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 "

Mummy,

it's fantastic in summer but you can feel quite isolated here in winter. It takes 1.5-2 hours to Glasgow depending on traffic. We have barely any shops and I had ds in a hospital with midwifes only. Which meant that I was brought down to Glasgow by ambulance on the Sunday before Christmas through the icy Highlands because I had lost about 2 litres of blood and they worried I wouldn't stop bleeding. It all was fine in the end. I went home the next day but thinking about what would have happened if I would have needed an energency C-section still makes me go all weak in the knees.
It's beautiful here but sometimes it would be nicer to be a bit closer to a bigger city.

I am back! And I was successful, thankfully. We now have a lovely house near the French border, the rather remote one that I agonised over for days. On paper it seemed too far away, but it is so fabulous that I overcame my fear of sitting in the garden, staring at the lake while ommmmmming

It is acually only about 500m from the village centre and the village does boast a post office, a bakers, a village shop and several cafes, not to mention a wine bar. And of course, most important a lovely school.

The house is great, much bigger and fancier than we had hoped to get, with very poncy parquet flooring and a fireplace. We have a guest room, well a Granny flat really as it is two rooms plus an ensuite bathroom. The bathrooms are shockers though. Ernest, are all the Swiss bathrooms so ugly? I saw 8 houses and almost all the bathrooms were horrible. Avocado suites

We will also be very safe in the event of a nuclear war as we have our very own bunker in the cellar. Check out the pic on my profile, the estate agent was showing me how to close the window and put the air filter on. He said that most Swiss use them for storing their wine. So, if the worst comes to the worst, the Swiss will survive longest and be the merriest

Good to see that there are some more people around, all us freshly moved fold will be able to keep each other sane. I can just see Admylin going into the bakers and chatting to the saleswoman. I am sure that the saleswomen in the bakery in Hannover used to hide in the back shop when they saw me coming. I could almost hear them saying, "Nein, Hilde, da kommt wieder die crazy Engländerin. Ich gehe nicht raus, mach Du mal..." I was so desperate for adult conversation that I would chat to the postie if I could corner him.

Gracelo/Mummyfor3
of both of you as you are in my Heimat, even if the weather is shite this summer. We were on holiday oben in Oban, it is a lovely area though I don't know how I would feel about living there.

What was it someone said recently about being a love refugee? She meant when you move to a country to be with your DH/DP. That is what we are, love refugees.

Anyway, better get off to bed, I have had a long day today.

Good to hear you found something mmelindt, it sounds great too. We once went flat hunting in Berlin for 3 days with the dc and didn't find anything. It was an awful feeling going back on the train to south Germany knowing it had all been a waste of time and money. I can't believe dh isn't getting any money for this relocation and we have to pay it all our self. There are so many things misisng or that we still need and we're now sitting waiting for pay day (he gats paid on the 15th) and getting frustrated because I'm sick of not having a light in the bathroom or the dc not having lamps to work at their desks - that's just a small part of what we need. I think your dh has atleast got a decent company to help with it all - does he join in on things like which curtains and where to buy them? Or is that all your job?

I hope you don't leave our German corner when you move - atleast not at first, and then keep coming back to see us now and then even if you set up a Swiss corner!

Hi everyone. I'm back from holiday, we had a very relaxing two weeks in the south of France. Bit sick of baguettes for breakfast every morning though. I actually missed a really decent solid German loaf of bread!

Congratulations on finding a house MmeLindt, it sounds very nice. Have you got a date now for the move?

Congratulations on your move too, admylin. I think you have done brilliantly. Especially moving when jetlagged! I remember that feeling everytime we flew back to Hong Kong after being in Europe for a couple of weeks. It was horrible and always took me at least a week to feel normal again. I also remember the nightmare of unpacking badly labelled boxes. The night we moved, dd insisted on having her teddy to go to sleep. But of course it wasn't in any of the boxes labelled 'soft toys'. It had been put in a box full of books to pad it out. Anyway I hope you can begin to feel settled soon.

Welcome back taipo. Baguette is best if enjoyed with some nice french cheese and a bottle of wine - maybe some grapes but for breakfast we used to have pain de campagne which is the French version of healthy bread! My friends little 2 year old boy used to have a big bowl of tea (yes, black tea with milk in) and about 5 or 6 biscuits dropped in, looked awful but he ate it!

Isn't it strange how countries like France and Germany have such different eating habits even though they are so close. I can understand UK being different as it's an island but even when you just cross over into Strasbourg you get the french bakery and the butcher with totally different foods to over the border. When I lived in France I loved the food and only ate French style - didn't even crave for marmite or branston or crisps but when I came to Germany I couldn't adapt to typical German food at all.

We've just ran out of marmite so have to decide, do I wait 'til the end of September when my first visitors from Scotland will be coming over and could bring us some or do I go and buy some at the English shop but the prices are really high. Ds would say buy now - he feels bad when we don't have marmite in the house!

Definitely agree about the bottle of wine. The campsite we stayed in was next to a vineyard so of course we had to sample all they had to offer.

I've never spent much time in France, apart from an exchange trip to Paris when I was doing A'level French - I stayed with very nice family (despite the father, a policman, having dodgy right wing tendencies) who seemed determined to fatten me up (those were the days when I looked as though I needed fattening up!). I like the food there but I don't think it's my favourite cuisine. I like a lot of German food too, especially all those big hearty meals that really fill you up! Actually I think I just like all food really How long did you live in France for?

