Der Lenz ist da (we hope) - the spring edition of the Germany/Austria thread

[LinzerTorte]

A thread for all those living in Germany or Austria or anyone who just wants to chat/ask a question about living in or visiting this part of the world - all welcome.

Previous thread here.

[yegodsandlittlefishes]

platanos DH should be there for one year which might become longer if he and the job suit one another, or less if he gets itchy feet.

Linzertorte DD2 is very much into horses so I will probably try to find a time when just the two of us can go, to get the most out of it (if I can get tickets).

DH is talking about health insurance which we must have and must pay extra per month for, apparently. I am looking forward to him being home at the weekend so we can talk face to face about it as I am confused by his emails.

[WoollyHooligan]

Thank you for all the congratulations! It's still early days, but the first scans went well and it's only 2 and a bit weeks until I hit the 12 week mark so fingers crossed :)

Sorry you didn't get to go to the cinema, platanos. Did the service team manage to sort your washing machine?

Linzer I'm another one who wouldn't even contemplate dental drilling without anaesthetic. Just no! Has the second scooter arrived yet? I hope there's no new scooter jealousy!

I hope your DD is better soon, Ambling. How has your week of playing taxi service been? Hope it hasn't left you too frazzled & that you get to at least sit and enjoy a nice cuppa today.

Love the idea of a wheelbarrow for the washing, MrTumbles!

yegods Good luck with the tickets for the Spanish Riding School. I had a quick look online and it looks great. I hope you manage to have a good chat with your DH at the weekend - emails really muddy things sometimes, and it's a lot of new information to be taking in all at once.

My lovely MIL has taken DS out for the morning so I'm snuggled on the sofa with a blanket, a cuppa and my book and will not be moving until they come back. I'm still trying to kick this cold and general knackeredness and am not using it as an excuse to laze around, oh no, not me

[platanos]

wooly Hope you feel better. And that MIL offers to take DS out more often! I am glad to hear that the scans went well, and I think you have the perfect reason (rather than excuse) to laze around!

yegods you have me wondering what insurance your dh is on about. How long are you coming over for? Could you not manage with an E111? I am sure it will be easier when explained face to face!

ambling how long will the strike last? hope dd gets some rest and feels better soon.

linzer - a greenhouse in the post? Amaaaazing! Hope your tooth is okay. Still thinking about the tooth versus giving birth question. Not sure I can answer that as quickly as you can.

Washing machine was not worth fixing according to the repair man, so wrote to the landlady to ask what to do. I have not heard yet, so am going to order one tomorrow and sort it out with her later on. I daren't look at the washing pile.

Had a rough day today. Work was stressful then ran home to let the man doing the yearly boiler check in. DD1 came home - we were meant to do some revision for maths and english - but she was in a foul mood and it all went dreadfully wrong. She had a full blown tantrum. It was not much fun. Anyway, this evening it all poured out: she was having trouble at school with friends etc. etc All better now, but rather emotional. I think she is struggling with secondary school, and has not yet realised she needs to put more hours into it. Anyway, it's their bedtime, and I had better go to turn their lights off.

And then I can relax! Enjoy your evenings!

[WoollyHooligan]

Hellooooooo.... < echoes>

Bit worried I killed the thread!

Everyone ok?

[LinzerTorte]

Can't believe we've had over a month without any posts. Don't worry Woolly, it wasn't you, it was platanos. I did promise when we met up last week that I would post to revive the thread, but just don't seem to have found the time. We're flying over to England tomorrow for a few days but I shall definitely post when we're back. (And then it can be me who kills the thread. If I haven't done so already.)

[C4ro]

Hallo quiet-thread. Hope it only means you're all having funtimes in RL.

Woolly. Just noted your old post- belated congrats!

Platanos. Thanks for the swimming list- my friend is a huge fan of outdoor swimming so when she next comes over we'll have to figure out the Danube swim. Launderette sounds vaguely fun as a one off but a drag long term. All easily fixed?

