h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi,

So I'm guessing you were in an area of Germany near the Dutch boarder (since the long frikadellen are usually only to be found here - the Rest of Germany swears by the round ones)

Curry ketchup - when I was a kid here (Germany) curry ketchup was made by mixing the normal stuff with curry powder. Delicious. I miss it (they don't do that now)

Hope you have/had a great Christmas

Sho

This post has been removed.

Hi,
Ohmigod! It always surprises me when someone reads my page!!
I moved to Waldfeucht about 4 years ago (exactly 4 years ago, that is) and am in the process of moving to Erkelenz (about 20km up the road), but I've spent most of my life here (I'm English) due to being an Army brat. I lived up north (Soltau, Bielefeld) and in Detmold and then Krefeld, and Heinsberg. But I was a soldierette too, hence lots of places. I work near MG now in Willich.

I have no idea about Frika(n)delle, but I'm a veggie, so I have no real experience. I'll ask around though. I'm off to Holland shopping tomorrow (I live 5km from the boarder ) so I'll do a bit of research.

So, are you German? You kept up the language pretty well.

Got to go, hometime!!!!
Sho

Happy New Year!

Well, as promised (what we do for the guide, eh?), I went to Holland, and when my daughter (very nearly 4) said she was hungry I dragged her round until we found a snack bar which sold them. You know what I mean. And yes, it is spelt frikaNdelle. She said it was very tasty (ate every crumb) but I'm not so sure. Long, grey, probably horse...... still, given how picky 4 year olds can be I was glad she ate it.

love
Sho

Sho, you absolute star.

Happy New Year to you, too.

When I was very nearly four frikaNdellen were definitely my favourite food in the whole world. So I understand your daughter tucking into hers.

And yes, I do know what you mean by the snack bars. I'm an RAF brat, and have dim memories of driving to visit friends in RAF Bruggen (we were at Rheindahlen) and we'd stop at a roadside Schnellimbiss place. (Being Brits we mangled this to call it a Schnelly. I suspect we weren't the only ones ). Frikadelle and chips with mayonaise was a real Friday night treat. I'm a bit concerned that people are STILL talking about them being made of horse meat. It almost sounds as if it must be true....

So how was your xmas? We had a great time here. Snow, alcohol, food chocolate and plenty of christmas cake with Wensleydale cheese. (you'd think my life revolved around food wouldn't you?). Also saw all our friends and family, which was very nice.

Speak to you again later

tiptop

Hi,

Isn't it strange how on h2g2 we bump into people with whom we have remarkably lots in common:

ie: Frikadellen, Army/RAF brats..... my favourite food combination ever in the world is Christmas cake and Wensleydale. (My German neighbours think I'm totally mental. Ditto my American neighbours who can't believe I eat it (Wensleydale) with Apple Pie, and my Dutch colleague who watches me eat strawberry jam and Wensleydale sandwiches at least 3 times a week!)

I lived in Northern Germany (Soltau - the end of the universe, a one-horse town whose horse had died decades before i got there), and our treat was chicken and chips from the van which stopped outside our house on Friday nights. Chips with mayo - goes without saying. And now a big treat for me (I'm a veggie now) is chips with mayo and Satay sauce (which I get in Holland). Yum. (btw: I'm not convinced about frika(n)dellen being made from horse meat. Well, not 100%.......)

Christmas: well the eve was good, wrapping pressies for the kids and building their dolls' house. The day itself: good, until about 4pm when the Gruesome Twosome (ie. my girls) started fighting about the dolls. (they ignored the expensive dolls' house most of the day in favour of plastic "princess crowns" - typical I suppose).

New Year was so-so. Husband was working from 14.30 (military ways tend to stick) until about 23.30 (he's a chef) and it was Nr. 1 daughter's 4th birthday, so I had to spend most of the day playing with the new kitchen/washing machine and various baby-doll accessories. Bliss! I envy you the christmas cake though - we didn't have one this year. plenty of , and though to make up for it.

