German Corner

[finknottle]

Deutsch or English
Native speakers, expats, anyone
From Brezeln to Bier

Please don't ask if you join in, everyone is welcome

For discussion of schools see separate thread

D eutschland s ucht d en S uperstar

Ah! I've avoided that so far...

oh well done you. I have succumbed a few times I admit to my shame.

We saw Rosamunde Pilcher in Tescos when we were visiting Mum and Dad a few years ago. She does look like someone out of her films funnily enough, all tweed and barbour jackets. DH stalked her to her car and was quite disappointed that she did not have a Land Rover though.

I do think that the Germans tend to have a rather distorted view of Britain, it is all rolling hills and castles. I find it funny when I meet someone who tells me how often they have been to UK and then waxes lyrical about the country. They do not seem to realise that they have only seen a sanitised tourist version of UK.

Did you see the article on how Ausländer see Germany in the Welt am Sonntag? Was quite funny. Will look and see if I can find it online.

Ok, found it. here

at the Italian woman who found Eisbein mit Sauerkraut "Exotisch"

Lol at stalking Rosamunde Pilcher in Tesco.
Funny how the Germans and Italians really envy each other's lifestyle.

Just having a look at the thread about funny things that children say. Did I tell you guys about DS the other day, when we were baking scones. He was helping me roll out the scones and said, "Mama, I need more Blumen"

yeah stalking RP is good! How did you know it was her though?

That's a good article. LOL at Eisbein with Sauerkraut being exotic. Now I do like German food, I think it's great but I don't go near Eisbein or Sauerkraut. That's revolting stuff. I'm sure that was the kind of thing poor people ate because there was just nothing else and no one with a choice would go near it. Like jellied eel in London. I'm not ever going to try that either. Yuk-o

I like the punctuality here. I couldn't believe it when I first came here and looked at the bus timetables saying, Bus M110 leaves at 17:13 (and it does bang on 17:13). Now in London you wouldn't even look at a bus timetable unless you were checking to see where it stopped. I mean you wouldn't bother checking the times . Downside to this is you can run like mad, trying to flag down a bus but it won't wait for you because then it wouldn't be keeping to the timetable.

Ah, German punctuality, but even here things are not what they used to be. We travel a lot by train and they really are not very punctual any more. In fact I'd say it's a close call to say whether trains are more reliable here or in the UK. Of course it's not always DB's fault - on Christmas Day we were returning late at night from mil's when the train hit a herd of wild boar. There was a horrible crunching sound and a squealing of brakes. The train driver dealt with it really well though.
Another time an 'incident on the line' (i.e. suicide) meant that we were stranded on a platform of a fairly large station for 2 hours with no information whatsoever because it was a Sunday and there was noone manning the station at all.

The poor wild boar! Surprising how many wild animals roam around this country although it is so densely populated. We have wild boar coming out of the forest to ravage the grounds near dd's school, and although we live in the centre of town, we saw a hungry looking fox race out of the garage next door and head off in the direction of the main shopping street.

at the suicide taipo. You know at a stretch I could imagine taking an overdose of something if I couldn't face continuing but I can't imagine reaching the point where I'd be willing to throw myself in front of a train. Awful death. Horrible for the driver too I'd imagine, very traumatic all round.

Yes, I always feel really sorry for the driver and it's not that uncommon. I think tube drivers in London are offered extensive counselling when it happens. Sorry, I'm getting very morbid here.
We used to see lots of foxes roaming the streets in London, no wild boar though.

The wild boar sounds like a better excuse for being late than "leaves on the track".

Did you know that when the Bahn report a suicide, they refer to a "Personenschaden". I read that the train drives have, on average 3 suicides during their career. It must be incredibly traumatic for them.

My friend is going to Berlin at the weekend, she is very excited. They are having a last romantic weekend away before their baby arrives this summer, staying in the Ritz-Carlton. Anyone know of something that they really ought to see or do? Or an unusually nice baby clothes shop? They have the normal Reiseführer, for all the touristy things.

can't think of an especially nice baby clothes shop. There are a lot but probably stock what you would get in a nice shop there IYSWIM. I always find it hard to advise people coming to Berlin becuase there is SO much to do. I would get a TIP or ZITTY magazine (what's on where) if they want to look at concerts/shows (but maybe not if she is pregnant,doesn't want to blast the baby with it?). I hope the weather is nice for them. It isn't too good at the moment, rainy, on and off blustery. What part of town are they staying in?

could also be a bit of a hassle getting about because of the strike, no U-Bahns, buses, trams running just the S-Bahn or taxis

Prenzlauer Berg is full of nice baby shops. There's this, for example.

