Der Herbst ist da - wir wollen aber kein Regenwetter: Life in Germany cont/d

[finknottle]

Too lazy to scroll through the other long one.

Here for Obst und Blaetter - guess what d came home from school singing yesterday?

All welcome, Austria & Switzerland & any German-speaking Leute too

Hey there, TheGabster. I put out a post a month or so ago, asking how you were. We had a baby around the same date, I think. I also live in (near) Munich. How's it all going? I can my DS2 (7 months) crying AGAIN, so got to dash.

Hi Ernest, how are you? I'm totally thrown by this freezing weather. DS1 again cried when I dropped him at KiGa yesterday, and when I picked him up. He was asleep on a little sofa there. Looks like we totally knackered him out at the weekend. He's sort of growing out of a sleep in the afternoon, but clearly still needs it. Had a great night of sleep last night, and skipped into, and out of Kindergarten today. My heart is full of joy once more. I get so upset when he's down.

Hello fellow Müncheners. Yes, DS is 7m and we are doing really well thank you! Hope the crying was nothing grim!

I am in the south - near Wolfratshausen Ernst. Are you both in the town centre then?

Oh yes, cold weather has grabbed me by the goose pimples. Have had to order nice warm lambswool cosytoes for pram for DS as we have to go out with the dog at least twice most days and he freaks out when you try and put layers on him and you can forget gloves (he will have to get used to it - its only September FGS!!!).

Second the motion for a cat by the way. Love my doggie, but always had cats in the UK and was much easier on the holiday front. But cor blimey, how much for the cattery???? Where are you Ernst? I would charge much less to come and feed them.

I'm in Feldkirchen.

I'm about 35 mins from TheQuietOne, & 45 mins from you Gabster. Maybe we could organise a meet? I've got a 3 month old baby, you could all plie round mine or meet in the centre?

DH has warned me it gets colder here than in Zurich at winter.

I don't mind this weather really. Just a shock it's turned so quick - I was wearing T shirt at night just a few days ago & now it's brass monkeys!

Glad ds was happier at KG today TQO

OOoh - just off to bed and saw your message. Did not realise it was your first winter Ernest. Hmmmm ..... do you like snow?

Feldkirchen is up by the Messer, right? Would love a meet - will have to sort something out.

Nighty night.

PS I live in one of the highest villages in Greater Munich (out in the sticks), about 700m and 2 degrees cold than you lot!

cat

I stumbled accross this blog yesterday www.deliciousdays.com. It's a food blog by someone who lives in Munich. There are some yummie recipes but also a section on Munich with links to restaurant guides, reviews and stuff. Might be interesting for the Muenchner here.

Wee bit envious of you Bavarians living near enough to meet

Have just come back from the gynaecologist. Can't post this in general threads as in the UK you just go to your GP unless you need a referral:

Frage des Tages:

Frauenarzt oder Frauenaertzin?

Have had women in the past and for the last 7 yrs a man who's a great doctor with a friendly staff and that's not a given here is it? Never had any qualms about his being male but he moved recently. Spotted a sign for a practice with 2 female docs which is a bit nearer so today 1st time there. Saw the younger one, she was v good and v nice. Will stick with them I think.
Trying to work out if I felt more comfortable with her because she's female.

Same here, wish theer were some girls on here from Hannover!

I usually go to women gynocologists because I just don't think a male one can't really understand us femaales - how can he can possibly imagine what it's like to have period pain or to be pregnant? Same as we girls can't imagine what it's like to have a willy with a mind of it's own! I have to decide which one to go to now we've moved. I had a really nice young one in south Germany and in Berlin an old east German one who I was a bit scared of!

Lol at scary east German Frauenarzt!

I chose to go to a woman. Doesn't bother me too much but given the choice I feel more comfortable seeing a woman. In a way it seems a strange area of medicine for a man to specialise in. Or is that a terribly non PC thing to say? After all it's just another part of the body I suppose.

Hey Admylin and Finknottle (love the name by the way - is it something to do with Jeeves & Wooster?) - sorry to make you feel .

In answer to question of day, Oooooo nooooo Mrsss cannot go to man! Embarassed enough going FULL STOP. Stupid FrArtz insisting on sticking long probe in fandango every visit does not help(Ultrasound). Think I am just too "British" (thought of strange man looking at my bits ).

What's Hannover like Admylin - green or grey? Have they made you feel welcome? Is it very German?

I hadn't had a smear for the whole time I've lived here (nearly 5 years) but finally got it sorted a few weeks ago with my lovely as-wide-as-she-is-tall new Frauenärztin who was recommended to me by my midwife. I'm with you Taipo - something v odd about a bloke who specialises in women's bits

Wonder how mmelindt's move went. She'll have it even harder than me with this move as she has to swap languages too.

I cope with the German language all around me but sometimes just wish everyone spoke English! Lazy I know but it's one of the things I look forward to most when we go back home, hearing English everywhere so do the dc! I tend to block out the German if I'm in a public place and don't bother listening to what people are talking about in the train or shops and that's one of the first things I notice even at the airport on the way to UK, I can't stop listening in on peoples Englsih conversations!

I had phases of that too admylin, no longer, must have gone native
Think it's also about feeling at home/ease. Did you see that thread about homesickness?

