Die Kaffeestube - German and Austrian cyber Kaffee und Kuchen

[admylin]

Kaffeeklatsch for anyone in a German speaking country or interested in German, Kommt herein und setz euch!

Does your dd2 not mond wearing dd1's clothes Linzer? I know my niece refused to wear anything her sister had worn! They had slightly different styles I suppose.

I've still got a sore throat, don't know if another morning in bed will help anymore. Was making a shopping list this morning and couldn't remember a word in English - does that ever happen to you? It was Zahnseide and I knew it was flossing something but had to look it up (dental floss). Dd also said to me the other day that she hated the sound of certain word sin English and now I come to think of it, she hardly ever speaks English anymore. She happily watches videos and films in English but always talks about them in German. I think a trip to an English speaking country is called for!

admylin Surely that's a great excuse to head back to the UK for a few days? Your DC will be exposed to English and you can shop! I hope your throat is better soon.

TheEnglishWoman That's exactly what happened with our playgroup and why I'm running it now too. I don't mind so much, it's not much work and it gives me something to do. It's actual human, adult contact too, which I'm really craving at the moment.
I try not to have too much contact with that particular friend, but our DHs work together and get on quite well (although her DH is a bit of a weirdo too..) Thanks for the Hob-Nob tip!

Nutella They were maple biscuits, they are the entry fee for visitors from Canada. I am addicted and have been known to polish off a whole pack in a day

Linzer Did you get everything you wanted from Lidl? Can you get the stuff online where you are, then you might not have to worry about things selling out so quickly? The Lidl online shop was one of the only places I could get the disinfectant for my steam mop and it was less than half what everywhere else was charging.

After a really late bedtime last night, DS woke up early, had a bottle and went straight back to sleep! DH and I had breakfast together, in peace, with no toast/weetabix/strawberries flying around the room, and I finished a cup of tea with no microwave intervention. I can hear him climbing around his cot now though so had better go and investigate.

Gator Online shopping? In Austria? No, sadly no Lidl online shop here, although we had no problems getting the running gear - I was the only person looking at it, in fact. DH reckons online grocery shopping will make it to Austria in about 10 years, but I think it will have to come to Germany first and will then take another 10 years to trickle down to Austria.

The maple biscuits sound yummy, but I don't need another addiction. And yay for sleeping babies and breakfasts in peace!

admylin DD2 is quite happy to wear DD1's cast-offs, but they do have quite different styles - DD1 is a complete tomboy, whereas DD2 loves skirts and dresses (and anything with Peppa Pig on it) - so I often end up buying new clothes for DD2.

Yes, there are plenty of German words that I can never think of the word for in English. Isomatte is one example that springs to mind. And lots of school-related stuff, e.g. große Pause, Mitteilungsheft, Turnpatschen, Tintenkiller (I often find myself asking the DDs, "Where's your killer?"). And then there are those words such as Geisterfahrer that don't have a direct translation in English.

Talking of which, when we were driving back from my ILs at the weekend, I was surprised to hear an English voice on the radio suddenly make an announcement along the lines of "We are pleased to report that the driver who was driving the wrong way has now left the motorway." It's all very well having a standard Geisterfahrerentwarnung in English; the only problem is that they didn't have a warning in English in the first place (I suppose they can't record a standard warning in English as it would have to be quite specific), just in German.

gator those late bedtimes are a good thing in the end! I used to put my 2 to bed really late when they were small because I enjoyed my mornings and even more I used to love the afternoon naps. We had a 1 to 3pm Ruhezeit!

Linzer German is quite handy for words like that isn't it! If only the grammar wasn't so difficult! Ds just got a 5 in a grammar klassenarbeit, he wasn't too happy as he usually manages good grades! Only next week to go then we're free of all that until September!

I've never been a fan of late bedtimes, partly because my children seem to be incapable of sleeping beyond 8 am, no matter what time I put them to bed. They rarely slept after 7 am when they were babies (DS still doesn't) and 7 am used to be a luxurious lie-in.

German grammar can be a bit of a nightmare, can't it? The genders alone are bad enough. DD2 told DS this morning that Mickey Mouse is a girl "because it's 'the mouse'". I think she'd forgotten that der, die and das all translate as "the"!

We're going out tonight for a friend's birthday meal so have got a babysitter coming. I hope this one will actually manage to put them to bed. The last one was just too young, I think.

admylin I was in Aldi today and picked up a pack of 3 homework folders for less than I pay for 1 in the stationary shop, thank you! They didn't have the small A5 size books and pads she uses in 1st class though, just A4 size stuff.

