**German Chat**everyone welcome* - macht es euch gemütlich

[ZZZen]

reden wir weiter...

gah it's too HOT. Have to have another coldish shower before I can face going out.

But MiaD, that is not a typically German thing. It's almost impossible for me to make friends (other than at work) here in my rural bit of Scotland. Most of the other parents at nursery are locals and have plenty of old friends and family around and no need to make any more. It doesn't help that I have been working full time since ds was 3 month old and never attended any toddler groups or the like. The only mother who actively befriended us is a non-local, Scottish, but from the Boarders not the Highlands & Islands.
And just in case you're wondering: I'm actually quite nice in RL and chatty, fluent in English, I can talk about all kinds of stuff, from house prices to GB politics and that Matt Smith looks like a horrible replacement for David Tennant as the Dr, it's just nobody seems to be particularly bothered.

god morning - I haven't been on really all week, as been madly busy with Gerneral life, plus lots of organising boys 1st week.

I think it does take a long time to meet people, but I don't think it's necessarily worse here than in many north european countries. I didn't find UK or Ch much different. I've had a very lonely year here in Munich, but finally feel like getting established. Some people seem to just arrive and have laods of frinds. You know who you are. Come on ML, tell us your secrets to scoial success.

Well, my boys have completed their 1st week of school. I have to say, I was really nervous about moving them into the German school system, to the point that at first, i didn't even consider it, and whern I realised IS just wasn't working, the next obvious move was to return to Uk. The we looked at areas and thought we'd be mad to trade Munich fot that. So only then, with MUCH fear, did we turn to the German schools. ANd do you know, this week has far exceeded anything we could have hoped for. The boys have had a brilliant week, already made lots of frinds. They really like the school, they really like the Hort. Ds1 is really chuffed to be doing Handarbeit again - he did this in CH too but not in IS. I know it won't be all roses all the time, and the aparent horrors of the 4th Klass will be upon us, but for a new start that we were all really scared about, it could not have been any better

Oh, and we have got a Humax box, so dh is very happy in tech heaven. And I got a new house phone yesterday, our old one has been driving me mad for the last year, so I'm playing getting that set up - even left the answer machine message in English and German!

Now, briefly, the weather - is there any chance of a middle ground between scorchio and tropical storms? Fell like I'm living in bloddy Indonesia or something.

I think it is more an age thing than to do with place. You meet people easily when you're in your 20s studying or working and people are more laid back (and also spying around eagerly for partners). You also meet people via small dc since you have to accompany them everywhere and hang about chatting to kill time.

After that you have to throw yourself (in DL) into some Verein or you teach English and then you have more of a social life than you can cope with

Don't know the answer to Gracelo and the scots though. Perhaps if you were to prance around your garden naked singing in German whilst you hang up your washing you might soon get to know people! Otherwise I think you have to take up Scottish dancing and tossing trees about really

Zzen, I totally agree that it is an age thing. I knew half of NZ when I left after 5 years and I'm still in contact with many friends from my time in NZ but I was a student then, I had time to hang out and talk and meet people. Even my 2 years in the US as a postdoc were different. The weekend after I moved into my Portland flat I went cross country skiing with my new house mates and about 20 of their friends who became my friends very quickly.
My neighbours who are loveley and have children the same age as mine wouldn't bat an eye lid if I would dance naked in the garden. I'm tempted to give it a try though. They are used to me hanging out the washing in my nightie. They are the few close social contacts we have here.
It didn't really bother me until a few weeks ago when my dd was the only one of the children in her age group at nursery who wasn't invited to a birthday party. Now, I'm not someone to worry about that sort of thing normally but that really brought it home that we are still the outsiders, no matter how nice everybody is to us. I don't think the mother of the child excluded dd on purpose, she is very nice. I think she just plain forgot her because we are not amongst the people she knows from her local friends and we never show up at any activities outside nursery because I work until 6pm.
Sorry, long post, I suppose my point is that expat issues are really quite similar no matter where you move to or from.

Hi guys, sorry to gatecrash.
Could you please tell me what this means?

Fahrzeug ist von Privat keine Gewährleistung

You're buying a car directly from the owner and there is no guarantee it's actually working!

Hope that helps.

Thank you.

It helps.

But then again.

oh shit.

Is this common with German second hand car dealerships, do you know?

I think so... but not sure, I have never bought a car off the owner. Good luck though!

wow its taken me a while to catch up on this thread - you lot have been busy on here!!

so we're home alone until tomorrow without the kids after going to a wedding yesterday and i cant sleep!!! didnt get to bed till nearly 3am after the wedding so had a huge nap this afternoon and i'm now in the wide awake club!!! good time to catch up on MN!!!

that was my first german wedding experience and it was a great day!!! cant say much about the town where they live though - it was in the East near Leipzig - felt depressed just being there!! even dh who is from the East was scathing about it - it just looked so rundown - even the people walking about the streets looked rundown!! made me glad to come back to the Rhoen!!!!

You can add that to your list of places NOT to visit!!

Not sure either what the weather is playing at although its not been so wet here in north Bayern as i think its been in Munich! still muggy warm though!!

gracelo - not sure what the answer is about making more friends with the locals - think it is hard because you're at work in the day - maybe its in the day that you'd meet those people! is there a playpark near you? what about going there at the weekend and making chat with strangers? this is my tactic in germany - its working a treat - i've got some nice friends already!

dh still off at the beginning of next week so not much MN time - enjoy the rest of your weekend!

why are you buying second-hand cars from Germany quint, I' m thinking you are in Norway? I would actually go to Germany, it's not that far and buy from a dealer if you can. That way you will get a guarantee. You need to test-drive and so on, see what exactly you are getting.Not that I would have a clue myself what to look for). I take it cars in Norway are very expensive?