Re the Frauenarzt, I reckon it might be to do with obstetrics vs gynaecology, i.e. OK when pg & discussing 'reproductive science' so to say but odder when discussing feelings or things related to your sex life maybe? I do like the fact that here you get a complete gynae check-up annually, smear & all, in UK I only ever seemed to go when I was stricken with something.

TheGabster, yes, name from PG Wodehouse. Don't feel bad, I may be a bit wistful about meet-ups but you can be that while you're freezing up a mountain, it's 21C on the suntrap which is my balcony

Anyway, a meet-up may reveal that I am indeed Gussie Finknottle, male newt-fancier with horn-rimmed glasses, a face like something on a slab and a propensity to swoon over dippy females who believe the stars are God's daisy chain (to paraphrase Wodehouse)

Well I have to buck the trend and say the best gynaenocologist I had was a man. He really was the lovliest gentlest man you could imagine. Maybe because he realised many women might feel a bit awkward he went out of his was to be as reassuring as possible. Unfortunately he died and his successor is a woman who is a bit brash for me and I vow every year to find someone new, but never get round to it. Although, have to agree it is an odd career choice for a man.

admylin, I´m the same with listening in on English converstaions, just don´t seem to be able to help it.

Good old youtube, watch gussie!

I've got visitors coming at the weekend and I still haven't got a light, mirror or shower rail in my bathroom. There just going to have to suffer it as we do! I've been round places but haven't seen anything and in my verzweiflung I ordered a shower rail (one of those telescopic ones) but they aren't delivering in time - typical. I've searched online for lights too but not found anything - or if I did it was so expensive I couldn't afford it. When I look on UK websites I find what I'm looking for and in a decent price range straight away, do you find that too?

There all complaining about the credit crunch on MN but they should come and do their shopping in Germany. Example the most basic shower rail here -so not a luxury version or anything special - was 29 euro. On Argos website they had them between 6 and 9 pounds.

That's exactly what I hate about going to UK tho - being aware of all the noise around me, inevitably heaaring all the convos & swaering. I like being able to tune out here.

My best Frauenarzt was a man in basel, last one also man, very good, but then in Germany, I went to one & he was a total misogynist, so found a femal one & she was nice but not great, so will be looking further...

Just got back from endochrinologist - grwth doc about dc3. She's applying to have him accepted onto a research trial for growth hormone. she said Krankenkasse wouldn't pay, as so expensive. If he gets onto trial, the profs pay for him for 1 max. 2 years. Then we have to pay - how expensive is expensive, I ask. Been told to reckon for in total about 200 000 euros two hundred thousand

So feeling pretty shocked right now.

Oh yes, Admylin - light fittings. I remember that one well. Why do Gemans like to pay so much for them?!! We went to Ikea in the end - do you have one nearby? Thanks for the link by the way - love it! Baby clothes are just as bad. MIL sends me Asda stuff by the packet load.

And yes, same with English chat - love it on the airport train - and takes me by surprise everytime I go back and the shop assistant talks in English - wierd. Are you fresh from the UK then?

Ernest, lean to the West and I will fan you - yeeks thats a lot of dosh. Hope I am not being rude as I am the newby and totally unaware of the issue.

Am I too new to the thread to warrant having a rant yet?

no, rant away

Ranting encouraged allowed

Ernest! Bloody hell! Mind-boggling. What options do you have?

Admylin - curse thank you, lol. Had just about weaned myself off YouTube cos my "just find some music to listen to while I pay bills" led to us having an awful lot of reminders. Never thought of searching for something like that, I missed the series as it was on before we got satellite TV.

Just had a call from the woodman. Apparently he's been calling our landline to get "Kein Anschluss unter dieser Nummer" - we switched from Telekom to Freenet rather unsuccessfully it seems. Told h & griped about Freenet only to discover he hadn't bothered installing the box they sent us cos he reckoned it would work with the old one

ha ha fn, is your dh always so useful?

Re ds don't know. 1st hurdle is even getting him accepted onto the trial, no guarantee he will be, but doc thinks likely, then they pay for 1 or 2 years. In this time it will be clear if the GF helps, in which case we have no choice but to pay.

Or it might not even work anyway, in which case the docs scratch their heads and try to think of alternative treatments.

Without treatment, estimated adult height smaller than me, and I'm 5'2"

What's the rant then, G?

Have learnt over the years to shop around doctors as the Germans do, one advantage of living in a nation of hypochondriacs
Helps to have a GP/Hausarzt who is actively on your side.

H is a geek, v good on the computer side though given to installing upgrades on my computer without warning which always take at least a week to run properly & lose my bookmarks/files... They usually get retrieved eventually but am thinking of 6 ft poster on my study door saying "No children or husbands allowed".

Typical geek, he goes for the easy string & chewing gum approach.
Also good esp re the children is that we have v good security.
Hopeless with mobile phones, TVs, satellite etc. but that's OK as otherwise he'd bugger up my Sky & I'd end up with "Good Morning Uzbekistan" instead of the Today Programme on Radio 4.

Ernest I think I would have fainted at that news. I hope ds gets accepted for the study.

finknotttle - dh is exactly the same with computers, always buying new updates that he says will only take 10 minutes to install, but there´s always a problem that takes ages to sort out.

Ah yes, the good old "only a couple of minutes" on the computer