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 "

Hallo to my German friends,

I am also a German. Scotland 30 points.

I don't think that the test was one of the "real" Einbuergerungstests though, there was one recently in Die Welt and it was questions about geography and literature. Much more difficult than that. A lot of the questions were basic common sense.

Admylin
Good to hear that DD got home safely, if a bit hungry. That was not very well organised, they should have factored in the risk of stau.

LOL at Cliff. Mum went to see him last year, I asked if she took a spare pair of knickers to throw at him.

Since we are all being so honest, I will admit that one of the first records that I bought was Cliff. I cannot remember which song. The other single that I bought at the same time was Super Trouper from Abba.

We were in the town today and I bought myself some new Crocs, two pairs
Don't tell DH.

These ones in brown

and these ones in black

I don't think that they look quite so Croccy.

My DB's fiance is in hospital today, she was induced this afternoon. Her due date is tomorrow and they decided to induce as she is 41yo. Strange, I am sure that they would not do this in Germany. I hope she is ok and everything goes well.

I found another test here, it is very similar to the other one. I got 32 out of 33 on that one.

I would imagine that the biggest problem would be for people who do not speak pretty good German. There are a few questions that you have to look carefully at.

I cannot see that reasonably educated Germans would have any problems answering most of the questions correctly. Except maybe Podolski.

Mum was wakened at 3am to go to the hospital with DB, SIL's labour had kicked off.

She phoned about 7.30am to say that SIL had an epidural and everything is going ok.

Argh, come and help me here bloody 'S'

MmeLindt, better hadn't tell your dh about those crocs, nice prices eh! It is paradise shopping for clothes and stuff back home hough isn't it? I usually manage to fill a whole suitcase with new stuff when we go home. My mum is just geting me some nice things from Fat face in town now as she knows how bad it is over here to get really nice clothes. will be looking forward to my parcel.

You'll have to watch you don't get broody when you see your new niece/nephew! I do when I see little babies. At the Sommerfest there was loads of pregnant women walking about as if there is a baby boom approaching, haven't seen so many for ages and there were laods pushing prams with new born babies in too. They'll be needing new primary schools in 6 years time!

I am waiting patiently for the M&S sale to start. A saleswoman let slip that it starts on Thursday. With the pound being so weak at the moment there are real bargains to be had here.

Still no news from SIL. No worries about me getting broody, I just remember the last pregnancy/labour and the baby blues fly away.

Last year I got dd loads of school polo shirts in pale blue and black school trousers in
M & S, she wears them all the time. They are really good quality too. I think she half pretends she's going to school in uniform which she would really love! This year she wants the school sweatshirts from her cousins school, they're maroon!

lol, Mum was asking if she should get a uniform for DD. I think that she would prefer the little gingham dresses, the girlie that she is.

My dd refuses to wear dresses and anything with pink on! She got into those awful Die Wilde Kerle films and wants to be like one of them. In the last film they were all dressed in black tatterd t-shirts, baggy sweatshirts and leather long jackets and rode about on moterbikes so I can guess what I have coming in terms of fashion from her. The maroon sweatshirts are fine for now!

I keep offering to buy her a pair of pretty slip on shoes or sandles but she looks at me as if I've gone crazy - she lives in her trainers.

o, I got 31/33 on that test. Got the one about the number of EU states wrong (well it keeps changing, doesn't it?) and the one about where you register your dog. Correctly guessed the author of the national anthem lyrics. Some of the options were pretty ridiculous so the answer was usually obvious.

Admylin, my dd sounds like yours. Not at all into girly stuff. She will wear dresses sometimes but definitely no pink. She's also into 'die wilde Kerle' atm and keeps begging me for one of those t-shirts. I wouldn't mind but they are horrendously expensive in some places. I have seen them for about 14 euros but I still think that's a lot for a t-shirt. Perhaps for her birthday.

Any news yet, MmeLindt? I get a bit broody when I see tiny babies but I quickly banish all thoughts of having another one.

I have the ultimate girly girl. She can climb trees better than most boys her age though.

Funny, DS is a complete BOY, racing cars, tools, football. He is off with Granddad now putting up a tent for the BBQ this afternoon. He took his toolset with him. (DS not my Dad)

DS did put a dress on last week though and was most upset when I did not let him wear it to kita.

No news yet.

Hope your db's fiance is alright ML. Any sign of the baby yet?

My dd isn't the least bit girly girly either. Sometimes I feel a bit disappointed that I can't put her in a dress and a nice hairband or something but I suppose it's less work this way. She just wants shorts/trousers and a kungfu t-shirt or something with a dragon or aliens on it. Maybe a cute dog at the best. Wonder if it all changes dramatically once they hit puberty though?

