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.

Is that just in secondary school, admylin, or does it happen in primary school too? I think I remember you telling us about rushing around looking for your DS only to find him on the doorstep after school had been let out early when he was only about six!

DS didn't nap when I thought he would but I got him to go down about 45 minutes ago. Part of me hopes he sleeps for a bit longer as I've just made a coffee but since his last growth spurt he seems to need a bit less sleep so a nice long afternoon nap means a later bedtime. Hmm....

I've decided to cut out tea and coffee after my next dentist's appointment (which is on Saturday) as I'm so fed up with the stains on my teeth. I meant to cut down gradually this week and last but I still seem to be drinking cup after cup after cup. Must gain some willpower - I'm trying to cut out biscuits etc too at the moment as I'm not really eating properly again and am really noticing the effects on my skin, nails, mood etc. If anyone has any spare willpower lying around, do send it this way!

Hello everyone! Finally I am posting, have been meaning for ages.

ds2 seems to have settled in ok. the doc saw us today and he seems happy for ds2 to stay on. the clinic where I am appears to prefer 'normal' children, but then I already knew that after they refused to take in ds1 because of his diagnosis. Anyway, I am happy that ds2 is happy
we are over the sickness bug and the doc told us we can go back to treatments/kiga etc....but now ds3 has developed one of his dry coughs with quite a bit of mucus. and he tends to be sick with slime when he has a cough like that. he was sick on the clinic playground and of course another mum saw it. I know that he was only sick because of his cough (and it was only slime that came out), but because there is still the tummy bug going around, of course she will think otherwise. and I am sure I'll be getting evil looks at breakfast in the morning. I will probably have to take him to the drs in the morning though, as I am not 100% sure he should be going to the creche. (under 3's are only looked after while I have treatments and are with me for the rest of the time)....and if he cant go, than it means that I have the third day here without treatments.

Also, for some reason, here they write a sick not for the whole family,w hich doesnt really make sense. so if the dr says ds3 cant go to creche, it's possible that ds2 is not allowed to go to kiga either

anyway, enough rambling!!

admylin we had a NK Abrechnung a few weeks ago and had to pay an additional 500 EUros I think for electricity. I know dh is quite careless when it comes to leaving lights and computers on, but I was still but I dont think it will change dh' habits...It's funny because his parents are the complete opposite. The only turn on the lights when it is already quite dark outside, and MIL unplugs every appliance after using it! Just in case...

it's ben so long since I came on this thread, I cant remember what else I read. so sorry for not mentioning any others!!

Hope everyone is doing ok though.

oh, I cant believe it, ds3 just woke up with tummy ache again and filled his nappy with what can only be described as bad diarrhoea . I wouldnt mind so much if it meant that it's only me and ds3 having to stay in our room (or go for a walk), but ds2 is getting incredibly bored as he's been well again since Sunday! Please, please keep everything crossed so that they dont sign ds2 off sick again too!

So sorry it's not going as well as you deserve outnumbered. Fingers crossed for a better night for you.

Ouch at all the extra bills. I think we keep our house colder than anyone I know: but that's about 19C so I don't think it's cold at all.

Glad your wrist is getting better antique.

Hope everyone has had a pleasant evening.

Jenny I don't think 19° is cold either (it's what we have our heating set to most of the time), but our house is also colder than most other people's and I sometimes turn the heating up a degree or two if we have visitors.

outnumbered Oh no, sorry your Kur hasn't got off to a very good start; fingers crossed things improve quickly and your DS2 isn't signed off sick.

Antique My teeth also get quite stained and the hygienist always asks me whether I drink a lot of tea/coffee/red wine, but I prefer to think it started when I was anaemic and started taking iron tablets as it means I don't have to think about cutting down on my drinks.

admylin One or other of the DC's teachers always seems to be ill and I wouldn't be too happy about them being sent home unannounced. Luckily they do keep them at school (even DD1) if they can't give you written warning; otherwise, we get a note in the Mitteilungsheft and if you don't sign it, the children are kept at school (at least at primary school) and sent to another class.

cheas Hope the cystitis has cleared up now. I've also heard that it's inefficient to keep turning the heating on and off, but that's what our automatic programme does too (although it doesn't go quite as low at night).

Nutella Yes, I've also noticed that the DC can be a lot easier when DH is at home. It's probably the law.

MrTumbles Well done to your DD on her Zwischenzeugnis.

