Die Kaffeestube Teil 2 - virtual Kaffeeklatsch in Germany and Austria

[cheaspicks]

Chat for those living in a German-speaking country, or anyone else who is interested.

Can I gatecrash for a moment with a query, pls? I will be in Germany for several months and the accommodation does not have a landline/internet access. Has anyone got any information on what they call "surf sticks" over there, mobile broadband? Does it encrypt the data and can you use it for confidential stuff ie internet banking or it is just for general browsing.

Thanks [scuttles off again]

Hmm, biemchen I've never used it but have seen it called Mobiles Internet and you'd need to ask for an Internet Stick and then decide on a flat rate or whichever package you want. We use Tchibo phones just as an example, here are their mobile internet offers.

world, hope you are sticking around. I have enjoyed your input, and it is good to have a local on board.

We are in the UK now, we have a family wedding at the weekend. I have just found a box of about 50 greetings cards; I used to stock up for every eventuality, so I was never short, but I couldn't be bothered lugging them to Germany when we moved, so left them here. I think I will leave card-sending behind, except for very special occasions. I also have a box bigger than a shoebox full of all kinds of sprinkles that I used to put inside cards - stars, hearts, chicks for Easter, and about 20 different types for Christmas! I could open my own card shop! Funny I found these boxes just now, then log on to find you all talking about cards.
Hope you had a great birthday, admyln, despite the school meeting thing. I'd send you a card but ...

Hello everyone!

Happy Birthday admylin! - its my DS1's 5th birthday today and was my DD's 7th birthday yesterday, so we're in the midst of cake and wrapping paper and sweets and parties (DD had birthday stuff and took homemade choc chip cookies in to give out at school yesterday, and when I dropped her off as a birthday lazy treat loads of girls ran up to shake her hand and wish her Alles Gutes zum Geburstag, which was lovely, but her party is on Saturday. DS's bowling party this aft and funnily enough DD's school parents eve this eve, what's all that about then with birthdays and parents eves co-inciding then admylin ?) DH won't go to parents eves, even though he's the German and dads do go, so its down to me...

I order cards from moonpig mostly, they go down well here too as everyone is used to Happy Birthday being written in English and then you can personalise the kid's name, though I only bother with that for the kids' best friends as nobody actually expects cards here so usually the kids just make one, DD especially.

waves at everyone else and closes the laptop to get on with the morning, I only opened it to show DS1 the video message father Christmas sent him to wish him happy birthday (wanted to do a cbeebies one but thy don't recognise his name exists on the cbeebies birthday time video message creator, luckily I had made them all messages from father christmas at christmas and must have ticked a box to be sent a birthday message too)

Hello vegan .

Aw happy birthday to your 2 dc english - hope the parties go well. Thats too cute about the santa birthday message - I didnt notice you could do that when I did the Christmas ones. I've done a message for dh before - the adult ones are hilarious.

Brrrr its really cold this morning but good excuse to get my favourite electric blue jumper out . Busy day today so really should stay away from the internet. Got a kinderarzt appt later for all 3 dc - dd & ds2 have each got a wart, ds2 has growing pains & I want to discuss how very tall ds1 has suddenly got - he's taller than dd's 11 year old friend and he's still 7 (altho will be 8 in 3 weeks). I'm sure the KA will do nothing about any of their problems but just good sonetimes to speak to someone about them.

Hope you all have good days - anyone up to anything exciting??

It's a beautiful crisp autumn day today, with a bright blue sky, but a tad on the cold side here too Ploom (although not quite as cold as where you are). Hope your appointment goes OK; even if the doctor doesn't do anything, it's reassuring to know you have nothing to worry about.

English Happy birthday to your DS and DD! I bought a cheap pack of really nice children's cards from The Book People last time I was back in the UK and we're using those at the moment. The DC probably only get cards from about half their friends at the most (actually, DS only got presents I think) and a lot of those are homemade, but we only ever seem to remember about the card at the last minute so it's handy to have a ready-to-use supply!

I definitely don't send as many cards as I used to, but I do try to make the effort. About two years ago, I'd only had cards from my parents and my ILs for my birthday and felt irrationally upset! (I did get a few belated cards the following week and last year was much better, but it reminded me how nice it is to receive a card.)

Vegans Hope you're having a lovely time in the UK and enjoy the wedding!

admylin Did you survive the parents' evening? Hope you enjoyed the rest of your birthday and the wine! DH had to go to the Schulforum last night, but the class teacher didn't turn up and no one knew where she was; all the form teachers introduced themselves and the parent reps, but DH had to introduce himself. He got a round of applause apparently (surely it can't have been that much of an achievement - and I say that as someone who hates introducing herself to a room full of people).

I have my first English lesson of the (academic) year in a couple of hours; it's so nice just to be teaching DD2's class this year and I definitely won't miss all the teaching! I thought I'd be able to get away with using all DD1's old 3. Klasse lesson plans, but as I'm teaching for the whole hour rather than just half it will still involve quite a bit of preparation.

linzer we all had to introduce ourselves so the new class teacher and the parent rep could get to know us. I also hate doing that so I try to put on my best accent and say as little as possible so not so many mistakes show up!!

One of the mums there is always horrible about her dd, last night she referred to her as equivelant to a guinea pig that she feeds and cleans but that's it. She proudly and loudly informed everyone that she has no idea what her dd is up to (I know from dd's fb that she is on her 4th boyfriend already and just got back together with her 1st boyfriend). Why does she think it's funny to be that sort of parent?

ploom good luck with the doctor. Do they maybe offer to freeze the warts here? Could be you will have to go to a different doctor though. I think it's great that we can see specialists so quickly here but some times I think the Hausarzt could just sort it!!

