Hello from an Au Pair new in town

hello...i am strawberries...i moved to munich only last week...wednesday the 1oth to be precise...i am au pairing here for 8months, as part of my degree. i am studying modern european languages, so i have to spend a year abroad, be it at a uni, working or something else. i chose something else...ie au pairing...
since arriving i have met...about...0 people...im looking after two children, 2 and 1 year olds. the neighbourhood is full of young families, so everyone, other than the parents i ahve spoken to have been knee height. last night i went to a local football training session, and only six people, myself and the trainer included turned up, but as i enjoy football, i will probably go regularly, and in return will be allowed to play in a few matches...
now, here´s something i need a little help with: can anyone tell me how the heck to top up a pay as you go phone??? in england i had a swipe card...here i have nichts!!aaaaaaaaahhh!!!

Welcome strawberries! You may need to check out the recent chocolate thread. It goes well with your handle

There should be plenty of activities you can do through Toytown. Sports, drinking, crafts, movies, clubbing... tons of events are organized. Personally I recommend Ultimate Frisbee on Wed & Sun afternoons (Sport forums).

I may be trying to organize something for later in the day... haven't decided how to spend my (rainy) weekend yet!

edit: maybe I'll get out of Munich for a few hours. What's the best nearby activity to do when it's raining? Anything cool to see in Augsburg?

It depends on which company you are with. You can ask at some supermarkets at the cashier, or you can top up at some cash machines, or... you could try looking at the website of the company you are with, that might give you an idea

There are many shops between Marianplatz and Karlsplatz where you can do this, there are also a lot of new machines now being setup where you can do this, I use the automatic machine in Isartor S-Bahn station.

coolios, in which case...is it recommended tht i open a bank account??
im wi vodafone d2...i was with vodafone in england, so i thought, may as well stay wi em...kinda anyway!

normally you buy a phone card at any handy retailer and just type *101* then the pin number the card gives # and hey wam bam thank you mam, you have new credit on your phone. gas stations are also a good source, there you normally just have to type in your phone number into a machine and pay the girl behind the cash register.

make sure the bank account you get is a student one, otherwise you get charged through the cornhole.

excellent! now i just need to motivate myself to get out of the house...lurvely weather we´re having here...

another thing...anyone know ho wto say...can i top my phone up please...in german...or words to that effect...???

edited

i think it's called "guthaben" for "credit". that you want to buy guthaben go to the relevant mobile phone company in Marienplatz, or look out for the Kartenboy machine which you can put in cash for a "scratch" card.

edited

What is wrong with you Roots ? You just trying to add to your posts !

You do not need a bank account in Germany, and actually there are already many threads about this, but the banks here are not that great. If you get cash, and use cash, I believe it's ten times easier !

For the top, yeah, I just ask for a top up card, or a gutschein. The Vodafone ones generally come in 15 EUR and 25 EUR.

If only I had a penny everytime I heard that question

"ich mochte ein handykart bitte" will usually get you in the door

Hi we got something in common, I'm a new kid on the block as well, It would be really cool to meet up with some of you guys, but work calls this weekend! Free next week though.. My buddies tell me theres a really cool beer hall called the hofbrau haus, can you tell me how to get there? Thought I was goin to be real lonely here in Munich because I don't speak German, but it's great to have found this site. I'm normally stationed on airbases but this time have struck lucky with a downtown hotel, party on!!!

Yeah, I think I know the one they mean.

Hofbräuhaus

I find it amusing that no one has been rude on this thread. Go job everyone for being nice and helpful to the newbies and not making any sarcastic comments...yet...

Yes, Hofbräuhaus... where you are guaranteed to meet australians, americans and englsih... but very few germans!

she wants to "top up" so i guess she already has a handykarte. i guess the right thing to ask for at the shops is "ich moechte (fuer mein Handy) guthaben kaufen". "guthaben" is "credit", "gutschein" is "gift certificate" (??) actually, this is Munich. you can just say it in English, at least at the Vodafone shop they do.

At my Sbahn stop there is also a machine you can buy them from so that you dont even have to speak to anyone...but thats Solln...Im not sure how frequent they are...