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.

DH also has an international name (saints name) common in both English and German, and I pronounce it the English way no matter who I am speaking to or which language, because despite the fact he is German I met him in England and he introduced himself to me using the English pronunciation, and that's what I called him for years before we moved here... Several of the kids friends' dads have the same name, which I pronounce the German way when talking to/ about them - so I am probably just very odd in my approach to name pronunciation :o

MrTumbles I think I may also be quite odd in my approach to pronunciation! I pronounce the DC's names differently depending on whether I'm speaking English or German, plus DS (who I think has the same first name as your DH?) gets called by an abbreviated name in English but I always use his full name in German. It sounds quite strange when Austrians who've heard me calling him by the shortened version in English use it in German too, whereas it's probably stranger that I call him by two different names!

DD2 has two friends called Anna and I would say that it's a fairly short "a" at the start here, although there is a subtle difference between English and Austrian pronunciation.

She's quite excited about starting Gymnasium and keeps looking at the class lists (they're up in front of the school so I took a photo for her when I was in town the other day). It's actually quite interesting to look at all the names; there's inevitably another girl with the same name as her in the class - but I did realise when we decided on her name that it was hardly going to be unique. It must be one of the easiest names to spell, but I still get asked occasionally whether it's with a "langes i" which totally confuses me.

Right, that makes more sense to me now. At least no-one is calling her En-nah, like I get. That's probably the advantage of an truly international name, as long as people view the person as German, of course. I don't have a problem with German pronunciation of German names and would happily name ds "Benyamin" (dd's first choice, vetoed by dh because "Benjamins are always fat") or "Sahmwell" (vetoed by dh because that's the name of the devil in "Der Freischutz") or "Artur" (vetoed by dh for being an old man's name), I just don't know if I can live with "Elistair"...

We have similar problems - DH is Endy/Endrew...... drives me nuts especially when the DCs parrot it back!! DD has a name which is 'normal' in English and German - but pronounced differently - fortunately she's not bothered which way it's said and responds equally to both.

Our current dilemma - spurred on by passport renewal hell - is the consideration of trying to get dual nationality. We've recently (10months ago) bought a house and are planning on staying here for the long term so the idea is beginning to cross our minds - anyone got any experience of this?

finally - I want my summer back...... here in NRW it's rained streadily all day - dark and miserable! We're still trying to sort bits out from the big storm which hit at Pfingsten - the woods and some play parks/freibad are not open yet which is making summer holiday entertainment interesting!

doradoo do you not just apply for both passports, should you want them both, when its an under 18 and the other nationality is also EU? (I may be utterly wrong). We arrived with toddler DD on a British passport, then when DS1 was born 6 months later we got him a German one and got DD one at the same time because it was only €14 so she had both concurrently for a while, until the UK one ran out when she was 5. They all just have German ones now because we can't see any earthly reason for the hassle and massive expense of getting them British ones... We may only have been able to do that because DH is German and I am British though, I don't know.

Is there any actual reason to bother with dual nationality for a child who already has EU nationality, or are you thinking forward in case the UK leaves the EU?

*eek it was 3 months later, not 6 (irrelevant)

dora I'm sure I read on another thread not long ago about another MNer in Germany who's in the process of applying for German citizenship - I think it might have been the "applying for a British passport from overseas" thread. I'm assuming your DH is British? I'd quite like to be able to vote in national elections here, but not enough to consider giving up my British citizenship (which I'd have to do here).

The DC all have dual citizenship, though, and as MrTumbles said, passport applications are certainly much quicker, cheaper and easier in this part of the world; DD2's Austrian passport arrived yesterday, four working days after we'd applied for it - and we had no forms to fill in, no countersignatory required, etc. I've just been reading about how the UK passport chaos is getting even worse, which confirmed I'd made the right decision about not renewing her British passport!

DH is also British - so the DC are all British too - although DC3 has German birth certificate if that helps - I know because we're EU we can have both -not have to renounce the UK.

It had just come up in conversation - partyly because we're deciding to stay put, partly because of the current UK passport nightmare and also - yes if the UK were to leave the EU - and also whether it makes sense / life easier for the DC going forward in terms of university / career etc?