Vegan how long are you staying inthe UK? Did you find the cute festive outfit you were looking for for ds?

english happy birthday to your 2 and have fun at cake baking and celebrating!

I'm exactly the same, admylin - best accent and saying as little as possible is definitely the way to go! I did talk quite a bit about DS at his parents' evening when we all introduced ourselves (I came after two Austrian parents who'd rabbited on for ages; almost everyone after me hardly said anything) but didn't feel at all comfortable doing so. I thought I'd be able to hide behind DH at DD1's parents' evening, but annoyingly we didn't have to introduce ourselves at all.

And at the mother referring to her DD as a guinea pig.

English how is it to have two children having birthdays THAT close together?
How do you do that with making sure, each one has their own special day and yet two different parties for friends need to get organised etc.
Another reason why mother's turn into organisational geniuses and my friends, colleagues and I always wonder how to have all of that being recognised as professional qualifications/continuing education

Very cold here in Scotland! Brrr!

Not got a Christmas outfit for DS yet - we only arrived last night. Hoping to look today, or on Saturday afternoon (the wedding is tomorrow). I also need to find some shoes for the wedding as I thought I'd left a pair here, but cannot find them! Aargh! I don't like panic-shopping, last minute!
We leave Monday. Only a short trip, trying to save some annual leave for a break in October (any recommendations within Germany?) and some days in December too.

Vegan I saw in the news that it is between 10-12 degrees Celsius in Scotland?

It is cold here in Hamburg to, sort of crispy cold, but with blue sky and no clouds as of now. Yesterday we had hail

world One of my friends here has children with birthdays on the same day. I think they have a very stressful week or so, with family and children's parties, but do at least get the rest of the year off! (Unlike those of us who have two DC with birthdays close together but also a third DC with a birthday at a completely different time of year. ) I don't bother with family parties, though; one for their friends is enough for me!

Vegans Good luck with the shoe shopping!

Linzer sounds stressful, but seems to require loads of Feingefühl on how to handle all that 'everyone having their day'

Yes, I suppose it's similar to having your birthday on/very close to Christmas Day (as DD1 does - all bases covered here!).

Linzer

world it is indeed very important to me that my DD and DS1 have their own special and totally separate days, as my younger sister's birthday is 2 days before mine and we always got lumped with a joint party, which she loved and I hated! They almost inevitably end up all about the younger one - one year we were away on our birthdays in Florida, and my parents took us out for a joint birthday meal on her birthday, but there was a cake with only her name on it and the waitresses only sang happy birthday to her - it matters a lot when you're 13!

DS had his Kindergarten party this morning and has bowling with 4 friends this afternoon, and DD has a party at an indoor climbing centre with 10 friends on Saturday - DS wants DD at his party but doesn't want to go to hers, and can't anyway as the climbing centre only accepts children from age 7s (DD will be the youngest at her own party :) ) Luckily DS1 hates heights so its a non issue. DD had a frozen cake with candles on her own birthday but I will make her one to take to the climbing party (have checked it is allowed). I have made DS a knight and dragon cake - it broke coming out of the tin but as the cake is only the muddy ground (choc cake, choc icing, choc sprinkles) it kind of looks OK - I can make decent tasting cakes but am a rubbish decorator so I always buy toys as cake toppers - he's got a dragon and a knight on the top as he's into knights and has a knight themed mid sleeper bed with a playhouse underneath and a slide and tower as his main present. DD's cake will feature elves on a winged horse (from a series she collects).

Linzer we have to have a family party for the in-laws on Sunday, featuring more cakes, and DC3's birthday is in April so it isn't even all done in one week! My parents are over atm for the birthdays which is all very nice in theory but I find them rather stressful company and they aren't the type to muck in (they presented me with their laundry to do a couple of days ago) and although they interact with the kids and bring them presents they aren't exactly hands on - neither of them has made any attempt to pick the 17 month old up for example, and they didn't when we were in the UK in May either - a big contrast to the in-laws who still swing the big children around and hold them in the air upside down so they can "walk on the ceiling" :o . They go home tomorrow though.

English wow you really, really have 'So viel um die Ohren'!!!!!

That's how it is sometimes in life, we go through those hated childhood experiences and then somehow we get the chance to 'heal' in a different way, now your children will grow up and praise you for all you've done and how much understanding and thought you have incorporated in organising and celebrating their birthdays. Here are also for you.

world, that sounds about right. Brrr! :) I don't mind cold and rain, I quite like it really.

Found some shoes, so that's sorted. Nothing whatsoever in the shops for Christmas outfits for DS, though there is a retail park we haven't been to yet with larger stores of what there is in the high street, so will try there, but not getting my hopes up.

English, sounds like they will have lovely parties and cakes!

Thanks admylin.

vegan oh what would I give to be in Scotland right now. I loved it up there, but wasn't sure how I would cope with the cold and the darkness.
I lived in Northern part of the U.S., very close to Canadian border, and honestly I do not want to go through all that cold and snow anymore...

But the funny thing is I have Scottish and Cornish and Northern Irish friends, and when they are here for a visit, they all always say they think it's bloody cold and they put on hats etc.
But when I am there I think it is cold, much colder than here, and I could never figure out where these different perceptions of cold comes from????

I love it here, nothing wrong with a bit of cold and rain! I'd love to live in Canada for a while, I really fancy six-foot high snow!
Hm, I don't know! Maybe it is a different kind of cold, home is always warmer?

There are definitely different kinds of cold + 2 degrees with a biting wind can certainly feel colder than a still and sunny minus 2 for example, and endless days of grey drizzle and 3 or 4 degrees is soul destroying and feels colder than bright, sunny, blue sky days with sparkly snow on the ground. So I guess perceived cold is subjective (within certain limits of course)!