Wind, Obst, Wein und Spaß - living in Germany and Austria: the autumn edition

[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 (particularly as the previous thread has been so quiet recently).

The thread title comes from this song btw - they're not the first four autumnal German words that popped into my head. (It could have been worse; I did briefly consider "Nüsse auf den Teller, Birnen in den Keller".)

Sue that's awful, especially the elephant's foot . You'd think dentists should feel a special connection to (live) elephants too, seeing as they deal with teeth.

I can never get subtitles to appear, though I'm sure they would help - is it that our tv is rubbish, or am I doing something wrong?

Captain interesting about calling oranges Apfelzienen. I took DD to an Austrian speciality restaurant for lunch today; I was lured in off the street solely because I thought I was getting a baked apple as part of my main course. I was imagining probably crispy roast pork with a fluffy baked apple (I didn't actually know what the meat was). So imagine my disappointment when I was presented with some sort of poached/braised beef and fried potatoes! I assume Austrians use a different word for potato and it is like the French pomme/pomme de terre .

Can I ask if anyone uses German Ebay? Is it straightforward to pay and have it delivered? I don't have Paypal, and we don't have a German credit card, though we still have a UK one. DD has asked for some Playmobil for her birthday and they don't seem to make it any more so I am trying to get it second hand.

Black I've used German eBay quite a few times and find it very straightforward, although I do usually use Paypal. Once or twice I've had to transfer the money to the seller's account if they haven't accepted Paypal - I'm assuming you have a German bank account? Paypal and Überweisung seem to be the main ways of paying.
And yes, you're right about the Austrian word for potato: it's Erdapfel, so basically pomme de terre (although Kartoffel is in common use too).

captain I remember learning nicht wahr at school, but the only time I ever hear it now is when DH is attempting to do a not very convincing impression of a German accent. Not sure about Germany, but it doesn't seem to be used here.

suenan "You wouldn't be able to get away with that in the UK" is a phrase I regularly find myself saying to DH, although Playboy magazines and a real elephant foot are quite shocking even for here. Sympathies on your flat problems; I always think of Austria as being very efficient, but it can be another story when you're waiting to have house/flat things done. We waited 16 months for the developer to put our living room door in... and gave up in the end and got it done ourselves.

Woolly Dubbed programmes drive me up the wall too - I can't even watch them for long enough to know whether they're harder to understand than programmes made in German, as everything about them annoys me (lip movements not matching voices, the actors' voices etc.)

DD2 has just got back from scouts so must go and help with bedtime... waves to everyone else.

In Vienna captain. But I do think it is the exception rather than the norm. My dh used to say Apfelsine, is that a generation thing? or a regional thing? On the chatty friend - I found tandems really good. You find someone to speak German to for an hour, and then they speak English to you. It's free and I made some friends like that. There are lots of Viennese-based websites for this in Vienna, so am sure that there will be some for big German cities. Though I agree with those who suggested Berlin. Then we can have a thread meet-up there.

BRG I know, shocking isn't it? I don't think he had any connection with anything living to be honest. As a feminist and a vegan, I am equally appalled by the elephant foot and Playboy. Ah, you got "Erdapfel" which is potato here. When we first moved here I only had an UK credit card and could buy things without any problems, but can't help on the German ebay question, sorry. Does dd want a particular type of Playmobil? or have they stopped making Playmobil altogether?

I have the hungry. Caterpillar in german and English, the five oranges (that he ate on Friday, before his feast on Saturday ) are Apfelsinen in the german version. Actually I like to read it in german. It has a nice flow to the words. Except for Schmetterling

Sue your dentist story was just I have no words!

There was something else but I've forgotten what...

Black German tv is dire, isn't it. On the plus side, I watch far less tv here than I did in the uk, which can only be a good thing! I have got into 'Babys - Kleines Wunder, Großes Glück' though on RTL2. I think it's the German version of 'One Born Every Minute'. But I'm sitting around waiting to give birth so I think it's allowed
MIL says Apfelsine & my 3 year old DS has picked it up too. She is in her 70s though, so I'm not sure if it's an age thing as DH says Orange.

sue at your dentist! What was the dentist himself like? Sorry to hear none of your issues with keys, kettles etc have been solved. It's so frustrating when these things drag on! I'm feeling much better, thank you. I had a cold and a uti last week, on top of everything else so was feeling pretty rotten, but back to normal again this week :) I'm not due for another two weeks but DS was early so I've been expecting this one to come early too. My Frauenärztin doesn't think anything is likely to happen for the next week or so at least so I'm just eating biscuits and waiting now.

