Lieber Frühling, komm doch bald. A new Kaffeeklatsch thread for Spring - living in Austria and Germany

[Ploom]

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

Nutella great that you have got your student back and ds behaved for you! What grade is your student in? I wish I could get into teaching but I just can't explain English! I've tried a couple of times with ds's friends when they've been round here revising for English tests.

Hupa have you got a big garden? Wish we had one, not for me (I can't even manage to grow dandelions) but dd would take charge of it!

Antique how's ds's cough?

I have tested the dc on the idea of going back to Berlin and their reaction was very positive so that's one less worry atleast. Dh is negotiating but they're making it very hard on him here and begging (even crying) for him to stay, saying you can do what you like here at work, we'll promote you, we can't cope without you - hmm, funny all of a sudden showing a different face.

He's not feeling very good about that side of things now and feels bad, even the technical assistant to the boss is asking dh why he's making such a fuss and upsetting the boss. This assistant goes out to the pub with dh and colleagues and has been for dinner here too so he knows the situation but he can't stand to the boss upset.

Hello :) Can't keep up again and am all in a muddle as I just drove to work to be greeted at the door by a RealSchule teacher and welcomed to parents eve - I went to teach a VHS class. I am 99.99% VHS notified me of a parents eve next week not this, but can't find the letter! One of my students rang me a minute ago to say they got in to the school and what should they do! Argh big mess! At least she phoned me and is now telling the others to go home, and I will have to find out what is going on tomorrow! There's been a mix up somewhere, I really hope it was the office not me!

Anyway... Yay for all the good news outnumbered :) What are you going to call your puppy?

DS2 was wearing shorts yesterday after he got 2 pairs of trousers filthy and the remaining choice of clean clothes was between thick padded winter trousers or shorts :) big kids went on a mass cycle ride with 5 other kids from the street, all wearing T shirts and sun glasses on Sunday - and the other 5 were all German, as were the parents who accompanied them I have seen a funny mix of people out though, from short sleeved T shirts to big coats, and most of the kids being dropped at KiGa this morning were in winter hats even though KiGa have changed to their summer hat notice :o (KiGa always have a sign up about hats, children must always wear hats, otherwise their heads fall off, but in summer they must wear sun hats of course, so they change signs - and the winter one has a snowman wearing a hat, and the summer one a sunshine wearing a hat... :o )

Who was talking about a friend using MN terminology in an email? Just wanted to mention that "MN terminology" is actually not generally MN specific, most of it is general internet parenting forum stuff - definitely things like DH, MIL, SIL etc. are used on other forums (I used to use Another Parenting Website :) Not the Huns one, but one that I think has been largely abandoned since it had a very unpopular re-vamp about 3 years ago, and certainly a lot of the same abbreviations were used there as here - I'd never visited MN then and when I did first I found it too "big" - the other forum was very differently arranged so it was possible to feel you "knew" everyone in your little section - I guess like this thread, but of course this is well tucked away! Mind you if your friend wrote LTB for Leave The Bastard she probably does MN :o

admylin I agree with the others your DH needs to get out if the Berlin offer comes through, unless his current employer gives him a promotion and pay rise, permanaent contract with associated bonus rights, and a set of very specific guarantees about giving him credit for his own work and research proposals, preferably carved into marble tablets and signed in blood in front of multiple witnesses :)

Lentils latex sounds the opposite of hippy to me

Better go out to the car in the rain (thunder storm in fact) and search for the letter about the parents eve, its bugging me...

Tumbles, latex doesn't sound organic and healthy, does it, but apparently it is better than mainstream mattresses. Oh well, I was sold! :)

Gosh, admylin, your DH has a lot to deal with. I think I'd go for a fresh start, none of this crying boss and emotional manipulating nonsense.
I am glad your children are happy enough to go to Berlin.

hupa, yes and no! Well, DH doesn't actually have a new job, we are taking the plunge and he is going to work for himself, so the 'new company', i.e. him, IS organising the move! :)
We leave at the end of May.

