Is there still a German Thread?

[BeatrixBurgund]

We've moved back to Germany after 8 years in Switzerland and Scotland, and with the kids in school, I just know I'm going to have lots of questions about the Bavarian education system.

And I'd love to catch up with all the folk I used to chat with (even if I can't remember their usernames!). I'm on a namechange - it's MmeLindor here!

[BeatrixBurgund]

Oh, and I forgot - family allowance is great here. It's currently at EU 190 per child and more for larger families see here

[goodiegoodieyumyum]

Beatrix I am doing an on line course, what I would like is a bit of human interaction, I feel a bit lost now I don't have to drive my daughter to school, sounds really silly but I had a bit more structure to my day, I love living here but feel a bit isolated at times.
I am hoping all my DD' s communion preparation will keep me busy at least I am getting to know some of the other parents because of the meetings, now we recognise each other at church although not knowing the language is still a bit of a barrier all the activities are has to do means I will have lot' 's of interaction with other people.

[lamii]

BeatrixBurgund thanks for your reply.
It sounds very positive!

If we move to Berlin we will have to deal with English, French, Swedish and German. It's pretty crazy...
How many languages in your family then? English and German only or more? I feel like I am going to start a thread on poligots.

Are people friendly & easy to meet in Berlin? I'm not a party animal at all but I enjoy multicultural dinners and this is impossible to get in Sweden!

[MirabelleTree]

Hello, can I stick my head in? In the UK and my Mum was German so also trying to sort out German citizenship issues as DD has moved to an EU country. I in theory have it and have had it since I was issued with a Kinderausweis mad have subsequently had a German passport as an adult.

However I'm missing a piece of paper which apparently should have been issued so have to go through filling in all the forms. There was a kind of amnesty period 1975-1978 once they changed the law and you could take on nationality by descent through your Mother from 1975 and my Opa organised this for me, I'm very grateful. Agree with how sexist it is. Someone I was at school with was born in same day as me but had German Dad, he can just get on with it all.

BoffinMum I have had a fair bit of success with my family tree with help from the Landesarchiv in Brühl once I had place and date of birth for Opa. They got me a few certificates then by stroke of luck a friend posted on a forum for me and a distant cousin came forward and I'm now back to 1734 as we could link trees.

[BertieBotts]

Ooh I was just thinking about this thread! Vielen Dank for setting it up again!

There was nobody near me last time but sounds like there might be now? I've said my location on here before so might as well give it up again - we're in Karlsruhe.

We just have English at home but DH and I have cobbled together German now and can make ourselves understood. DS is in the second class of Grundschule - he says he understands kids better than adults because sometimes adults go on too much and use too many words. I can't deal with the Elternabend or the headteacher's speeches. I'm taking driving lessons at the moment and the classes were really confusing! I understood about 10-30% depending on whether the teacher was speaking Badisch or not

I know a couple of families who speak four languages. OPOL plus parents use a third language together (in both cases English) and then the community language.

[BoffinMum]

Mirabelle, I don't have that piece of paper which means so far I am having to spend about 600 euros to get naturalised using a special process for children of German mothers, £1598 to trace close family members in addition to my mother, and possibly about £400 on solicitors' fees to get someone specialist to write a letter to strengthen my claim. The last two are admittedly optional but I don't feel I can take any risks and that I need to cover all the bases.

Had I the piece of paper I would have just been able to bowl up at the Embassy and ask for a passport, and I would have been sorted a year ago.

Thanks, parents, for being so lackadaisical on the paperwork and not understanding the importance of anticipating the future with regard to citizenship issues. Epic fail there.

[BoffinMum]

To be fair one of the reasons for tracing people is so I actually get to know some relatives of mine that are alive. My mother is quite anti-family.

[MirabelleTree]

My Mother went NC with her family but I found my cousin and got back in contact with them all through her -that's been lovely. I was quite hacked off to find I have to do Staatsangehörigkeitsausweis having already has 2 passports but shouldn't complain as am not (so far) having to go through what you are.

My Brother got his passport renewed last year and the application had to go to London as there is apparently a piece of paper with his name on that explains the status of his citizenship. So I think it is the missing paper and mine is there too but no one will help with that so I have to start over. There is no way my Mum threw it out as she never got rid of anything and I've found the various translated birth certificates that were used back in 1977. I think for whatever reason it was retained by the Embassy.

