Fruehlingszeit in the German Corner - chat continues here

[SSSandy2]

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

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

Well you know dd's name admylin. I deliberately chose the spelling I did thinking Germans would find it easier to pronounce that way. But they ALWAYS get it wrong or throw an "a" on the end or soemthing. Dd hates that.

Strangely enough the name seems to have occured quite a lot in our family. Dad's hobby is family history and he found 5 women with that name in our family spelt the same as dd's name. Weird eh? I chose it because it was the name of the main character in a book I was reading at the time and I was just not having any of the Russian names her dad wanted - I mean can you imagine Svetlana or something?

Or Dascha! You know my dd's name too and I don't know where I got that spelling from - most people use an i instead of the y, I thought it must be the French spelling but a French mum at school said no she knew it with i too. Oh well!

Our family has a lot of Elizabeths right back as far as we can trace. We had an Adele too - in the 1800's but she was from Zürich where my mum's side has relatives way back. It's nice researching family trees but frustrating when you get stuck and can't go any further. On dad's side of the family there is a name that no one knows where it comes from - his dad's middle name was Kinghorn. We can't find anything about it, not that I would have passed it on to any of my offspring!

Family history is fascinating I think once you get into it. Dad has hordes of people ringing, writing and emailing him from all around the globe these days. He seems to have become the adopted grandad of about 1,000 kids and is forever being invited to different countries for weddings etc. We none of us have a clue who all these people are supposed to be. They all call him Uncle Ben for some reason which I find odd since his name is James.

I would have written your dd's name with "y". I always thought the "i" spelling of it was German. It's a nice name, I like it.

Dasha and all those short forms are better than the long versions if you ask me. I prefer Natasha to Nadia etc. He was all hot for Ludmila (pronouncing it - Li-yud-me-la. Since it's his aunt's name I had to be a bit tactful and say it's a lovely name etc but my family couldn't cope with it!

How interesting having a bit of Swiss in your mixture. Dad hasn't located any interesting foreign strands in our geneology yet but maybe they're there anywhere! Seems to be all British Isles and Ireland, dead boring. Dd seems to be the most exotic creature in the family so far.

Kinghorn is something else, isn't it? Wonder where that came from?

morning. funnily enough I was going to get back to you all re her name. It's a bit late anyway, as it's been chosen, but any way. Midwife visit yesterday.

She asked what she's called. I said Adele - like it's written right there on her book. (ENG A-dell) she said - oh that's nice. I asked how it's pronounced in German - is it A-day-la she said and I quote, well translate, "yes, but Adayla is horrible, vomit sounds, yuk, really horrid, but A-dell your Eng version is nice!!!

So, given we might be living here x amount of years, have we saddled our precious new baby with a hideous name, the equivalent of Gertrude or something, or was it just her personal view (which she perhaps should've kept to herself?)

don't know any Germans to ask what their view of this name is.

I personally like the German pronunciation as well, which was important to me, as I loathe the German pronunciation of ds3's name, which I hadn't considered when we chose it. it begins with Ai, so should be like in day, but obv. is pronounced 'as in sigh. awful.

Anyway, she's coming back at noon, so I'll punch her then, shall I?

DOn't see theredqueen about much, but she got in touch when I said I was moving to Feldkirchen, and she is a legend. Dh's obsessive grandmother can't get over the shepherd's pie She will remain ever a part of the family now, as long as dh granny still around

I've been very good this morning and have been for the dreaded smear at the Frauenärztin. She gave me a new pill in the hope that I might be able to lose abit more weight. I'm sure it's the beacuse of the pill.

We've got a Natalia and a Nastia at dd's school (not sure about spelling). It is hard when you live abroad and you need a name that fits but that your family back home can cope with. A friend of ours here in Germany is Sikh Indian and he has 2 boys, he called one of them Slomandeep and the other Sargundeep - he had to produce a signed letter from the Indian embassy to prove they are boys names! I think they will get a bit of teasing about their names if they stay on in German school - kids can be so cruel.

Morning Ernest, I will investigate at school and ask a few German mums what they think of Adele! I bet the Bavarians pronounce everything differently any way! Did you get a home help after the birth? I had a mid wife for 10 days and a home help for 5 days after the birth with dd as dh was busy and couldn't take time off so the Krankenkasse payed for the lot.

ha ha Ernest punch her , go on I dare you!
(But she will punch you back MUCH harder you know that, don't you?) I think they just find it old-fashioned. I prefer the English pronunciation to the German too, not so keen on A-day-la. You will just have to say it every single time you first meet people And then the second time and the third

Well when dd was about 2 and we were at the playground, this mum sings out "hey Leonard, come here" and I had to tell dd not to throw herself in front of a bus and this old lady walking past came up and said "the dc all seem to have old-fashioned names these days, these names all went right out of fashion but now they're becoming popular again." Suppose she's right.

Nastia I really don't like, I mean just makes you think of nasty, doesn't it?