Do you also have fond memories of BFBS radio, in the days before English TV here? Or are you a lot younger than me???

Sho,

Hi Sho

yes, I've been thinking about the way we meet people and spot the similarities. Is it because of the site itself? (It is H2G2, after all. If it had been called www.football-violence.com I guess none of us would ever have visited.) Or is it that you only need a handful of encounters with people to differentiate between the ones you are similar to and the ones you aren't? Or is it that when it comes down to it we've all got a lot more in common than anyone would have expected, and it's easier to find similar than disimilar people?

And another thing (whilst I'm feeling philosophical). When you're on your own (new school, new job, new website) you do your best to spot similarities and make friends, but when people are in groups it suddenly becomes Us And Them. Hmmm, Us And Them always emphasises the differences, but You And Me emphasises the similarities. That single/plural thing must say quite a lot about us.

Anyway, that's enough of that. I'm sure there's a sociology/psychology thesis in there somewhere, but I'm not the one to do it.

Back to Xmas....shame you didn't have a xmas cake. I sampled quite few this xmas, and I have to admit that I prefer the really moist ones which people try and avoid making because they sink in the middle. Lots of fruit, plenty of alcohol and no nuts. Mmm mmmmm.

Living in Germany....I was too young to remember much of it. I lived there between '75 and '77 and left when I was four (making me nearly 28 now). I don't remember having a TV when we lived there, but maybe I just wasn't interested. I'm pretty sure that BFBS was alive and kicking, but again, no direct memories. Most of my memories are of the latter part of my stay there, which was that famously hot summer. SO lots of going out to paddling pools, daytrips to towering gothic cathedrals, playing outside our quarters, that kind of stuff.

When we lived there Germany was still a very clean, tidy, orderly place and Britain was going through that awful tatty, disheveled time that characterised the seventies. Having quite an anal family (and I mean that nicely!) we've ended up as strong Germanophiles as a result. (Is germanophiles a real word?)

Oh, look at the time, I really must go, I'm afraid. Loads to do at work.

Will write again later

Take care

tiptop

Tip-top of the mornin' to you!

Of course you're right that we're all drawn to h2g2, and then within that - especially after having visited someone's space, or replied to the same thread - we will meet like-minded people. But it never ceases to amaze me how often I bump into people like me (!) in a forum...... that is the nature of the beast.

And the You/Me and Us/Them thing is also probably right - although I'm not a psychologist.

I love really dark, moist, alcoholic, nutty Christmas cake. Look, I'm slavering all over my keyboard here. I got one measly peice of German Stollen this year, which was nice, but the marzipan doesn't go with my carefully hoarded and preserved piece of Wensleydale (courtesy those nice Mr. Marks and Mr. Spencer in Cologne). Still, there's always next year....)

I first came to Germany in the 60s. I was 3 (ok, I've just turned 37, so at my great age you can expect me to have forgotten most of my early life by now). It was great. I remember smells and tastes from then, and sometimes walking past a baker's van (for instance) am instantly transported back. At that time there was no English tv for us, and BFN (predecessor to BFBS) was very much like the Light Programme (ie. boring) in UK. But it was tidy, and the people didn't yet hate us.

I was back again in the late 70s as a teenager. Small town, and I was the "wired punky English girl" I was invited to lots of parties, and was the only English single woman over 16 and under 25 within about a 50 mile radius. Distinct lack of boyfriends however, due to the Father's rank. hmm. Germany was beautiful then, booming, clean, lots to look forward to, and still didn't really resent the Brits too much. In the 80s I came back as a Soldier, and it had all changed. Which is a shame. Now I have days when I wonder why I stay here, but then, I've spent 25 years here, so it's all I really know. And I'm working on them, some of my German friends even think that friendly shop-assistants might actually be desirable Flaming Norah, I'm ranting again (having a bad week - sorry!)

So, back to work for me, and later when I get home I have to show my kids my user page here, because of my bouncing pirate egg. Sigh. Then we have to look at (URL removed by moderator) and then I get peace & quiet to watch Stargate from yesterday. Life, don't talk to me about life!!!

