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 "

I would go to St. George's Bekkie, it was by far the nicest most relaxed group I found and I am always bumping into people I met there. Although it is held in the church hall, it is not churchy at all. Although you might once in a while see the vicar saunter in and out, that's about it. Very relaxed.

There are quite a few toys there for kids to help themselves and you just natter, finish up with a sing-along. In summer we'd leave the back door open or carry chairs out onto the lawn and since it is all closed off, the dc could crawl, totter about outside.

How nice it is depends on the mix you get but I was lucky in that we had no unpleasant people and you just turned up when you felt like it. I think we paid something (minimal) but can't remember how much to contribute toward the drinks.

Once your dd is at kg/school , you will have contacts via her friendships but probably not English ones considering where you live, so I would try and meet some English speaking families now if you are hoping to keep up her English.

The links are good..just what I was looking for! I have the german in our town but was just after something else too as I felt the one day a week was not enough. If I join something here it gives us a few days of getting out.

St.Georges sounds good..but we would have to attend the one in Berlin Mitte as it is nearer..not sure about the other location..where is that exactly? I am not too familiar with finding my way in Berlin!

DOn't know what the set-up is in Mitte Bekki. Call the vicar and chat maybe, he's very nice. The one we went to is the church the British military had when they were here so it is in the previous British sector. You'd have to take the SBahn out west (S1 in the direction of Spandau - I think 4 stops from Zoologischer Garten). Don't know where you arrive if you travel to Berlin but it is a straight line from say Friedrich Str or Hauptbahnhof

DOn't know if they have a toddler group in Mitte because I'm not sure what church the Anglicans are using there (they are holding services in a German church in Mitte IYSWIM, it isn't actually an Anglican church whereas the one in Neuwestend is, so they have full use of the facilities all the time there of course)

Hello - sorry to crash in. Does anyone know what my German cleaner might be referring to when she asks if she can take the "chopper" when we move for a friend with small children? Am racking my brain (or what's left of it....)

Oh hi, good to see you scootergrrl. Could it be Shopper (as in one of those shopping bags on wheels that you can pull along behind you)? Otherwise she has me stumped too I'm afraid.

I don't have one of those..... do you think it could be anything to do with pushchairs or toys? Have lots of those!

do you have something like this:
chopper

I think I'll ring her and clarify what she's on about! I really like being in Germany at the moment and am so glad we're staying another couple of years.

You're moving to a different part of Germany then?

Yes - we're near Dusseldorf atm and we're moving to Bielefeld at the end of July. The houses in BF are actually out in the community, instead of being behind the wire on a Little Britain army camp, so I think it'll be good fun.

Hi Scooter, long time no see.

Could she mean a bike? The Germans always go on about the Bonanzarad chopper bikes, they were a big thing here in the 70s. DH and his friends get all nostalgic and reminisce about theirs.

The only other Shopper that I know is a shopping bag, but I assume your cleaner does not want your bag

Hi
As far as I know, a chopper is a (small) motorbike.

Hey folks, I joined Tobamo.de today! I suppose it is a bit like connectberlin.de, but it is for families instead. You have to pay for membership, but so what.
In August there is a Zoo trip planned..so we will go to that and meet some folks! There are mums nights out, summer picnics and olympics and xmas parties etc..
So that is a start ..I can look at The Church aswell..as that seems quite good too.
thanks for the tips!

Bekkie
That sounds good.

Am I still allowed to come into the German Corner when we move to Geneva?

Hi KS, so looks like we'll both be moving before our h's. Have you started researching Geneva? See if you can find a good forum where you can ask a few questions about different areas etc. That was my worst thing when we moved to Berlin I had no idea about the different areas and we wasted a whole trip searching for flats in the wrong areas. I didn't have much time to do any research but this time I found alot of info online about Hannover so we set off searching in 'respectable' neighbourhoods atleast! In Berlin I even had a viewing arranged in a really bad street - looked like a brothel/sex shop type street when we got there!
Maybe BritishExpat or ExpatExchange would have boards for Geneva/Switzerland.

I have found a forum for moving to CH, it is a German one though. There have been a few MNetters on my Help! thread with some good advice.