We all went to the dentist's yesterday and I'm now having a bit of a dilemma. The dentist said she doesn't like the look of one of my teeth (chipped it on some muesli years ago - wonder if I could sue Spar) and wants me to have a ceramic inlay next time. It's going to cost around ?650! Or I could have an amalgam filling for free... The new filling won't be right at the front but you could probably still see it; I'm also not sure how big it would be. The dentist took it for granted I'd want a ceramic one, but ?650?! I know that there are health concerns about amalgam, although I do have one amalgam filling already (I had a white filling taken out and replaced with an amalgam filling as it was irritating the nerve, but the dentist said it was probably plastic and I wouldn't have that problem with ceramic). I don't have to decide until my next check-up in six months, but am wishing now I'd asked for more information as I may well end up deciding on the spot at my next appointment.

outnumbered I have everything crossed that things start to look up for you. I really hope things get better and you get something out of your Kur other than just more stress.

jenny I only usually heat the house to about 19 or 20 degrees too. It helps that we have gas heating and everytime I look at the meter the numbers are turning and I can almost feel the bank account emptying!

Linzer My hygienist just says 'Oh, die Engländer trinken viel Tee, gell?'
My dentist here said no-one in our city offers amalgam fillings anymore which he said was a shame as they last a lifetime whereas the others need replacing after 7 years or so. I'm not sure if he included ceramic in 'others' though. Maybe a quick google would help? I'm not sure what I'd do as I'm quite vain but 650 euros would hurt! (Least useful post of the day...)

That's very useful actually, Antique - despite DH saying that it wouldn't last for ever, I hadn't thought to google. I have now discovered that ceramic fillings last for 15 years or more and can cost as much as gold (you're not kidding), but also that the material is quite brittle so the tooth often needs to reduced in size to make room for the inlay, which I don't like the sound of. The dentist has already said I'd need two appointments as they have to make some kind of cast for a technician to make the inlay, which I don't like the sound of either. Hmm, if I could get away with a small amalgam filling, I might be tempted...

Linzer unless it's one of the very front teeth I'd probably get amalgam tbh as we already pay a fortune for health insurance and another 650? on top of what you already pay seems alot. I have one 'white' filling, no idea what it is infact but it's a back tooth that crumbled during my 2nd pregnancy and it already had a filling so the dentist said the kind he used would last longer, it's still in place anyway and dd is 13 and a half so not bad (and it was free)!

Antique wonder what people on a really low income do if they need a filling in your city if no one does amalgam anymore? I suppose they have to go further away in search of a dentist who will do Krankenkasse fillings.

outnumbered I hope you all feel better soon and get go ahead from the doctor to start your Kur atlast. Are the people nice and friendly - staff and other 'patients'?

I think, like admylin said, that if it's not at the front then amalgam is probably the way to go, but I've just checked our online banking and am feeling very poor so ask me again after payday :)

That's an interesting point, admylin. I might ask at my appointment on Saturday. I was going to see if he'll whip one of my wisdom teeth out this weekend so I might not be able to think of anything else (well, apart from the lack of caffeine, of course.)

DS is having an early-ish nap so it's fingers crossed for a decent bedtime tonight. We haven't been able to get him down before 9pm the past few nights and I'd quite like to get him back into going to bed at about 8pm. I'm having a cup of coffee and a biscuit while he naps, so failing miserably at giving up coffee, tea and sweet things. I did have a proper lunch though, so that's a step forward

Antique What time does your DS normally nap? I remember waking the DC up from afternoon naps so they'd still go to bed at a decent hour, but I've always been a bit selfish about having time to myself in the evenings.

Your dentist opens at the weekend? We don't even have post here on a Saturday. I'm surprised that shops even open on a Saturday. DH was telling me recently that his family didn't have a phone for ages when he was a child and when they finally got one, they had to share the line with four other houses (so you couldn't use the phone if another family was on the line - wonder if they used to listen in to each other's conversations). Not that I'm saying Austria is particularly behind or anything.

admylin Yes, I was also thinking that I resent having to pay hundreds of euros for a filling when I'm already forking out thousands on health insurance every year (OK, that includes pension contributions as well, but even so). My amalgam filling is still going strong after about 15 years, but I'm not sure the dentist would even have offered me amalgam as an option if I hadn't mentioned the problems I'd had with a white filling.

linzer I had to have a crown for one of my teeth 6 months ago. I was given the option of a gold one or a ceramic one. Both were more or less the same price. I opted for the ceramic one as I don't like the thought of a sparkling golden tooth on my mouth. It's one of the molars, but still well in sight. I had to appts at the dentist. One to make the cast. And I was then given a temporary crown. And then 2 weeks later I went back to have the ceramic crown fitted. I am really impressed with it as you basically can't tell it's not real. The technician, if its a good one, was able to make the ceramic in exactly the same stained colour as the rest of my teeth.