Sho

Hi Sho

am busy busy busy today so no time to write. I'll continue this Germania next week

Have a top weekend

tt.

PS Where does your name come from? Is it related to your real life name?

Hi,

I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours..... actually, Sho is what my mum and husband call me, short for Sheona. Which is my name.

How did you get to tiptop (a tiptop moniker if you don't mind me saying so!)

BTW: have you looked at the Germania connection? That covers all things German, has the list of articles to do with Germany etc. Try it, you'll like it! (they also have an e-group run by Trillian's Child which is very very busy)

I'll have a crap weekend: daughter's 4th birthday party, 8 of the little blighters to entertain and I hate kids!!!! Thanks for the kind thoughts though!

Sho
- I'll need it plus a

Hi again

How was the weekend? Did you survive the birthday party? Were there tears and tantrums?

No, I haven't yet looked at the Germania collection. Have kept meaning to, but it's just a matter of making time. I don't have the internet at home and when I'm at work - well, I really should be working.

As far as 'tiptop' is concerned, well it just popped into my head one day years ago. I think it was the first chat room I visited. Since then I've used it when doing webby things. I like having different names for different purposes - there's the one your mum calls you, the one she calls you when you're being naughty, the names your friends call you, the name your partner calls you, and I have a professional name too. And now I have a web name.

By the way, are your girls bilingual? I guess they (will) go to German schools. I've always thought it must be such an advantage to be brought up speaking another language.

Anyway, must go and do some of this much-fabled work

Take care

tt.

Hi,

Well the party wasn't as bad as expected, loud and a few tantrums, but no worse than a normal day at our house! I'm not really used to boys - but they were mostly fine. I was thinking of you on Saturday when I was in Holland with Daughter Nr. 2 - she was stuffing her face with an "ausage" (she mostly misses the first letter off words) which we know better as a Frikandelle. Yeuch.

Do you get confused with all the names? Different people call me different versions of my name, mostly based around Sho, and when I send a multi-addressed e-mail I have to sign off with 3 or 4. It's very confusing.

Daughter Nr. 1 is just about fully bilingual. She has been attending Kindergarten for a year, and most of the other parents there (who know all the kids just by their first names - her name is Dutch) assume she's German. Daughter Nr. 2 speaks some German, it depends upon which language she is addressed in. She won't let me speak German to her, however, which is a pain when other kids are there and I have to say everything twice. She has just started letting me read the bedtime story in German but it's very grudging! I'm actually jealous of them. I have spent years learning languages (French, Russian, Latin at School) and German grammar really gets me sometimes - although I'm just about there now. I'm hoping to start Nr. 1 on French soon (just simple stuff) because she does understand what languages are, and we have 3 French speaking friends.

Well, I have to crank up the wheels of industry for another day (sigh) still - only 4 days to the weekend (and more box packing)

toodle pip
Sho

More box packing?

Is this for the forthcoming move to Erkelenz? Do you have a date for the move? How will the girls cope with the relocation?

I meant to say, I was looking on multimap at the places we used to live/visit and it's dead close to Erkelenz. ( (URL removed by moderator) scale=100000&gwidth=700&gheight=400&client=M4&db=w3&X=702500&Y=6617500&width=700&height=400&down.x=12&down.y=22 ). I never was able to find Waldfeucht though. I take it it's quite a small place.

My lovely fiance is working in Frankfurt at the moment, I just can't get away from the German connection. Must go for a visit sometime, it's just that when holidays come around, Germany isn't the kind of place that comes top of the list.

Are we (Brits) really that disliked over there?

Right, better get back down t'pit (swap for suitable twenty first century expression)

More later,

take care

tiptop

Good morning, nearly the weekend (only 2 more times to get up at an ungodly hour)

We're moving bit by bit, since we had to sign the contract for our new place starting from 1. Jan, and the old contract ends on 31st Jan. So every night we pack a bit (in the boxes that I can scrounce from our warehouse people) and at the weekend we spend the mornings schlepping them in and out of cars. The kids love it, the new house has loads more room and (this sounds wierd) has open plan stairs going up through the middle of the hall & living room (it's on 3 floors). They really tire themselves out running round and round the staircase.