Nutella Ouch! Hope the sunburn isn't too painful.

admylin The doctor declared DS perfectly healthy, she thought maybe he just liked the noise and the reaction it gets and he hasn't really wheezed since his appointment so who knows what was going on. Maybe just walking through the door to the surgery was some sort of magic cure. (Or the new noise just isn't as exciting anymore...)
I can't believe your DH's employers have resorted to emotional blackmail. That's low, even after everything else they have done

MrTumbles I didn't realize DH etc were common internet parenting forum words, but then I only really use MN.
Did you sort the parents evening mystery in the end?
How did your DS2 sleep last night?

hupa Isn't it so nice to be able to potter around the garden now?
I was horrified by my pasty legs too the other day so bought some of that gradual fake tan stuff. Unfortunately my legs are now bright orange so I'm having to hide them away for a little longer than if they were just plain pasty. Doh!

MIL is here for a few days and her and DS are both having an afternoon Napoli I'm having a coffee and wondering what to do with myself. I did the cleaning this morning ready for MIL's arrival and while she's here I can't hang any washing in the spare room so sitting on the couch and enjoying a coffee and a biscuit is clearly the only solution.

An afternoon Napoli? An afternoon nap....

Antique lol, I love it! How was the napoli? Sounds like Italien for nap!
It is emotional blackmail isn't it at dh's workplace?

He's in a dilema now and is going to ask the Berlin people to wait another couple of months so he can finish off all his projects and observe how they behave here. One step out of line and he's gone!

They really want him in Berlin and he's already had a long chat with the boss. He told them what's going on and they said well if you really value your mitarbeiter you don't treat them the way they have treated you and how come they haven't promoted you yet after over 4 years of working there? Also they said they'd promote him to assistant professor after 6 months at their place as they need him to teach students.

Admylin your husband is too nice (and a little naive by the sounds of it, though in the nicest possible way of wanting to believe the best about people). Tell him to get out of there!

I thought Napoli was trendy slang or something :o

Argh best get to work, not in the mood after yesterday's fiasco. Not found out what was going on no, didn'T get around to making it to VHS office hours, which are quite limited. Will go tomorrow.

I thought you were having an afternoon pizza, Muppet. We are having pizza tonight, hurry up and get home, DH!

admylin, your husband has the patience and loyalty of a saint! Me, I'd be off! :)

admylin I was just checking in but want to add, before I go to bed, that your DH is being emotionally blackmailed (by the sound of it) and I totally agree with Lentils and mrT; I would be off like a shot biting the hand off of the Berlin people! If they haven't promoted your DH in 4 years here what is motivating him to stay?

Mrtumbles how is your DS2 sleeping? Anything close to a repeat of his 11 hours?

antique I managed to write "good moment" instead of good morning a week or so ago... Bloomin auto correct! But I like admylin's idea that it could be Italian for a nap :o

DS has a cold :( he is ok for the most part but very snuffly at night. Trying to be extra patient and give him lots of TLC. Tonight we have put some eucalyptus oil on a tissue under his sheet, put a towel under his mattress so his head is raised a little and dosed him with calpol - although he slept ok last night it's horrible to hear him uncomfortable. Do baby colds last about a week like normal colds? I hope so...

Morning all,

I haven't had much time to post recently as work has been a bit manic. It's quiet so far today, but I have lots of paperwork to catch up on - my tax return, invoicing, etc.

Nutella Poor DS; hope he's better soon. From what I remember, baby colds seem to last about the same time as adult colds but babies do seem to be a bit more miserable than when they're older. Mind you, I always feel really miserable when I have a cold, whereas it doesn't seem to affect the DC half as much.

admylin It certainly sounds like your DH would be appreciated more in Berlin. Would he definitely be going to Berlin after a couple of months or is he waiting a couple of months before he makes his final decision?

MrTumbles Yes, I've seen DH etc. used on FB by people who I'm pretty sure aren't MNers; I even came across it in a book not long ago. AIBU and the like would definitely make me think of MN, though.
Hope you get the VHS confusion sorted out. Excellent news on the sleep, btw.

hupa There is a map, but you'd need to join FB - I don't think you're on there IIRC?

Lentil How's the decluttering going? Did you get the direct debit sorted out in the end?

outnumbered Great news about the dog and the Pflegegeld - and the house of course, but have I missed something? I thought the house you viewed didn't have enough bedrooms, or have you seen another one since then?