Will have to do some more digging - oh and as they said on the radio this morning..... it's STILL raining (2 days solidly now.....)

ps - not that I've been following it at all - but the football last night - eek! (although thankfully it was quieter after it had finished that I expected it to be!)

dora I would definitely consider it if Austrian allowed dual citizenship, but it's currently only possible for children with parents of two different nationalities (so the DC can be dual citizens but I can't).

Another thing I've been wondering about is the criteria for military service. A friend of mine here is from another EU country and they've got the passport of that country rather than an Austrian passport for their DS so that he doesn't have to do military/civilian service when he's older. It almost seems too easy to be true; AFAIK passport only proves nationality rather than conferring it.

Raining here too... I'm hoping that DD1 isn't getting too wet at the scout camp (they camped somewhere else last night and are hiking back to the "base camp" today).

Linzer Germany has phased out military service now, and tbh it is very easy to get out of (BIL got out of it for years and then tried to volunteer to do it after all a few years ago, when he was unemployed, but they wouldn't have him :D ) - is Austria keeping it?

dora I was also under the impression that I couldn't take on German citizenship without renouncing my British nationality, but I admit I haven't looked into it. I can't imagine running into problems with residency even if the UK left the EU, as Dh is German. I can see it might make sense for one of your family to take German citizenship if you are currently all exclusively British, though.

linzer there was an Austrian student at music college with me who was avoiding military service somehow (though I think by fleeing the country rather than claiming an alternative nationality). Maybe the Austrian authorities aren't that persistent in following people up?

MrTumbles Ah yes, I did hear that Germany is phasing it out. Which means it will probably be phased out in Austria in about, ooh, 20 years. From what I've heard, the main problem would be that the ambulance service etc. would fall apart if they suddenly had to do without all the cheap labour provided by Zivildiener. Maybe they should scrap military service and make everyone do Zivildienst or pay people a decent wage to work in the health care sector.

FrauEnglisch I have to admit I don't know how it works at all. Do they have a long list of all males in a particular age range who are resident in Austria and have an Austrian Staatsbürgerschaftnachweis, for example? (I can't imagine it somehow.) I've asked DH but he doesn't seem to know either and did say that it may well have been abolished by the time DS reaches the eligible age.

DD2 has a really English name, which stumps pretty much all Germans ime. However, once it's been explained, it then sticks in the memory so is an advantage in that way. I've been doing school/dr registration today so I've been spelling it over the phone a fair bit It sounds ridiculous (and reminiscent of a contraceptive pill name) when pronounced the German way, so we're NOT doing that…!

Heinous I think I considered your DD's name, but decided against it for exactly that reason! (If it's the name I think it might be.)

FrauEnglisch I think you're probably right about Britain (potentially) leaving the EU not being too much of an issue for those married to Germans, which has calmed me down a bit, as I've been panicking lately about being deported and separated from DH and DS (who currently only has a German passport). It might be down to hormones as pregnancy does turn me into more of a worrier than usual. I've been thinking about applying for British passports for both kids after DD is born just in case. I have to admit, it hadn't crossed my mind that I could just apply for German citizenship at some point!

It's rained here all week too, Linzer. We had some nasty storms the other night which brought down quite a few trees in our street and in the forest. Looking at the forecast it's supposed to keep raining for the rest of the week. DS is at an indoor soft play type place with PIL this afternoon though so I'm hiding from the rain in our lovely new armchair!

doradoo It sounds like a sensible thing to look into if you're planning on staying long term.

DS' name is very English, but well known here because of a character in spy films, so I thought we'd be ok on the pronunciation front, but even MIL, a self-confessed Anglophile, mispronounces it sometimes!

I've started a thread on the baby names board about using the Welsh name I like in Germany - I can't decide if it's a terrible idea or not! If anyone has a minute to have a look and give me their opinion I would be really grateful!

Love the name Woolly - and I'm sure it won't be a problem in Germany; ok, you'll probably have to tell people how to pronounce it at first and no doubt have to spell it a lot, but I think it's nice to have a name that's a bit different (I like having a name that's fairly uncommon).