Waldfeucht itself has about 1,000 inhabitants, but it is a smallish village with outlying farms. It is the head village in a group of about 20, total population 3,000. The village where I currently reside has a Schnellimbiss, a paper-shop with a cafe attached and a post box, and currently comprises about 400 persons! I've lived there 4 years and it's the first time I've lived in Germany where the neighbours are actually friendly (actually they're nosey, but you don't have to tell them everything, do you?) Finally I got to know one of my neigbours (she's American and babysits too sometimes) and we're moving. Pah!

I can understand not wanting to spend holidays in Germany (although Bavaria is nice at this time of year if you like snow) - especially not in Frankfurt (West Frankfurt or East? - they're both horrible but for different reasons). How does your fiancé like it? Is he a banker, there are millions of them there!

I find that as long as we speak German, and don't come from the Base we're more accepted here than military Brits. All the time I was here as a soldier I had German friends, but I know plenty of people who only ever went to the Mess, the SKC cinema and the NAAFI. The Germans really resent them for some reason, but now they're slowly all disappearing the locals have begun to realise just what that means in jobs going and the loss to the local economy. I think it's just a case of "individuals are ok, but masses aren't" Just like we are with the Germans

I'm off t' pay Mill owner fr permission t' go to work......

Sho

Morning Sho

Have I actually caught you on-line?

Let me know if I have. I'll post this now so it appears in your home page, and carry on writing another one.

tt.

Hiya

Isn't it always the same? When you're getting ready to leave a place you realise just how many people you know at the old place and how much you're going to miss them.

So what's the reason for this move? Is it just to get into the bigger house, or is it a move to reduce commuting time? We've just moved from Southampton to be closer in to London, where we're both (nominally) working. We thought we didn't know a soul in So'ton and then, just as we were about to leave we found out that about half a dozen friends or friends-of-friends lived nearby. Now we're having to go through it all again.

Oh, and I ought to stop the confusion. Fiance is a she, not a he. In general I've been trying to avoid the issue of gender, but it doesn't seem as important here on H2G2 as it does on other chatrooms (blokes either take the macho role or try to chat you up, depending on whether they think you're M or F) but I think I've been here long enough now to find that everyone's bright enough not be a pain about such things.

Anyway, on with the plot. Fiance and I are both kind-of-techies (me more so than her) and we're both doing work for big banks, one German, one Dutch (bet you can't guess who they are!). And I don't really know where she's working. It's a bus ride from the airport, but I guess that could be anywhere. Doesn't sound like a terrifically inspiring place though.

I think I understand about the Germans not getting on with military types. When we lived there we were in flats which were half locals and half RAF. The German ones were neat and tidy and well kept and all had flower boxes on the balcony. Out of the RAF ones ours was the only one with flowers. And again, we used to shop at the local shops in MG and Rheindahlen, but most people only ever went to the NAAFI.

Where my parents live now (in Yorkshire) there's a lot of resentment between locals and armed forces personel - and they're all the same nationality. So it's easy to see how it happens in a different country.

Right, I've got to do some work. I'll check back again later on.

tt.

Hi,

oh sorry for calling you a girlie (you know what I mean) I just assumed that when you wrote fiancé you were using the male form (told you: language is my hobby!) When you getting married, anyway? I know what you mean about the chat up thing, although it doesn't seem to happen too much here ( ? ) which is nice.

My American friend has lived in the village for 3 years, me for 4, and we only got together 6 months ago during a very stressful and sad time for me. Over it now, just about, with her help. She had gone through similar things and understands. She can't have kids though, and I'm worried that she'll get sad when she can't see my two every day - although due to work etc, she and I communicate mostly by phone and e-mail: even though we can see each other's houses! (typically American!) Other people who I will really miss, live mostly about 20mins drive away anyway, so it's not so bad, we'll still get together occasionally. That's enough waffle....

