2013 ist schon da! A new Kaffeeklatsch thread for the New Year - living in Germany and Austria

[LinzerTorte]

All welcome - whether you're living in Germany or Austria, have questions about life in those countries or just want to chat.

Previous thread here.

my favourite white wine is from Lidl. until recently it was 1.99, but the price has now increased to 2.19. when I was at my friend's in Lancaster in May, we went to Lidl to see if we could get the same one. we found it. But it was nearly 4 pounds!!

Linzer I'd really miss the good, cheapish wine too! We live in a wine-growing region & the quality & choice is generally great here.

A quick question for all the lucky people who get British tv: Which satellite do you have? We have Astra in the new house so I bought a receiver today but the only British channel we have is BBC World. We have loads of Polish & French but no British

outnumbered at kamikaze kid! I was quite worried about a really red bruise on ds' jawbone today until I touched it, realised it was sticky & that he had had jam on his toast this morning

Thank you all for the well wishes :) We'll be moving to Karlsruhe, at the moment seeing each other only once every 2-3 months which is pretty hard. But we're both independent people and we speak a lot on Skype, so it's doable. I'm hoping to spend Easter over there, DS hasn't been out yet, so would be nice to do the full two weeks. I haven't actually applied for his passport yet

I don't think he misses tea but he did like the cappuccino mixes you can get here - do they have such a thing in Germany? Last time I went I was instructed to bring as much Lemsip as I could stuff in my suitcase Paracetamol on it's own is a good one to remember too - it's really expensive there I hear?

Antique We're in a wine-growing area too, although bottles are often cheaper at Lidl than from the Heurigen. I can't imagine being able to go out and have a glass of wine in the UK for under a pound like we do here, though. It would definitely put me off moving back!

outnumbered Thanks for the fudge warning! I'm now in bed so won't be tempted until tomorrow at least... Re naice, I meant to say I see it as a combination of nice and posh. Everyone at the piano concert this evening was very naicely dressed - apart from us. I'd been slightly stressed beforehand so hadn't even thought of trying to coax the DDs into dresses (even if DD1 would no doubt have refused).

bertie hello I always thought the choice of cappuccino mixes is much better here than in the UK? It was one of the things I actually used to stuff my suitcase with after a trip back to Germany, as I never found anything nice in the UK. Here they have lots of different varieties.

antique it is a different Astra you need. Something like Astra 2d and h?! We ended up paying someone to adjust it for us as we could do it ourselves. It cost 50 euros, took them 5 mins but at least it worked!
at the jam bruise on your ds face!

Antique you need Astra 2 apparently, DH tells me there are lots of Astra satellites - he is now explaining complicated things about letters after the number - currently most British stuff is on Astra 1 N but is moving to 2F. German channels also come over Astra satellites but at 19 degrees east, where UK channels are at 28.2 degrees east... (Disclaimer I am taking dictation from DH and do not understand what I am typing)! Your DS sounds very cute and also very normal - your heart skips more beats when a PFB does foreward rolls on the sofa than when a P3rdB actually falls off the top bunk of his older sibling's bed though I suspect :o

Outnumbered I think geographical location also makes a difference to how well you can receive satellite signals. That is definitely not golden syrup ;) You really can't get it here, and I have tried all sorts of other syrup options, but none of them quite work - I wouldn't eat it on toast, it is a baking ingredient. Enjoy your Kur! Sounds very nice, with a friend in tow and everything!

I think rural Bavaria may be more like Austria in a lot of ways, as the 3 hour lunch breaks for smaller shops are most definitely still going strong, as is half day closing every Wednesday and small local shops are still only open in the morning on Saturday. The nearest village shop to us (in a village 4.5km away) also closes entirely for the whole of August! The doctors have even more limited opening hours, being open either morning or afternoon Mon-Fri in general, rarely both. On the other hand they still make house calls without complaint :)

There are most definitely huge pros to living here as well as cons btw - for me the independence and freedom children have is by far and away the biggest pro, though the cheap wine is excellent too - our standard is Edika ?1.99 Pino Grigo (which I have possibly misspelt)

I have missed loads of posts in my catch up but am just home from work and have a really sore throat and my tongue feels swollen, it seems to be rubbing on by back teeth - most odd. Need to go to bed I think! Catch up better tomorrow perhaps!