I do feel very strongly about this and am ready to see a solicitor if needs be. Mum died a few weeks before Brexit which has heightened it all I think. It is ridiculous though that we are both having to jump through hoops as it was our Mothers and not Fathers who are German.

[BoffinMum]

Mirabelle, let me know if you need the name of my solicitor.

I suspect the Embassy (rather strangely for Germany) does not have very complete or organised records, as there was some conversation about where the records of my mother's last passport would be, and why they might not have one (even though they issued it not that long ago). I wonder if a combination of reunification and now major migration issues has overwhelmed things, quite apart from Brexit.

With regard to meeting living relatives, that would be quite nice if we got on. It feels a bit odd being completely out of touch and is a relatively new thing for me as until 10 years ago I was in touch with various relatives all the time (now deceased).

[MirabelleTree]

Thank you Boffinmum, much appreciated. If it goes horribly wrong I'll PM you. I really hope it goes well when you meet your relatives. Mine are just starting the new generation and it is lovely to be a part of it, hope the same happens for you.

[BoffinMum]

The would be nice. It's odd feeling like a tourist in your own country, which is how things are at the moment!

[kivvi]

ooooh can I join? Currently living in the UK but we are seriously considering relocating to Germany in 2017. I'm feeling s little apprehensive at the thought mainly because I only speak a little bit of German (DH is a native speaker, DDs would be 4 & 1 so would pick it up extremely fast - DD1 is already partly bilingual). I would love to hear about everyone's experiences of what makes things easier or more manageable in terms of moving and integrating - and/or anything you regret! Also what do you love about living in Germany? Is there anything you find challenging about the culture? Basically anything you can tell me that would help me to prepare myself for the possibility!

[BertieBotts]

Hi kivvi! I have been here three years now. I originally only wanted to stay for a year or two, but I actually love it here.

I speak basic German now. I didn't really speak it at all when I first came but I'd been doing Duolingo for six months and that was hugely helpful. I find I can make myself crudely understandable in almost any basic situation, I couldn't express my opinions on anything complicated, but I can talk to other mums at school/kindergarten and do shopping - including asking for help - and stuff like that. My German has of course improved since I've been living here.

DS was just less than 5 when we moved and he picked up the language within a year.

I found a meetup group locally for other English speakers and I joined that early on and it's been a lifesaver. Yes, it's probably slowed down my German acquisition, but these ladies are incredible. A true "expat family"!

Things I like are the freedom for children, I've grown to love the Autobahn, the public transport is phenomenal, the health system is hard to get used to, but generally excellent in terms of quality of care. German Doner kebabs are miles apart from the arse-and-eyelid offerings you get in the UK. I like all of the fests, you seem to have a fest for everything, so there's always something to do on a sunny weekend. Everyone gets silly around Oktoberfest which is amusing and everyone gets really festive for Christmas, which is wonderful. It's lovely to be able to just pop into the Christmas market on the way home from work/school/etc.

Things which I don't like is the shopping hours - just weird and wrong and takes up a huge chunk of Saturday doing food shopping because you can't just fit it in whenever, plus hardly any online grocery shopping (one supermarket offers it now, but with a limited selection plus it's more expensive and just not as good as Tesco delivery!) Hardly any Indian takeaways and the Chinese ones are mostly rubbish (or I suppose, just Germanised, really, like in the UK, the takeaways are all much the same as each other, but here they are very salty with not much flavour IMO. And from January to Easter it's a horrid dark cold slog with nothing to break it up, not even a measly half term break. I always say we should do a trip to the UK during this part of the year but we haven't managed it yet.

One thing to be aware of - the school system is okay. It's really not as amazing as people tend to make out. It's not terrible. But it's definitely not some kind of perfect magical school system that the whole world should emulate.

It is difficult to work if you don't speak German and you don't have a postgraduate qualification or specific training. I work as an English teacher which I actually have a qualification for, though apparently most language schools take anyone who is a native speaker. And I enjoy that a lot but contracted positions are really difficult to find these days and the freelance thing can be a gigantic headache when you don't speak German (which might be OK with your DH helping you.)

Feel free to ask anything else you want to know :)

[WoollyHooligan]

Hooray! The Germany thread is back! (Ok, so I'm a bit late to the party, I realise that.)