We need a bigger place, and now I finally have a decent wage we can rent one, with the added bonus of shaving 20 minutes of my journey to/from work. The bathroom is tiled brown though (yeukkkk) with green bath etc. S'pose I'll have to live with that for at least 6 months (husband just wrote off "my" car, so the bathroom money went on a replacement).

Have you ever been to Frankfurt? I hate it. Once I was robbed at a cashpoint, 20 metres from a security guard, at lunchtime, in the station by a junkie. It's a pretty amazing story, but I'll only tell if you're really interested! It mostly looks like a building site, and the people there are all so far up their own a***s that it's beyond a joke (all highly-paid W.... sorry, bankers. Oh, probably some of your best friends are bankers (actually some of mine too) don't mean to offend. Accross the water in the old part of town it's nice though. And if you're into Chinese food, not far from the station is the Tse Yang - which is fantastic.

I understand how the Germans must have felt about us, but I don't understand how they could just sit there all those years letting us defend them from the Russians (I used to be in the Intelligence Corps - and my German counterparts were less than useless) while they complained that we drove like maniacs and stole all the best women. Well, I didn't personally steal any women, but you know what i mean I think. Now they complain more about the Turks, Albanians and Russians, which is horrible. Although, I'll give it to them: the Germans know how to make flats/houses look really nice on the outside, especially at Christmas.

Where are your parents? (another coincidence here) mine also live in Yorkshire, in what is, for lack of a better place, my "home town". Sheffield. Actually they live just outside in a rather nice village, but soon enough it will join the sprawling mass that is Sheffield. My Dad retired (finally) last year, and now he doesn't really know any more military types. He's just busy getting in all the holidays he missed out on paying boarding school fees and going on exercise!!

Oh, boring your pants off I expect. Well, it's nearly home-time, and since it's Wednesday it's my favourite evening of the week. Kids in bed, husband out cooking and Stargate SG-1 to drool over. Sad and pathetic creature. Who me?


Sho

Hiya Sho

Even more nearly the weekend now, the suspense must be killing you. Have a good evening? Enjoy Stargate?

I'm such a buffoon. Now that you mention it I vaguely remember that there are two forms of fiance (is the feminine form spelled fiancee, perhaps?) I've never learnt French at all (not that I should use that as an excuse for not knowing such a common word) but I'll make an effort to get it right from now on.

Wedding will be sometime next year. There's SO much to organize first though. What a mare. Fortunately, though, we're both quite good at writing lists (anally retentive? us? surely not) so we should survive the event. I'm looking forward to it really.

New House - Mmmm, brown and green bathroom sounds lovely. Why do people do it? What on earth persuaded someone to go out and buy a green bathroom suite and a box of brown tiles? There's nowt so queer as folk, as they say back home.

Speaking of which, my folks live about as far away from yours as it's possible to live whilst still being in the same county. They're right at the top of North Yorkshire - Catterick in fact. Father's still in the RAF, but becoming more disillusioned by the day I think. I don't think it's much fun being in the forces when we have no enemies left.

So what do you do? What's the great new wage rewarding you for?

Frankfurt - no I've never been there myself. Been past the airport at a zillion miles an hour whilst hitch-hiking around Europe, but that's it. It turns out that she's actually about 25km from Frankfurt itself, in a real arse-end-of-nowhere kind of place.
Yes, tell me about the daylight robbery.
As for bankers - yup, I'd have to agree, for the most part. The world revolves around them and the rest of us should just accept it. And here in the City there's no getting away from them. AND they've pushed the house prices way up, with their big fat annual bonuses. Fortunately, I don't know any directly, just lots of people who are in the industry, doing techie and support-type jobs. (And they're alright)

Right, must go and work or I'll be in for the high jump.

Take care

tiptop

Good afternoon,

Actually I hate weekends. I'm not good with kids and I just want to flop, they (of course, more so because they're girls) want to play with Mum. And my poor old DH has to have a break from them sometime.... it's lovely to have them, but sometimes......