Thanks for the Astra info, grinch! (And Mr Grinch too, of course ) Hope you get a reasonable amount of sleep & feel better in the morning.

Linzer Wine for under a pound you say? I think our next move will be to Austria...

Oh and you too, outnumbered, thank you for the Astra information. It's good to know we can get someone to adjust iy, although watching next to no tv as I do now is probably a lot healthier than the amount I'd probably watch if we had British tv!

Bertie congratulations!!

Zuckerrüben Sirup is not just a baking ingredient. In fact, it is widely known and used as a Brotaufstrich. Yummy! (A bit like Marmite maybe?)

I loved reading all the updates today. You've reminded me of a lot of nice memories and some not so nice ones :)

Grinch I hope you feel better today

Morning
I am and that Linzer manages to shop for a family of 5 for a week for ?20 - that wouldn't even cover bread and milk for us I don't think - and I shop at Aldi... but then top up at bakeries and Edeka as Aldi doesn't stock everything I want/ need to buy... Even when I stick to my meal planning and don't buy snacks I can't spend less than about ?55-60 a week... still probably half what we'd spend in the UK!

I am so not ready for today, lots to do including taking the car for a service with an ill toddler in tow, and I haven't mucked the car out to take it yet, have to do the KiGa run in a min then somehow clear the rubbish and toys, stray gloves and hats etc. out to take it to the garage, where I will probably have to argue with them about the fact they promised us a free service and free loan car for the first service, but wrote that would be after 12 months when the firt service actually turns out to be due after 35 thousand km, which for me has been 2 years driving...

I still feel ill, swollen tongue thing is weird, getting no sleep again is probably the problem, was getting the sleep sorted til DC3 came down with a really bad cold and is now coughing all night, and appears only to be able to sleep while not only lying half on me but also rummaging around in my top, which is giving me Rage, so I wear high tops in bed which causes him to tantrum, then settle for scratching constantly at my throat while he sleeps - I look as if I've been attacked by a savage cat and feel compelled to cover my neck with a scarf when out (not a problem in this weather at least...)

Hello Meer I meant Britsih (Lyalls) Golden syrup is (to me) just a baking ingredient

Gotcha grinch. Me too, thinking about it
Sorry you're not feeling better :(

Hi everyone.

Just to add to what grinch said about the satellites: all the other free UK channels are likely to move to Astra 2e sometime this summer (going by what I've read online). The channel 5 channels moved to 2f in December. 2f has a very narrow spotbeam focussed on the UK, 2e is likely to have a very similiar spotbeam, but noone can guarantee that it will be exactly the same, so the general recommendation seems to be that expats shouldn't buy new satellite equipment until after the other channels move. I would have thought that there would be no problem anyway with reception in Hamburg, even with a small dish.

We are Neighbours addicts and have a 1.2m dish (fairly big), so we asked our sat technican if he could tweak anything to get Channel 5 back. We now have intermittent reception (better on the no-name receiver in the guest room than on the &ky box though, bizarrely).

Sorry I haven't posted in the last few days - i got a bit sidetracked reading katy says. I now not only feel guilty about the time I waste online, but also about the fact I sit down to do so...

Morning all. Has anyone else got Muskelkater from shovelling snow? My upper arms are hurting and my fingers are stiff! It was really like a trip to the gym or rather 3 trips to the gym all in one day.

antique I'd be like you and would love UK television but would probably watch too much. I'd love to be able to watch Call the Midwife on Sunday night though, has anyone seen it? Think I might get the books first then order the series on dvd.

grinch hope you get your free service without too much of a fight. Sorry the next round of illness has hit you and ds again.