Antique Well, I thought a Napoli must be some kind of exotic ice cream (I was possibly thinking of neopolitan!). Glad to hear DS is OK, anyway.
Friend's op went well thanks and it hasn't spread to her lymph nodes, which is excellent news.

Linzer hope you getthrough allyour paperwork. I have a pile of papers that need sorting before the end of the week too. And again, bils, bills and more bills!

Nutella poor ds. Hope he feels better soon. I also remember that the dc suffered alot with colds and coughs especially when they couldn't breath through their nose properly. It's worth getting baby nose drops if your ds is having trouble there.

lentil what was on your pizza? I love making pizza, taste much better than the bought ones.

tumbles congratulations on the last few nights of sleep for ds2. You'll be feeling like a new woman in no time.

Yes, you're all right - dh is too nice! Today he's had the most sickeningly sweet e-mail from the boss asking to meet whenever he has time today to discuss some points about work and giving him all sorts of options when he usually gets called to the office when they want and they tell him what's going on with no options! It won't last and he knows it. She even used loads of exclamation marks which she never bothers with and signed off with grüsse which she also never bothered with before.

Nutella I hope your ds is feeling better soon. If his nose is blocked there is this to suck the snot out of his nose. I´ve never used one, so don´t know how good they work. Alternatively, I´ve read on mumsnet you could try sucking the snot out yourself. Personally, I think I would be sick if I tried that.

admylin Dh´s boss must be stupid if she doesn´t think your dh can see through her attempts to sweet talk him.
Our garden isn´t too big, but enough space for a trampoline and lots of weeds. We´ve got loads of Wühlmaüse (whatever they are in English) at the moment and they enjoy eating the roofts of anything we plant, but not weeds unfortunately. We´ve bought some things that make a high pitched tone to get rid of them, so we´ll have to see if they work.

Linzer Thanks for the info about the map. I´m not on facebook, I´m a bit scared of social networking sites. Mind you I think I know where most people live and unfortunately because I live in the middle of nowhere, there´s noone nearby.

Lentil How´s the packing going? It´s brave of your dh to start up on his own and move countries at the same time.

muppet I love Napoli!

The exciting news here is that our local Edeka is getting new tills and shock, horror there will even be a self service till. I have to say the people who were in there today were eyeing it very suspiciously. Hopefully I´ll be the only one brave enough to use it and will be in and out really quickly.

Hello everyone and welcome to new names!

hupa good luck with the tills. I lived in the UK when they started introducing them, and people also looked rather suspicious.

admylin I must admit the post about your dh made me really angry. It is emotional blackmail and totally inappropriate. And your dh is upsetting the boss by wanting to move somewhere with better conditions? ach, come on: she would not do the same? Any more information on the conditions? How long is the contract in Berlin?

tumbles how is ds2 sleeping recently?

linzer glad to hear your friend's op went well and hope she is all clear. What a fright though.

nutella hope ds is feeling better? and glad your ds is okay antique.

lentil How is the sorting out for the move going? Are you making the most of your last weeks in F. and exploring the area?

Must go. I have been really busy at work recently. Besides, when it is warm we spend a lot of time outdoors and away from computers. Though we had to come home early on Thursday as ds was having a bad allergic reaction to the pollen outside. My family arrives next week - 4 adults and 3 children. I am looking forward to it, but also a bit apprehensive about how it will all work out... my mother and uncle are not very mobile, and children are of course. We shall see...

have a good weekend all! Enjoy the nice weather - it is meant to rain here but the sun is shining at the moment, and at least it is not cold.

Platanos that's lovely that you're family are visiting. Are they all staying with you? How is ds's allergy today? I'm feeling my pollen allergy in my eyes today so I'll have to go and get some medication sorted. We have it in stages in this family. I'm first then ds gets it and in June sometime dh gets it.

Hupa how exciting and modern your edeka is!
I've never used one of those self service tills to be honest but then again I rarely shop at Real where they have them. Other shops don't have them near us.