Stargate (do you watch it at all?) was also disappointing - although very letchable. *Slurp* I must be going through my mid-life crisis if all I have to look forward to on a Wednesday is letching some Canadian Love-God whilst sipping too-hot nescafé and munching my dejected way through a packet of chocolate hob-nobs.... time to shoot myself or get a life

And... you don't have to know French (yuk). I just assumed. Which is more naughty than not knowing French. And since you can speak German I shouldn't worry at all.

When you finally get to your wedding (there is an entry about handy tips for planning a wedding, to which I contributed, I can't remember where it is, but you can get to it via my page - if you can brave your way past the bouncing pirate egg.... don't ask!) don't forget to enjoy it. At mine I was plastered most of the time, it was great. And there's nothing anal about writing lists (is there?) I make them all the time. Different colours for different things, and I file them daily! (I really do need to get a life)

I did some of my basic training in Catterick (I started in the Royal Signals) and I have to say that I hated the place. Yomping round (really) with mud on my face, half a tree in my head, lugging a machine gun (unloaded) and schlepping half a tank in my back pack (that's how much a radio weighs). One time they made us learn (for working in the dark) the difference in taste between petrol and diesel. Yum. Mine's a large diesel My DH comes from Middlesborough, and we go to Catterick from there sometimes. Yuk. I assume (there I go again) that your father will hang on until pension time? Or does he hate it that much? That's what you get for joining the light blues instead of the snot greens!

I work in the European office of a Korean company. We manufacture TFT LCD displays (which are rather nice) and I "assist" in the sales department (ie slap my 2 sales boys into shape) and in the general day-to-day running of the office. Which means I order the paper clips, but I also deal with all major crises - in English and German, sometimes in both. Only 2 major ones a day or I have a tantrum and go home. It's a lot of fun, and the money is good - more than I expected after 3 years "enforced" maternity leave. Tell me about your teching? I'd love to do that, but it's too late to re-train, and really talking on the phone is what I do best.

Daylight robbery: somehow this guy pressed the DM400 button at a cash machine and made my card eject and ran off with my money before I knew what had happened. The security guard didn't flinch the whole time! I made my report in the police station and went off to my trade fair (networking stuff, yuk) That evening I was walking through the station with a male colleague and he said "is that where it happened" - I had just collected a chinese takeaway, and had a bag full of junk from the show - I looked over and there was the guy, same gear everything, robbing a young backpacker! I dropped everything, ran into the police station - which was about 5 metres away - and breathlessly told the chap behind the counter. The 4 uniformed staff all jumped up, only to shrink back again when a door burst open and 4 ruffians waving pistols ran out, one ran back grabbed me by the hand and dragged me after him. The backpacker (about 19, blonde, shorts, long legs...) was standing bewildered by the cash machine, the police had gone into the bank. I followed with my own ruffian and the backpacker, and there were 3 policemen kneeling on the robber, guns pointing at him! They did that pulling his head back by the hair thing (I was almost feeling sorry for him by this stage) and we identified him. Statements to the police (the other girl was American and spoke no German) and we were bought beer by the police, then by my male colleagues, then by all the men in the bar..... everyone offering my new pal a space on their sofa.... Anyway, that was it. As far as I know it never got to court, but the chappie was well known for robbing people at the machine and then either buying his next fix or paying it onto his account!

Still awake?!

One of my friends is a banker (ex-friend) and I met up with her and some colleagues in Frankfurt for a drink. What a bunch of (can I say t**sers here?) Still, someone has to do it, I suppose. Glad it's not me really, burned out by the time you're 30 and on the scrap heap at 35......

Well, I'm off home soon, but not before I've had 44 more cups of coffee and a few more fights with customers. Life....... it's ok really when you consider the alternative!

love
Sho

PS Is your fiancée on h2g2?

Hi Sho

How goes? It's all gone a bit quiet. Let me know when you're back online.

Hope all is well

Take care

tiptop