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.

Hallo Bienchen

English No idea about balanced research I'm afraid, but I always use the excuse that TV is good for their English. Am sure that what they watch does make a big difference, though.

Ploom Grr to the Kinderarzt; are you going to ask the Hausarzt about the height issue too? I try to go to the GP if it's anything straightforward, but I'm not overly impressed with the one we go to (it's just easier to go to her as we don't need to make an appointment and waiting times are generally shorter).

ILs who believe that schnaps cure anything sound familiar. I had to laugh yesterday as I went back into the living room after I'd posted and my MIL was just telling DH about how she'd bumped her leg on the fridge and had put schnaps on it!

DD1 left on her school trip about an hour ago; it was a bit of a strange feeling waving her off, but I'm sure she'll be fine. DS was the most upset of all of us, kept saying he wanted to go with DD1 on her trip, and almost refused to go into school. I had to leave him and DD2 outside school (five minutes before it opened) so that I could get to the pick-up point with DD1 in time, but DS kept running after me crying and screaming whenever I tried to go back to the car. I eventually managed to leave him but he wasn't happy.

Morning!

Aw linzer - your poor ds wanting to go with his big sister. I'm sure he was absolutely fine once school started. Has he been ok the other days? How long is dd1 away for? Can you have any contact with her? DD went on a trip in the 4th class for 4 nights and they werent allowed to phone home - she wasnt bothered but by the last night I was really missing her.
Ha ha about your MIL putting schnapps on her leg - thats taking it too far!

english - I'm not that strict about my dc watching the tv as long as like you said its in balance to other things but I really noticed a shocking deterioration in dd's behaviour before we moved here (so she was 7) after she watched Hannah Montana. So I try to steer them away from American crap but its difficult unless they were only to watch kika. ds's are still obsessed with star wars although not sure how good an influence that is either.

So my beloved ipod touch has died over the weekend. Its been a bit temperamental since dd dropped it in water a few months ago but now it wont switch on. So as gutted as I am I'm going to try to see the positive side - I am obsessed with reading stuff on it - MN, FB, News just anything really so maybe not having it might cure me of this. I've still got a smartphone so can access things but thankfully the graphics arent as good so I'm not as tempted.

dh is home from work sick today with back pain and feeling generally unwell. He's got it into his head that its something serious so went to the Hausarzt first thing and because DH is a doctor, the HA gave him a referral for an MRI scan. Not sure he'd have done that for everyone but if it puts dh's worried mind at rest then I'll be happy.
So dh comes home, phones the radiology clinic (they know him thro work) and he's already at the clinic having a scan. Sometimes its handy being able to use the doctor card. Fingers crossed its all worry about nothing.

Morning all. It was a busy weekend on here!

Linzer hope your ds calmed down and cheered up quickly after you left. It's awful to have to leave them crying isn't it? Is your dd away all week?

Well, dh and I went shopping and we managed to get 2 pairs of shoes at the weekend, for me and for dh so we still need to get dd's winter shoes and a winter coat for both ot them. It looked as if they were giving shoes away for free by the number of parents and dc pushing their way around the childrens' section of the shoe shop!

I remember taking Schnapps (Birne and Himbeergeist) back to the UK and they even called in the toughest drinkers that they know to try it as it was so strong! It brings tears to your eyes!

ploom my dh gets exactly the same treatment, he walks into the doctor's and comes out with all sorts of stuff and referrals! Usually he goes there to tell the doctor what's wrong and what he needs and he always agrees!

Did your dd start rolling her eyes at you and putting her hand on her hip? Hannah Montana and iCarly really are rubbish but so are quite a few of the American cartoons on Super RTL. Thank goodness my two have grown out of them.

Morning! Ploom my condolences for your iPod I have an ancient nano ipod that got dropped in water several times and survived... although the hold switch broke. I don't use it so much anymore but I believe apple run a long term offer where if you return an old ipod to them because it no longer works you get 10% off of a new one... don't know if it applies to a touch...

Yes Schnapps are used here as a cure all, for everything! Mostly by slightly mad aunt- I'm pretty certain that if she has any troubles, pains or aches she would take a schnapps. Schnapps are always offered at the end of a meal (I don't get it either, I'd rather have a mint tea or something if I'm really that full) and I remember being surprised by the variety DP's parents have the first time I experienced it.
Even being pregnant hasn't got me out of being offered schnapps

I can remember rainy days with a video on... we were odd kids and would watch a movie until it wore out (ahhh VHS) and learn the lines and then reproduce it ourselves . But my older brother has awful mood-swings (even now) if he watches too much television or plays too long on a computer...

