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Original poster

Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen : German Corner 3 - life goes on

519 replies

SSSandy2 · 04/07/2008 12:14

Other thread was getting a bit full. Alles wie gehabt :
"Deutsch or English
Native speakers, expats, anyone
From Brezeln to Bier

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

OP posts:
MmeLindt · 04/07/2008 15:28

I like the new name, Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen.

Admylin
My DD is a bit like that too, becomíng more so as she gets older. We were writing in her friend's friendship book the other day and one of the questions was "Was magst Du gar nicht?" She answered, "Wenn jemand mich ärgert" I thought that she would say spiders or something.

She is also very artistic so perhaps it just goes with that.

They had a Nachtwanderung for the Vorschulkinder recently and she hated it.

I have not started packing as the company is organising the removal. Once the removal company get in touch I will ask them for a few boxes for personal things (not having some Heinz or Fritz packing my undies!) and do some packign then. The rest they can do.

The relocation agency guy phoned today, he said that they generally take 2 - 3 days to pack everything. No way! The last move we were done in one morning.

admylin · 04/07/2008 17:26

Nice title!

MmeLindt, you lucky girl - the luxury version of moving house sounds stress free. Wish we could get that sort of service but daren't risk the extra cost as we don't yet know if we're going to have to buy a new kitchen and the dc will need new stuff and all that just after the holiday in the US. A friend had that full service move and she was at my place drinking coffee the day before her move and she was really relaxed. I'm going to be desperate for a holiday after this move!

This morning I went and got some new support bits of wood for my bed so we can fix it in Hannover, will invest in decent matresses rather than buy a whole new bed and had to get some sort of wooden floor repair kit as I dropped the iron yesterday and the tip of it dug a hole in our flooring. Have to repair it best we can to have a remote chance of getting the deposit back (which will go nicely towards my kitchen or whatever else we'll need)

I think the french style approach to dc will be nice for your dd though, they are very sweet to dc and I love the way french speak to dc too. As SSSandy says our sensitive dc here get stressed just by the tone of voice adults use, the way the language comes accross etc. It's very harsh and I know at first when my 2 translated everything into English they were very intimidated by the way Germans spoke to them.

taipo · 04/07/2008 20:18

Nice title, SSSandy!

I agree the tone of voice can be a problem here. It was one of the things that dd found really hard at the beginning. Her first teacher would say things like "DD du musst lauter lesen!" where an English teacher would probably say "could you try speaking a bit louder?" Dd took it all very personally. It's better now that she's more used to it but it was a struggle at the beginning.

admylin · 04/07/2008 20:32

It's funny though, once my mum was staying and she doesn't speak German but she kept asking me if I was having problems with ds because when she heard him talking outside she thought he was being cheeky or horrid to other dc or to dd. Later she heard the aikido teacher talking to the dc at training and she said I didn't understand a word but it was exactly how ds was talking so it must be normal here.

MmeLindt · 05/07/2008 08:24

We have the advantage that our DCs grew up here so they are used to the language and the way people speak. I must admit that it has never occured to me that German speakers sound so unfriendly. I am so used to it I guess.

On the day of our move to this area we got up in the morning and had breakfast as normal. The removal men arrived just after 7am. I left Hannover just after lunch time and they were almost finished packing.

I know it is very expensive and I am really glad that the company is paying for it. I would hate to move without a removal company, we have never had to do so. I am spoilt for life now!

It is DS's birthday today, he is now a big 4 year old. Where does the time go?

He got a Puky bike and a new trolley for our trip to Scotland (on Wednesday).

As is our family tradition, he was allowed to pick the destination of our outing today. So we are going to the racing cars, Nurburgring, with a picnic.

admylin · 05/07/2008 10:08

Hope you have a nice day, we do that too - the birthday child gets to say what we have to eat and where we go! They usually go for cinema and eating out.

I don't really mind having to pack everything to be honest I just can't get motivated to start on it! I'm happy that we don't have to carry any of it at least - I mean we live on the 3rd floor and it nearly killed me moving it all in (nearly 3 years ago on a student/PhD budget!) I am so looking forard to living on the ground floor or hoch parterre as they call it! Our removal men come at 8am , we'll leave by train at some time around 9:30 and when we get to Hannover we'll have the Schlüsselübergabe with the Hausmeister and I suppose the removal men will arrive just shortly after that. Not sure how long they'll take to drive to Hannover from Berlin but I hope it works out, anyway there is no other way of doing it really - h has to stay here and lock up when they've finished loading and he'll hand the keys over for this place a few days later. He is staying with a colleague to finish off his last jobs and things before he laeves.

In Hannover we went for a walk in List last time and I didn't like it at all, it reminded me of Berlin. Still haven't found the famous Maschsee or been into the deep deep forest so plenty to do when we move.

Original poster
SSSandy2 · 05/07/2008 10:44

I think you'll be about ready to rule the world when you've finished this move admylin. I think you are very strong. How lucky your dh is that you take EVERYTHING off his hands.

Happy birthday to little monsieur Lindt! They do grow up much too fast, don't they ML? Hope you have a nice day out. Isn't Puky an unfortunate brand name from an English speakers point of view though?! Someone was telling me that Rolls Royce brought out a car called Mist or something with mist in the name and of course that would be a Ladenhüter in Germany, imagine it a luxury car called Mist!

OP posts:
taipo · 05/07/2008 10:48

Hope you have a nice time today, MmeLindt. We've got ds's Sommerfest at the KG today. I've just finished making a lemon drizzle cake to take along!

I hate packing. Whenever we move dh always wants to pack his own books because he's a bit precious about them. I usually insist that we get someone in to at least do the rest of it. Last time we packed it all ourselves though and dh was all for doing it completely on the cheap and just hiring a van and doing all the carrying ourselves. I put my foot down on that one and said no way was I lifting a single box so we went through a company where you hire the removal van and then optional extras such as beefy men to do all the lifting for you.

