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 "

Yes, good idea. I was thinking of packing all the winter stuff starting in June as I will have to look at the pile of boxes all the time. It's so small here, no room to store the boxes except on the hall - but I want this place nearly packed before we go to Texas in July then I just have to finishing touches to do when we get back.

The dc have plastic boxes with their toys in already but thought I might go and get a few ikea boxes as theirs are abit worn and cracked in places from sitting on, throwing things into etc!

thequietone-yes i would definately hassle the kindergeld people-phone if you can, if you write send it recorded. We had trouble with ours, and they refused to backdate so we lost nearly a years money(luckily with ours we get the difference between uk and german so not quite so bad -still 400 euros though.)

How is your ds getting on with his new Kindergarten class?

thequietone - Kindergeld for ds2 should run automatically (they should send you the forms and you get a Bescheinigung thingy which states "Fuer Kindergeld" on it) and as for waiting... Seems to be par for the course. Chase them up by letter and then by phone - I'd faint if anyone paid any attention to an e-mail here! We're obviously in the provinces Maybe you big city gals would have more luck!

I'm off to get this place tidy and do some jobs and order a bike! See you all later.

Cheers Trockodile. I think we're going to lose all the money we could have got since last August when we moved out here. It's so infuriating as it was the UK CHild Benefit Agency's fault. They took so much chasing and nonsense to send me a one page standard letter. I know I missed the deadline for getting the Kindergeld info back, but hoped I could appeal to their better nature! My German langauge skills are non-existent. I was getting there until baby came and lessons stopped. Might try to write instead.

DS1 is having an absolute ball in his new Kindergarten class. He's SO happy there and has come through his rough patch (the whole of April). My god, he was a pain that month - Kindergarten wasn't working out, he had a baby brother he couldn't get rid of (!) and was trying to toilet train too. Anyway, all good now. His German's coming on a treat and he's made some friends now.

hi thequietone, could you face going in there in person and asking? I think you have to reapply because you missed the deadline. In my experience, they go totally by the book.

Well as to Spargel, I remember a horde of mums from kg going into the supermarket after drop-off all excited because Plus had Spargel. What could this be? I wondered and followed them. Anyway, everyone picked up a box of Spargel and a packet of Maggi Sauce Hollandaise so I did the same but it was just yukkity yuk yuk yuk. I couldn't peel it without beheading the stuff and the texture is vile, even if you drown it in that Sauce Hollandaise, can't see the attraction.

I wonder if the excitement is related to what it looks like - if you catch my drift? There is a song which goes "Veronika, Veronika der Lenz (=spring) ist da" which has a line about "der Spargel wächst" and I was told this means getting an erection(?!)

Blimey Sandy, that's enough to make me throw up.

On which cheery note, I'm off to the weed pit garden.
It's so dry that I'm struggling to keep newly planted shrubs and tomatoes from keeling over in the heat and have to water them 3 times a day but the weeds go from strength to strength unwatered? What law of nature is that?

Oh no, I don't get Spargel either. dh hates it, and in his family his Not Liking Spargel is treated as a very curious and amusing oddity. We were at his aunt's the weekend before last and they served it up really proudly, with a tuly disgusting Vorsuppe too that was basically Spargelbrühe and congealed egg .

I've had nearly 7 months of Kindergeld backdated (in Berlin) - even though the delay was entirely my own ineptitude. Thequietone, can you get in touch and remind them of it? Say something like 'Ich habe den Kindergeldantrag für meinen Sohn vor xxxx Wochen/Monaten eingereicht und noch nichts gehört; könnten Sie mich bitte über den Stand des Antrags informieren?' Have you got an Antrags-/Vorgangsnummer (all important )? Ask for the form to add a child too (for a second child you don't have to redo the full application) - 'ich habe jetzt ein zweites Kind und möchte auch für ihn beantragen'.

Have fun battling your weeds! Wondering what the guests are getting chez admylin tonight. She is sounded tense these days, bet she could do without guests. We are having (oh the excitement) mushroom soup today. Now dd has school dinners I feel even less inclined that before (if that is really possible) to cook evening meals. Just try to get vegetables of some description into her.