Re the EU, when DH and I first met Austria hadn't yet joined the EU but I don't remember the bureaucracy in Germany being much worse for him than it was for me... and there was certainly no talk of him being deported.

Still raining here, if anything more heavily than ever. Am hoping that DD1 isn't getting absolutely soaked. Ah well, it will make leaving for Wales in a week or two much easier if this weather continues - nothing worse than flying back to temperatures 15 degrees lower and non-stop rain when the sun is shining here!

linzer if it's also fairly cool where you are can we swap? It's hot here (again) after all the rain I don't want hot. I want this baby out and my legs to go back to a normal size and if that can't happen now then I want cool weather please.
Yes I may have slightly had enough of this pregnancy lark

woolly I like the name. As you know DS' name starts with a "th" so it gets pronounced differently but I don't mind because I love the name.

I have only one name in mind for baby. It's of Greek origin to kind of match/link in with DS. Not for any particular reason though actually.

Thank you Linzer & Nutella (& MrTumbles if you're reading)!

Linzer We had some sunshine today after over a week of non-stop rain, but it's back to thunderstorms tomorrow, boo! Have a lovely time in Wales - how long are you over for? Fingers crossed for nice weather while you're there.

Nutella You poor thing! I hope it cools down a little and that the baby makes an appearance soon. Fingers crossed for you too :)
(Did the ice cream help?)

Woo hoo! All fireworks here tonight :) I woke DS up to see them because they are like nothing I've ever seen before and he's been really excited about the world cup so I thought he'd be happy - he was

Guten Morgen lovely German people. I thought here might be a good place to find you rather than taking my luck in Film or Chat.

DD's German pen pal has strongly recommended Fack Ju Goethe, which is apparently the best film evaaaahhh. I've read a synopsis, but have any of you lot seen it? Can you advise a) whether it's any good (it'll be tricky / expensive to get hold of a copy, so will it be worth the trouble?) and b) whether it's remotely suitable for an 11 nearly 12 year old.

LadyIsabellaWrotham, it's the kind of film my teens would find funny, alot of slang and some bad language. Not the best film for dc who are learning German. Mine are older now but I don't think they would have enjoyed it at 11.

How is everyone coping with the heat? We're having our first slightly cooler evening now. Must be a torture for all of you who are expecting.

Thanks Ambling. Confirms my feeling that this is a teen film very much for actual teens, not pre-teens. She'd have been watching with the subtitles on, so I'm not worried about linguistic accessibility, but I reckon it's a bit too grown up. I may wimp out and use the difficulty/expense of accessing a copy as an excuse.

Hello ladies, can I join in? I moved to Germany about 18 months ago with my job but I'm now on maternity leave with my 4 month old PFB DD.

I planned to be here for 5 years (duration of my work contract), but at the moment I feel more like I'm camping here in Germany than really living here. It's things like: I've worked out the German supermarkets and I'm enjoying eating more seasonally, but all my baby's clothes come from the UK because the German stuff seems not as nice and more expensive. Virtually every time I visit the UK I do a massive shopping trip.

What would be your top tips for integrating? I'm in NRW.

Hi BakingEating.

I have a 16 and 14 year old now but I remember almost all my baby and toddler clothes for them also came from the UK! I'd always bring a suitcase full of new stuff back after visits and I think my mum enjoyed buying cute baby clothes so she'd often send stuff over. Even had calpol, savlon and all my paracetamol, asprin etc from Boots.

When we later moved to Berlin I slowly started to find out the alternative/German equivalents and some slightly more affordable clothes although the cheaper clothes here are worse quality than cheaper stuff from the UK. I think that's why Germans are really into Flohmarkt for kids stuff.
When I first visited Germany as an aupair I was surprised that the relatively wealthy family I worked for bought all their baby dd's clothes at the local Kinder Flohmarkt but it turned out everyone in the villages did the same.

Do you have German friends yet?

Dd had an accident at her cheerleading training yesterday. She bashed heads with her partner in a stunt they were doing and now has a cut on her chin, the partner girl has a cut next to her eye resulting in a Friday night at the emergency department.