Right, the leihund seems to have ear pain again so I think I better work out taking her to the vet... this is going to be an experience! Fortunately her vet isn't far away and ear problems are the norm for her...

well done on the shopping admylin - I'm patiently waiting for the ski stuff to be in Aldi for dd. And she needs a new winter jacket but think the other 2 are ok for winter clothes. It all adds up to a lot of money doesnt it. About hannah montana - it was just more backchat than anything else and just trying to act much older than the age she was. Also glad she's grown out of it.

nutella - didnt know about that offer about swapping it but not sure dh would be too happy to pay for a new one right now. Think I might have to ask Santa but then my obsession will start all over again. How long do you have your leihund for? Who does he normally belong to? Hoep the vet sorts him out.

I keep telling DH to use his doctor title more often (although he's not a medical doctor so I don't think it would help him get better medical treatment!) as anyone with a title automatically gets more respect here. I'm making a list of class contact details for DD1's class - in my role as secretary to DH as class rep - which includes parents' names and was surprised to find only two doctors (not DH) and no other titles in the list. Mind you, less than a third of the class is completely Austrian; I'm sure it would be a different story with a Gymnasium class.

DD1 is just away for three days, until Wednesday afternoon. They aren't allowed to take their mobiles with them but inevitably at least one girl has; her father is phoning another mother, who said she'd phone me once she'd heard anything (not that I'm too concerned as I'm sure they'd phone if there were any problems).

admylin The children's section of the shoe shop was amazingly quiet on Saturday (we bought DD1 some shoes for her trip); considering that autumn definitely seems to have arrived, I was expecting everyone to be in there buying their winter boots.

Ploom Oh no, I'd be lost without my iPod/phone (have the same apps on both). Do you have much music on it? That would be another reason I'd be devastated if mine died, although I could definitely do with spending less time online!

Yes, DS has been OK about going into school otherwise; I'm sure it was more to do with the fact that he didn't want DD1 to go (he refused to get out of the car for ages) than that he actively didn't want to go to school. Fingers crossed he'll be back to normal tomorrow.

Nutella Schnapps is probably good for the baby. Hope the visit to the vet's goes OK and that the dog is on the mend soon!

ploom that's annoying about the KA. I suppose excessive growth is probably something most drs would first react to with "let's wait and see how things are in six months" (like my hormone problems), but you still want the dr to take you seriously . Does your DH have a colleague he could ask informally about it - my DH occasionally asks the consultant at the hospital when I can't be bothered to go to the KA with DD myself?

English I've also thought that our parents' attitudes sound very similar from what you've said (dummy snobbery, etc).

re the tv thing: I read the Aric Sigman book "Remotely Controlled", which is unequivocably negative about the effects of tv, but then he seems to be an old-school, "life was better in the 1950s" type. Iirc he does respond to the "I watched tv as a child and I'm okay" argument by saying that children's programmes have changed, and that slow-moving programmes are far better than the frantic stuff you often get nowadays. I'm sure the book is backed up by research, but of course you never know how much cherry-picking has gone on with these things!

I prefer DD to watch dvds, partly because it means she's not exposed to advertising, partly because CBeebies is sometimes too brightly coloured and frantic for my sensibilities at least and partly because it prevents us slipping into the habit of watching at the same time every day. Atm she mainly watches Peppa Pig, 64 Zoo Lane or Kipper.

I wouldn't judge anyone who was pg, ill or who had a small baby for letting their kids watch a lot of tv. I do wonder though about the consensus on the rest of MN that tv is absolutely fine for kids and anyone who suggests otherwise should be flamed .

Linzer that's interesting that only a third of the class is completely Austrian. Can you figure out where they're all from? In my dd's class there are only 2 girls who are really German! In ds's class there is only 1 German boy! They go to a Gymnasium!

Three days is good for a trip - I hate it when they go away fro a whole week - like ploom I start to really miss them by Thursday. Ds has to go on a 6 day trip at the end of year 9 (so in June 2013) and I'm dreading it already!

Massive x-post (must have forgotten to refresh).

Hope your dh is fine, ploom.

And your DD, Linzer.