Original poster
SSSandy2 · 05/07/2008 10:51

Do I belong back in the '50's if I admit that I totally dislike this German idea that women should happily lug heavy boxes up and down stairs - not to mention cupboards, sofas etc?

actually I quite like those 1950's rock-n-roll type dresses too come to think of it

OP posts:
Original poster
SSSandy2 · 05/07/2008 10:52

well done making a lemon drizzle cake thsi morning taipo. I've never tried those. Hope the weather holds for your KG-Fest, lovely atm here

OP posts:
taipo · 05/07/2008 11:27

Hope it tasts OK. I've done it before and it has always turned out fine but I'm not really much of one for baking cakes. I tend to forget to put in one of the key ingredients and have to read the recipe about a 100 times just to make sure I've really got it all right.

You don't want to go back to the 50's, SSSandy. Have you ever seen any German adverts from that time? They're all really vomit-inducing - happy Hausfrau baking something or other for her brood of menfolk. No sense of irony whatsoever. I can really see why my mil is like she is when I see them.

Original poster
SSSandy2 · 05/07/2008 11:32

Hmm cooking for the menfolk, not really my Stärke. I quite like some of those Heimatfilme though.

Hope you didn't forget the SUGAR!

OP posts:
taipo · 05/07/2008 11:33

No, but I nearly forgot the eggs!

Original poster
SSSandy2 · 05/07/2008 11:39

Do you like cooking taipo? I don't because I'm useless at it. It so often doesn't work out. Whereas I enjoy baking, I suppose because it feels less like a chore

OP posts:
taipo · 05/07/2008 12:13

I quite like cooking but I don't think I'm very good at it. I tend not to stick exactly to recipes which is why I don't like baking cos it all seems so terrifyingly precise. I used to like trying out new things but haven't for ages though because it's a bit disheartening if you've spent ages in the kitchen and the dc refuse to even try it.

admylin · 05/07/2008 19:27

I know what you mean about cooking or baking and then no one eating it. I have often had to throw cakes out because no one liked them and no way was I going to eat it all myself! I've stopped baking now, I reckon the baker makes better cakes than I ever will and don't mind paying the extra. Usually order one for dc's birthdays aswell.

I've been packing with dd today for her trip on Monday. Her case is so heavy there is no way she will be able to carry it even a few metres so I hope the teachers are prepared to lug all the cases up into the Schloss when they get there. It's only 5 days but she has to take spare stuff incase they get wet/dirty and they've told us to pack 5 towels and bedding so the case is bursting. They need rain coats, boots for riding and then the ususal summer clothes and sleeping stuff. I can't imagine what size suitcase we'd need if they went ona trip in cooler weather when we'd have to pack jumpers and jackets.

taipo · 05/07/2008 20:20

I hope your dd enjoys her trip, Admylin. Might be good for her to take her mind off the move for a few days.

Well I can report that the LDC was a success. At least there was none left at the end.

I can't do German cakes at all despite mil doing her best to show me how to do those ones piled high with fruit and cream. If I need something like that I'd go to the baker too. I would like to learn to do a proper German cheesecake though. Maybe one day...

admylin · 05/07/2008 20:53

Our school Sommerfest is next week - I usually do a tray of brownies but this year dd will be back from her trip on the same day as the fest and I don't think we'll bother coming back to school - I bet she'll be tired out. One year I made a tray of flapjack but they weren't sure what it was so it didn't sell very quickly.

A friend of mine who returned to the UK made quite a success out of selling German style cakes in the town she moved to, made quite a name for herself but she'd has a German MIL giving her lessons before she left!

MmeLindt · 05/07/2008 20:58

I was just thinking today about what to do for DS's birthday cake, for his party on Monday. I am not a good baker, I love cooking and am reasonably good at it. I like improvising and bunging stuff together, that does not really work when baking. Like Taipo, I sometimes forget ingredients.

I should really go to the bakers and get a cake, but the German mums all make me feel like a Rabenmutter for not baking birthday cakes.

I do a good LDC but the DCs are not so keen on it.

We had a great day out today, we had a picnic near the racetrack right next to a playground. So at least DD was not too bored. Later we went for an icecream.

Admylin
lol at the thought of your DD's teacher lugging all the suitcases up the hill. Hope she has a good time.

taipo · 05/07/2008 20:59

I've got the German mil who would be more than happy to give me lessons. I just don't have the aptitude for baking

Brownies are a good idea. Dh has made them before to take along to school fairs etc.

MmeLindt · 05/07/2008 21:01

I have a German MIL but she always does the same cake, Kiwi Quark Torte (sometimes with peaches if she has no kiwis) I am sooo fed up of it, we have been eating it at every birthday party for the past 15 years.

admylin · 05/07/2008 21:05

Dd loves those cakes, anything with sahne and torte in the name but I never make them - they are often bought base, tinned fruit and cream with gelatine in aren't they, yuk.

admylin · 05/07/2008 21:06

I alos hope dd has a good time, but am worried - her rash has come up on her legs and she only gets that now when she's excited or worried but I guess it's a mixture of boith and she keeps asking if it's Sunday and what time she has to go to bed!

MmeLindt · 05/07/2008 21:13

Mil does make her own base, but she uses loads of the gelatine guss stuff on the top. I feel bad about scraping it off.

admylin · 05/07/2008 21:15

Have you started packing for your holidays yet? I've got to face that in a couple of weeks, packing the house first and then packing our cases for Texas - 3 weeks and not sure if I'll get to wash and iron stuff when over there (although should be possible at SIL's )so need to pack loads to keep us going.