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

[SSSandy2]

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 "

Is it backe backe Kuchen? I found this text on the internet. My dd says she doesn't know it. See if it fits the one you have and come back and ask if you don't understand anything!

Backe, backe Kuchen,
der Bäcker hat gerufen.
Wer will guten Kuchen backen,
der muss haben sieben Sachen:
Eier und Schmalz
Zucker und Salz, Milch und Mehl,
Safran macht den Kuchen gel.
Schieb in den Ofen ein!
Schieb in den Ofen ein!

Backe, backe Kuchen der Bäcker hat gerufen,
hat gerufen die ganze Nacht,
Marie hat keinen Teig gebracht,
kriegt auch keinen Kuchen.
Eier und Schmalz
Zucker und Salz, Milch und Mehl,
Safran macht den Kuchen gel.
Schieb in den Ofen ein!
Schieb in den Ofen ein!

Yes, that's it!

Thank you - DS2 will be pleased!

Yes, SSsandy, it is a bit stressful. Not much to actually do but lots to think about.

I know Backe Backe Kuchen, Oma sings that to the DGC.

actually the house in the wee village might be good. You could do with some calm when all this is over to recover from it.

There is that.

But also the danger of being too close to the lake to throw myself into in the depths of winter

It is all go today, Einschulung von DD this morning, conversation planned with the relocation guy this afternoon, and emails to lots of behörden in between to sort out krankenversicherung, kindergeld etc.

When are you off on hols, SSsandy? Did I miss where you are going?

the lake will be frozen

Gosh there is a lot of hassle involved in moving once you have become a bit settled, isn't there? You know I think Switzerland is going to be a fantastic experience.

We are going to the Algarve, leaving tomorrow. Think the weather should be nice and hopefully it's a relaxing time.

If you wanted to ML would you be able to work in Switzerland?

Ooh, Algarve. I have always wanted to go there. My Aunt has a house there, but sadly has never invited us for a visit.

I would be able to work but I am not sure if it would be worth it. DH is going to be taxed up to his eyeballs as the company are paying for the house so it will count as Geldwertervorteil. This means that our tax bracket will be pretty high so I assume workign selfemployed will not make much sense. I don't know if they have soemthing similar to the ?400 jobs.

We have an appointment soon with the tax advisor person so we will ask him all the details.

I have just had a parcel from a friend who I met on another forum (weightwatchers, ha, you would not know it to look at me at the moment, still waiting for the weight to drop off due to stress!) She sent DD some Diddl notebooks and pencils and a book for DS. Very unexpected and so lovely.

people can be so kind, often when you least expect it.

speaking of weight-watchers
Hmm went shopping with dd this morning, she has outgrown all her shorts/summer trousers in time for the holiday as per usual. Thought I'd get myself a couple of tshirts whilst we were at it and OMG the sight of myself in those mirrors has horrified me. I am still feeling a bit shell-shocked and managed to not buy a chocolate eclair on the way home.

Just catching up with all your news. What a relief that the contract has finally been signed MmeLindt. Now you can really begin to plan your move. How did the Einschulung go? Ds starts school in September so I'll be asking for advice! Haven't planned anything yet

I guess SSSandy is already sunning herself. We're off on Friday to the south of France for two weeks. Can't wait.

Taipo
Don't feel bad about not organising anything for the einschulung. We only decided that she was goign on Friday so I had a mad rush on Sat morning to get all her school stuff, finished the Schultüte on Monday evening at 11.30pm and went to town yesterday afternoon to get her gym shoes.

All this in between phoning/emailing the guy in Dublin who is organising our move and arranging to go to Geneva in 2 weeks.

The company are very keen for me to go there and see a few houses rather than take one unseen as they don't want me to turn around in 6 months and say that I hate it there and want to go home. So I have agreed to go when my mum is here, without DH, who trusts my judgement.

