Der Nebel steigt, es fällt das Laub - a German and Austrian autumn thread

[AntiqueMuppet]

A thread for anyone living in Germany or Austria, or anyone else who fancies a chat.

Previous thread here

Thanks, hupa. I haven't got much more than a glass of Sekt planned for this evening but am planning to go out for a meal with a couple of friends on Saturday to celebrate.

Hope you have a great time in Turkey; at least the weather should be a bit warmer than it is here (it's freezing here today). We're going to London for a few days in December and the children (and I!) are already quite excited.

cheas when I did body parts at the Aktivschule I did a version of happy families (card game). Drew a simple body, labelled 6 parts (head, body, arm, leg, hand, foot I think) on the reference one which was left in the middle the first time we played, photocopied it 6 times, stuck the copies onto 6 different colours of card (black, white plus primary colours) and cut it into 6 equal sizes cards (obviously you bare in mind the plan to make cards when you draw the pic). Then the kids sit in a circle, you mix the cards up and deal them out so each child has a mixture of coloured backs and ask each other "Have you got the red foot" or "have you got the blue body" or whatever, the object being to be the first to collect a whole body in one colour, kind of like happy families. I taught children who had no previous English and only saw them one day a week and never ever spoke German to them, but it was quite easy to explain by showing - I hope the explaination here makes as much sense! It worked well with 6-10 year olds, and obviously revises colours as well as body parts.

Linzer Happy birthday! Hope you get the work done quicker than expected and get a free evening!

cake what a shame about the craft fair, that must be so disheartening :(

Nutella your in-laws sound infuriating even though well meaning - I hope your DH can set them straight without upsetting them.

Ploom guest room sounds a good idea! Hope your DH is OK?

ploom dh had one of those 24 hour monitors once and it wasn't too bad, infact it was a lot quieter than his snoring so I didn't even notice it!

Everyone off on holidays - have a great time.

cheas you can also do body parts bingo - make lots of pictures of body parts, stick on card, make pre-made bingo grids with the same pictures on in different combinations, each child has a grid and some counters and you have a box with all the body parts cards in. Pull out cards at random and shout out the name of the body part, showing the cards at the same time the first time you play it, then keeping the pics to yourself later times when the kids get better at matching what you shout to their pics. Obviously first to make line wins. Easier for the kids as they don't have to speak or make sentences or know colours, they just have to understand the word and find the matching picture.

I like thinking up games for teaching and making the resources, but it takes much too long and is not toddler-at-home-awake compatible!

English / cheas Bingo is great; the children I taught always used to love playing it. This site is good for bingo cards, although I've just checked and they don't have a "premade" set for body parts. They do have a bingo generator, however, and it looks fairly easy to make your own sets.

I've already had my Sekt. The neighbour didn't realise it was my birthday and said she'd have brought Prosecco if she'd known, but luckily I managed to find a small bottle hidden at the back of the fridge.

Great minds, linzer - I already use that site (and the bingo generator) for all my flashcards.

English happy families is a great idea, but I don't think it will work with my predominantly age 4yos, since getting them to repeat a whole sentence in English is quite a struggle. I'm currently doing family members with the older group, though, and it would make a nice change from bingo (though I agree that goes down well).

I assume the other kids can see the coloured backs, but not what picture is on the cards? Do I need as many complete sets as children in the group? Presumably the kids take turns round the group, but can ask any other child for a card when it's their turn?

Thanks everyone for recommending blu-tack. At least my parents are coming next week, the last time I looked for it here I found it very difficult to source (was about 10 years ago though). I still can't decide whether it would be better to make eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hands and feet for the kids to stick on, or an arrow. It would be fun for the kids to try to identify the shapes while blindfolded, but it wouldn't let me practise shoulders, knees, fingers, toes with them. Otoh, I will be doing "head, shoulders, knees and toes" with them, so maybe it won't matter.

cheas There's a white equivalent to blu-tack made by UHU, called patafix. I'm pretty sure someone mentioned it on the thread when we had a blu-tack discussion a while back, so it should be available in Germany. I've seen it at the stationery store here but have never bought any, so am not sure how it compares with blu-tack.