Or in Friedenau - my neck of the woods - there's Froschkönig in Schmargendorfer Str. or - my favourite attachment parenty shop with lovely bio clothes - Lifelines

I kno wthe first time my sister came to visit in Berlin she came armed with all those tourist tips with places to go and things to do and some of it was a flop. In all the brochures they suggested going on the ring-bahn for a ride around Berlin but it was so boring because you could hardly see anything except for dirty scruffy stations. The highlight was a drunk getting on and shouting at everyone before going to sleep in a corner - and then a tatooed man got on with studs all over his lip and ears and nose, my niece nearly fell off her seat!

Thanks for the links, they look lovely. I will pass them on.

I don't know if they will be going to concerts, she is not due till July so she wont we too worried about that.

They are intending to go on the train, I hope that they get their ok, it is to be a special treat for them both.

I am waiting for her to call, she is at the docs today having a scan. They decided to get the private 3D scan and are hoping to see the sex of the baby today.

We enjoyed a 'limo' sight-seeing trip (before i did Berlin marathon as I wanted to know what things were before running past them, without exhausting myself) It was interesting to get the more 'personal'touch (although he complained a lot about the euro/health care/not like it used to be)
I also enjoyed Kaffee und Kuchen in the revolving restaurant on the Television Tower-really relaxing.

so is it a girl or a boy then ks?!

Wow didn't realise you were a runner trockodile! Running a marathon is on my list of things to do before I die but I have never made any preparation for actually doing it. Seems to always be raining here when the marathon is on. Do you run regularly then?

Dh and dd have been up the Fernsehturm a few times. I am a crowd hater though so I tend to avoid things that involve standing in a long queue for a long time. You do get a nice view though.

I'm sure they'll have a nice time in Berlin ks, sort of depends on the kind of person you are what you want to do. If you want to go up Unter den Linden and round the museums in the Museumsinsel and from there to the old Jewish quarter - Oranienburger Strasse with the reconstructed facade of the old synagogue and some restaurants with Israeli cuisine, little cafes etc. Or whether you prefer something like Prenzlauer Berg in the former East with trendy little nightclubs and cafes and boutiques or the big castles, forests, lakes, shopping, musicals, Cabaret-shows etc. Really think Berlin has something for everybody but everybody likes different things.

Didn't mean to give impression of 'super fit'. I did the marathon in 2003 -very slow(6hours) but I DID IT! Hurray! At the time I was a size18/20. It was really amazing though and the crowd were fantastic, I will never forget them cheering me as i ran the last 2 kms to finish at the brandenburg gate. (Made even more special by my wonderful husband who ran the marathon in 31/2 hours, then met me at the 20 mile point and did the last 6 with me!)
I got pregnant the next year, put on more weight and have not done much since...one day I will run again!

I'm severely impressed. Did you suffer much during it? Your dh must be super fit/keen to do an extra 6 miles! That must be real love.

It was tough but i had built up gradually from nothing over 18 months. DH did most of my training runs as well as his own so was pretty fit at that point (and still is!) but he was fantastic, couldn't have done it without him!
At the time we lived on an enclosed army camp (in N Ireland)and there were only so many ways to run round camp on the longer runs! Not very exciting, luckily DH was there to talk to me -I could only grunt in reply. Even now i meet people who tell me they remember seeing me run round and round camp, obviously made an impression!

Well done for perservering! In our kg there was a mum who told me that she'd wanted to lose weight after the dc were born but she didn't have much opportunity to get out so she'd jsut run round and round the living room (can you imagine it?!). In the end though she got knee problems from it and had to stop. Compared to hat running around camp must have been great!

I'm also very impressed trockodile. We went to watch the London Marathon a couple of years ago, it really made me want to have a go one day....