HEM

 

  Nah - that might be considered to be overdoing it!  Sparsamkeit is in fashion nowadays.

  You have my deepest sympathy...

Its quite possible that if you grunt "Moin" when you enter the room you will be immediately accepted if you are in Hamburg / SH!

Maybe it was only in Schleswig-Holstein where Brits were contacted "would you like a resident's permit"?

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  I'd recommend a Yorkshire Terrier.   On my recent trip with the ICE to Koblenz there was a young (9 mth) short-haired dog lying on a blanket on a seat opposite its owner. Dog didn't say a thing the whole trip (not even "wuf").

  I thought the argument was to reduce immigration from the EU ("wrong immigrants") & to let more in from the subcontinent.

  Probably too busy discussing armbands...

When we did this many years ago we got a Kontoauszug showing the final payment & zero outstanding.   One is generally advised to leave the entry in the Grundbuch in case one needs to raise a loan in the future.

  @Starshollow 's daughters play football...

My wife & I use the AldiTalk Jahrespaket XSfor 59,99 Euro & its does everything we need incl. EU-roaming.

  If they take up riding please insist that they ALWAYS wear a riding helmet. I did when my children started.  My daughter (now 30) continues to ride & always has her helmet on.   I know / knew 2 young girls who died in riding accidents, plus one who was certainly saved by a helmet.

  I bought that album back then...

Having previously been an aeromodeller whilst in the UK (radio-controlled models which I built & flew myself) I was introduced to the sport of gliding here by a German colleague. The then club treasurer suggested "why not join for the Sommerlehrgang" which I did - & went solo (despite my German then being very limited). That was 40+ years ago.   Members of gliding clubs are in general a pretty friendly bunch (there are exceptions) and its a rule to use "Du" within the entire German organisation. If one joins in (not just sitting on the sidelines) then friendships open up.  If you turn up on another airfield you are "in".   I'm involved in my own club - chiefly with PR & the aquisition of new members. For my pains I'm also involved as a "sports official" (the sort one likes to blame for failure of others) in that my ability of being a native English speaker was found to be useful at the international level - hence I'm the deputy delegate for the German Aero club to the IGC (International Gliding Commision) and get to attend the annual Plenary meetings where one has made further friends from various countries.   A few days ago I received a request to speak at the Trainertagung in Bischofsgrün (Bayern) in January - will have to do that online.   I could go on but the sound of my own trumpet is getting too loud. The result is that my wife complains that I spend more time in front  of the PC than I used to do whilst employed.