As to the areas of Geneva, we are pretty much dependant on what the company has available. There is a house available but it is not sure if we will get it, as it would normally be for a higher position than DHs. Would be great if we got it, we had pretty much resigned ourselves to a flat in a big block.

A lot to do here too, the Telekom are making things difficult. I have to prove that we are moving out of the country (can you still write abroad when we are already abroad?). And the mobile phone contract still has a year to run and they do not let you out of the contract even if you are moving to the moon.

Trying to think what else needs to be cancelled. Gym membership (that has hardly been used

www.ummelden-24.de/ Look on this website, it's really got loads of tips and I also ordered a halteverbotschild from them so no one parks infront of the house on the day we move, a must-have in Berlin-mitte!

I've already told the cable TV company too because they need a 3 month notice - apart from that I haven't done anything yet. It'll be easier for me as I'm staying in the same country. You should find out about the Krankenversicherung too because I know friends who went to Spain from Germany for a few years and when they came back there was a big fuss about them re-joining the Krankenkasse and they had to pay freiwilligeversicherung for a while which is like private I think (just incase you come back to Germany!)

Hi Bekkie, hope you meet some nice families through them. Never heard of that organisation before. Let us know how you get on with it.

How are you feeling about going back to work, chomping at the bit?!

KS it is very naughty of you to slip off to Geneva; however we are a forgiving lot
You know too if you ever get homesick for Germany, you need only look at the German schools thread. You can rely on us to keep it filled with horror stories.

Actually wondering if Geneva would be a good option for NN if anything came up.Or should we ALL just move to Geneva, en bloc, what do you say girls?

Sssandy
We could open a MN Commune in Geneva. We can wear floaty skirts and flowers in our hair while watching our longhaired DCs play barefoot in the lake.

(It's me KS, trying out a Swiss name, I feel much more svelte and sophisticated)

MmmeLindt does sound good, very chic. Anyway you will be chic now - I bet you can get great French style fashion clothes in Geneva not like here - I say that because i've been clothes shopping this morning. Sigh, ended up with 3 tops but they aren't anything to get excited about really. I wouldn't miss Karstadt, Galeria Kaufhof und co if I never got to enter one for the rest of my life!

I will have to go again on Monday because I still need dressy shoes and some summer trousers. On tuesday we go to Hannover for the day just me and the dc so hope it's a nice day so they enjoy the trip - do you know if you'll get to visit Geneva with the dc before the move? That could help, mine felt better after having seen the new flat and their new big rooms and nice green area where we'll be living. Hope they like the look of their new schools on Tuesday too.

good luck for Tuesday admylin. I think if ds compares the new school with the dingy gymnasium you looked at here and found so bad you didn't bother attending the interview, he will surely find it an improvement? Same for dd, I presume the school in Hannover is greener and has better playing facilities.

Berlin schools really do lack grassy attractive playgrounds. I wonder why. Sort of thing you'd expect Germans to be big on considering how everyone likes to head out to the woods, lakes at the weekend and there are generally nice playgrounds around, so why not in the schools? Wonder if it is because they were originally conceived of really only as morning schools qurg breaks/playtimes not an integral part of the the overall scheme. Presume dc were expected to play outside of school once it had finished maybe.

Mme Lindt does sound very chic and very thin, you know. You will really have to live up to that name now KS.

Actually speaking of French clothes, I saw some nice stuff in Wertheim a while back admylin - firm called Un, deux, trois. Assuming they are French. What puts me off French firms is the sizing though. It is just awful. I mean XXL is maybe the equivalent of a size 10, isn't it? How do Frenchwomen keep themselves so slim? They must have phenomenal self control - or do they just smoke all day?!

I know, the French eat really healthily though don't they. There's a website and book written by a French women (Mireille something) where she tells the secrets of the thin French women and gives recipies too!

Yes, dd will be OK with her new school - the grounds look lovely. I'm abit worried about ds but on the other hand I'm really glad we're out of here. I was so shocked on Wednesday when I spent the day with his class for the Sportfest - no wonder he's grumpy and fed up of school poor lad, I felt really sorry for him and kicked myself half the night for not moving him a year ago atleast

www.mireilleguiliano.com/ should try the book as I love French food but my fussy h wouldn't touch it and the dc wouldn't apreciate my efforts either !