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!

Well, I knew that the family were renovating a house and knew more or less where it was, I just hadn't realised that they'd already moved in. I headed over to their new street, then spent several minutes peering at the names next to the letterboxes (the most likely candidate didn't have a name next to it, but I didn't want to ring the doorbell and discover yet again that it was someone I didn't know!) before I got back in the car to ring a friend who lives opposite to ask which house it was. Just as I discovered that I actually had DD2's friend's mum's phone number in my phone, I saw her DH come out to mow the lawn and then she arrived back in her car from somewhere too. I was about half an hour late in the end, as I'd had to park in a supermarket car park about five minutes' walk from their old flat - which meant I was also half an hour late picking up DS. Luckily both mums were fine about it (the first could hardly not have been, as she'd neglected to give me her new address!). Was quite interested to see that one of their neighbours had my maiden name (a very English, or rather Welsh name), so will have to investigate further next time I see the friend's mum.

admylin DH is quite good at shopping but I still make sure that I give him fairly detailed instructions just to be on the safe side. I wish he travelled to the UK more often, but it seems to be either Romania or Germany at the moment.

Thatis How annoying about the toddler group. I went to one church toddler group where each family took it in turn to bring snacks for the whole group (a loaf of bread and various other bits and pieces IIRC), but have never been expected to clean or help out with sales anywhere or been asked to sign a contract either. It all sounds quite strict and would put me off going, although it's difficult if it's the only option where you live.

Ah yes, had forgotten about the Suppengemüse option. I've peered at those before trying to work out whether it really is parsnips in the pack, but have never bought them as it means I have to buy other things I don't want (and I have no imagination to be able to use them up in other ways).

thatis shame about the playgroup. You'll probably be spending alot of time sitting at the playground with him now that the weather is nicer and you might get to know some other mums with same age dc. That's how we organised our own playgroup when ds was a baby, taking it in tuirns to have it at each others house or at the playground so it wa slike aset date to look forward to each week.

That soup veg mix is Petersilienwurzel not Pastinake, tastes abit different but looks similar.

Linzer thank goodness it worked out with finding your dd! I'd have panicked for sure!

So, what should I put on my shopping list that I can trust dh to manage to buy apart from Branston? I wonder if he would manage a trip to boots to stock up on paracetamol etc. I think I might get online and order some stuff for the dc and get it sent to my nieces house then he can just bring it back!

Ploom The poo novelty has worn off quite quickly - there's a sentence I never thought I'd hear myself say :)
Am very jealous of your Easter chocolate. I was thinking of heading down to the little supermarket down the road to pick up some Milka as it's on offer this week, but I'm just back from yet another dentist appointment and my entire face is numb so might wait until tomorrow. DS finds mummy talking funny because of the anaesthetic hilarious, little monkey!

Linzer I can get sweet potato in the bigger supermarket here, parsnips I can only get occasionally and then only in the huge Real. I've never seen turnip though, which is a shame as I really like neeps. (Scottish mother: we were raised on haggis!)

Thatis I thought the white thing in the Suppenbund was Petersilienwurzel so I've never bothered with it. I just wait until they have actual parsnips.
The playgroup I've been taking DS to is run by the mums, so no contracts or anything. It's an English-speaking playgroup though - the children generally have to have one native speaker parent.

Nohun That book looks really cute!

jenny Well done on facing your skiing fears! I don't think I'm brave enough to ski.

admylin Branston pickle is amazing! Did your DH ever hear anything from his job applications in the end?

We turned down the PILs' offer in the end. It was very sweet of them but I'm really not ready. DH suggested moving him into his own room soon and I'm not even sure I'm ready for that. I really hope I'm not going to be one of those really clingy mothers. He still seems so tiny, even though he's 6 months already.
PILs had offered to pay for us to go on holiday to Austria with them in the summer, but we'll be in the UK, or just back, I forget which. BIL, SIL and DN are going with them, and when they give one sibling money/a holiday/help with something, they like to keep it even and give the other sibling something too. So the night out was offered instead of the holiday, if that makes sense. They really are lovely, bless them. Maybe in a few months time. Or they can look after DS for a few hours while we go for a meal or to the cinema or something. We shall see.