IL here don't drink schnaps (obviously not proper Germans then). MIL seems to think that Emser Salz will cure most illness, though .

cheaspicks I did similar to you with the dvds (well it was videos when my 2 were small) as we didn't have access to UK TV so I had Postman Pat and Thomas the Tank Engine sent over and that was all my 2 had! Later we got a few Disney classics like Pinocchio, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty in English too. The only thing that was OK on German TV was Sandmänchen and Die Sendung mit der Maus.

think you've hit the nail on the head cheas - I just didnt feel the KA took me seriously. And its not like we go all the time - think it must be over a year since we were there the last time. Sadly dh doesnt have any paed colleagues to ask - his clinic only deals with adults. Think going to Wuerzburg might be the best plan.

I watched Mr Benn on Youtube the other day with the boys - cant believe how slow paced it was. Its much easier to control what dc watch when they are under 6 I think but the range of programmes from 6-12 is very small if you take out all the American progs. I miss my lot watching Peppa Pig .

linzer - I'm intrigued like admylin as to where the other 2/3 of the class come from?? I think the majority of dd's class are truly German and probably could trace 3 generations back to the same village they live in! I didnt have much music on my ipod since all our music is on the wireless system at home (that I dont understand!) and I quite often just download BBC podcasts to listen to while I exercise. I just tried again to switch it on - grrr its not completely dead. It just took a screen shot then went back to a blank screen. Its like its taking its last breaths!!!

admylin / ploom They all seem to be Eastern Europeans going by their names, apart from DD1 and another boy who's half-English. Eastern European surnames are quite common here, but you can tell by looking at their parents' first names that the parents probably weren't Austrian-born. (I imagine a lot of the children would be, however, so I should probably have said that they don't come from an Austrian background rather than that they aren't Austrian.) It's quite interesting for a nosey person like me going through the list that the teacher has sent, which also lists their religion, date of birth, etc. (am sure that wouldn't be allowed in the UK!), although obviously we're not going to forward those details to the other parents.

Yes, three days is quite a good length of time for their first trip. They'll be going on a Wintersportwoche next year; am so glad I didn't go to school in Austria, although I'm sure DD1 will enjoy it!

cheas The DC only ever used to watch DVDs in English, but have started watching the Austrian children's programmes shown in the early afternoon - there doesn't seem to be any advertising between them, although I'm sure there are adverts on the channel at other times (goes to show how much Austrian TV I watch!).

My parents are complete dummy snobs too. It was quite a relief in a way that none of my three would take a dummy.

Ploom my dd's school sounds like yours, the vast majority of dd's classmates' parents went to the same school themselves and most come from very Bavarian families who have never lived outside our group of villages in living memory - in fact another mum who told me that she is like me because she's not from the area is in fact from a massive 20km away :o , and married into a farming family who have been here for ever :o There is actually a girl with Taiwanese origins in dd's class now (born here though) and a Turkish and a Slovenian (I think) boy in 4th class, but I think they are the only non Germans in the little village Grundschule (out of about 85 children in total). The other non Germans have only moved to the area in the last year - maybe DD was a ground breaker :o

Hope your DD enjoys her trip - my DD went on a 3 night trip in the last year of Kindergarten - she was totally fine with it, but the trip (which the Vorschule children do every year) is yet another reason I am sure our decision to keep DS1 back a year is the right one - I cannot imagine him being OK about going away for 3 nights, much better that he does it at age 6 than only just 5 like DD was!

My MIL makes schnaps... loads of kinds, and if anyone ever has any liquid in a fancy glass bottle she has the legal right to the bottle once empty (apparently) for her schnaps making... she is possibly over compensating for not actually being a real German either :o

Waving back to world.

Ploom sorry to hear about your DH but at least he has been offered a scan very quickly, so that must cut down on worries?

Got rained off today so have finally installed Skype and gone to Lidl to buy a "Matsch- und Buddelhose" (waterproof trousers, but love the German term!) and a waterproof jacket for DD. £5.99 each, taped seams and lined, so should be good for autumn and early winter. The Kita have sent me a whole list of things I need to bring in and I think I am just about there.

Strangely enough I had a spam email confirming a payment to Skype in the hour before I installed it! It was spam as confirmed by paypal but there was a moment of worry in my mind.

Oh and Ploom I grew up near Wuerzburg and go back once or twice a year.

thanks for all your kind words about dh. Good news his scan was all clear. Doesnt explain why he's got back pain and numbness in some toes but at least its not a disc prolapse. He's turned into a right worrier the last week - very unlike his normal self.

bienchen - you dont often see people on MN from this part of Germany. I love it here altho dont get to Wuerzburg very often even tho its only 45 mins away.

I read on another thread about a website called filmon.tv - you can watch live British TV for free. Why did I not knwo about it before??? It seems too good to be true tho - you dont need to register and you can access loads of British channels. But I will happily use it while it works!