Midwife mentioned home help to me and said she'd look into it, but apparently phoned this am while I was still asleep and spoke to my mum, asking Q like isn't there a family member or friend who can come and do it, ?? Like she knows I've been here 5 minutes and don't know bloody anybody. So it doesn't sound too promising. Maybe Krankenkasse only pay if we've been here longer than 5 minutes? Anyway, when I've finished punching her on the nose, I'll get the full low down on it. Otherwise, I'll try to find a cleaner. If I have to pay, I have to pay, but no way can I hoover or mop. Thanks for asking re name. slightly concerned now!

Yes, punch her!

I like the German pronounciation as well and I can't imagine that it would sound so awful to German ears. It might be her opinion but she was very tactless imo and should know better as a midwife.

We chose names that could not be confused or pronounced differently in either language. Sssandy, is your dh Russian then? We had a Svetlana and a Rashida teaching us at uni.

That's right if you have family staying they won't pay - but I got it because my mum was still working back in the Uk so she couldn't come at the drop of a hat and they said Ok - she came after the home help time was up so I had even longer to recover. Don't forget to remind them that this is child number 4, that should be taken into account.

Hey you lot are in a punching mood today eh! Poor old midwife, not her fault that she's German and tactless!

Didn't know about the home help actually. You are so clued up on everything admylin. I had a nice young Polish girl who came in and did some cleaning but the main thing was she kept me sane by talking to me and she made me laugh so worth paying for.

She'd tell me how much her ds had cried as a baby and she'd been worried he was possessed by the devil so she got some holy water and used to spray it on him when he screamed. She also had a habit of slapping me on the back with salt(?) blessed by a priest in an exorcism. Not sure what that was good for but perhaps she was worried I was possessed too? She was good fun though.

poor midwife my arse! WShe has an 8 month old. She should know better. Puking noises at my baby's name !

But you're right, she is miles bigger than me, so I won't really punch her Just fantasise about it.

I hope I can find a salt streu-ing Pole

she must be punished though Ernest you know that. How about a cup of tea with half a bottle of laxative in it?

I'll remember not to get on the wrong side of you, sssandy2!

Lol at the revenge plans! Make her feel really bad and tell her you couldn't sleep all night thinking about what she said about the name - it might sink in and teach her a lesson!

I'm going to a parents info meeting today about the up-coming Klassenfahrt. Can't believe dd will be away for 4 nights and it'll be really hard to let her go but she SO wants to join in with her friends. Have to be brave I guess.

let dd go admylin and try not to let her see you're worried. It'll be a nice way for her to say good-bye to her classmates. I'm sure she'll be fine.

Taipo did you you choose an English or German name for dd?

Yes, let her go. She'll have a great time. Dd would jump at the chance to go away for 4 nights. Ds did a sleepover at KG a couple of weeks ago and she was really jealous. I don't think there's anything like that planned for her class this year.

Sssandy, they're probably more German names than English but I've heard them in both countries. Ds's name is considered a bit old fashioned here I think though.

yes Ernest you've got to watch your step around me, cross me and I'll cook for you (evil cackle) I'm a crap cook and I can do things to food that you just would not have believed possible! I'm working on Anabell Karmel's salmon starfish atm which should not be too challenging and they are looking very odd.

Speaking of food, I'm wondering if theredqueen could be talked into giving us the recipe for this shepherd's pie...

Yes, definitely recommend looking for a Pole Ernest. Actually thanks to Malgorzata I didn't go ENTIRELY around the bend. She's still one of my best friends. It jsut became a bit weird at some stage, her coming round and us chatting non-stop whilst I drank coffee and she cleaned my home. In the end it didn't feel right

Yes, we'r eletting her go (sob) and have already payed the fee - 171 Euro which is Ok as it included horse riding lessons and all food and transport. It's in a castle some where in the depths of east Germany - will find out exactly where today at the meeting. It's the bit about the riding boots that will cause a problem. If they don't have boots, wellies will do but of course all the in girls in dd's class have got riding boots. Dd will haveto be gently talked into getting new wellies as I don't think she'll be riding again in the near future unless it's on a ranch in Texas this summer!!

I would have gone for shoes with a slight heel (for the stirrup to rest against) rather than wellies but buying proper riding boots just for 4 days would be mad. Sounds like a nice trip. Maybe you can leave ds with dh a bit in that time and do a couple of things for yourself.

I am trying a Thai massage (cripplingly expensive) tomorrow morning, need to get my chi sorted I think, maybe it'll help?! Could you wangle a day spa/massage/beauty treatment session after all the work you've done lately?

haha, good one - leave ds with h! He's never worked so much in his life I don't think and it's all his own fault for booking this holiday so no sympathy - he's doing 7 day weeks, some days starting before I even get up which has never happened before - and coming home late every other day too. As you already know he isn't even moving with us so he can get as much work done as possible. However he will be doing the painting if any as I refuse to do everything, I think I've done my part anyway, rant over!

you've dropped his "d"! Finks has dropped all her "d's". I suppose it should be "l" on the German Corner anyway!