Remember the house with the view of the lake? Turns out is is just minutes from the French border, not even in a village. Just a cluster of houses. . No matter how idyllic, I would go mad. So that has been scored off the list. Just waiting to see what the woman in Geneva comes up with.

How does anyone organise this kind of move alone? I am so lucky that the company are paying for all the assistance. We also get Switzerland training, about life in CH.

I hope that SSsandy is sitting on the terrace drinking red wine and relaxing

I will be left alone on this thread soon, Admylin in Texas, Sssandy in Portugal, Taipo in France.

I think I would go mad too if I was anywhere too remote. Not that I've ever lived in a village though. Perhaps I'd like it if I tried it. That's good that you will get to see some more houses to choose from.

Am wondering what the Switzerland training involves. How to make fondue, perhaps? You'll have to let us know

What did you actually fill the Schultüte with? Am struggling to think what should go in it. And do you think it would be really bad to buy one and not make and design it myself?

lol at how to make fondue. Not sure, but the company that organises it are in Denmark They are all mad, guy in Dublin organising a move from Germany to CH, Danish woman organising a "How to be a happy Swiss person" seminar.

I made DD's Schultüte but with a template from a book that they had in kita. You do get half made ones which is quite a good cheaters version.

The DCs with bought ones did tend to get lots of sympathetic looks, with Rabenmutter looks at the mum. You might bet away with it being British though.

I filled it with a big huge bag of popcorn and some little bags of Haribo. Then some bits and bobs, little notebook, pencils, hairclasps... From the cheapy shop around the corner, like poundland.

look, cheaters Schultüten

Howdy dudes! We're back, got here yesterday and are totally jet lagged, dc have been asleep for over 12 hours now, I keep checking on them but they just don't want to wake up!

Houston was very hot and I was glad to come back to Germany (that doesn't happen very often after I've been away!) and am now deep up to my neck in last minute washing and packing for the big day on Monday - Hannover here we come!

Will catch up with all the gossip later, hope you're all having a nice summer holiday wherever you all may be!

Welcome home Admylin. I was just thinking about you the other day as DH was in Hannover.

Phew, you are going to be busy this weekend!

I have just sorted out my cellar and garage. I am having a garage sale next Wednesday. Have loads to sell. A friend from kita was just here so I have made my first 30euros already

Got to run and distribute some flyers in the village.

Wow, this jetlag is terrible. I've never had it so badly. I keep having to fight to keep my eyes open and we've been wide awake at ridiculous times like 5am every morning. I'm still packing, sure if I didn't have jetlag I would be finished and able to enjoy our last day in Berlin. I had promised the dc we'd go to our favourite restaurant for an abschied meal and then to our favourite Italian Eisdiele but I'm not going to manage it

How are you coping mmelindt with not getting moved when you wanted to? You really wanted to be moving this week too didn't you?

Ds had a lovely gebastelte Schultüte that looked like a lion but dd wanted a bought one so I gave in and she had a princess one nearly as big as she was at the time. I put a watch in (gift from granny) and an alarm clock and sweets and rubbers and most dc got one of those little key ring furry toys to hang on their bags. Ds got a bionicle too and I can't remember what dd wanted - whatever she was into at the time.

Well I'm packing the desk and computer now so that's it 'til I get it set up again in Hannover. I can't remember where I packed the screws for my shelving and my bed so I haven't been very good at writing on boxes but I don't care. H moves on 28th so I will try to keep some stuff for him to help with like putting wardrobe together etc. Can't unpack 'til all the stuff is rebuilt!

Good luck today with the move, Admylin. Are you in Hannover yet?

If you cant be bothered cooking the next few days, try out Bagel Brothers on Lister Meile. The zoo restaurant is not bad, you don't have to go to the zoo to get to it, it is open from 6pm (I think) for non zoo visitors. Both of these are not far from your new house, I think.

Also the fab Markthalle in the town centre between the old and the new Rathaus.

Everyone still on holiday or busy moving house?