X-post, admylin!

ploom I didn't feel a bit embarrassed eating those chocolate rabbit biscuits . DH laughed at us, though, when I told him, so maybe I should? In my book, any biscuit that size is clearly aimed at adults anyway!
Am now wondering who your FIL is and whether I will have heard of him! We don't get German TV any more, though, so I won't be able to watch.

Thatis I'm also surprised that you have to sign up to join a toddler group. The ones I've been to have all been on a drop in when it suits basis (apart from PEKiP), although I have to pay a quarterly membershp fee for Eltern-Kind-Turnen.

admylin I never realised Pastinaken and Petersilienwurzel were not the same thing and have never had a problem getting one or the other! I don't eat parsnips much, though, so probably wouldn't notice the difference. The thing that really bugs me is not being able to buy large floury potatoes for baking. Why do Germans think you should bake waxy ones? It's just wrong!

NoHun I love Emily Gravett books. We have Dogs and Orange, Pear, Apple, Bear. They are very light on text, but the drawings are fab.
I found chocolate soya milk (Alnatura brand) in the UHT milk section of the supermarket. Alnatura is an organic brand and they do a lot of "alternative" products. Our branch of DM (a drugstore) stocks them, so it might be worth keeping an eye out for them as well.

jenny There's no snow left here now, even in the resorts. I keep intending to try skiing (probably cross-country first) but somehow never get round to it. Oh well, maybe next year.

Linzer it's not really your fault if they didn't tell you they'd moved. I hate that moment when you go to ring a doorbell and only 3 bells from 8 have legible names on. Maybe it's to deter cold callers?

We got post today addressed to our new address! It didn't appear to have been re-directed, though, which has left me imagining the people in the sorting office going, "oh, no, Dr Ladder hasn't moved yet, my neighbour's best friend lives up there and she said there are still workmen in, better deliver this to the old address".

admylin, I do feel calm about the move. Maybe I am zoned out about the potential stress! I do feel a bit anxious about the language, just really hoping I pick it up ok. I don't think languages are a forte of mine, but I was a bit lazy at school, so maybe I am better than I think, if only I apply myself! I would really love to be conversational at least, after 18 months. Well, sooner, ideally. Have now ordered some books for DS in German, I think they'll be good for me too. I'll at least be able to converse about The Gruffalo and The Bedtime Bear! :) Btw, why is The Gruffalo spelled Der Grüffelo? Why would they change the spelling of a made up word?

Thanks all for the parsnip/turnip info. And silken for the chocolate soya milk find! Yum.

I love that the post office thought to deliver to your old address. How nice.

Gator, DS is still in our bed, he will be 18 months soon. I think they are still so tiny at this age even.

Morning all,

Gator Whereabouts in Austria are your ILs going? We could have had a mini-meet up if you'd come! (Although they probably won't be anywhere near us as we're not really in a holiday area.)

silken The post office sounds very efficient where you are! Continuing the series of embarrassing things I've done, I managed to send a card to my parents at their old address last Christmas. They'd moved well over a year before! What made it embarrassing was that a friend of mine bought their old house and knows my handwriting; she's very good at taking post round to my parents (who don't live far away) and said she thought she recognised the writing!

NoHun I don't know about Der Grüffelo; maybe changing the spelling makes it slightly more "natural" for German speakers to pronounce? I suppose it's a bit like us changing Rumpelstilzchen to Rumpelstiltskin (although the latter really would be difficult for English speakers to pronounce). DH also thinks it's funny that we've changed Hänsel und Gretel to Hansel and Gretel, but I'm sure most English speakers wouldn't have a clue what to do with an umlaut - you'd have to spell it Hensel to get a more accurate pronunciation, but that would be weird too.