And I don't recall the appts being painful or too unpleasant. In fact, I took my kindle with me and did some reading

Ds2 was allowed to go to kiga, hooray! And ds3 is much better. He's still coughing lots and I think it's good he had a quiet morning with me. We just took the pushchair for a long walk along the seafront. We haven't had any diarrhoea or any other signs of sickness bug so far today, so fingers crossed. He hasn't filled his nappy at all actually, so too early to tell but I hope we are back to normal tomorrow!

Right, just got ds3 to bed and I'll have a snooze too. Last night wasn't the best- ended up with ds3 in my bed as he was coughing so badly. And then ds2 had bad dreams and I had to go and calm him down twice.

Good luck with the dentist decision. I'm not sure what they do here. I know E had a little gold filling and the insurance covered everything but the pain relief! He's 5!

Hope you get some decent rest outnumbered. You really deserve it. You two Antique. Ds2 fell asleep in the car while I was picking the other two up yesterday and stayed asleep while they played in the park and I read a book! Bliss.

Hello to everyone!

jenny that does sound like bliss, reading a book in peace! I had a really nice and long break today as ds3 slept for three hours after lunch, and ds2 was still at kiga. I slept for most of it, catching up on the sleep I didn't get last night.

linzer if you do consider the ceramics option, I also meant to say do a google search to see if the price you have been quoted is fair. When I had to have the crown done I googled re price ( I had been quoted 500? for the whole crown). And I found that a) my price was fair and b) many dentists to try to charge you more and you can option try ask for a 'discount'.

Touch wood, tomorrow will be the first day I get to follow my anwendungsplan. It will start at 8 o'clock with 'walken', then done aqua aerobics and then done relaxation in the arvo.

On Friday I will be having my first ever massage. It says 'klassische Massage'... Anyone know what that is? Back massage? And what should I be wearing for the appointment?? Probably putting far too much thought into this

I can't believe we've been here a whole week already. It's so nice not having to do all the housework/ life organising stuff. And I enjoy not having to cook, although I can't wait being able to take my time when eating. Ds2&3 are like little hurricane - they sit down, I bring them food, and by the time I have got my own food at the table they are finished and want to leave. I usually just wolf down a little and them go. It takes us a max of 15 mins in the dining room and I really envy all the mums who have brought their partners or mothers to help out. Oh well, possibly that will help me lose a little weight

Jenny Can't believe your insurance would cover a gold filling but not pain relief! Our insurance doesn't cover pain relief either, but it seems to be quite common not to have a local anaesthetic at the dentist's here (DH never does). There's a big sign up at our dentist's informing patients that a schmerzlose Behandlung costs ?15.

outnumbered Great news about DS2, and that DS3 is on the mend too. Hope you have a better night tonight.
That's good to know about the crown, particularly about it not being painful - I used to be fine about going to the dentist, despite having quite a bit of work done when I was younger (can remember the assistant holding my head while the dentist pulled my last two milk teeth out!), but haven't had anything done for about 15 years, now dread it and find even going to the hygienist unpleasant not to mention the fact that I can't drink coffee afterwards.

DD1 got her English Schularbeit back today; she was convinced she was going to get a 1, but didn't seem to disappointed with her 2 - she missed a 1 by 0.99%! I went through the teacher's marking with a fine tooth comb but didn't find anything to complain about. However, DD1 is complaining that they have to say tom-ay-to (and are corrected if they say tom-ah-to), which I find a little strange as they're definitely being taught British English otherwise.

Tell to her to say: "that's not how my British Mother pronounces it!" Well done on the result!

It's not actually gold, but metallic and shiny so he thinks it is. Can't remember what the dentist called it.

jenny are you sure it isn't fools gold :o (bu-dum tish... I'm here all week!)

Antique the first time I went to the dentist here he asked me if all the people in London had teeth like mine :o he kept saying "sehr gut gepflegt" and he was really sorry that I needed a tiny filling -my first. My mum is coming next week and I have a dentist appointment because I need another 2 small fillings.
Despite trying to make my sweets last all afternoon when I was small (and ever since) my teeth are in pretty good shape.

Linzer it seems most Germans want to learn British English but school teachers often have strong german American accents

admylin sorry if you've already said; but when is the camping trip? I'm hoping it isn't for a couple of months yet because it isn't looking like it will warm up soon.

outnumbered I hope your Kur starts to improve and you have some relaxing treatments. Enjoy the massage! I'd love a shoulder massage... I think it would help if I wasn't constantly carrying DS...