Have you noticed that Rewe lets you get cash when you pay with your card? I used that alot in the UK when shopping even if it was just ten or twenty cash atleast you didn't have to make an extra stop at the bank. Dh is still back in the old days in Germany where you couldn't use your card for small amounts so he thinks he has to buy a couple of bottles of wine aswell as his packet of cigarettes in order to use his card (I'm not telling him any different if he brings goodies home).

I'm getting slightly fed up with this new job business. One day it all sounds great, the next they're convincing him it's worth it to stay here, yesterday his old Berlin boss called him to warm him against the new boss and to rather come to him. Now dh is saying he'll tell the new place to wait until September or October for him to decide and I had to point out to him that we can't move with him then as the school year starts in August this year and it's much too important a year for ds to move if he's already started here. IF we move it has to be July at the latest. Is it always so complicated with job moves?

Linzer, decluttering is going well, actually! I have two pairs of jeans that are both on their last legs, so will chuck those before we go. We've decided to sell the sofas if we can, DH possibly has a colleague interested, so he will view this week, hopefully, and then decide. So our only big item to take would be the mattress. Oh, and the nursing chair.
plat, yes, we are planning on making sure we see anything we want to see before we go. Though of course, it is so close to the UK we can easily pop back. I think I'd like to come back to Germany for the Xmas markets, though I'd choose somewhere new to visit, not here.
hupa, yeah, it is a brave move, though it is his home town we are going to, so easy street there, and I have faith in his abilities and drive to make a go of making his own money.

admylin, my pizzas usually have semi-dried tomatoes, a whole clove of garlic, red onion, courgette, pepper, and curly kale (I usually buy it frozen, so it's always in, and doesn't go off. I add it to most suppers. Also means it is chopped up so small it gets disguised. Not that DS is bad at eating vegetables, but kale can be a bit hard to chew/digest with little teeth.) Added avocado the other night, and last night we had it with asparagus too. And vegan cheese. Oh, and mushrooms on DH's (I don't like mushrooms). I like a stacked pizza! :) Don't usually have it twice in one week but DH has a friend visiting, and pizza was requested.
I too love making pizza, but I do love and miss Strada pizza. My bases never have that stretch. I do chuck seeds and stuff in the base, and use spelt flour, but even so, not sure this accounts for my lack of stretch. Can't do that spinny thing the pizza chefs do! Can you?

Rewe here only lets me get cashback if I spend ?20+. But yes, saves a trip to the bank.
Sounds very complicated re your DH's job situation. Out of the frying pan, springs to mind! It is so hard to tell until you are actually there.

Oooh home made pizza - that's DS1's speciality :) We just use regular flour and the uncooked bases are stretchy... We use a recipe from a 'Kids love to cook' book :o Ds1 (5) makes them pretty much on his own now - he still needs a bit of help with weighing, and of course I put them in the oven... Our pizzas are rather more similar in shape to a map of Australia than a perfect circle though - gives them character and doesn't change the taste :) I imagine it could be the flour lentils though I know its a lot healthier - a neighbour of mine is obsessed with Dinkel and regular wheat being evil - to some extent I see her point, but although my family will eat Dinkel bread they complain bitterly about, and won't eat, Dinkel pasta or anything else, so I don't bother!

Plantanos good luck with the family visit - it can be really stressful, and then people assume you are being helped when family visit and expect you to be more relaxed afterwards, whereas in fact a visit of more than a couple of days can leave you needing an actual break instead! Hope it goes smoothly!

Admylin how frustrating the whole job saga must be for you! Would the Berlin employer even be prepared to wait 4 + months with no guarantee your DH will take up the job at the end of that time? I would imagine it will be better for everyone if your DH just takes the Berlin job and you get the move over with over the summer holidays. Is he worried that the new employer will turn out to be as bad as the current one once actually there? I certainly don't think he should worry about his current boss's feelings or let his colleagues emotionally blackmail him with the fact the boss will be stroppy if he goes!

Antique hope MIL's visit is still going smoothly and she and DS are having lots of long Napolis :) Is she leaving today?

DS2 has slept through til 5am 5 nights running! :o :o :o Amazing! He is still playing up a bit at bedtime, especially when he manages to sneak a nap somehow (in the car or if DH is looking after him) but its been under an hour each night so again within acceptable parameters I think :) Amazing change in such a short time, I guess he was just ready to sleep :o :) Weirdly though he has been grumpier and more prone to more and longer tantrums since he started unbroken sleep - no idea what that's about, am hoping it is something to do with adjusting!

