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

Hi there!
I'm in a small (not as small as yours) village in NRW, Niederrhein to be precise.

I grew up in Northern Germany though, and I think, on balance, that I prefer it up there.

Hello Fellow Brit ...

I was never really good with geography, but shouldn't it be down here / there? To many people in your neck of the woods ... essen, dusseldorf.

You happy in Germany - plan to go back, or is there nothing to go back too. We sold our family home last year ... only my sister left, near Heathrow. And you ???

no plans to go back, we're both northerners but our children (the World Famous Gruesome Twosome) were born here and do the German school thing. So not much chance of them going back.

How long have you been here? I think that after a while it becomes home and you only miss things like Marmite and Branston

Lemon Curd (Make it myself), Digestive (get them from IKEA),Turkish Delights, Flakes

Still going back to England in a few weeks. My sister got married in Las Vegas the other week, and the people relatives (me) have been invited over to celebrate her wedding the second time.

I've been here for about 15 years now and love living in the countryside. Some things really got on my t*ts at the beginning, but I try to ignore them now.

I've got 4 children (all at school) and doing well. They understand English perfectly, but chose to speak to me in German, pain in the ****. But my eldest son is really a England fan ... and speaks to me in perfect English, when he wants something.

I will never go back (say never never) but one day I want to have a small house on Corfu!

I'm planning to do a coffee morning in the Internet-Café which I run (perhaps tea) for all the ex-pats here in the area. There used to be a BF base here and some people have stayed, got married and had kids.
I'm sure that many might like the idea of meeting up and talking English again.
Pet hate ... being called "ein Engländer" meaning British soldier ... wasn't one.

there were a lot of bases up there, I grew up in Soltau and at the time thought it a deadly boring small town.

With the language: I am very very strict. We speak English at home unless we're doing homework or there are other kids there who can't speak English. As a result they were a little unsteady writing and reading in both languages but coming on nicely now.

They do have divided loyalties though when it comes to although after the last world cup (when we had an English and a German flag flying) we took the England flag in and have resolved not to fly it again.

We are not far from Falling ... (but the eis-dealer is okay) and the Soltau Thermal is also great in the winter.

Is your wife German (mine is)? They say that children brought up bi-lingual home have problems later on ... we haven't seen this.

I also took the union jack in ... and I don't even like football. Guess that later, I'll have to take part with my kids football tournaments.

Do you miss Fish and Chips (proper)? Or do you make it yourself? I'm going back shortly and that is going to be the first dish of the day ... silly, isn't it? But my kids love it too (the misses, too!).

well, my husband is also a Brit...


and I have heard about the bi-lingual problems but apart from being slower readers I haven't had problems. If you want to know about that sort of thing Trillian's Child is a brit married to a german and her kids turned out just fine.

Although the way Germans tell you, bi-ingual children are a Bad Thing. I tell them to stuff off

oh Fally.... I didn't go there much, Soltau was enough for me

I have to apologise ... I've just been to your page and your not a bloke ... "Johnny Depp (gah, how perfect can one guy be?)" or a very funny one. I don't know what made me think that you are a woman ... please forgive me. Were you both in the Army? Or just your hubby?

Do you miss Soltau? --- there isn't really much there ... the train station.

I think I know why I thought you were a chap ... you wrote Fellow Brit in Germany! (Fellow equals man!!) Or have you been playing tricks with my mind - Paul McKenna!

well, fellow also means sort of "comrade"... and you never know, I could be gay (some of the members of the thread are definitely fellows and they are most definitely in with the Deppster too

and I'm not insulted that you thought I was a chap, it doesn't happen often, mostly in threads where I'm talking about power tools or the Army.

And yep - we were both in the Army. although only one of us was a real soldier...

oh and... I don't miss Soltau so much as my carefree youth

Iceskating in the open air in the woods, cycling to The Sahara bar (beer and dancing until 5am) and so on

I think I'd like to live there now, but... well, what's there to do?

Have you got SKY? I think with out that I couldn't/wouldn't of held it out here ... Do you watch German TV. Not very good, lots of adverts or have you a base there where you can tune into BFBSTV?

My eldest daughter (10) will start grammar School (sounds posh, doesn't it) in September. The other three (8, 7 & 7), all boys, are happy enough. What is your constellation? (Sky at night with Patrick Moore - has he got big trousers???)

Have you still got family in the UK? How good is your German?

yes
no (receiver broken, sometimes I would watch it otherwise)
can't receive it
constellation? er... Saggitarius
yes
fluent

ok, yes, we have SKY but frankly it's really expensive and since i don't watch that much TV not really worth it - although we are in the footprint area and would be able to watch BBC without it. can't live without his though

my #1 just started at the Hauptschule - I'm peeved about that but her teacher (himself half english, but monolingual at home, in German) said it's because she has to do everything twice. He's still a git because he could have recommended her for the Realschule. I'm hoping she can get excellent grades and move up. We'll see

All our family are in the UK - we send the gruesomes over for a couple of weeks in the summer holiday, good for them and good for the grandparents. And it's two weeks less of trying to arrange childcare (which is a nightmare here)

I'Ve been in Germany since I was 13 and have kind of an ear for languages - hence I'm now being told that I have a Dutch accent (we live near the border) when I speak to other germans. it's quite funny - if I tell them I'm foreign, they never guess at British.

What about yours?
Do you listen to BFBS radio?

Hi Sho.

HOw are things.

Had lots to do yesterday and today.

Men are funny when it comes to football. I used to watch QPR with my granddad when I was a young boy, but I never really got hooked. Still, I guess, that my 3 boys will start getting the bug shortly.

The teachers in Germany are like gods ... but I reckon that things are going to have to change. My wife has been working with Nachmittagsbetreuen for a few years here now and I think that in 3 or 4 years the teachers here are going to be giving lessons til 3 or 4 in the afternoon.

It is still possible for your daughter to move up to the Realschule. She can still go and study in England later anyway, if she wants to. I took my degree really late but that was the best thing I did. Even though I came from a very working-class background. See Educating Rita.

We are all going over to the UK in a few weeks time and I'm sure that the children will learn more in those few days, than weeks in a class.

I've been here for 15 years, but used to come over in the holidays when I was a child (mother was German) but she never spoke to us at home, so I had to learn the DER DIE DAS from scratch at school. Pain in the *rse. And I still can't write proper German.

I do listen to BFBS when I want a bit of light hearted relief from the B BBC World Service. Hate German TV it drives me mad!! Folk Music! Adverts 10 Mins, News presenters. Love Weissenbier and the Health Service (but not the Krankenkassen - very confusing.