captain German soaps might not be the worst idea - I watched a few out of sheer boredom the other morning and found that the speech was quite clear (maybe because it's acted as opposed to spontaneous, iykwim.)

to Linzer, Nutella & Bertie

sorry it was me saying to watch German telly - when I first arrived in Germany that was exactly what I did to get all those funny little words and phrases that no one teaches you but everyone says! I don't here much NICHT WAHR (sorry caps seem to be the only way to get through spell check!), down in BW it was gell? and here in Berlin it's na? at the end… in fact about half the vocabulary you need to survive in Berlin is na?! It can mean pretty much anything in context

sue your dentist sounds, errr, interesting! I need to find a dentist, I was think of asking for recommendations, but perhaps not one from 1975 should be the main criterion!

Wiki says that Apfelsine is the word for orange north of the "Speyer Line", and that it comes from the Low German for "apple from China". If that's true I don't know! But I have spent most of my German time down south and not heard it much, though I do remember it from my time living in Holland… was it Appelsien or something like that? So that would fit. Sorry, I love that kind of thing!

Good luck Woolly! Biscuit eating sounds good!

All good here, very busy getting roped into school stuff (must remove that "Mug" sticker from my forehead), and slowly settling down.

Oh child benefit… does it usually take a life time to sort out? I applied, after about 3 weeks got a request for more info, sent that off, and now silence...

oh and Suenan I am sorry to hear (not here as I wrote in the previous post ) about your continuing lack of shower and kettle. Further ranting clearly required…

one more thing on German TV (which is mostly dreadful, but the documentaries are good I think) - we now have Amazon prime and we're using that a lot.

I have just been downstairs and my bike has disappeared .

It's kept in a locked storage area - which is still locked, we share it with everyone in the building - about 6 other flats.

All the other bikes are still there, neighbour's bike is there with a flat tyre, so hoping he has just borrowed it, but you'd think he would have asked!

Phoned DH and he said he thought he saw a bike out in the yard on his way to work, which might have been mine. I definitely didn't put it there, so someone else has at least moved it and then locked up the shelter again. I suppose it could then have subsequently been stolen...

Hoping neighbour has just borrowed it, but if it doesn't reappear, what should I do? Phone police? Phone landlady? Confront all my neighbours?

I don't use it a lot, but can't afford to just lose it .

how annoying Black, I hope it is the neighbour borrowed it (does seem the most likely scenario, rather than a burglar getting in and stealing just your bike). Would it be covered under your contents insurance if not? I guess if it is, you'd have to report it to the police to make a claim.

Oh no Black, hope it's "just" that the neighbour has borrowed it - that would be annoying enough, but at least you'd get it back. I would check with all the neighbours first and then, as Heinous says, report it to the police; I don't suppose the landlady could do much.

Heinous I spent a lot of time watching trashy daytime TV when we first arrived in Germany before I found a job, and learnt a surprising amount (I even used to write down useful phrases ). "Na" means no here, and I've been laughed at by German friends for using it...

Woolly I remember a friend telling me how she ended up in tears watching OBEM when she was pregnant with her first as labour looked like such a terrifying prospect. It would be interesting to see if the German version is very different from the British programme; virtually everyone on OBEM seems to end up on gas and air, so I'm sure that aspect is quite different for a start.

Nutella You can blame baby brain. I, OTOH, have no excuses for my forgetfulness...

suenan A Berlin meet-up sounds good! Re length of Kindle books, I know you can see by the length of the bar underneath how long they are once they're in your library and I tend to go for the shorter ones first but hadn't realised you could see the number of pages before buying (although I'm sure they're shown quite clearly and I've just managed to overlook them before).

Must get back to some KonMari-ing while the DC are quiet; I am still on clothes but am doing the DC's too, which could take months if not years.

I was brave and knocked on the neighbours' door to ask if they knew anything. It's hard to talk to them as they don't speak much German either (or English). But they seemed to reckon that one of their sons had probably taken it and it would be back tonight.
They seemed totally unabashed and as though it was totally normal to just stroll off with someone else's possessions.