Better feed him now, he's nagging for breakfast, it's almost 7, he's usually finished breakfast by now so I guess he's hungry!

I am trying to reduce our regular wheat intake, but having tried that dinkel pasta, regular pasta it is! :) Pizza I do part dinkel/spelt, part regular wheat, and part this bready flour, then add nuts and seeds! I have done plain old regular flour ones, and I still never get that stretch that enables you to spin them around in the air!
I don't know how they roll perfect circles, if they don't spin. I roll, then cut to size using a plate!

Am very pleased for you re DS2's sleeping! Hurrah!

Evening ladies of Germany. Might I put in a small hijack across the Swiss border with a Germanic cooking question? (interestingly I see you are on the topic of food)

Morning all!
Wally ask away!

Lentil I have the opposite problem with stretch for my pizza bases, they need lots of rolling and tossing to stay the size I want! We went to a government open day in Berlin years ago where different trades were showing their skills in one of the many government buildings and a baker was there showing the dc how to make marzipan figures and one doing bread and tossing pizza bases was one of the things we got to try!
At the moment the dc won't eat melted cheese as they can't get it out of their brace wires so we just have veggie pizzas with lots of garlic and herbs.

tumbles how are you feeling after a few solid nights of sleep? Sounds like you're entering the terrible twos stage with ds2 maybe!
You're right about dh not worrying about the present bosses and their feelings but he is worried that the new boss will start sending him to Dresden more often than she said she would (he's meant to take over a few lectures there but mainly work in Berlin on 2 projects with big funding money). He's going on the 26th to meet the group and ask her a few more questions then he'll have to decide as I need to move in July at the very latest so the dc can get into the start of the new school year there in Augsut.

Augsut August

Morning....!

So I bought Maultaschen for the first time, after having it in a Swabian restaurant a few weeks ago.

I had no clue how to cook it, so I googled. There were three recommendations :

Slice and fry in lard with onions - self explanatory

Simmer in Brühe - which was the one I did, and added some carrots, celery and broccoli to the broth and it was lovely.

Oven cook with eggs - this was the one that I could find no actual method or recipe for, and I wondered if anyone on the German thread knew this way of preparing?

We definitely enjoyed the broth method and will be adding these to the list of choices in family meals. Yummy.

Hope you are all well over the border!
X

Wally I used to work in a Swabian restaurant and they used to do the egg maultaschen in the pan. Slice maultaschen, fry in the pan with onions and then pour whisked eggs over, stir abit and fry until set, sprinkle with chopped parsley!

Hello, I have no idea what Maultaschen are, I am imagining moles in pasta pockets... :)

They're abit like ravioli but bigger and filled with meat or spinach, breadcrumbs and parsley. Typical Swabian food. They have them here up north in Edeka and Rewe sometimes too but none of mine like them.

There is a market near us and every two weeks there is a lady with yummy fresh pasta - she also sells Maultaschen and DP has mentioned that you put them in a soup. The omlete/ frittata style option sounds good

admylin hope your DH gets all the info he needs to make a decision soon!

mrtumbles are you enjoying a bit more sleep now? Great news that DS2 is sleeping better now. What do you think made the difference?

Lentils hope the packing and sorting isn't too stressful. When I was a teenager our house was flooded and we lost all sorts of precious irreplaceable things. I'm not really a minimalist but I really don't hoard things so I am always curious to read about what you're chucking out.

Hope everyone else is well. I'm about to take DS out for a walk... Possibly to LIDL ... Will they still have fudge?
DS has perfected the art of rolling from one side to the other and can actually creep off his playmat or round 180 but he hasn't yet rolled right over. He is also entranced by a squeaky toy when I squeak it at him. Very cute!
DS was snotty all last week with a cold and then last night (of course on a Sunday at about 23:30) he started coughing horrendously. We took him to A&E it was so bad, he has croup he is much better today, a bit wheezy; but a check up at the dr showed his lungs are clear and he has no fever or other problem. It was a horrible shock for us though.
Anyone else had problems with croup??