morning (although DD1 said a lot of the children in her class took their Nintendos etc., which surely isn't the Sinn der Sache), but I could do without the Umzug - and DD1 said she doesn't want to go next year either.

We're all going to the optician's this afternoon - I don't suppose anyone happens to know what a visual field test is in German (it's one of the tests for glaucoma)? Think I'll google it so I can ask the optician if I can have one without having to revert to English.

And I can never remember whether it's grüner or grauer Star. I think I might just call it Glaukom, even if it's a word no one ever seems to use.

Linzer they would understand glaukom. I've had that test but can't remember what they called it. Is it in your family? My mother has it so I should get tested but of course it isn't payed for by the insurance here.

Looks like you're getting there, one down and only 2 to go if your dd1 doesn't want to go to carnival!

thatis sounds very like the rare visits from my parents! They book into a nearby hotel and then they can go for their afternoon chill out!

They need their luxuries too - do yours also start drinking at lunch time?

Knocks me out if I have wine with lunch but they have a sort of inside clock that says 12 is time to start (because they're on holiday) and then they don't stop until bed time! I have to make multiple trips to the bottle/glass recycling bins when they've stayed as we have so many empty wine bottles.

Did they do any babysitting so you could get out, sleep or just have a rest?