We took DS to an osteopath today. We made the appointment ages ago and even though things seem bearable we decided to keep the appointment since we had it. Se was really lovely and apparently DS has something going on with his neck so she'd like to see him again. I was happy that we were ready on time. DP met me at the appointment and was shocked when I said I got up at 8:30 so that we would be able to leave the house by 11:15. But DS has fed every two hours for the last two days so I needed time to feed him again before leaving the house.
So I think that was a record for us, up and dressed by about 10:30! Thank goodness it is bedtime again, I'm shattered! :o

Hope everyone is well otherwise!

nutella well done for getting out of the house on time yesterday . And glad that the trip to the osteopath was worth all the effort!

outnumbered hope you enjoy your treatments today. I'll keep my fingers crossed that both your boys stay well for the rest of your time there.

linzer can't really give advice on fillings as I only have one little one from when I was 15. It's white, if that helps! I really must make a dentist's appt though, I haven't been since I was pg with dd, oops . Fortunately, like nutella, I tend to get "wow, you've got very good teeth for a Brit" comments from dentists here, so hopefully there won't be too much wrong .

I'm really thick, but what is a hygienist? I mean, what do they do, are they in the same Praxis as the dentist, is it covered by the KK and are my teeth unhygienic if I've never been to one?

antique if you want a buddy for giving up caffeine and sweets, then I'm up for it. I'm a bit ahead of you though, since our coffee ran out in the middle of last week, so I took the opportunity to cut it out completely. Atm I'm trying to force myself not to eat added sugar during the week and just indulging far too much at the weekend. I suppose that's probably quite a good long-term plan, but Mondays are so hard!

I remember bedtimes being difficult at that age with dd, too, so sympathies. It gets much easier once you don't have to stay with them until they're asleep. DD now can have a 3 hour nap until 5.30 and still be in bed at 8 - I always put a cd on for her and she knows exactly which cds last the longest!

admylin are you still getting weird electrical interference? I can imagine that would quickly get pretty irritating if you don't know when it will stop.

jenny I've had a couple of very enjoyable long book reading sessions recently. I'd forgotten how relaxing it is, but MNetting is more addictive somehow.

cheas The dental practice I used to go to in the UK had a separate hygienist, but it seems to be done by the dental assistants here. It's not covered by my insurance and costs around ?80. Personally, I wouldn't bother going if I wasn't told to by the dentist my teeth didn't get stained; I remember dentists always used to clean my teeth whenever I went for a check-up, but it all seems to be done by hygienists nowadays, albeit more thoroughly.

Btw Antique, forgot to say that a couple of dentists have told me that staining is a sign of healthy teeth, although can't remember why. I also used to get lots of positive comments about my teeth from dentists in the UK, but this seems to have stopped since I moved to Austria!

I'm trying to make reading rather than MNing my default "what shall I do now?" option and definitely feel like I'm making more productive use of my time! (Plus have now upped my goal on Goodreads from 50 to 100 books this year.)

Nutella I remember hearing lots of good things about osteopaths when DD1 was tiny, but we were in the USA at the time and I decided that going to see one would probably be too expensive (on top of the already extortionate healthcare costs we were paying). Glad to hear it went well, anyway.

Jenny I did tell DD1 that if the teacher corrected her, she should tell her that it's the British pronunciation!

outnumbered Hope you enjoy your day today! I'm no help on the massage, I'm afraid, as I've only ever had one - a hot stone massage when I was pregnant with DD1 - but I would think you'd just underwear with a bathrobe on top

Good morning! All well here, both boys at kiga

The 'walken' this morning was as I suspected it would be. At least 80% of the group saw it as a little morning walk where you can do lots of chatting. You have to push yourself really if you want to get something out of it. Me and a few others did though, and it felt great to active again. I'm now waiting for aqua aerobics to start.

cheas the hygienist is the one in the practice who does 'prophylaxe'. It's usually not covered by the kk, although my kk has one of those bonus schemes. And if you go to the hygienist, which costs about 70? I think, you get half of that back at the end of the year. I've been meaning to go.

antique ours are in bed by 7. Like linzer I very selfish and want some me time . Usually they go to sleep pretty quickly. But ds2 had a phase when he was about 2, when he would refuse to stay in bed. It drove me mad and I ended up sitting in the pitch black room and just scooped him up and put him back to bed without saying anything. He still thought it was hilarious though and sometimes wasn't asleep until 9-9.30.