4 years and I never NEVER intended on living in Germany - I only came here to learn the basics of the language and then go back to France to finish studying and work and live happily ever after, sigh, the good old days.

We've still got Marmite supplies here. Actually I haven't eaten any for ages and the dc seem to have gone off it for the time being. It doesn't really go with German bread though, does it? When I worked in an office in London the highlight of the morning was going to get Marmite toast from the cafe next door.

Funny how things turn out, isn't it? What made you stay in Germany?

I know it's only right with white toast and real butter isn't it! Not very good if you want to watch the weight! I've just made coleslaw another thing I never ate in France but it reminds me of home so I make it when I'm homesick! Just reminds me of the summers in UK with picnics at the river or lake or garden parties and there's always coleslaw!

Met dh and he now works in Hannover although when we see a good job offer in UK or US we apply and I secretly send off his CV to jobs in France now and then but up to now no luck. My dc would move tomorrow, they love England and Scotland and they'd take the US as a second choice.

Mmm, love coleslaw, even though I was once forced to eat some really disgusting version of it at infant school by a really horrid dinner lady. I ate and and then threw up!

lol at secretly sending his CV off for jobs in France! I don't suppose you're in any mood for moving again in the near future, are you?

I was at infant school in the days of forced milk. We had to drink a little bottle of warm full fat milk every morning, yuk.

No you are right, I really have to get used to this new place though. How long does it take again to get settled? I think it's taking longer than last time and the flat is going to take longer to get finished. H (dropped the d from dh again!) isn't much help, he's only interested in his new job at the moment.

I think it takes at least a year to feel settled anywhere and often longer. Actually I'm not sure I've ever had enough time to really feel at home anywhere as 5 years is the maximum time I've spent anywhere since leaving home at 18.

We've been in this house for just over a year now and although it has a lot going for it and is in a lovely area it doesn't quite feel like home yet. I really need to start working again I think. I feel a bit aimless atm.

Have you manage dto find some friends taipo? That's getting to me this morning, I used to go out with a friend every Monday morning when we'd dropped the dc at school in Berlin and I really miss not having her to talk to. She told me all her family problems and we could talk about everything. It's going to take me ages to get someone like her in Hannover.

I made good friends with the mum of dd's friend at the first school she went to in Karlsruhe. Now we've moved, I still see her but not so often. I haven't really made any close friends here yet. There are lots of people to chat to as all the neighbours have young children and a lot are new to the area but I wouldn't say any of them are real friends. There is one woman I've seen a bit more of recently but she admits herself that she tends to keep people at a distance so I don't think that will develop into a close friendship. It's so hard, isn't it? Sometimes I really have to force myself to be sociable - it's not something that comes very naturally to me but I do need friends so I have to overcome my shyness/paranoia every time we move.

hello ladies, sorry I think I should have posted here... might any of you happen to know about taking kid out of primary school during term time? He's in year 1... many thanks for any help!

Actually we've got our very own German school thread - have you read it yet? They are quite strict in some schools and in others not. We used to live in Berlin and the primary school didn't really care, but here in Hannover the school has sent out 'the rules' already and they only allow it for a death in the family, to attend a funeral.

Thanks for your advice, admylin, will ask a German speaker here to draft a letter to the school today. Off to school thread now!

Oh, hope it doesn't shock you too much but it's meant to be there to give support and let's face it - we nearly all need it where German schools are concerned!

I have been busy all weekend, with my Mum. She has left so I can get on with normal life and MN again.

Admylin
Yes, we are very lucky that DH's company are so great in paying for the removal and we also get an extra allowance for any expenses not covered. So we can buy carpets or lamps etc. We have almost felt a bit guilty about accepting all that they offer, as they are very generous.

DH lets me decide most things but he does stick his oar in occassionally.

I agree with Taipo (Welcome back, Taipo!) about needing a year to settle in. Might be easier, depends on how quickly you find someone to be friends with.

We are looking forward to the Boulangerie in the village. (have Í spelt that right?)

Must nip upstairs and check on DD. She went up to do some drawing about 30 mins ago and is very quiet.

Morning! I've just been too chatty with the postman - I have to get some people to talk to, this can't go on or he'll be leaving my parcels with the neighbour instead of ringing my bell, although then I can talk to the neighbours when I go to pick it up eh...I always miss them when they go out by the time I've opened my door to pretend to be going to the letter box or something they've gone.

Was thinking of inviting them round one evening but it feels wrong and h isn't in a sociable mood either.

So when is your move date now mmelindt? One thing I did right before the move was, I got 2 new files and I put all the important stuff out of all the other files in there to carry with me so I had the last school reports, birth certificates, online banking papers, mietverträge, electric, cable and phone contracts so I had all the stuff I would need to deal with in one place. At the end I walked round with my 2 files in my arms as if my life depended on it! Anyway atleast if I couldn't find most of my stuff, I was able to find all the documents that you normally need.

Admylin
Good idea with the files. I have most of the stuff I need in several files around my desk but I need to sort out the most important things. I am just about to order a portable harddrive so that I can secure all my computer files and photos, just in case. I might scan passports and birth
certificates so that I have copies of them too.

I know what you mean about accosting the postman, our postie in Hannover got a wary look in his eye when he saw me approaching.

Are there any groups that you would like to join? Perhaps a gym? That is what I am going to do when I arrive in Geneva. And of course a French course, perhaps I will meet someone there.