Germany Schultute

[SSSandy]

Hello everyone
Don't think this is the right place to post this but I couldn't find a more relevant spot.

What actually goes in the Schultute apart from sweets. My dd isn't big on sweets and chocolates? We still have a heap of chocolate eggs and things left over from Easter which I don't think she will ever eat.

Do you just put in things related to school like little notebooks and pens and things or maybe small items of clothing, like t-shirts? It's quite a lot of space to fill up!

My kids aren't into sweets so much either so they got a wrist watch, a mini alarm clock (to be able to get up for school!), some little dot-to-dot books and word search books and some alphabet biscuits (russische brot), a couple of smallish toys - can't remember exactly what they were but one was a key-ring soft toy that they all hang on their school bags.
Some kids had loads of sweets and other kids got really expensive stuff and toys as if it was christmas. Our stuff didn't cost a fortune but I reckon on average all added up it was near to 50euro per tute and the wrist watch was a good one sent from the grandparents.

Thanks Admylin! Great tips there. How are things? Berlin seems a lot nicer once spring sets in, doesn't it? After reading some threads on UK education, I must say I'm starting to feel more comfortable about sending dd to school here. Seems more free and relaxed on the whole.

Russisch Brot, ok know that one, the watch and alarm clock are good too. Found some nice glittery felt-tip pens with gel inside. Aren't they huge though, those Schultuten? I had a look in Wertheim yesterday; they seem about the same height as dd!

Do they open it at school or when they get home after their first day?

Yes, I can imagine that a lot of the kids in our school will be getting expensive gifts, just judging by the expensive brands of clothing and shoes the children wear. One mother was telling me yesterday I have to be careful what sportclub I choose for dd so she doesn't mix with the wrong type of people(!). She looked me over when she said that and I couldn't help feeling she was considering whether in fact we were the right kind of people! I told her I was thinking about enrolling her for fencing since she loved the 3 Muskatiere show. That met with approval, seems fencing is suitably elite.

Pencils, nice pencil case, pretty notebook, maybe a nice photo frame for the 'Einschulung' photo and a nice book appropriate to her level (or, if she can't read yet, for reading 'when she can'), musical instrument like a recorder?
sadly, some kids/parents are very OTT and competitive with their Schultüte presents. Unnecessary IMHO.
Where are you in Berlin Sandy? Sounds like Grunewald or Zehlendorf?

Our 2 got to open the schultute after the first lesson, there was a ceremony/assembly with the school choir singing a welcome song and the headmistress made a speach then all the kids had to hand the schultute over to a parent and follow their new teacher for the first lesson- then the parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles (some kids had the whole family with them) got to drink coffee in the hall and then after one lesson the first school day was over and first homework handed out then they all looked in their tute and the majority of the kids and families went out for a big lunch in a restaurant.
I also tried a new club for ds (judo) and while I was waiting I listened to the other mothers talking about the competitions and how their child had to try harder and be more aggressive in order to win and one mother was fed up because her ds had won a bronze medal and he was happy with bronze but she figured he should always aim for gold..! Thankgoodness my ds didn't like the judo so we will try another sport but in another club. Have you any experience with Russland haus in friedrichstr? It offers quite a few kids courses and apparantly you don't have to speak or be russian to atttend.
We are counting the days now till we go to my parents for 4 weeks in the summer holidays - can't wait. I feel really stressed in my life at the moment so it will be great to relax.

Photo frame! That's a really good idea, wouldn't have occured to me. We gave her a recorder for Christmas which is a shame because that would have been a really nice idea for the Schultute. Still, I'll have a look in the music shop round the corner here - harmonica maybe?Why is it always half past 5 on a Sunday morning when they feel inspired to play these instruments?!

We're in Wilmersdorf FIT.

OK well bought the Schultute yesterday. It isn't quite as huge as I thought, should be able to fill it up. I know we are way too early buying one in May, but dd saw it and had to have it. It's bright pink and covered in Disney princesses...

So next thing is the Schulranzen.

just read this out of curiosity..isn't it amazing how different things are between countries you might expect to be very similar!

Actually zippitippitoes, I think that was one of the things I found hardest about adapting to life in Germany - that I wasn't expecting things to be very different. When I went to live in Morocco, I expected everything to be very different, so I went with a much more tolerant frame of mind, prepared to like all the differences or at least adapt to them. I find that when I meet up with British people in Germany, we are always going on about how maddening the small differences are. It's weird, seems the more different the foreign culture is, the more tolerant of it you are.