I wouldn't mind watching German One Born Every Minute. When is it on? Though I think DH would have something to say! Actually I've only ever watched the English version when I've actually been pregnant, suppose it would be a bit less compelling and emotional when you know you don't have to go through it all yourself in a few weeks

How rude, Black. I take it they arent' german? I get the feeling that 'bikey' nations (danmark, holland) are really not precious about biles - they leave them in huge piles all over the city, and untangling their 'one' is a mammoth task, so maybe they just take one that looks ok? Annoying tho.
Thanks all for the spelling of Apfelsine - of course it's not a Z in it! That's my english spelling brain... But China-Apple sounds about right. My German tutor says chinesische as 'Hhhhinesische' (no SSSsound) but she is from hamburg!

Re german TV soaps - I don't suppose they come on DVD?

at your neighbours, Black - I just can't imagine who would think that's acceptable.

captain Words starting with Ch- are very easy to say here as they're pronounced as if they started with a k (Kemie, Kina, etc.). After I'd spent years perfecting my pronunciation of chinesisch and the like. I think I used to pronounce it like your German tutor, starting with an "h as in Hugh" sound.

Linzer - I think you're right, most words beginning with ch are pronounced K, but Tutor said it was because it was not a german word (ie - a chinese one!)

She also used to say that to pronounce the Ich sound properly, to use the first sound of Hugh - i'hugh. Mind you, my Alevel student ds2 says that it is now normal to say Ish! I correct him when he does, as it sounds awful to me.

Ah they say Ish here, but then Badisch is it's own distinct tongue really

captain Ah, I thought the K for Ch was an Austrian/Southern German thing but it could be more widespread. Ish sounds awful to me too, at least when it's said by a non-native German speaker, but I know it's used in some dialects.

Bertie I've just had to Google Badisch and discovered that I used to live in the area. And I used to work with quite a few Germans who spoke Pfälzisch, which was fairly distinctive too.

My clothes are finally KonMaried! Think I'm going to leave the DC's clothes for the time being (have done about half) and move onto my books - am hoping to meet up with suenan on Saturday and pass my clutter on to her a few on.

The other /ch/ sound is close to H for hugh but not exactly. There's no English equivalent, there's a sound in Welsh which is close.

Bertie No, it's not exactly the same but it's the closest I can get when trying to explain how to pronounce ich, for example, to British people.

The -ch sound in Welsh is often harder - it's more or less the same as -ch in German after a, o or u (e.g. ach, Loch, Tuch), but the German -ch is softer after i or e. I have real problems now pronouncing words in Welsh with "ich" or "ech" in them as I tend to use a softer German -ch sound in them IYSWIM.

The ch sound in words like chwarae is similar, but I still find it a harder sound than the ch in ich - no closer than Hugh, anyway. Or is there another Welsh sound I'm missing?

Everyone says ish here too, should I try and avoid it? DC will definitely end up doing it anyway, but I suppose they will be almost native speakers.

They even say it for "ig" -zwanzish instead of zwanzig etc here. I do find it much nicer and easier to say.

Black No, it's fine if it's what the "natives" are saying - it just reminds me of my grandmother trying to speak German and not being able to say "ich" properly (I shouldn't have said it sounds awful; it would just be quite an unusual pronunciation in this area).

I would also say zwan-zich (but not -zish) for zwanzig. One thing that confused me when we first moved here was that people seemed to be saying something that sounded like siemten for 7th. It took me several years to work out they were actually saying siebenten.

Ha ha, Linzer, I'm sure I sound awful anyway with my thick British accent, and non-existent grammar. Funny (but quite nice in a way) to think I must be developing a bit of a regional accent as well though .

May be just as well, as I am a bit flummoxed by the H for Hugh explanation. Does it mean you are supposed to say "ch" with your lips in a rounded shape like you would use for "oo"?

Black Developing a regional accent is actually supposed to be one of the best ways of hiding a non-native accent. (But I must confess I really don't like how much more Austrian my German has become since moving here - don't tell DH!)

You're right, you do need to round your lips to say the H in Hugh (the DC are giving me very looks) but if you bring them back to a more normal shape and continue whistling the same sound over your teeth/tongue, it should be that kind of sound. Have I confused you even more now?

I'm afraid I don't have anything useful to add to the 'ch' discussion, but the German version of OBEM is on tonight at 20.15 on RTL2? (Babys! Kleines Wunder, großes Glück.)
Someone asked further down the thread but I'm on my phone so I can't scroll down to see who it was.

Black - atleast it's not jsut me with the non-existant grammar...!God, dativ, genetiv, accusativ. Dativ I've just about got.

The Hugh-sound - it's the sound you start when you start saying hugh; so the hhh-sound in the back of the throat. Very germanic.

(Babys! - looks wrong. Babies...)