Bertie I used to get Lemsip sent over too! Karlsruhe is lovely and a great place for trips out over to France, Black Forest etc.

outnumbered lol at your marmite experience! I've had several German guests over the years who have stayed over and were willing to try it at breakfast but they all spat it out!
I've also used that syrup you linked to in recipes that need golden syrup and it worked quite well. dd eats it on her waffles and pancakes sometimes if we don't have maple syrup. The same company has a darker version that is like treacle (worked in an english gingerbread type recipe I tried).

Off to a meeting tonight about the 10th class at Gymnasium. I think the dc get to drop some subjects and the grades aren't 1 to 6 anymore so another system to get the hang of! They'll get points with 15 being the best grade.

weissdorn I met dh here in Germany. I was out with some other friends and one of them knew him from where he used to work so he introduced us. We all met up again a week later and he invited me out for dinner. A month later we moved in together and a year later had ds, then dd, all during his PhD studies. We got married when dd was 3 and a half - very unromantically for health insurance and tax reasons!

cheas that's an interesting website, I wish I could squat! My MIL always sits like that and she's 70 and dh and ds can both sit like that for ages. Have you tried it?

Morning all,

A couple of friends of ours here have satellite dishes, but they're huge (they'd probably take up half our roof!) and seem to require continuous adjustment, plus reception isn't great in the evenings either apparently - I think we may just be too far south. But I quite lack having a lack of choice as I'm not tempted to watch too much TV/any old rubbish, although I'd find it very hard to do without British TV altogether.

admylin My snow-shovelling Muskelkater lasted for a good three days at the end of last week - in fact, I'm not sure it's completely gone as I did a bit more shovelling yesterday and can still feel it in my shoulders. Makes me feel slightly less guilty about my lack of running, at any rate!

Weissdorn DH is Austrian, but we did meet in Germany - we both spent a year studying in Berlin and, although we were at different universities, we lived next door to each other in the Studentenwohnheim. We had a long-distance relationship for two years, then moved to London together; after three years there, spent two years in Mannheim followed by another two in the USA, and finally moved to Austria 10 years ago.

Grinch Sorry, should have said I have to top up at a more expensive supermarket after my Lidl shop - there's no way we could live on ?20 a week! I usually spend around ?20 at Lidl but then another ?30 or so at Billa/Spar - depending on who has sticker albums... ?50 is probably my absolute minimum weekly spend, and it could well be double that if DH does the week's food shopping.
Hope you're feeling better soon. Yes, it's the same here with doctor's - they're rarely open for more than four days a week at most and are there either in the morning or afternoon, but GPs do still make house calls and if you're ill at the weekend, you can phone the doctor on call and he/she will come out and visit you if necessary.

Antique Well, we paid just over a euro per glass at the Heuriger we went to for the parents' get-together, but you could easily spend ?2-3 or more at a normal restaurant. You just have to know where to go.

My dermatologist has just phoned to check about my stitches (I cancelled my appointment with her last week due to the snow and had them taken out at the GP instead), so I reassured her that all was fine and the GP had taken them out without any problems. Put the phone down, had a closer look - and discovered that part of the last stitch was still in, so I've just pulled it out myself! (It was just small piece of blue thread and not painful, but still... am not overly impressed with the GP leaving it in.)

weissdorn I also met Dh over here. I came over to study music and met DH in the regional drs orchestra when they asked me to play as an extra in a concert with them. We also got married for practical reasons when I was 7 months pg - I always saw choosing to start a family together as more of a commitment than marriage anyway, not being religious .

admylin I find it very difficult to squat properly with flat feet - something I've tried every now and then anyway. I found those exercises interesting to try yesterday, squatting on the balls of my feet is much easier, but I think I'm still tucking my pelvis, which I didn't realise at all before. Having read a lot of that blog yesterday, I've started trying now to consciously relax my pelvis and let my belly hang out, but I automatically start sucking it all in again a few seconds later .

There's quite a lot on there about baby development, for those of you with very little ones. It's made me think about how much dd used to play standing up at the coffee table when she had just learnt to stand and how we condition our kids to play sitting down by giving them a table with tiny chairs, etc.