He's called Y Gryffalo in Welsh (pronunciation would be more or less the same). And why have they dropped the article in French, where he's just Gruffalo? I thought they used articles in French more than we do in English?

Morning.

Linzer good that your parents stayed in the area so they got their card in the end! My parents have lived in the same place since I was born and the good thing is they've sent me post when old friends have tried to contact me! There'd be no hope of finding me otherwise as I've moved so often since I was 17 and packed my bags for the first time!

NoHun it's a good idea to get books that you already know in English to learn German. I got a few classics for ds when he started learning French. The first one was The Hungry caterpillar! It helped alot.

You might be able to find a play group so your ds can play with German dc. Will your dh's work place offer any relocation help? When we moved to Hannover we had an agent who offered to help us with finding the nearest doctors, public transport routes, getting internet sorted etc. We didn't bother but it'd be a help if you don't speak the language.

Silken I agree about the Kartoffeln! I keep trying different shops to see if I can get the right ones! I've had some that stay so hard - what do they need steinhart potatoes for?! In Dhaka I tasted the best potatoes yet, probably a kind we don't even grow here. They cooked really quickly and tasted nutty, or almost like chestnuts.

Gator I think it's good that you managed to talk them all out of sending you on a night out. You wouldn't have enjoyed it anyway. I remember my first night out when I was expecting dd and ds was so small. We were in UK and my parents insisted that we go out. I couldn't drink anyway and I kept looking at my watch and wanting to go home! Total waste of time.

So far our shopping list for dh is Branston and salt and vinager Pringles! Have to see if I can order some sports wear for the dc atleast and get it sent to my nieces house to collect!

Do any of you ever order things like sweets online? The dc would like some of those Cadbury's mini eggs for Easter. Might get them at the English shop in town though.

Linzer They are off to Steiermark, so not really practical for a meet-up, unfortunately! We went with them a few years ago (they go to the same place most years) and it was stunning. I loved it. We were in Vienna briefly too, but we were only there long enough for a coffee and a quick wander around before we had to catch our train to Graz.

admylin My thoughts exactly! I can't imagine I would enjoy it, which I realise sounds a little ungrateful, but they were really understanding about it.
Your post about Easter chocolate set off my Creme Egg craving so I've just emailed my brother to ask him to post me some over. (I'm out of stock cubes too so a good excuse to get him to send me some of those too!)

Morning all! Should really be cracking on with jobs but cant be bothered so am MNetting and looking for a summer holiday - are you all sorted with yours? Its becoming clear that flying anywhere with 3 dc requires a lot of money! so think it'll be Germany, Austria or Italy for us.

admylin - have never ordered sweets online - always found them really expensive. I'd be adding cadburys chocolate and teabags to the list. Sadly I dont think your dh would bring you back bras but thats what I always buy from M&S when I go.

Linzer - you're really clocking up these cringeworthy moments. At least you know now where the friend lives for the next time.

silken - I wasnt embarassed either with the chocolate rabbits. I eat anything. Those other quark rabbits were a huge hit too. I also agree aout potatoes being rubbish here. Sometimes (but only rarely) have I seen proper baking potatoes in Kaufland.

Nohun - I worried lots too about picking up the language but its amazing how quickly your conversational German will improve when you have to speak to doctors etc. I've been here 3 years but have done 2 language courses in the mornings. Those, and speaking to everyone regardless of how many mistakes I make have really helped my German. But i'm still not as fluent as I'd like to be. Must do more studying!

silken - I imagine thats exactly how that conversation went in the post office. The joys of rural living. You really need to give cross country skiing a go next winter - its practically on your doorstep. It burns so many calories that it seems to me to be a perfect excuse to eat more!

gator - think dd was a bit older than your ds is now before we left her overnight. Its a big step and if you dont feel ready then you wouldnt have enjoyed yourselves. But I was the complete opposite about moving them into their own rooms - think ds2 was the longest in with us and that was only 5 weeks. Just couldnt sleep for the snuffly noises they made in their sleep and those few hours sleep between feeds were so precious. I also cant sleep if one of them is in the bed with me - very grateful that they all finally sleep thro the night in their own beds - I am the gruffalo when I've had no sleep!

thatis - that seems all to complicated for the playgroup. The one I went to in the UK was organised by 2 woman and you just paid 1.50 when you turned up and nothing if you didnt. And they tidied it all up. And there was no organised singing which is my worst nightmare.