Linzer. Juttas DD is in Baden somewhere as I know she comes back on the bus and I think she is 15 or 16. Not sure exactly what school year or place though. Fencing sounds very cool. I'm keeping an eye out for kiddy gym or football for DD. She is also desperate to have a sit on a horse but still thinks she will find one that is white with a pink mane (like Barbies...). Greenhouse in the post sounds cool.

DH went to the parents evening this week as it was about "Experimente with Kindern". We're both science/ engineering backgrounds so I thought it could be interesting. It turns out one of the teachers has "been on a course"... DH reports that several bits of it were vaguely or completely wrong. Oh well, the kids will be doing fun things with water/ sand/ soil and hopefully not fixing ideas to repeat in their exams at 16! He has finally started making noises that I should go and do a German course soon (underlying message- so I have to go and do my fair share of these kinds of meetings! I duck most of them now since I don't follow fast group conversations at all well with bad hearing and language disadvantage.)

The had-a-breakdown window guy finally came and did the upstairs windows for us a few weeks ago! Only he broke a tile in the bathroom and 3 of the blinds didn't come so he has to come back at some point to finish the job.

We have a pine marten still, certainly in the garden, quite probably living in the attic. MILs idea of feeding him eggs with some mustard in (those senf eier things) didn't seem to get rid of him. In Obi, the marten scarers are all 80 Euro plus. I want to get a cage then release him miles out in the WienerWald but DH doesn't fancy that. In the meantime we are just going to ignore it and hope he dies of old age.

This morning DD got her first birthday party invite which is cool for her but the real reason I'm checking back on the thread. I've checked around MN and it seems 3-4 age you should still go along with them not drop and run away. Does anyone have an idea what is normal-for-Austria rules on kids parties? It's at the childs house, not a farm/ ballpit party. It's difficult timing as it is 3-5pm on a weekday and I work FT. Technically I should be working then and DH certainly would be. I suppose I could sneak out to be there for the first 15-30 minutes, hope like hell she settles, leave a mobile number and just come back at the end to collect. Will certainly have to give the mum a ring and work it out.

[FrauEnglischLehrerin]

Ooh, the thread is back!

I was going to resurrect it to announce another pregnancy but wanted to wait until I had told ploom face to face and then kept putting it off.

Anyway, I think I'm due just before woolly (15+1 today), to whom I wish massive congratulations and of course to mrsnutella too. In the absence of alcohol I'll pass all round!

C4ro, one child (age 3) came to dd's 4th birthday last year without a parent (dad working, mum ill iirc). Other parents made comments at dd's 3rd birthday party along the lines of "I don't think she'll stay without me, is it ok for me to come too", so I don't think there's an expectation that parents will stay - I expressly wrote it on the invitation for the 4th birthday, so most came. DD has been to at least two parties without us, including one 4th birthday party.

Can't remember anything anyone else has said, sorry, but big wave to all.

[MrsNutella]

Oooohhhh how exciting! Two more babies on the way. Congratulations FrauEnglish! I can't remember if I also congratulated you too woolly... So congratulations to you both , possibly again!

I'm now 27 weeks. I'm already fed up of being pregnant!

DS is a particular brand of happy, excitable, active and I am shattered! But he is gorgeous and funny. He's slowly learning body parts. But the ones he knows so far he has picked up from hearing them mentioned a lot "DS please don't poke me in the nose"
"DS there is a baby in mummy's tummy be gentle"
And so it's really cute seeing what body parts he does know . If you ask where his legs are he starts to pull up his trousers to show you.

[WoollyHooligan]

Massive, massive congratulations, FrauEnglisch! I was thinking about you the other day and wondering. (So you did get there before me )
I'm a week behind you, I think, 14+1.

Three thread babies, how exciting!

Nutella Your DS sounds adorable :)

Linzer Have a lovely time in the UK

c4ro Sorry I can't be any help on the birthday party issue, but glad your bathroom is almost sorted!

[LinzerTorte]

Congratulations FrauEnglisch, what exciting news!