Morning! The thread has moved so far along since I last posted that I've no chance of keeping up. Welcome to all the newcomers - the more the merrier .

admylin - I also had the muscle aches and pains from my snow shovelling nightmare on Monday but thankfully its not snowed since. Wow you and dh really moved fast after you got together - you must have just known you were meant to be together - awwww .

linzer - despite my years of hospital work, stitches give me the willies so respect for pulling it out yourself.

weissdorn - I met dh at a dodgy nightclub in the city we both lived in in the UK. We then stayed in the UK till we moved here 4 years ago. We, like admylin, also had our dc first and then got married so although we've only been married 5 years we've been together for nearly 15. Glad you asked the question cause I love hearing the answers from everyone.

grinch (you need a name change!!) - hope you feel better soon. You've really had a run of poorlyness. Did your dd get her homework done in the end?

antique - oh the joy of having a kamikaze boy . I was quite convinced (and prob still am) that ds2 will be into some kind of extreme sports when he's older if his kamikazeness carries on. I quite often find him doing a headstand on the couch while watching the tv. You'll need eyes in the back of your head for a few years yet!

outnumbered - so glad for you that the Kur is coming round soon. How long will you be away for? Thats so nice that your friend can come with you - that will make the first few days so much easier. I sometimes forget when you type that you arent a native English speaker - you would never tell it from your posts. Wish my German was that good .

cheas - only had a quick look at the website thats been stealing your time - squats?? Will need to take a closer look .

slatternly - things I miss about the UK - Indian food! Most of the rest of the stuff I can either get similar here, have imported or wait till I go back but the lack of Indian food sometimes makes me nearly weep. We were really spoiled in the UK - there was a great takeaway at the bottom of the road and it was quite a regular thing on a Friday night to get a meal between the 2 of us. Have tried to make it myself but its never quite the same .

Waves to anyone else I missed.

We finally got to use our skis at the weekend - was a fab day out - bitterly cold tho which was ok when we were skiing but the minute we stopped we were frozen. My only moan is that my new cross country ski shoes have given me the mother of all blisters on my heel . It developed while we were skiing and by the time we got back to the car it had burst and the skin had all peeled away. Think it got a bit infected so I've been trying to leave it open to the air and put some bepanthen on it. Its agony to put my shoes on . dh wants to again the weekend after next . Think I'll have to bandage my heels and wear 2 pairs of socks for that trip .

Dd gets her train track braces tomorrow morning. We have an 8am appt and they said she'll be there 3 hours . admylin - any tips since you've been through it twice recently?? What do your dc say about eating? Can they manage most things once the initial discomfort settles down?

Cheas I can't squat without falling over backwards! On the other hand I have no problem with letting my belly hang out!

Linzer 1? a glass is amazing, some soft drinks cost more! I sometimes wonder how people can afford to go out and get drunk to their eyeballs every weekend in the UK, must cost them a fortune.

weissdorn that would be great if you could send me the dvd. We should see if we can get a thread dvd swap going! I've finished with the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel dvd if anyone fancies it?

ploom about the braces, my two have still got their fixed braces just on the back teeth to push them back before the train tracks go on (another 3 or 4 months I'd say). If you want to prepare yourself (but don't show dd) have a look on youtube how they put them on, dd had a look and is abit scared about them stretching her lip and it not going back to how it was before!! Of course it does but it looks uncomfortable.
If she can't talk very well get her to read outloud in bed to get use dto it. The more they try to talk the better it gets.
For food, if your dd likes soup then that'd be the best thing to have plenty in the house. It takes a few days or up to a wek to get used to it. My 2 can eat everything now so it does get easier.
She should get some wax to put over any wires that are rubbing at first. Ds use dhis alot, dd didn't bother.
This is only going from having back teeth fixed and a removable bottom brace.

Hope your blister gets better soon. You can get special blister plaster at the apotheke, have you tried them? Maybe if you go at the weekend you could put one on before you set off?

Thanks for those tips admylin . dd is quite nervous already so I wont show her the youtube video but will prob have a look myself. They said because she's young (she's only 11 1/2) with all her adult teeth that she'll only need it on for maximum 18 months which is quite reassuring. Better now than when she starts getting interested in boys - not that dh will allow that till she's at least 20! Will make sure I've got some ingredients for soup at the ready for tomo.