I've been here for almost 7 years now (not too far from you, I think, welshcake). One DS in Kindergarten & one DD due to start Kindergarten next year.

I was a regular on the old thread for a while but suddenly found myself with no time after DD was born (surprisingly ).

We've actually met recently on FB, Beatrix. I posted a question about freelance translation & the Finanzamt this afternoon, which should tell you who I am without outing myself completely!

Typically as soon as I get time to post, the iPad battery threatens to die! I'll try & pop back tomorrow. Night everyone!

[Comiconce]

Watching with interest. Very seriously considering moving to NRW next year the way things are going in the UK. DC have both nationalities which helps, and have spent some time in German school/Kiga. Older dc hated coming back to the UK but has since settled. I do prefer the German school system but at the moment my younger dc (yr2) would struggle to go back into 1. Klasse and pretty much start from scratch. Our next opportunity to relocate would really be when dc1 would start Gymnasium (with any luck) or Realschule. I think the transition would be tough even if they are bilingual.

[schokolade]

Hello All! I'm another one in Schleswig-Holstein. I'm originally a kiwi.

We've been here for about a year, following moves to USA and Switzerland. We've got a 2 year old DD who is in nursery.

[VioletWillow]

Hello! Can I join? We are in the UK but are moving to Stuttgart area March next year, DP is German as is our daughter and I am in the process of getting my Irish passport (thanks Da) so I can avoid any possible Brexit repercussions. My German isn't bad, although immersion will bring it up to scratch - dealing with in-laws who don't speak English was a bit of a trial by fire but it worked! DD is 2 so we're going to look at Kindergartens from the summer for her, thankfully we don't have to plan schools yet. Well it will be nice to discuss all things German and get to know you all! 😊

[BertieBotts]

I'm not far from Stuttgart :) There is a nice flight from Stuttgart - Birmingham with Flybe.

[VioletWillow]

Bertie fantastic! Yes we've used FlyBe a few times, but currently use Ryanair from Manchester as its a lot easier for us. Only one more trip over before we move now! DP keeps laughing at me because I am already making lists of what to pack

[BertieBotts]

Ooh where does that one go? We have family in Lancaster and we normally fly to Stansted which is a huge pain.

[VioletWillow]

Ryanair flies directly from Manchester to Stuttgart, it's super cheap too 😊 Well, it is now, but who knows if that will change with Brexit! We just flew two adults and a 2 year old there and back for £90 altogether 😊

[Littleoakhorn]

Hello, I've finally caught up with the thread, can I join? I'm another one in NRW, not far from Köln. My dd is in kindergarten, Ds is at home with me while I'm on mat leave.

I've been enjoying the various seasonal festivals too. Potato festival, anyone?

[BertieBotts]

I love your name, Littleoakhorn!

We have a pumpkin festival here Everyone raves about it

I failed my German driving test today. :( Everyone was really surprised. Apparently German adults don't normally fail their tests. Nice. Well, I will try again.

[trotzdem]

Oh I hadn't realised this thread was alive again!

I used to post on the old thread a couple of years ago - waves at Bertie, and Linzer who were definitely posting then - others I am sure!

I have lived in rural Bavaria for about 9 years, have a German husband and 3 kids (one in Kindergarten, one in Grundschule, 1 in Realschule), I'm originally English.

I've got my Deutsch Test für Zuwanderer on Saturday - I've practised the listening and reading sections and they are very easy, but I am worried about the written test as I've never actually studied German beyond enrolling on a VHS evening course when I had a young baby and dropping out after a couple of lessons because I couldn't stay awake/ was too lazy... I've mainly picked it up as I've gone along (if you live as rurally as us you don't suffer the city phenomenon of people trying to speak English to you) which means my spoken German is way, way ahead of my written (wibble)!

I've opened the laptop to do some practice but am avoiding it...

On the Brexit topic - what about the reverse question of kids with one British parent born in Germany? I haven't bothered getting the kids who were born here anything but German birth certificates and passports, I wonder whether they need that just in case they ever want to live in the UK/ have a British passport not that its that likely they will does anyone know? Don't want them ending up in the same position as Boffinmum describes in reverse in 20 years time, that is so unfair!

[trotzdem]

Sorry to hear about the driving test Bertie - why do you have to take it? Is it your first driving test anywhere? I failed - ehem - several in the UK so was very happy just to be able to exchange my UK one for a German one without further tests!