Have just finished the third of my four texts, but the fourth is twice as long as the others so it will probably take me all of tomorrow morning. The only problem is that the RE teacher is ill (I've lost count of the times the old one was off sick last year and hoped the new one would be a bit healthier, but maybe not) so DS will be home after the third hour tomorrow - which really isn't going to give me long enough. Looks like I'll be working rather than sipping Sekt this evening; am glad I managed to fit in that glass this afternoon!

cheas yes they can see the backs but that's Ok as they all think they're dead clever for noticing that "cheat" ;) Also it makes playing the game a little easier so they can concentrate on the language and it doesn't go on and on for ever.

Yes one set/ colour per child playing (I used to "offer" the activity as available to 6 children in the children's free choice session, which is why I have 6 stuck in my head), but of course you can make 2 sets of cards and have 2 games going at once if you have a larger group of older children who are sensible enough to play it without you micromanaging every second - I actually did the game with my beginner adults 2 years ago and just had 3 games going, but of course you don't have discipline issues with adults (usually :) )
The first child can pick any child in the group and ask them "do you have the "red" foot" or whatever, if the child does then they hand the first child the card and are given any other card in return, then the second child (going clockwise around the circle) can pick any child to do the same thing, it just keeps going around the circle til somebody wins, and every child should have 6 cards all the time.

Oops I bought some of that fake white blue tac in Lidl today, it's in squares but the same thing, works the same

:( at having to work this eve Linzer! Are Ethik teachers any healthier, maybe he could have an anti-conversion over night? :o

Patafix definitely available in Germany! I'm a big fan!

Its just like blutack, but white.

Ethik doesn't seem to exist as a subject here English, otherwise I'd be tempted (providing the teachers were healthy ). I decided to bring the children up as Catholic as it's the best option for ensuring they stay at school for the maximum number of hours. If DS was in the evangelisch minority, he'd only have one hour of RE a week and if he was ohne Bekenntnis, he'd be out of school at 10-something twice a week. So he's staying Catholic for the time being!

Been reading through the thread and feeling a little home sick. I am British but lived in Hamburg for 13 years. My eldest daughter now lives in Berlin. I used to love Laternelaufen! Also love Christmas markets.

Wow is that right Linzer?

I have been absolutely amazed at the importance still placed on religion in Germany, I had no idea before I arrived - although I am in a catholic state so possibly that makes a difference.

My PIL frequently discuss religion as an over-the-dinner-table subject (MIL evangelische, FIL excommuniziert). I was brought up Catholic although with very lax parents so I can hold my own... but when PIL ask (for example) what my parents think of religion, they are amazed that generally in the UK I would say I never discuss religion - it is simply irrelevant to most/all of my friends and family.

As for church tax....

Hi Flippity. I almost went to Hamburg as an au pair, but ended up going to Berlin instead - it seems like a really nice city from my few visits there.

I'm a bit about church tax, Cake. As a non-Catholic, I don't have to pay it here but have the feeling I did so in Germany.

What I find a little strange is how important the church is in everyday life, while at the same time most people I know don't seem particularly religious. Crucifixes in bedrooms (when people aren't devout Catholics) are just one example - both my PIL and SIL have crucifixes hanging above their beds, yet never go to church or talk about religion. Having said that, far more people - and far more young families - go to church here than in the UK.

I like all the bank holidays, though.

Hello - you all have been chatty today! Sorry about the craft fair, cakebump. It's awful when you're not supported. Sorry about the ILs too!

Hello flippityjig - I live in America but am a German teacher and lived in Dresden and Munich many, many moons ago!

Have a lovely holiday in Turkey hupa and everyone else who is going away - (sorry for forgetting names, ds2 not being MN friendly at the moment!)

Glad you are having a good birthday Linzer, even if you are working at the moment.

Better dash and rescue the tomatoes again! Bye for now.

Sorry flippity how rude of me not to say hi . One more month to Christmas market season!! I can't wait :)

Linzer agreed about the bank holidays :)

Here in the Eifel everyone has a set of letters and numbers chalked on their door, which is something to do with Epiphany I think. The village is dead on a Sunday morning as everyone is in church, and the older people even consult faith healers regularly for illness, rather than the doctor. I find it all a bit strange....

I went to Hamburg as an aupair and stayed because I loved it there. Only left when I got divorced because I didn't feel I could support myself financially there. I miss so many things about Germany.

Hope the tomatoes are surviving, jenny! They seem to be particularly interesting to small boys for some reason; when the DC were younger, I had to take all the tomatoes off the vegetable rack when we had boys visiting as 50% of them would pick one up and take a bite out of it.

