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The Girls
MaraMara was quite keen to come to Germany and, even though she has had her own challenges, seems to be generally happy about life. Her biggest trial to date seems to have been the teaching style and personality of her teacher. She is still enjoying school but, with the language and cultural barrier, initially found…
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The Boys
JoshuaJoshua is now attending high school. They have a few different kinds of high schools here depending on your academic level and expected job vocation. Those hoping to advance to a university education generally attend a ‘gymnasium’ (pronounced GIM-narz-i-oom, with the ‘oo’ as in an Australian-pronounced ‘book’), with those going on to further education (technical…
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Ich habe fünf kinder!
This is a phrase I learnt early (in English it’s “I have five children.”). It was worth learning quickly to be able to see the whites of the local’s eyes grow as they realise. Usually their numbering system for children stops around three with two being the most common numeral. But they are very generous…
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Long Lost Goods Reunited with Owners
So after 4 months and 6 days (goods were packed on 20 December, 2004), we have been reunited with the 3.5 cubic metres of household goods we decided we couldn’t part with and should have with us while we are here. Items include a few cooking items (Gaynor’s knives and ‘Le Creuset’ cookware), the custom-made…
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Exploding Toads
A news item that recently caught my eye involved the issue of exploding German toads. As the famed Dave Barry used to say, “I am not making this up”. Now, being a Queenslander — especially one who did some (physical) growing up in a rural environment — I am not unfamiliar with the ways in…
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The People Truck
Or as they call them over here FolksWagon. While another Mercedes would have been nice (and there are plenty of affordable ones) we just couldn’t manage to find one that would fit the family and the budget. The overall price wasn’t so important — since we think the vehicle will have little or no capital…
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Residency!
Well finally Gaynor’s long suffering (as a British-born lass) has brought us a boon. After pressing the point with my employer — and seeking a second and third opinion — I was told that it would be no problem for Gaynor and the children, as EU citizens, to register their residency in Germany. Actually this…
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The Prequels Are Coming!
Since we’ve had such fun doing this blog, we thought it would be a good idea to write up a few significant events that happened prior to starting the blog. I’ve already posted a couple (PhD graduation and Karneval!) but others will also include happenings during our brief transit time in Brisbane (Christmas 04 to…
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Chocolate is serious business
Yesterday we had a change of plans. We did not visit Aachen as originally planned but instead a friend offered to take us into Cologne where there is a CHOCOLATE MUSEUM. Thats right your eyes are not deceiving you, a Chocolate Museum. An entire 3 story museum devoted to educating the public on the history…
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Holiday Überblick
The children have been on holidays for almost two weeks now. They go back to school on Tuesday which will be nice, though it has been nice having holidays and sleeping in. Fenton has taken this week off so we could do some sight-seeing. Here is a brief rundown of what we have been up…