Morning!

So did you all sit watching hours of TV on filmon.tv? Did it work?

I didn't get time to check last night, didn't even get to sit down until about 9:30pm! Up at 4am to say bye to dh as he's off to Portugal. Thought I might as well get up as he wasn't exactly quiet when he got up!

Hope your dh is feeling better ploom. Is it mid-life crisis time maybe?
nutella hope your visitor is OK and the vet didn't cost an arm and a leg! I remember it was expensive for a drop of cream and a mini injection for the gerbil.
bienchen glad everything is going so smoothly (bank etc) how long will you be staying in Germany?

Ploom I was reading that thread a few days ago, but somehow managed to overlook the mention of filmon - thanks for passing it on! It looks really good, although I'll have to keep it secret from the DC as they'd want to watch non-stop CBeebies otherwise!

Good news on your DH's scan; I hope he can get some answers soon (or that the problems clear up). I've persuaded DH to go for a blood test this morning as he's had stomach problems ever since we came back from Germany, but the doctor has fobbed him off said it's probably a virus, despite the fact that he's had it for weeks and the rest of us haven't been affected at all. She said that otherwise it could be an overactive thyroid but he'd need a blood test to confirm it. I'd have thought he'd have other problems as well if it was thyroid-related, but hopefully the blood test will help pinpoint what's causing it.

English Even 5 or 6 seems very young to me to go away for three nights; there's no way that DS would do so (although he probably would have wanted to at 3 or 4!).

I think the novelty of starting school has worn off as DS is getting much clingier again. He didn't want to walk to school without me (his friend's mum is taking them and picking them up today) and I ended up bribing him by promising him a cuddly fruit from Billa this afternoon. (They're free if you collect a certain number of points and I was going to get one for him anyway as he's still obsessed with cuddly toys.)

admylin I can never get back to sleep when DH leaves to catch an early flight, although I don't usually have quite enough energy to get up! How long is your DH away for? DH is off to Bucharest tomorrow for the rest of the week but I think he's going straight from work so it shouldn't mean too early a start.

ploom I once got a numb finger from eating a pizza using a blunt knife . DH said it happens when the blood supply gets cut off from the nerve for a while - it regenerated over the next few weeks. Maybe your dh has done something similar in his back???

Otherwise DH's piece of wisdom for all aches and pains: if you are over 40 and wake up and nothing hurts, then you are dead.

English we were invited to a party in a local village recently. PIL were also there and had to ask someone for directions to the house. The local said, oh you're looking for the Zugezogene!

Have bookmarked the filmon.tv website for future reference.

admylin I am hoping to stay for good! It is quite a challenge to return after such a long stay abroad. I struck a cunning deal with the landlord of our summer holiday rental and get 3 months (Nov to Jan) for rather a good price given that it includes all utility bills and is fully equipped. we can just go over by car with clothes and other essentials, no furniture/bedding/crockery needed. DD has also been offered a Kiga place from the middle of November which should fast-track her ability to speak German (she understands very well). I am hoping to land a job in my old line of work rather than my current (seasonal) job; once I am full-time, DH can resign in the UK, come over and become a Hausmann and finally get to grips with the German language.

Ploom there is also the possibility that the backache and numb toes are not related and have totally different causes?

Morning everyone, thanks soooooooooooooooooo much for the link tip.!!!!!!!!!

Morning all!

I'll definitely be checking out that link in a minute, Linzer. (DS is asleep & I really should be tidying up & making a shopping list but it's too grey and miserable to even contemplate leaving the sofa.)

Bienchen Good luck with the move! Are you moving back to the area you are originally from or is it a fresh start somewhere else?

cheas Love the wisdom!

admylin Hope your DH enjoys Portugal and that your early morning hasn't made you too tired today. I couldn't get out of bed this morning. It wasn't a problem while DH was away, but now he's back the knowledge that he is around to get up and deal with DS just made me really lazy this morning (until DS pounced on my head, laughing his dirty laugh at the top of his voice!)

Ploom Good news on your DH's scan. Has it put his mind at rest? I hope they can sort whatever is causing the problem soon.

English She makes Schnapps?! That's both impressive and proper German :)

Morning world!

SIL's sister died a few weeks ago so we're off to the funeral this weekend. She had been suffering for quite a while but has left a husband and 19 year old daughter who is just about to sit her Abitur and is applying to universities. I can't even begin to imagine what they're going through. I think I'll probably wait outside the service with DS for most of it as he loves growling really loudly at the moment.

Antique that is sad