Eeek at your DD never speaking English - I don't think I could accept that, my kids have to speak English to me or I don't respond - or rather I respond in the same way as if they had omitted please or spoken rudely - they speak English to me or they just get a blank stare and "try again" Maybe if I let them switch to German it would improve my German, but I can't see myself doing that! DS1 (4) thinks I don't understand German and a while ago offered "Shall I help you talk to your mummy friends? If you want to say things in English then I'll say them in German for you" :) DD has cottoned on that I must understand and has noticed I do talk to people in German, she corrects me though! Definitely agree you need a trip to the UK asap!! :o

Gator and Admylin the time my kids go to bed makes no difference what so ever to the time they get up - the boys are up at 5am every day (give or take 15 mins) whether they are in bed for 6.30pm or 9.30pm (very rare it would ever be later than that, but if it were I'd bet it still wouldn't make them sleep in). DS2 (14 months) will fall asleep every time he is put in the car or buggy if he has had significantly less night sleep, but won't have a single long nap, and DS1 (4) will just be really stroppy and emotional and finally fall asleep on the sofa/ floor or somewhere at about 6pm the following day if he has had a late night! So like Linzer I am not a fan of bedtime creeping past 7.30pm, as it just ,means the kids are sleep deprived the next day! DD, at nearly 7, is starting to be capable of something approaching a lie in, but she's the one who needs to go to school! 8am is a dream Linzer I think DD has slept til then once or twice in the last year, but neither of my boys has ever slept past about 6.30am I don't think...

I've joined a gym with child care! I am enormous and look like a Lora Ashley sofa in my flowery maxi dress... I like going because it means I can shower uninterrupted after working out, which DS2 is in the kids club (at home he hates me showering and spends the whole time opening the shower screen and howling, or worse he trots off and I know he is trying to climb the stairgate, or has got into DD's room and climbed u onto her top bunk, so I have to leap out half washed to stop him breaking his neck...) but unfortunately it is making me ravenous! I'm not sure it is going to have the desired effect...

DD will be home any moment, wonder if sports day went ahead, as it's been sunshine and showers...

admylin I think I've tracked you down on f.book... if not then I've sent someone random a friend request. still it's like a social science experiment to see if they accept

and yes sometimes German words are so exact there is no simple way to understand or translate them in English which some of my students get a bit annoyed about, but we get there in the end :) I have found myself using bits of German when visiting England

I've just started working for a new school (freelance) and some of the jobs come from their office in Köln so it has made me use the phone more.... DP is very impressed, but for me it's like ripping off a plaster. If I realise I need to phone someone then I have to do it asap or I know I'll chicken out.

But sky keep ringing me (cancelled my sub with them - managed to get it V cheap for a year :o) and of course they have great new offers, told the man today that I don't watch enough telly to make it worthwhile (absolute lies) and that I'd rather spend the money on shoes :o

Oh and the other thing I'm not looking forward to,, but you've all really helped make me feel better about - early mornings I'm not a morning person.... that will be DP's job. I'm going to take him out to lunch now and break the news to him :)

Englishwoman your DS1 sounds so sweet :) but pity DS2 won't let you shower. Good luck with the gym! Just remember to eat carbs before and protein after... or is it the other way around? Sorry Im not really very helpful (or fit...)

Online grocery shopping would be a godsend, Linzer. Unfortunately, I think you're right and it will be years before it arrives in Germany. DS and I potter down to the little supermarket a few times a week but the big weekly shop has become a military operation. The Lidl online shop is just random stuff, like mop disinfectant, no foodstuffs unfortunately.

TheEnglishWoman It doesn't normally make a difference what time DS goes to bed, he is still up at roughly the same time every morning. It was just a nice surprise after last night's late night (which at the time I wasn't happy about) that we got some peace this morning.

admylin If I thought he would sleep in the next morning I'd be ok with the late bedtimes - we were desperate to watch the final of The Apprentice USA on those dvds last night so it was even worse!

Nutella Good luck breaking the news to your DH.... :)

Gator I will shelve my jealousy then and be glad you got some peace this morning :o

Nuttella I read a day or two ago a comment you made about builders waking you at 8am and decided not to say anything :o Good luck persuading your DH mornings are his job - hope he goes for it! I do know a couple of mums who's husbands do get up with the kids and do everything til around 8pm, but go to work later and get home after the kids are in bed, so it is a workable option for some people - my DH is out the door at 6.15am generally so wouldn't buy me much time even if he did get up with the kids, but he isn't really that way inclined anyway - I try to insist he gets up on one of the weekend days each week, but it doesn't always work out for one reason or another....