C4ro I would say it really depends on the size of the party and also how well you know the parents - when DD1 turned four, we just had a small party with a few close friends and their parents (who I already knew quite well) and siblings. By the time DS got to KiGa, however, "drop and go" parties were the norm - I don't think I stayed with him at a single party. One child's parent stayed for the first half hour at DS's 4th birthday party and I think it's fine to stay if your child is a bit clingy, but it doesn't generally seem to be expected here. Of course, it may be a little different a few miles down the road so always worth asking.
I only ever went to one KiGa parents' evening - if yours are anything like ours were, you wouldn't miss out on much by not going. Having said that, I was slightly disappointed to miss out on the one where a father ended up in an argument with the woman who had come to talk about fairytales and stormed out.

platanos Hope DD1 is feeling better about school now. It seems to be one test after another here atm, although I think DH feels the pressure more than DD1! Have you heard back from your landlady yet about the washing machine?

Nutella Your DS sounds very cute.

Woolly Yes, we have three scooters now so that's one less thing for them to quarrel about! Sounds like you have a lovely MIL; hope you're fully recovered from your cold now.

We had a great time in the UK; the DC loved Legoland and I particularly enjoyed all the shops. We took three extra bags over with us and filled them all - although strangely enough, it seems to be DH who misses British food more than I do (I did buy my fair share of books, though ).

[NinjaChipmunk]

hope you don't mind me gatecrashing the thread but I may be moving to Germany in the next 6 months for dps job. I've posted another thread in living overseas, was wondering if anyone could take a gander and answer a couple of my (many) queries? thank you!
oh it's the erlangen/ Herzo/ Nuremberg one.

[MrsNutella]

ninja hello! Do you speak German? Even if you do don't worry they have quiet a strong accent in that area. Nuremberg is beautiful.... Not at all jealous I will try and find your thread. Although I don't know what use I'll be.

Linzer DS is adorable. And very very cheeky. He does such a cute cheeky look it is hard to tell him off and keep a straight face sometimes.

[NinjaChipmunk]

Hello MrsNutella thanks for the welcome. No I don't speak German yet. DP's interview is next week, he already works for the company. As soon as I know if he's got it I shall head up to the library to get some Cd's and books as I haven't done it since I was at school a long time ago! Glad you say Nuremberg is beautiful, I only have Google images to go on at the moment!
If anyone could shed any light on how childcare works in Germany and what the working culture for parent with young kids is I would be very grateful. I work 3 days a week here, DS is in year 1 (he's 6) and dd is nearly 2 and at nursery 3 days a week. Am I at all likely to get a part time job?As I don't really want to move that far to go into full time work and the kids doing 100 hours a week of childcare between them.
Any good pointers would be greatly appreciated.

[drinkingtea]

Wow, 2 more pregnancies, congratulations FrauEnglish and Woolly! I think I congratulated MrsNutella before but as I am too lazy to scroll back a page I will say it again too :o 3 thread babies is lovely news :)

Ninja I am an hour and a half south of Nuremberg, about 40 mins north of Munich... I will have a look at your thread, sick child allowing... In Bavaria using a lot of child care is less common than it seems to be in other parts of Germany, and outside cities it is the minority who use childcare for under 3s, in my personal experience - but in a city you will find Krippe (nursery) for your 2 year old. 6 is the school starting age (cut off date being 30th Sept, so children born on 1st October 2007 and later are not yet at school and will start in September of this year), but if you are using public (not private) school you may want to see if he can do a year at Kindergarten or a special Vorschule instead of going straight into school, if he doesn't speak any German. Will have a quick look at your thread. I don't know a single family with a child under 3 in which both parents works full time, but we live rurally, and I know other parts of Germany are very different, and Bavarian cities different to the countryside.

[AmblingAlong]

Congratulations FrauEnglisch! 3 thread babies is great!