Cars are THE big status symbol in Germany if you ask me, so people replace them before they are utter heaps and you might well get a good deal.

glad you enjoyed the wedding canella. There are really some desperate looking dumps places in East Germany but then you drive a few kilometers further and discover some really sweet place. I always wonder about how they sorted that out in the DDR that some people lived in a nice house with a big garden bordering on a lake with their own Steig and boat and others lived in a cruddy 2-Raum (as they call it) flat with a toilet outside on the landing and an oven heater indoors which needed feeding with coal and newspaper. Was really very inequal not just for the Bonzen.

Mind you es war wirklich nicht alles schlecht. If it had not been such a paranoid existence (Stasi etc), at least it didn't matter so much who you were and what you had, people seem to have really been with people simply because they liked them and I do like that being a snob is totally verpönt in the east. After all it didn't much matter if you were Professor at the Humboldt university or cleaner in the Ubahn, you probably both wore the same plastic summer sandals with shorts and your kids wore the same washed out east jeans, you had the same brown crockery and formica kitchen tables and people coped alright with it and with each other

zzzen, that is right. I can get a campervan in Germany for under 10.000 Euros. The equivalent van here would cost £25k.

The van in question IS from a dealer. It is getting iffyer by the minute, now it is a private sale from a dealer, no guarantee, and only CASH acceptable. THINK NOT.

Have found a different dealer near the Danish border, might be easier. We want to suss out a few cars online with the same dealeship prior to going, so we dont go and find they have no van suitable for us.

We had campervans before, we know sort of what we are looking for. But need to look at the van and test drive first of course.

Morning.

I am delighted that it is not too hot. I don't like heat. otoh, it has rained torrentially every single day I think for at least the last 3 weeks. wtf is going on?

I think if dd takes up Irish dancing we'll be sorted, but that's a few years off yet. In the mean time I must work on our (non existant) social life.

generally I don't mind hotter weather but needto be in the countryside/mountains/at the seaside to cope. This is a bit unbearable. I find I shower about 3x day and still don't feel fresh. Have to admit I am looking forward to autumn ernest. So your holidays have begun now?

Quint, if we can help with translations or anything, let us know. Hope you get a decent camper. How are you settling in these days in Norway? Are you still living with your parents?

How's everyone? How are all the babies coping? Schulte? Frosch?

Is it Monday again? Ugh.

After two weeks of scorching weather, it finally broke yesterday afternoon. Poor little DD has a horrible heat rash. It was 32 degrees last Thursday and an old bat berrated me for not putting socks on her. She nearly got a poke in the eye but I was the epitome of British self-restraint.

Zzzen - I've never been to Paris and it's only a couple of hours from here on the train but a lot of people I've spoken to feel the same way you do! I guess it's only worth going if you're REALLY young and totally loved up.

Am not coping very well at the mo; DD's a diffcult baby, always crying unless she's feeding and rarely sleeps during the day. Am feeling very isolated too. This bloomin' weather doesn't help.

Canella - are you still running?

you poor thing Frosch, this weather is awful for mums with little babies. She is still so small, isn't she? I hope she settles soon, when her stomach is a bit bigger and she can hold more milk, she and you might both be a bit happier

Not pleasant to get out much in this weather, unless you go for a walk in the early morning. Any chance of wheeling her out in the mornings for half an hour with dh befroe he leaves for work? I suppose you can look into Mutter-Kind groups in a month or so. They may close over the summer holidays but most churches have them for instance.

Do you think she is getting enough milk, is she putting on weight ok?

hello, this will seem a little strange but can anyone help me with a translation.
my german ex inlaws are arriving this afternnon. Last night my tooth broke and I have to explain to them that I have a dentist appointment at 4.30, and can they please look after dd for about an hour.

thanks!!!! A nice sentence would be great, as opposed to me fumbling with the dictionary.

Ich muss um halb 5 zum Zahnarzt weil mein Zahn abgebrochen ist. Waeret ihr so nett und passt derweilen auf dd auf. Danke schoen.

you are a star, thanks so much for doing that.

they will think i have learnt german !!

ZZZen - thanks for the kind words. She's putting on weight at about 200g-300g per week, which (apparently) isn't bad for a breastfed baby. I was spoilt with DS, he just ate, slept, pooed, ate, slept, bathed, ate and slept. She is being an aggravating little madam.

But I do love her.

I need cheering up. Where are MmeLindt's embarrassing hen-do photos?!?

No problem, hope your tooth will be ok.

Can I hijack in a shameless fashion (again - I've done this before )?

I have DS1 in Berlin on an Erasmus exchange. He will be 22 on Saturday, hates cake but loves apple pie, and that is his traditional birthday cake. Does anyone happen to know contact details of a shop/company in Berlin who would deliver such a thing? I do realise what a long-shot this is, but then he is my PFB...

Many, many thanks.

PS - any thoughts on custard? Readily available, or a weird English thing?

we are not a closed secret society hassled, don't be shy. there are lots of nice bakeries but whether they deliver I'm not so sure, still for a small fee, I am sure most could. There is a nice bio bakery in Wilmersdorf but for the moment I can't think of the name.

You could try Lezard:

here

go on klassische Torten/Kuchen and scroll down to see the apple cake. Is that ok? Has peeled sliced apples arranged in a kindof swirl on the top.