We are doing well here, the guy from the removal company is coming tomorrow. We have sent photos and birth/marriage certificates and passport copies to Geneva to apply for work and residence permits. All going well, we should get that sorted in the next 3 weeks and so be able to move in the week beginning 22nd Sept.

I am off to Geneva next Wednesday, to the Rotary Hotel, which looks lovely.

We now have a house on offer near Geneva with a swimming pool Not sure if we will take it though as the garden is small (cause there is a bloody great pool taking up all the space) and it would mean having to put a fence up to keep the kids out.

How are you lot doing? Admylin, have you unpacked your computer yet?

Computer unpacked and conected to internet - priority really! The rest of the place is a mess, I am close to tears today because I just can't find anything and h is still in Berlin (and just told me about the Abschiedfest that is being planned for him by a colleague) so not in very good mood tonight.

I got up at 5am yesterday to start building our 4m long shelf unit so I could unpack the boxes with books in so I could find the dc's school books for today (I didn't write very clearly on the boxes when I packed 4 weeks ago).

I still can't build my wardrobe as I have to paint the besroom (was in the deal for them leaving us the kitchen) which means I have to scrat for clothes in 8 suitcases and bags. Anyway, due to the jetlag I didn't even dare have a drink as it would have knocked me out so I'm having my first cup of tea since Monday.

Otherwise the flat is (or rather will be) great - need advice on making our 2 balconys nice later. Hope your house hunt goes well mmelindt, sounds as if you'll be in a nice place and a garden would be better than a pool - I'd think you'll get more use out of a garden than the few months you could use a pool.

Yay, good to hear from you, Admylin, even if you are in a bit of, what my Mum calls a "guddle". You will have things sorted out soon and then you can relax and enjoy your balcony.

That is the nightmare bit about moving house, I think. Not knowing in which box the item you are seeking is in. And it is always in the last box that you open.

We had the guy from the removal company here today, he advised me on the customs restrictions. We are not advised to take alcohol with us as it is taxed on arrival and the whole thing takes a long time. So we will have to have a few parties to use up the several bottles of whisky and a bottle of gin, not to mention a bottle each of Baileys, Aperol, Ramazzotti, and of course a bottle of Killepitch, the Düsseldorf Kräuterlikör.

I do believe there is a bottle of Lebkuchenlikör in the back of the cupboard too.

Sounds like you've got enough for more than one party there! My house is totally empty of all alcoholic drinks at the moment. Even my cupboards in the kitchen are going to take a cuople of big shops to fill, you don't realise how much it is when you just replace things as they run out. I also have 2 bathrooms/toilets so have to buy double of everything at first to kit us out!

I've just spent 2 hours trying to put the curtains up in the living room and most of my assorted hooks are too big for the rail, the curtains are also abit too small really (every time I move I have to buy new curtains) so this will just hav eto do for now. I hate them, have tried to iron them but they still look crap and I don't know how to get to a Baumarkt to buy smaller hooks. Anyway back to work I suppose, I aim to get my wardrobe and bed put up this weekend and nothing else. My mum told me I'm over doing it and trying to be perfect and that's why I'm exhausted so I have to just do one thing a day and then try to chill and be nice to the dc as she heard me shouting at them the other day when she was on the phone. She's right as usual.

Where is everyone? At least you're still here mmelindt even if you have got one foot in Switzerland.

That is annoying that the curtains don't fit. You think they could standardise window sizes, like they do with almost all other things in Germany.

There is a humungous OBI in Hannover, the ohter side of the town from you though. There might be one nearer. In Linden, I think. I used to go there a lot. It was one of DD's first words. They even had a little creche so that I could shop in peace. I think that every supermarket should have a creche. It would be full of mums.

We are not allowed to send any food or beverages with us when we move which means it will cost me a fortune to restock our cupboards. I think I will do a big online shop from here before we leave, with delivery date after we arrive. Thank God we are moving to a civilised country with online grocery shopping!