Cake We have those numbers written on the doors too; Sternsinger come round at Epiphany and then write C+M+B (Christ bless this house in Latin) and the year on the door. I think they're supposed to write in chalk but it won't work on our door, so they use felt tip instead!

Flippity Do you get back to Germany much?

Thanks for all the positive feedback about the intensive swimming course. I hope DD will make swift progress and stop her cheating.

Ploom DS still not on the mend? Hope you get some sleep with DH?s monitoring underway.

Linzer Happy Birthday and boo hiss to having to work in the evening

cakebum(p) The typo made me snort... sorry about the craft fair?s slow start. It sounds like a lot of effort to organise especially if you are offering food as well. With working as well (and nights, too) you must be pooped. If it is a regular thing could you get people who attend to take leaflets away to advertise the next event? You have my sympathies, too re the ILs, I hope they will be competent babysitters once baby is there? We have no family here at all and it is one thing that I miss but I totally get how annoying family can be when they get in the way, offer unwanted advice, etc. But is sounds like you know well to take the rough with the smooth.

admylin love the idea that DD can do most of the entertaining for the party herself.

hupa am I the only one to not know what a pinata is. Holiday to Turkey sounds good to me, I have 24 hours of rain and hence no work to look forward to.
Nutella/cakebump safe journey. I know you feel very precious about the baby but believe me the time will come when you are so ready to hand baby over for an evening or day or two...

Re the discussion about religion and RE in school... church tax does not kick on until you earn a certain amount and you can opt out of paying (unless things have changed). Personally I find the churches (independent of whether they are catholic or protestant) run a lot of the services. Many Kigas/Kitas are run by them, and they offer very affordable holiday childcare, so I feel quite positive about supporting them. I remember RE as quite low key in Grundschule and once you got to secondary education there was the option of Ethik. There is no equivalent of assembly as far as I remember which some schools in the UK have on a daily basis. Can?t speak for Austria thoug.
Waving to everybody else!

Cake the procession is indeed on Epiphany and is a blessing for the house and its inhabitants. The letters are CMB (for Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar; the three wise men or Magi I think they are refered to in the UK) and numbers are the year the blessing is carried out in. They are linked by crosses. Not sure about the faith healing thing, never came across that in the Bavarian village I grew up in.

Unfortunately I don't get to Germany very often. Last time was about 4 years ago. I would love togo more often but financially it's out of the question.

Hope to visit my daughter in Berlin some time soon though.

Morning everyone

Bien there may be no assembly here, but in Bavaria at any rate the Grundschule classes start the day by saying a prayer together in the classroom. Our Kindergarten is state, not church, but they teach Christian stories as "true" (my biggest bug bear) and are always taking the kids to church and offer no balance - no stories from other religions or really mention of other religions or other people having different beliefs at all, (UK preschools celebrate Diwali etc as well as Christmas for example). I really dislike this to be honest as I am consciously not religious (I spent a lot of my teenage years fighting with my parents about my right not to believe what they do and they didn't speak to me for weeks when I stopped going up for communion) but I accept it is part and parcel of living here, and you have to lump it if you choose to move here. We opted out of church tax and I teach my children the "some people believe" and try to give them a bit of balance, but although DD easily got her head around the idea that religious stories are not necessarily true and the whole "X believes that but Mummy and Daddy don't, we just don't know who is right and you can make your own mind up" DS1 is much more literal and seems to go into meltdown at the same concept, he just can't understand that KiGa might be telling him things that are not lies but that are just what some people believe and not necessarily true either, and I really wish he could be in a more balanced environment, given we did not put him in a church KiGa but a state one, and we don't use any church subsidised chilldcare etc.

Ah well, it's just one of the things that comes with the package of moving to Bavaria I know.

Hello flipertyjibet

Waves at everyone else!

I mean Flippityjig* sorry!

(which reminds Haha at the cakebum typo :) )

Oh Bien a piniata is a hollow paper mache container (usually in the shape of something like an animal or cartoon character or something) which you fill with sweets and hang from a door frame, and children at a birthday party break it open (traditionally by hitting it with a stick but these days you can also get ones where you pull a string) and all the sweets rain down. Mexican originally I think but I remember one at a birthday party I went to as a child in the early 80s in the UK so they crossed into other cultures a long time ago I think.