Dh is in Finland of all places this week and wondering if he should bring anything back. Any ideas anyone?

Oh I still need to email you admylin

Sandy, what I like in the summer is potatoes microwaved in their skins and finished in the oven, creme fraiche and salad. easy, light and not too much cooking involved

Oh that's a good one bero. Actually until I just read your other post I was wondering whether Spargelsuppe would be any good. So just scrapped that one now.

It might be quite nice if you do it in the blender with herbs and a bit of cream. But probably not if you cook Spargel in water, pour off the water and break an egg into it which was what dh's aunt seemed to have done.

did you eat it?

btw our school is having the summer fete on Friday 30th. They'll be selling off second hand English books (donated by dp) and some from the library that are getting tattered or aren't borrowed much. QB should be having theirs sometime soon too.

I did, courageously, about 3/4 of the way down. Oh goodness me. My smile was literally sickly sweet. (ill emoticon)

earned yourself some good karma. Speaking of which, how are things with dh these days? Don't see mine much. He was in Chicago all last week being introduced to the mysteries of baseball amongst other things he isn't admitting to and this week he's in Finland.

wir leben ziemlich nebeneinander her

oh I'm sorry, relationships are such hard work, aren't they? Meinst du,er weis, wie du dich fühlst? Ist er zufrieden, wie alles jetzt läuft?

Berolina, not much consolation but when I look back, dh & I had such rocky patches where I never thought we'd stay together. And often at times where I remember thinking, this is supposed to be a good time. Doesn't stop it being hell, though. Any chance of a break, you taking the boys away for a bit to clear your head?

Just had to go keep an eye on the soup and eek saw the kitchen floor. Never again will I have white floor tiles.

Think when kids are there, relationships are always hard work and I wonder if men are less satisfied with the happy family scene than women? Hope you can turn it around bero. I'm finding that dh is really getting between me and Hercule Poirot these days and I'm finding 3 a crowd

Well, I've done half my jobs, time for a nice strong cup of tea!

My guests will be getting cauliflowe and potato curry with yoghurt sauce and red and yellow lentil curry with flat bread (chapati) but I might make rice instead as bread is a pain as you have to stand over the pan to bake them and if I'd had more warning I might have been more organised!

Berolina, same here, I don't know how many times I've nearly packed my bags and gone home to England - could it be something to do with the mad scientist side of it too? Or isn't yours mad philosophical too? These people aren't on our planet most ofthe time - atleast that's my excuse for dh and every now and then the little good parts shine through! I think you must be exhausted too , there is nothing more exhausting than being at home with two really small babes and never getting a real break. A lot of mums here who work have said it was the most tiring time for them too when they were stuck at home with the monotone jobs that just seem to come round in circles at you.

that sounds yummy admylin. Do you like cooking?

Might be nice having people round. Dh always kicks into a higher gear and is suddenly the life and soul of the party when other people are around; otherwise it's like sharing a home with the living dead

No it won't be fun! I know the people and I don't reallyl get on that well with them but I guess when youlive in berlin and people are passing through (OMG I hope they aren't stayingthe night) ...!

Dh is mega-stressed at the moment. He is trying to finish some project before we go on holiday but I haven't got much sympathy for him because I told him to change the holiday when he got the new job offer but he didn't. Now he's doing long days to get ahead of schedule so he can go off for 3 weeks.

have the violin teacher coming around this afternoon after school so try to give the old hovel a semblance of being tended to. Couldn't sleep last night, so I was up at 4 and did the living room etc then. Pretty much on top of it - the superficial imitation Hausfrau job I always do of it.

Never know what to do with her, she's on a diet so won't take anything except green tea or water and I always feel I should be offering her something to eat. She's been having acupuncture (ear lobes) to help her lose weight and it seems to be working. She's lost 6 kilos since CHristmas. She says it's making her bad-tempered though.

That sounds like a drag having people you don't like come to visit. Hope they bring some nice plonk with them