Jeeez, is it always this difficult to get Kindergeld? Admittedly it took the UK six months to send a single letter to confirm I wasn't getting UK Child Benefit...
OK, so Kindergeld are now asking:
Haushaltsbescheinigung mit amtlicher Bestatigung con der fur Sie zustandigen Meldebehorde - what is this stamp I need and where do I get it from? My local Rathaus?
In welcher Hohe haben Sie fur August 2007 noch tatsachlich Kindergeld in England erhalten? - I've already written to say my last England payment was in July? What do they want to know now?

Any help would be gratefully received as we really need this money. I'm in a bit of a rush today but would love to chat. Dh is sitting upstairs doing work and sending me to sort out paperwork chores while the children sleep.

Cheers

Meldebehörde should be at the local rathaus - just take the letter with you and ask at the reception area maybe.

They could just need another letter with your signature to bestätigen that you didn't get any money since August.

Reminds me I must tell the Berlin Kindergeld place that we're moving. Last time the move went very smoothly, I told the old place we were moving and at the same time I told the Berlin place we were arriving and I didn't have to wait at all for any payments, and I did it all with emails.

Thank you, thank you thank you, Admylin. I suspected I needed to visit the Rathaus - must do it when DS1 is in Kindergarten otherwise it's a nightmare!

you could take the kindergeld forms to the appropriate office in person as well? I would tell them that you need the money, and ask them to check that everything's there, and beg to hear something as quickly as possible.
I do sympathise - ours took ages of to-ing and fro-ing as well, before we finally got it.

I am an AUNTIE!!

Sarah Jane was born at 2.30pm this afternoon.

It was a long hard labour for poor SIL but Sarah is fine and healthy so that is the main thing.

As far as I can tell from the photos, she has red hair, so a right wee Scottish lassie

Congratulations MmeLindt! That's fantastic news. I bet your whole family is over the moon

Oh well done getting here Sarah Jane! YOur poor SIL ML, sounds like she had a rough time.

Good luck with the Kindergeld thequietone. I think the Meldebehörde would be where you registered your address, so I don't know how they do it in Munich but here I would have gone to the local police which is where I had to register dd after she was born. So wherever you had to go to register your address, that's where I'd go to get this form they want.

You will I think have to buy/get the form they want there (reception), get your waiting number, fill out the form and wait to get it stamped. Stamps are everything here, they aren't much interested in signatures. So all they want is that the Meldebehörde is basically confirming that what is on the form is correct. It's not some special stamp just the official will stamp it as correct IYSWIM.

Make sure you take your passports, police registration etc with you otherwise you may have to go back again.

I would write another brief letter confirming that your last payment was in July and that you received nothing for August and attach a copy of the letter to that which you already sent them. And hopefully that's enough.

Yes, congratulations and welcome tothe world Sarah Jane! Is it SIL's first? You can give her loads of tips MmeLindt! I remember when you have atleast one, you suddenly become the wise mother to all expecting first time mums!

I should be packing - but have spent half the day ironing the usual stuff and dd's washed clothes from the Klassenfahrt, had to have a shower as the ironing was hot work, then I started in the kitchen, looked like a gang of teenagers had been having a party as the dc helped themselves to bread and drinks and cereal while I was ironing, so had to tidy, then cook lunch then tidy again and now the dc are meantt to be sorting their room out but ds found a stash of Knete (I hate that stuff but he had to have it for school 2 years running)and now they're making things and I'm exhausted so half an hour on here and a glass of white wine then I'll cosider further action.

sigh, consider

how is your packing coming along?

Not very far on yet I have got a load of paper and rubbish that I've sorted out to go down so that's a start and I have a huge pile of boxes right up to the cieling just waiting for me to fill them!

I got to work on dd's room yesterday. Couldn't clean it because it was too messy and I filled a binbag with what I considered rubbish, she considers treasure. Thankfully I threw it out just in time before she came home. Looks heaps better. She won't part with anything. Are your dc like that? She wants to keep baby booties, rubber ducks, those things toddlers pull along behind them, every piece of plastic rubbish she was given as in her lifetime... even broken bits of crap. She even has a bobby car in her room and i keep tryign to at least move in down to the garage , if not the cellar but she always wants it back. She says she likes things that remind her of when she was smaller.

I can't throw things away without asking, I was so sad when my mum gave away some treasured books of mine when I left home aged 17. I know I was alot older but it really hurt as they were special to me and she thought they were useless (one was the complete works of Shakespeare) so I always ask and try to convince indirectly that they can part with things!