Dd had sports day and won the girls' sprint (proud as she is the youngest in the class and joint shortest :o - she is fast though, and likes to run about more than to sit behind a desk doing sums and perfecting her joined up script!)

oops I meant 8am, not 8pm :o

Even being able to get Lidl's non-food offers online would be good, Gator; it would take the got-to-get-there-at-8-and-beat-all-the-pensioners stress out of it. I realised that I lied earlier, however; you can buy things online from Tchibo/Eduscho, which would be quite handy if I ever bothered to check what they're selling.

Nutella I'm exactly the same about making phone calls; if I don't do it straight away, I have it hanging over me and it ruins my day (only a slight exaggeration!).

If you manage to track admylin down on FB, feel free to add me if you like; my initials are BZ.

EnglishWoman It's only over about the last year that the DDs have started sleeping until 8 occasionally, so don't give up hope! I sometimes think that the later the DC go to bed, the earlier they get up as they're often up and wide awake at 6.30-7am at weekends (when I'm not quite as strict about them going to bed early) but are impossible to wake at that time during the week. And sleepovers are a nightmare - going to sleep at 11 pm and getting up at 6 am turns DD2 into a wailing banshee, and we've often talked of banning them.

Am so glad the DC haven't start correcting my German yet (although DD2 did laugh hysterically once at the way I pronounced egal - I can't pronounce the l's at the end of words properly, it seems), but it will come in time, I'm sure. at your DS's offer to help translate; very sweet! DS is the only one who speaks German to me when there are other people about and I just answer in English; occasionally I'll ask him to speak English to me, but don't bother most of the time as I know he's perfectly capable of speaking English to me when we're alone (or with just the DDs around).

I was very of those women whose DHs get up with the DC and do everything until 8 pm, EnglishWoman - thought I was going to have to have a serious word with DH!

Englishwoman, I know, I'm pretty lazy and I really love my bed. There are two days a week where I have to get up at 6am for work and I find it really hard. I've also been sleeping really badly the last week or so. Which I'm sure is only going to get better as bump gets bigger.... How do people cope?

Hello all! Been lurking but had no time to post as was busy having a really fun time with my lovely visitor and her very cute baby. Thankfully his lack of ability to sleep stopped me from being even slightly broody.

englishwoman - did you decide not to go to the sports day in the end? I'm never sure whether to go or not. I've got a smear appt on tues when my ds's sportsday is and cant decide whether to cancel it or not (looking for any excuse really . Well done to your dd for winning and also to you for joining the gym - also sounds like you might enjoy the "me" time. I also got loads of school stuff for ds2 in Aldi this week - its so much cheaper.

admylin - do you mostly all speak german at home? I'm like englishwoman - I'm really insistent on them speaking english although I find every sentence is peppered with German words. And I also agree with linzer that lots of school words just stay in German. Actually now I've typed that, I wonder how we ever speak any english! I've also got a really sore throat today - hope we both feel better soon!

Nutella - another one here who just has to make the phone calls or I worry about it all day. Am annoyed that I cant decide whether to phone the Frauenarzt or not cause then I over think what I want to say.

gator - hoping for you that maybe your ds will lie in more often. I've gone past being able to sleep in - managed till 8.15am the first morning when I was in the UK but that was the longest. Just means I get my thrills by going to bed early instead - my wild life eh!

Waves to everyone else but need to go and pick ds2 up from the bus stop - only 22 more days of kiga - forever!!!!!!!!

Hi!!! Wow, you lot talk a lot!!! It's hard for me to be online much with the inquisitive toddler around, finally managed to catch up on the posts since my last entry! Hello and welcome to BertieBotts and Nutella, and Nutella, congratulations on your pregnancy. Enjoy! We didn't find out the gender either, and I too said it would be DH's job to look and announce, but when DS popped out, I saw him before DH did and in my euphoria and excitement I said ", it's a BOY!". Oops. Feel free to add me on FB too, my initials are AT, and my profile photo is off my toddler DS with his hands over his face!

So, we are all moved in, and it feels good. I think I will always hate renting though. It doesn't feel like it's properly mine. I feel I have to be more careful of looking after the floors etc.
But it's a good space, DS has his toys and books out now, I have unpacked the boxes of clothes, we have our own washing machine, yippee, and the location is better too.

Oh and Nutella, I meant to say, I have a late to bed, late to rise child - we normally don't get out of bed til 11ish. Bliss! :)

Well done to your DD, TheEnglishWoman!

Linzer I get quite excited by the Tchibo bits in the supermarket but then realise I don't need any of it - normally before I've opened my purse, luckily!