Ds2 has his Schuleinschreibung this afternoon - thankfully its nothing like linzer's ds's one - this is just to fill in the paperwork. But he's so excited about his bag - got a DerDieDas one in the end - and he's taken it to show off at Kiga today. Slightly nervous that he'll come home with half the stuff missing but I've asked the Kiga staff to watch him with it. Oh its all getting to real now. This year is going way too fast.

admylin I've ordered from foodfromhome before iirc. Postage was something like 5? up to 30kg , but the prices seem high when you've got an idea how much they cost in the UK.

gator I still haven't left DD overnight. We moved her out of our room at 11.5 months, but even then I had to be pushed into it by DM. She was staying and offered to take over at night for a few nights to let me night-wean. It was great to have the opportunity to sleep for a long stretch again, but it took me a while to be able to.

DD still isn't sleeping through with any consistency. Last week she came through crying and saying, "The Gruffalo not come to eat DD!" I can't sleep with her in our bed, though. She lies there pinching and poking me with one hand and sucking the thumb of her other hand as noisily as it is possible to suck a thumb. Then if she does fall asleep I end up checking every half an hour to make sure she's still breathing/doesn't have a pillow over her face/is still covered by the duvet.

We decided that the letter yesterday had probably been hand-delivered by our architect, rather than down to the clairvoyant skills of the post office. This still begs the question of how the letter got delivered to a house with no occupants or letter box in the first place, though .

Linzer to rival your stories of embarrassment, yesterday I not only forgot it was our anniversary, but also could not fathom why someone had left a cellophane wrapped present containing a Herzlichen Glückwunsch card outside our door! I even wrote the date on my attendance list for the English class without it dawning on me. Oops!

Belated happy anniversary, silken! You've reminded me that it's our anniversary in just over a month - I've already bought DH a card, which is exceptionally organised for me. Not sure whether we'll be exchanging presents, though.

Ploom We always go somewhere within driving distance for our summer holiday too, so it will be Italy again for us this year. We're also flying back to the UK in August, but with nine weeks to kill I feel justified in taking two holidays (even if going back to my parents' feels like more of a change of scenery than an actual holiday).

Gator If you have time for one thing in Vienna, it has to be coffee.

NoHun Was just browsing the "people you may know" on FB when I discovered that we both have friends who are friends with the same person (IYSWIM). So there are only three degrees of separation between us.

Met up with friends for coffee this morning - at the cafe I'd been boycotting ever since the waitress told us they'd had to spend 15 minutes clearing up after our last visit and brought us a dustpan and brush, but fortunately only the owner (I think) was around and he was very friendly towards my friend's toddler. Got home to realise I wasn't fully prepared for today's English lessons at school, but managed to get it all done just in time before I left.

Now enjoying some peace and quiet (I've been working, in fact) as DS is out at a friend's. I'm making the most of it while it lasts, as there'll be eight children here tomorrow (including my own). I hadn't quite realised when I said it was OK for them all to come over that I have to take DD1 to her dyslexia lesson and then to her maths lesson and that I won't actually be able to fit all of them in the car... I don't really want to cancel on the one friend as she has to work in the afternoon and I can't cancel on the other as we're looking after her children all weekend, so instead I've told DH he has to finish on time on a Friday (i.e. after lunch) for once and, amazingly enough, he's agreed.

Linzer I'm glad it's not just me who sometimes ends up finishing off lesson prep on the day of the lesson! It always makes me feel terribly disorganised, although I usually have plenty of time in the morning and don't need to rush.