Right, better get changed into my ancient swimming outfit. I bought it just after ds1 was born, for 6pounds at ASDA!

Eek, pressed post too soon while managing to delete part of my last sentence! Meant to say you'd just wear underwear, and possibly arrive wearing a bathrobe - or normal clothes if it's not the kind of place where people walk around in bathrobes. It always makes me when I see people here walking from their hotel to the open-air pool in bathrobes (you see people cycling in bathrobes occasionally too).

outnumbered I remember seeing this book when we lived in the USA and thinking "that's the book for me!" (didn't buy it, though). 7 pm is too early for the girls to go to sleep now, but I still try to get them to bed not much later than that so that they can read for a while (DD1 only reads in bed, which I want to encourage as much as possible - reading, I mean, not reading in bed specifically!). DD2 is often extremely tired by 7 pm, but finds it really hard to wind down and go to sleep and I think that reading in bed helps.

cheaspicks and antique I don´t think I´d ever be able to give up coffee because I´m far too addicted. When we got our new kitchen we bought a bean to cup maschine and my consumption has really increased in the past few months.

outnumbered I´m glad to hear things seem to be improving. Enjoy the massage:

Linzer When I moved to Germany I had 4 amalgam fillings replaced with white fillings. Unfortunately my memory is so appalling I have no idea if they are ceramic or how much it cost. I can only think it wasn´t too expensive because I´m sure I´d still remeber if I´d been shocked by the cost.

cheaspicks a hygeniest basically does a clean and polish. I think it´s recommened to have that done once a year, but I think you might have to pay extra. Our dentist(not the one who did the fillings) is now our next door neighbour and he doesn´t charge us for anything, so I´m not sure what is normal. It does make a difference and helps to get rid of the coffee stains.

Nutella The osteopathy sounds interesting. I´ve read quite a few threads on here where people really think it has helped them.

Dd has an English test tomorrow and I was a bit when I saw the vocabulary. Apparently, immer - already, anziehen - take on and aufstehen - wake up. DD said she realised they weren´t correct,but was too shy to say anything. I´ve told her she should write the correct English and I hope her teacher realises his mistake when he reads her answers.

Linzer I am definitely coming to Austria ASAP to see people cycling in bathrobes!

cheas I don't think I've ever been to a hygienist / teeth cleaning either. But I also don't plan on giving up coffee... I really need coffee today!

hupa I am just at those vocabularies! Honestly lost for words!

Well I'm hoping that the osteopath will have an effect after future visits... DS did not want to sleep last night. He wasn't crying, just very fidgety, grumpy and grunty . Gave him to DP to look after for a bit because I was so tired.
But we are also in day 3 of feeding every two hours.... Have asked DP to do bottle feeds Friday night so I can get some sleep. But I might also have to sleep in a different room!

Linzer it's tough when our dc are told to say an English word in the wrong accent for them isn't it? I'd understand when your dd didn't want to say anything though, my dd won't say anything to a teacher to correct them although ds now does it. When he was younger he didn't dare either.
Dd hated it when the primary school teacher informed the class that ALL English people eat peanut butter - all the time !

Nutella well done on getting out of the house on time! You asked about ds's camping trip - no it's much later in the year thank goodness, they are just preparing us for it with all these meetings and telling us not to complain about the cost as we can all start saving up for it now! Anyway, the plan is (from ds's class) to refuse to go on the camping night and they reckon if they all vote against it then their plan might work!

cheas yes, the electrical interferance was really bad yesterday, had to unplug the microwave as it was going mad at us while we were sitting having lunch! The wifi was off all night too.
Good luck with your no sugar/coffee plan. I would manage the coffee Entzug but not sure about tea.

outnumbered hope the treatments are nice and relaxing and the boys enjoy their day. Were you doing nordic walking with walking sticks? A friend just started that in a group and said it's great.

hupa I am shocked at those vocabularies but it's still primary isn't it? I heard that when they introduced English to primary school all the teachers were sent on crash courses and then expected to just get on with it so maybe that's where it comes from? They kind of start over again at zero in year 5 anyway so there is hope for the other non-bilingual dc!

I've just ordered some marmite and branston on Amazon.de as ds has been missing his marmite for breakfast. We have an English corner shop type place in Hannover city centre but they seem to wait until stocks are really low then they go shopping to the UK so I've been a few times to find the place closed (they were shopping) or half empty shelves.

admylin do you mean the place on Lister Meile? I was there yesterday! They had some marmite, although not a lot- about three jars IIRC. Kaufhof have marmite too.
That camping trip seems really cheeky. Especially telling you to start saving up for it