I've got some blister plasters but you mustnt use them if there's any hint of infection. Think it looks less weepy this morning so maybe if I need to go out later then I'll put one on.

admylin Whenever people blame the drinking culture in the UK on cheap alcohol, I always think that it can't be just that; the majority of Austrians just don't go in for drinking in the same way, despite wine etc. being ridiculously cheap.

I saw The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in Vienna last year and really enjoyed it. I don't think I've been to the cinema since, but DH bought me 7 or 8 British films for my birthday (none very well known). I've passed the 3 or 4 that I've already watched on to an anglophile friend, but we've just finished watching Things To Do Before You're 30 if anyone's interested. It's not the best film I've ever seen but quite watchable. I should have a few more recorded DVDs to send on to you before too long, Ploom.

Ploom Ouch at your blister. Last time I had one, I used a Compeed plaster - but can't remember whether it helped much (and I think you'd said you'd tried it anyway?). Once it had gone, I used to put a normal plaster on (for preventative purposes) plus two pairs of socks on top, which did help but made my running shoes feel very tight!

Hello, tis I, Grinch :o I have name changed just for Ploom... do I get a year's bad luck in the same way as if I had failed to take down my Christmas decorations by 12th Night? Ploom hope your foot gets better soon - I assume your other foot problem passed??

DD spent 3 hours on her homework on Monday and then I wrote a note to her teacher as we had to go to the shop - also to buy something for school. Her teacher had said at a meeting I had with her previously I can do this, but the homework still has to be done, she just gets more time. The teacher was fine about it and she did the rest of the homework yesterday and was actually let off one task as they went over it in class. DD admitted that some of the work was stuff she didn't get finished in class and others did, so it was tonnes of homework but not all set as homework, her teacher has told her to work faster in class and stop dreaming :o ... we'll see, hopefully the 7 homework tasks and drama we had about it on Monday will be a one off - yesterday she was finished by 3pm - well she was doing her last sum as her friend got dropped off at 3pm in fact! She only had 2 relatively small new bits of homework and got the previous day's finished.

Yesterday afternoon was a bit chaotic as DS1 had a friend over - a boy he's been playing with more recently, who like with a lot of DS1's friend was really quiet and well behaved the first few visits but now seems to feel a bit too at home here and was rather wild and crazy! I am a bit and as this boy is a year older than DS1 and was kept back last year, so has to start school in Sept, and of course as I have decided to keep DS1 back he is now hanging out exclusively with boys who are starting school in Sept - argh! Ds1 has doing yet more growing and looks a bit funny hanging out with the older 4 and only just 5 year olds, being head and shoulders taller than a lot of them, and is now always with the Vorschule boys even though I haven't put him in the Vorschule programme, and I am wondering yet again if I am doing the right thing keeping him back! Argh its so complicated!

Linzer I am very glad you can't do your shopping for ?20 for a family of five, I was dwelling on it as I drove this morning, that would be ?4 per person per week, DH is always tutting over how much money I spend but aside from my gym membership I don't spend any on myself specifically, it's all family spending - groceries, diesel, things for the kids, so I didn't want to believe I was really over spending so dramatically, I couldn't think what you all ate if you spent so little!

Car is there for its service - worked it out, labour free and we have to pay for parts, but tbh they could have said that anyway. Also had to pay for a courtesy car but it was only ?15 and there is no way on earth to manage without one, with 3 kids, living 20km from the workshop in a village with no public transport aside from the school bus, and needing to get home for DD getting home from school and then pick DS1 up from KiGa. They gave me a Pando though - it's tiny, like a toy :o My umbrella fold buggy barely fits in the boot, had to angle it, and the top of my snow boot kept catching on something when I changed gear. DS2 liked it though, he kept shouting "Oh wow, car can drive! Oh wow, look!" I think he felt very close to the road and other traffic but he seemed to find it exciting and was almost beside himself when I parked in our drive "Oh wow, car can park at house!" :o

Ooops essay again, better do some laundry instead before DD get home with more homework