DH and I didn't exchange presents unsurprisingly on my part, since I'd forgotten. He gave me 3 roses, though, and the parcel from PIL contained chocolate-covered apple rings (our fruit anniversary, apparently), which I scoffed earlier, yum.

Ploom, I really hope I pick up the language ok.

Ooh, Linzer, wow! Small word! I am not sure how you can tell people two degrees apart from the Fb suggestions? I thought you can only see a suggestion if you have a mutual friend?

NoHun FB suggested someone as a friend to me because we have two mutual friends - you and someone I used to work with in Germany. I have plenty of FB friends with whom I have friends in common but they all know each other, at least virtually (or are all MNers, for example) - and AFAIK you don't know my friend in Germany. So the three degrees of separation would be: me -> my friend in Germany -> his friend, who is also a friend of yours -> you. Hope that makes sense - my brain is shutting down for the day (not great when I'm trying to work!).

silken My ILs tend to give me chocolate-covered fruit as a present too - I mentioned once, several years ago, that I like it so I've had it every Christmas and birthday since. They don't give us anything for our wedding anniversary, although we usually get a card from my parents.

DH was supposed to be going out tonight but came home early as he's not feeling well and went straight to bed. One of the children who was supposed to be coming to stay at the weekend is also ill, so my friend has had to cancel her trip to Spain - her DH went earlier in the week and she's quite worried about how he's going to react (long back story).

Right, must get back to work... I don't have anything to do all week and then two jobs arrive in one day. Typical.

It's funny, I love those random connexions! :) Will you PM me who my friend is?

Hope your whole household aren't coming down with something.

So, no date yet for us, they emailed to say they haven't got an apartment ready for us. I'd be happy to have DH off work for a bit longer, this week has just felt busy with all the packing and clearing, we need to relax before he starts his new job.

Morning!

Do any of your dc have or have they had one of those three-wheeled scooters? Like this for example. Everything I've read seems to say get the Micro Mini rather than a cheaper one, but PIL were wondering about a present for Easter and I think 65? is a bit too much. However, DD's birthday is coming up, so she could have the expensive scooter then and PIL can get her some random plastic tat for Easter plus her own weight in chocolate.

I'm looking at a scooter for DS too, I think the Micro Mini is the one to get. Would I be better buying it here in the UK and bring it over, or can you buy them in Germany?
If the grandparents want to get your DD a scooter, fab!

Dd and ds1 both have scooters which my dps bought. Ds is not that great on it but he's not very coordinated. They do love them though. Have just been lurking for a few days but wanted to wish everyone a lovely weekend!

After all this scooter talk, I'm now wondering whether to get one for DS - he has a plastic four-wheeled one but it's only a very cheap one that we bought in Italy and the quality isn't great. DD1 is the only one who's got a decent scooter; we've also got two huge clunky ones that we inherited from our neighbours, but I think DD2 could do with a proper one as well.

I am now getting slightly obsessed with FB's "people you may know" suggestions. Not only have I now discovered two people who are friends with both you and another friend of mine NoHun, I've also just come across a friend of yours Gator who is friends with an old school friend of mine. The world is getting smaller by the minute.

This is just getting weird now. A friend of mine here in Austria (the one whose three children came this afternoon) is friends on FB with someone who's friends with someone else I was at school with (the brother of my old school friend who's friends with your friend, Gator).

Have I confused everyone enough yet?

There is no world, Linzer, we are all just in your imagination! :

Happy weekend, jenny.

I am starting to worry that this might indeed be the case, NoHun. I'm sure I'm going to be dreaming tonight that all my FB friends all know each other. Or maybe I'm dreaming already?

Have a great weekend, Jenny.

I can't remember if it was gator or nohun who was friends with someone who is friends with an old pupil of mine, now doing teacher training. Also, someone on our February thread is good friends with the sister of my BILs ex-fiancee! It is a small world!