maxie

Do tell.  Just in case we ever need one!  Recommendations are always good

  That's a classic mistake in German too and a standard (sorry) choice of teachers in spelling tests. Along with Temparatur instead of Temperatur, Reperatur - correct Reparatur, nähmlich (nämlich).

Unfortunately, there is no Waldkita near us so our son will have to go to normal Kindergarten. Friends are lucky enough to have one though and both their kids loved it. They got in very early, the year it opened, which was brilliant, because now there are long waiting lists. The kids have a wonderful immune system, learned a lot, but in a fun way and had really good motor skills when they started school. Also, you're gonna spend long hours in school when it starts, anyway, so a Waldkita is a wonderful way to ensure they have more of a chance to play outside. But it is like always: a Kindergarten usually has an educational concept. Waldkita even more so because you are so much more dependent on having a working system. If it works, great. If they try to be just like a normal Kita with the only difference being that the kids spend a bit more time outside, not so much. It is a lot more work for the staff, but tends to attract a different kind of staff, if done right. If you liked the open house - go for it, I would say. Unless, as Engelchen pointed out, your kid hates spending time outside and doesn't like getting dirty. There are kids like that…

How big is your company? Can't be too small if they have their own Kita. Would it be possible for you to change jobs within the company? Different department, different team? Definitely talk to the works council again. Maybe also HR? Have they been involved?   It is true that going to court might burn bridges, but a company I worked in had a complete and utter pr..k running a department. New hires would rarely last for more than a year and a half. Some long-suffering ones stayed for longer (good pay, good job security). Lots of them complained, quite a few of the ones who left told the works council and HR exactly why. A few ended up in my department. After a few years, it became to difficult to ignore, I guess and the manager got some severe warnings from HR, works council and upper management. The effect was impressive: He still is no Mr. Congeniality, but at least the constant bullying and general abuse of power has stopped and I am told he is ok to work with these days.

You can calculate your taxes here: https://www.brutto-netto-rechner.info/   Or check the tables https://www.steuern.de/steuertabelle.html https://www.grundtabelle.de/Grundtabelle-2018.pdf   5.7 % taxes for 2017 seems very low, so what dj said. Or ask your tax guy - he has all the figures so he can probably explain it best...

Also: There is allgemeine Hochschulreife (Abitur), Fachgebundene Hochschulreife and Fachhochschulreife (Fachabitur). Only the first one lets you study any subject you want at any university or college in Germany. With the others, certain limitations apply. http://www.fachhochschulreife.org/formen-der-deutschen-hochschulreife/ However, there are other ways to get your Abitur than go to Gymnasium when you are 11 and finish after grade 12 or 13.  

Maybe to clarify as there is a bunch of information here that is not quite correct. My info is from Rheinland-Pfalz, but most of those conditions should be similar in other Länder. For the Abitur, students chose some majors (Leistungskurs). Two in some Bundesländer, three in others. In these, the students will have more lessons. Usually five a week per subject. The Abitur-Exam usually consists of three written and one oral exam. If you had three majors, one of them will be counted like a "normal" subject (Grundkurs) for the exam. This usually means that you can leave out some of the exam questions. There are certain limitations in terms of which subjects you can/have to chose for majors and also your exams. For example: I had English, Math and Biology. My oral exam subject had to be Geography, Social Studies or History. In addition, some of your "normal" subjects have to count towards the Abitur and for some you can chose your best ones. Using Math as an example: - You cannot get rid of it. It will have to be a Grundkurs as least. Same as German, at least one foreign language, one Science, PE etc. - It will have to count for your overall Abitur grade. So you cannot have 0 points in the Grundkurs in the semesters that lead up to the Abi or you fail/will not be able to take the exam. Leistungskurs it is no less than 5 points for the semesters that are counted. - It will only not be an exam subject if you take your exam in another Science subject. It is quite a complicated system, for more info for Rheinland-Pfalz, see here: https://bm.rlp.de/fileadmin/bm/Bildung/Service/Publikationen/Schule/MSS_Abitur_2020.pdf   None of the articles say whether the exam being discussed now was a Grundkurs or Leistungskurs. Makes a bit of a difference, I think.  

You don't have to take those months together. Further down the page it says (italics mine): Die Elterngeld-Monate können Sie untereinander aufteilen. […]  Sie können das Elterngeld entweder am Stück beziehen oder den Elterngeld-Bezug unterbrechen und später fortsetzen oder sich mit Ihrem Partner abwechseln. Dabei gelten folgende Einschränkungen: Basiselterngeld können Sie nur in den ersten 14 Lebensmonaten bekommen.   But beware: The 12 months are a lie. If she has a job, the mothers does not get Elterngeld for the Mutterschutz period after the birth (i.e. 8 weeks) because she receives Mutterschaftsgeld. So only 10 - until baby's first birthday. At least as far as I can figure out.

Beware of bulldozing neighbours. Most people are nice and reasonable (and wouldn't even make such a request), but your neighbour sounds like the type who will rip your arm off if you offer him the little finger. Good luck for your discussion with him.   Not sure what the Bauamt means by it's ok to overhang. What if you placed (or wanted to place) your own shed with its back to the property line back-to-back with his shed? He'd have to stick to the boundary then. I would just tell him that this is a lot more than your husband agreed to - or your husband tells him that and points out that you weren't a big fan of his agreement in the first place   And what Krieg said. Depending on the type of soil and where it runs down, "a little water" can cause a lot of damage.

Very true, everything you said.   There is also the fact that the areas were handed over with the proviso that the army was not responsible for any pollution etc. below ground (leading some to speculate that there might be rockets or warheads underground...). In some areas, the pollution appears to be quite extreme. The Mannheim notably the forest where shooting exercises took place, but also storage areas and petrol stations where pollutants have seeped into the ground. (Source: Info evening about Konversionsflächen in Mannheim 5(?) years ago)  

Just as an aside: Shared custody does not necessarily refer to where the child lives. You can have joint custody when the child lives with you and only spends every other weekend with the other parent. The custody comes into play when decisions need to be made - medical such as surgery (not regular check-ups), school, travel etc. and - of course - residence.

I heard - no idea if this was true and can't really research it at this moment - that some barracks somewhere could not be used because they were built using asbestos. It sounded not too far- fetched to me.     

In Mannheim, it is a huge project. I have not followed it closely since I moved out of the city a few years ago. But the vision the planers had was impressive. I hope it will be successful. I think Turley was one of the first to be converted. The website is in German, but google translate can help you there and maybe you spot familiar areas in the phots.   https://www.konversion-mannheim.de/   Coleman is still used by the armed forces as a storage area for vehicles. They are parked everywhere including the runway. Benjamin's diner is still there and busier than ever.   I think the effect the departure had in Mannheim and HD was diluted by the fact that these are both larger cities that did not depend solely on the armed forces economically. Things were a bit different in rural areas, e.g. the Pfalz, afaik. Many Mannheimers miss the young Americans that livened up the night life in the city.

Re tile paint - when i missed it of my last apartment,  the owner had the tiles in the kitchen painted.  It looked like new tiles,  but they did have it done by a professional

A friend of mine had the same surgery,  also in Munich.  She paid for it herself.  I think mostly because she wanted to get it done and not run around getting various doctors to sign off on it.  She is very happy with the results and has a completely different posture now.     As everyone else has said: talk to your insurance and don't be afraid to get a second opinion.