DS is more than making up for the hour of peace this morning!

So far we've had a monstrous nappy, which just as I'd undone it, DS crawled off across the room, dragging it with him, sitting on a few toys on the way. We both needed a bath and full change of clothes after that, as well as a full clean-up operation in his room and a full load of washing. All from one nappy!
He then barely touched his lunch, but was quite happy to pick the bits up from the floor and eat them as I was trying to sweep up. Add in a good few bumped heads, faces, general screeching and a plant pot emptied of soil in the 2 minutes it took me to pop the broom back in the cupboard and fetch the mop, which he now insists on chasing and pulling himself up to standing on, even though it's not stable & spurts steam. I have coffee and am seriously rethinking the crazy idea DH and I had of having more than one child
(He has just spent 10 minutes bouncing up and down on my lap and laughing his head off so all is forgiven!)

Hello Ploom & Nohun - x-posted with you both!

Glad you had a nice time with your friend and her baby, Ploom. Ar you sad about the end of Kiga?

Good to hear the move went well, Nohun. Have you been out exploring much?

Glad you've moved in nohun. And to your own washing machine.

Aw gator i remember those kind of days! But the giggling & cuddling so make up for all the crap (literally) that went before .

I am sooooo looking forward to the end of kiga. Ds2 has never been overly happy there - he goes without a fuss but unless they are doing something special then he comes home saying it was boring. . I'm sure any naughtiness that he does there is all related to boredom. I am really hoping that once he goes to school he'll be challenged/stimulated enough and his behaviour improves cause the last few months at kiga havent always been the best. My friend that was here gave me some perspective on how well/badly behaved he is - she was here for 5 days & at times he doesnt listen but she thinks I've got it into my head that he's naughty when actually its only fleeting & most of the time he's great. I think its hard sometimes to see all the good behaviour that goes on & not to only remember the bad. (sorry that was a long answer to your question!!). Also really looking forward to shoving them all out the house in the morning at 7.20!!!

Hello all,

I´m sorry, but do you mind if I crash here a minute ... I am in Munich, have been for 7 years, married to a German guy with 2 DDs. Normally, I love it here ... but today ..

I GOT A BLOODY FINE FOR CYCLING. 123.50? BUGGER BUGGER BUGGER.

123.50 BLOODY EUROS. BLOODY MUNICH.

And breathe. Thankyou.

You know sometimes something just hits you and you realise that no matter how long you live here ... there are times when it will just feel foreign. Bah. Although my German´s pretty good, I couldn`t understand everything the policeman said, and he was a bit of an arse, and I felt stupid, again ... and, and, and ... gah.

Possibly I need wine.

Please feel free to ignore this, btw, I just really needed to vent to someone who would understand without laying it all on my DH!

Hello 008! Welcome to the thread.
Bloody hell - why is the fine so much?? Cannot imagine what you did to deserve such a fine! Feel free to rant as much as you like - you should rant! I got a speeding fine last month & that was only 15€.
Is there any way you can appeal?

It was for going through a red cycle light, but I honestly thought the light was for cyclists going in the perpendicular direction as there was no need to stop! Can't appeal though as I signed to say that I had gone through the light because, well I had.
It has just been a crappy day which has left me feeling as though I still don't belong here ... still, deep breath, tomorrow something will happen to remind me how much I love it here.
Also, yet again I need to improve my German - I get lazy and spend too much time speaking English and then get frustrated with myself for losing my vocabulary. Gah.
But enough of me, how are you Ploom?

Hello 08, were you on the wrong cycle path? When I had my car accident the police man who was dealing with it managed to stop people cycling on the wrong side of the road (but on bike path) in the middle of taking all our details!! He made a fortune that morning.

How is Munich? I was always worried that dh would get a job offer there whenever he applied as I was so scared of finding an affordable flat!

NoHun glad the move went well, hope the landlord/lady isn't such an old bat as the one we have then you should be OK.

Gator enjoy this time, your ds sounds so cute!
Ploom hope the throat gets better soon - mine is still going strong, wonder if some alcohol would kill it, have Sambucca here?! I was also glad when Kindergarden was over with, both my dc disliked it towards the end.

Hmm, have spoken to dd about the English and she's such a stubborn little fraulein that she refuses even more not to speak it - as a joke I said she shouldn't speak in German as I didn't understand it anymore so she spoke in French instead!! I will get her back to it hopefully, will have to think of a way!

X-post, oh yes, a red light is the highest of all sins. Once had to hand my Führerschein in for a month for going over red on my Vespa - but I was on the bike path with it and bike lane had green. Cost a small fortune too.