The things that annoyed me most when I got here were small things like people calling me at home and asking "who are you?". That riles me so much, if they call me, shouldn't they tell me who they are first? But here it is customary to answer the telephone just by saying your surname, which seems so unnatural to me that I never do it. I just say "hello" and then get asked who I am. Grrrr...

The other thing that annoyed me was that when you are standing at the lights and there is NO traffic at all, you still should not cross when the light is red. I did of course but got told off for it so often. People would even make an effort to come up to me and point out that I had crossed the street at a red light! Err... yes but I know that! Yes, I would say but there was NO traffic. Still, they would say, you are not allowed to cross at a red light. For some reason, people who look like Hippies take this very seriously when I expected they would be most laid back about it.One even walked down the street after me going on and on about it, because I'd said it was up to me,wasn't it, whether I crossed the street at a red light? Oh the joys of travel!

I've only visited Cologne and I was taken aback by the fierce attitude towards crossing the road..and jay walking.

Oooh SSS. Don't get me started! I live in Germany and was once stopped by a policeman on a bike because he thought we'd crossed the road on red (was with kids at the time) - we hadn't....just

I could go on, but it would become an anti- Deutsch rant. Happy Muttertag, btw

You really need to discuss cultural differences over a glass(or bottle or two ) of wine...

Admylin, I didn't see your last post until now. So they do open the cone at school, that means there will be an element of competition in it I suppose.

I hope you have a really nice break at home, 4 weeks sounds great. Don't think I could stay in dad's house for 4 weeks though, without some TENSION

I would love to have a break. I find when I'm away from Berlin, I'm incredibly tense for the first 4 days or so, then I start to loosen up. I must be really hyper hyper in my everyday life here I think. I didn't have a break last year (my mum died when we were about to go away, so of course that fell through). It's been a hard time since then, I've been feeling more depressed and glum than usual. This year dad has just told me he's booked to come and stay with us for the whole of July so unless we arrange to go up to the coast or something for a couple of weeks while he's here, we probably will not have a summer holiday again. Still it will be nice to see dad, have to think how to keep him occupied though.

Franke, whereabouts in Germany are you?

Yes SSSandy, 4 weeks is great to relax, the best thing is the kids relax and become totally different kids - because I feel relaxed and at home they also relax and venture off down the lanes and in the park with their cousins. I know where I used to play as a child and nothing much has changed so I guess they feel the vibes that it is safe. Our old climbing tree is still there and the stream where we had our "club" and the hills where we went for picnics, it is paradise for children where I was brought up. Here I have no where to let them have a bit of freedom, they are always with me.
I must admit, I have to take out time from my parents too - but then we just pack a picnic and go down to the lake for the day. My parents have got set in their ways and they enjoy having their little arguments and their afternoon snooze, so we just clear out if they are ratty and come back later - evenings, as soon as the wine is on the table they cheer up anyway! One good thing about staying in Berlin in July is that it is fairly quiet in summer. I came to visit for the first time last August and we were flat hunting and I was amazed that the rush-hour was practically non-existant. Even the underground was really quiet.
I've got my dd at home today with fever and headache so better go and check on her. Since we came to berlin my 2 kids have been ill quite a lot , I think it could be the "stress" of the move and not liking the school , losing friends etc..hope it gets better soon. Used to hardly ever be ill, ds was off school for only a few days last year, this year it goes over 3 weeks altogether.

Actually I think the water here is a problem. It's supposed to be good but I wonder about the quality of some of the old pipes it passes through and what nasty things are in there. Our building is an old one. I've taken to boiling and filtering water, might be excessive behaviour though. Dd gets dry skin and bouts of rashes which she never gets when we're not here. I've heard similar things from other people too. They come out in rashes or their skin feels itchy when it rains. Mine does too here in fact.

I suspect we are suffering from the environmental pollution in neighbouring countries too - wafting over. Would love to live in a more rural setting or near the coast, I'm sure dd's skin problems would clear up completely then.

My GP warned me against over-heating. He said the children who get sick a lot in winter have warm flats. He said to be sure and switch the heaters off at night, even when it is very cold at night. Last winter I started turning them down to "1" and I did have the impression that she got sick less frequently than was the case in the past.