Ninja, welcome to the thread. We're in the north and previously Berlin so everything is abit different to Bavaria. Good luck with the interview anyway. We're in the reverse position right now - dh has an interview in a couple of weeks for Oxford University and I'm both very excited, worried and torn about the idea. My dc are just entering the final few years of German secondary and I've lived outside the UK since I was 17

Nutella your ds looks adorable on the fb pics. It's that cute cuddly, enjoy it while it lasts!

Linzer 3 extra bags, sounds like you had a great shopping trip! Dd is already planning how to pack extra bags for summer and I have to book extra luggage allowance!

platanos hope you got a new washing machine. Mine died two weeks ago right in the middle of the easter holidays when I had 2 weeks of washing waiting to be done, dh coming home with a suitcase full of 2 weeks of clothes from his trip to the US, decorating going on so lots of stuff needing washed and then a week to delivery of new machine. I've been rather busy wahing and ironing since it came!

[NinjaChipmunk]

Thank you for the welcomes everyone. I have a bit of a random question for you all. In the UK I work for a charity in the head office on the merchandising side of things. Do charity shops as such exist in Germany? Just wondering if this is a job I could pursue whilst living here?

[drinkingtea]

Not really unfortunately Ninja - the Red Cross have a big warehouse style one about half an hour from where I live, but they don't sell anything except secind hand donated stuff, no merchandise in any branded and marketed way, and there are no little charity shops on the high street like in the UK.

[AmblingAlong]

There are Oxfam shops drinking www.oxfam.de/shops
Others who sell branded stuff would be the Fair trade shops or Dritte Welt shops maybe.
Here's a list of all the charity organisations in Germany: www.dzi.de/spenderberatung/das-spenden-siegel/liste-aller-spenden-siegel-organisationen-a-z/

[AmblingAlong]

Sorry that was meant for Ninja!

[NinjaChipmunk]

Awesome, thanks!

[drinkingtea]

Blimey - I have never seen an Oxfam shop here! Looks like there is one in Munich, put my postleitzal in though and it came back with no results... guess they are few and far between...

[HeinousPieTrap]

hello! We are moving to Berlin for the next academic year - we found out yesterday. I have totally bamboozled myself looking at schools… we have 2 DDs, who are currently in 4. and 1. Klasse.

I would be very grateful for your thoughts on education in general and Berlin schools in particular, if possible! Hope I'm not too longwinded...

So: we are in Germany at the moment (since January of this year), and both girls are in a normal Grundschule. I thought this was fine for a few months, but now I know it will be for another year (at least) I'm wondering whether a bilingual school would be a better option. We are expecting to be back in the UK, whether it's in autumn 2015 or 2016.

Both of them are making good progress with learning German, DD1 particularly as she also went to a normal Grundschule for 3 months when she was 6, so had more of a base to work from. However, the curriculum is obviously different from the UK, and they are not as "able" in German as they would be in English, so for both reasons I'm a little worried they'll be falling behind a bit.

However, finding out so late in the day, I'm concerned we won't have the choice of a state international school in any case. I've emailed Nelson Mandela, Charles Dickens and Quentin Blake (great sentence!), particularly as NM seems to be "for" highly mobile families. But if that's no go - we have the choice of private or normal Grundschule. We would struggle financially with the private, even though they are a lot less than English style private fees. But I guess if that's the best thing for the girls… but not sure it is! Would we be better off living in Dahlem/Zehlendorf/Wilmersdorf and just hoping the local primary will be "nice"!?

Any thoughts/experiences/twopenceworths very gratefully received!

[NinjaChipmunk]

So those of you who are old hands at moving abroad, what are your top tips and what do I need to start organizing?

[MrsNutella]

Ninja pack plenty of your favourite things like squash, biscuits, M&S underwear, branston pickle etc etc
Hmmm open an xe trade account before you leave England and keep your British bank account. Then you can send money between your German and English account for free as you wish.

Ermmmmm not sure what else, apart from the obvious learn the lingo if you can.

[MrsNutella]

pietrap hello! my DS is only 16 months so I'm no help on school stuff, sorry. I can't even work out your DD's ages from what class they're in
Hopefully more of the ladies will be along soon.....