Greetings from the Sick Room

I wouldn't want to bore you with all our sicknesses, but beside the apartment hunting, that is what has been going on here lately.

Fräulein was crying the whole Saturday night because her ear was hurting. We got her some antibiotics and she is now back to her old self.

After having a sore throat for a few days, I also got pretty high fever and went to see a doctor* yesterday: angina and antibiotics.

And baby has been crying a lot lately (very untypical of her) and this morning her temperature was almost 39°C. We went to see her doctor, but she doesn't have any infection. We just need to try to cope with some paracetamol.

These eyes tell you how she is feeling at that moment.

After several rainy and cold days we finally have some sun and warmth here. So despite the lousy feeling caused by fever and sleepless nights, I guess I have to drag myself to the playground this afternoon.

*) As a Finn, I find it funny that there aren't any 'general doctors' here Germany (I have heard there are some 'family doctors', but I haven't found any). Instead, when you've got a sore throat, you need to see a ear, nose and throat specialist... 


*****
Täällä ollaan sairasteltu viime päivät. Fräuleinilla oli korvatulehdus, itselläni angiina ja nyt Babyllä on kuumetta. Mutta aurinko sentään paistaa pitkästä aikaa!

Silent Sunday

Hausfrau's New Hobby: Apartment Hunting

Yesterday evening we received an email from our landlord: he had put our apartment on sale.

This didn't come as a total surprise - he had told us about his plans a couple of months ago. And he has not yet terminated our lease and when he does, we will still have three months to move out.

But anyway, we need to start looking for a new place to live.

I have been following Immobilienscout24.de for a while now, as I have been dreaming of an apartment with garden for the kids to play in and/or with one extra bedroom for our guests. But as the US Army is centralizing it's European operations here, there are a lot of families moving to Wiesbaden. And thus it is almost impossible to find a decent apartment with decent price around here.

But now I really had to swing into action. This morning I have already sent contact requests to six different housing agencies and made the arrangements to see one apartment.

So, I'm sorry if I'm going to be a bit preoccupied in the near future. I'll try to keep you updated.

And if you are looking for an apartment to invest in, I know one in Wiesbaden with extremely nice tenants! ;)

View from Neroberg. You can see our current home in this photo ;)

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Saimme eilisiltana sähköpostia vuokranantajaltamme: hän on laittanut asuntomme myyntiin.
Nykyistä sopimustamme ei vielä ole irtisanottu, mutta koska Wiesbadenin asuntomarkkinat ovat tällä hetkellä todella hankalat, täytyy meidän nyt ryhtyä todenteolla uuden asunnon metsästykseen. 

Silent Sunday

Go Finland!

This is an exciting day for Finland.

Right at this moment, Finland is playing against Sweden in the semifinals of the Ice Hockey World Championship. Doesn't look too good for Finland, though...

And later tonight, the Eurovision Song Contest will take place.

So, we are feeling very patriotic and cheering for Leijonat (the Lions, the Finnish ice hockey team) and Krista's team Ding Dong*.

Go Finland!

*all my European readers outside Finland, please vote for Finland tonight!

*****
Suomalaisille lukijoilleni taitaa olla turha edes mainita parhaillaan meneillään olevasta lätkämatsista ja illalla järjestettävistä Euroviisuista... No, täällä joka tapauksessa hurrataan Suomen puolesta. Ja ulkomailla asumisen etuna on, että voimme viisuissa äänestää Suomea!

The Ultimate Language Test

My German is horrible.

We have been living here for two and half years now, but I barely manage to visit the local grocery store without making a fool out of myself.

And it is one thing to have a conversation with one person, but to participate a group meeting with people you are about to meet many times in the future...

Unrelated photos from our photo session on Sunday...

Yesterday we had an 'Elternnachmittag', or parents afternoon at the Fräulein's Krippe. There were three teachers and the parents of five other kids present.

And the ultimate language test? It consisted of five points.

1. Introduce yourself in German: passed 
The other parents nodded their heads as I was talking, so I guess they understood what I was saying...

2. Understand the information given by the teachers: passed
I think I understood about 95% of it. Especially the head teacher speaks very foreign-friendly German, as she is used to communicating with toddlers.

3. Follow the conversation: partly passed
Some of the parents were very easy to follow, but I have no idea what some of them were talking about. But I was able to laugh at the right moment!

4. Ask questions yourself: passed
I asked if they are really singing christmas carols in May, as Fräulein is singing "O Tannenbaum" at home. And apparently they are...

5. Survive the meeting without making a fool out of yourself: passed
At least I hope so...


The result: I was able to take Fräulein to the Krippe this morning holding my head up high!

Needless to say that neither of these were chosen as the official Mother's Day photo! :)

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Fräuleinin päiväkodissa oli eilen vanhempainilta. Oma kielitaitoni joutui koetukselle, kun yritin selvitä tapaamisesta kunnialla. Ja täytyy sanoa, että ymmärsin kyllä valtaosan asioista ja onnistuin jopa itse kysymään jotain!

Silent Sunday

The Return Of the Energetic Guest, Part...um...103?

I don't let Fräulein to play with my camera,
but for some reason my mother's camera
seems to be full of this kind of photos...

My mother was visiting us for four days. This time we didn't have any furniture for her to assemble, but she did do a lot!

Among other things, she cleaned our windows and our balcony.

We did some shopping and enjoyed the summer by having lunch outside.

Fräulein enjoyed her new umbrella, even though it wasn't raining

We visited Opel Zoo (more about that later).

And the best part: she played a lot with the girls.

Hopefully she will find time to visit us soon again!

*****
Äitini oli meillä muutaman päivän kylässä ja hän sai taas tapansa mukaan paljon aikaiseksi.
Mutta tärkeintä tietysti oli, että tytöt saivat viettää aikaa Hammun kanssa!

Silent Sunday

Hyvää Vappua!

Like I mentioned last year, the celebration of May 1st is quite different in Finland and in Germany.

In here it is more about protests, where as in Finland it is all about having fun.

It is nice that as an expat you can choose the good parts of both cultures. First the German Fasching and now the Finnish Vappu!

Last week we had a chance to celebrate early Vappu in a Finnish playgroup in Frankfurt.

Even though our Vappu delicacies will arrive only this evening, we are getting into the right mood.

Happy May Day! Hyvää Vappua!