# my daughter is coming to Munich



## xabiaxica

my daughter is coming to Munich on Friday for a German/Spanish language exchange organised by the school

she will be there for 10 days & in June a German boy called Paul will be coming to stay with us

a surprising (to me) number of the German teens are apparently vegetarian - which made me wonder if vegetarianism is really common in Germany - it's pretty rare among the Spanish, so the Spanish mums will find it hard to know what to feed them!!


also, my daughter wants to take a gift for her host family, & wants to bake cookies herself (her cookies are legendary among the teachers at school) - I wondered if there were any restrictions on what can be taken into Germany - are 'non-commercially wrapped' foodstuffs allowed?


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## James3214

Lucky for her Xabiachica! Munich a great place for an exchange. Although there are probably more vegetarians in Germany than in Spain I don't think it is that common, especially in Bavaria where meat is very popular. I am always surprised about how little vegetarian options there are available down there in Bayern and Austria. I believe foodstuffs are allowed but obviously not if it contains liquids. I have bought home made stuff back from the UK with no problem.
Let us know what she thinks of Munich!


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## xabiaxica

James3214 said:


> Lucky for her Xabiachica! Munich a great place for an exchange. Although there are probably more vegetarians in Germany than in Spain I don't think it is that common, especially in Bavaria where meat is very popular. I am always surprised about how little vegetarian options there are available down there in Bayern and Austria. I believe foodstuffs are allowed but obviously not if it contains liquids. I have bought home made stuff back from the UK with no problem.
> Let us know what she thinks of Munich!


thanks James -she is really looking forward to it - she'll pack the cookies etc. in her main suitcase, so I guess that will be fine then

she's taking her camera & video camera & is planning to make a video diary while she's there- they have a side trip to Salzburg too

she has a slight problem though - she is obviously English, though she goes to Spanish school & speaks native Spanish - some of the German exchange kids have been in touch with her on facebook wanting to practice their English !!!

it's _supposed _to be a *Spanish/German* exchange.....


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## Seb*

Vegetarianism is not overly big in Germany but there is still quite a movement.



xabiachica said:


> she has a slight problem though - she is obviously English, though she goes to Spanish school & speaks native Spanish - some of the German exchange kids have been in touch with her on facebook wanting to practice their English !!!
> 
> it's _supposed _to be a *Spanish/German* exchange.....


This is the usual problem a lot of exchange kids face lol  And it fully comes down to what your daughter wants to do. I guess your daugther is learning German in school and if she wants to improve on that she should insist on speaking German, afterall this is the main reason for her stay in Germany. If the other kids want to speak English to her they can always do it via facebook/skype etc. at a later stage. Or she speaks English to them for a bit and then sticks to German within the family/school environment. Really up to her - she is the one who should profit the most out of this trip. I can understand that the other kids would love to improve their English - compared to earlier generations English has become a very important part in everyday life for young people. I am always surprised about the amount of English that floats around among young Germans now, facebook is a prime example.

The whole situation reminds me a bit of one of my school exchanges way back when I was young (mid 1990 lol). We had this guy from Southend (Essex) over for a week (I was in the UK first) and tried to communicate with him in German - no chance at all, he completely refused to speak it and we ended up speaking English to him for most of the time. No idea if it was his fault, the teacher's fault or the school's fault. Sadly he lost out on a good opportunity to improve his German.

I hope they let her eat some meat down there, would be a shame to miss out on some really fantastic Bavarian dishes that contain meat  Don't forget to pack her some extra jamón  I hope she will enjoy the trip


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## xabiaxica

Seb* said:


> Vegetarianism is not overly big in Germany but there is still quite a movement.
> 
> 
> 
> This is the usual problem a lot of exchange kids face lol  And it fully comes down to what your daughter wants to do. I guess your daugther is learning German in school and if she wants to improve on that she should insist on speaking German, afterall this is the main reason for her stay in Germany. If the other kids want to speak English to her they can always do it via facebook/skype etc. at a later stage. Or she speaks English to them for a bit and then sticks to German within the family/school environment. Really up to her - she is the one who should profit the most out of this trip. I can understand that the other kids would love to improve their English - compared to earlier generations English has become a very important part in everyday life for young people. I am always surprised about the amount of English that floats around among young Germans now, facebook is a prime example.
> 
> The whole situation reminds me a bit of one of my school exchanges way back when I was young (mid 1990 lol). We had this guy from Southend (Essex) over for a week (I was in the UK first) and tried to communicate with him in German - no chance at all, he completely refused to speak it and we ended up speaking English to him for most of the time. No idea if it was his fault, the teacher's fault or the school's fault. Sadly he lost out on a good opportunity to improve his German.
> 
> I hope they let her eat some meat down there, would be a shame to miss out on some really fantastic Bavarian dishes that contain meat  Don't forget to pack her some extra jamón  I hope she will enjoy the trip


Yes, she's going there to improve her German & the boy will be staying with us to improve his Spanish - that's going to be interesting, because although both my daughters are native Spanish speakers & I teach Spanish, we usually speak English to each other at home, although we watch the tele in Spanish 

she does feel that even after 4 years of German she is very ill prepared, even though she gets decent grades - but it will be a great experience in any case & when she is surrounded by the language I'm sure she'll realise she knows more than she thinks


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## jojo

xabiachica said:


> Yes, she's going there to improve her German & the boy will be staying with us to improve his Spanish - that's going to be interesting, because although both my daughters are native Spanish speakers & I teach Spanish, we usually speak English to each other at home, although we watch the tele in Spanish
> 
> she does feel that even after 4 years of German she is very ill prepared, even though she gets decent grades - but it will be a great experience in any case & when she is surrounded by the language I'm sure she'll realise she knows more than she thinks



I used to do exchange trips to France when I was a kid (11 - 15ish), we used to stay for 6 weeks!! However, by the end of the 6 weeks, I was almost fluent in French - I even dreamt in French. 

Jo xxx


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## Seb*

xabiachica said:


> she does feel that even after 4 years of German she is very ill prepared, even though she gets decent grades - but it will be a great experience in any case & when she is surrounded by the language I'm sure she'll realise she knows more than she thinks


German is one of the hardest european languages to master imo. But with 4 years and good grades she will have all the basics covered that's for sure. It's a shame that the exchange is with southern Germany. They usually have very strong regional accents down there and even for me it's sometimes hard to understand  Western Germany probably would have been a bit easier. So tell her not to get too distressed if she struggles to understand the locals at the start, it's them and not her and after some days it will get easier.


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## xabiaxica

Seb* said:


> German is one of the hardest european languages to master imo. But with 4 years and good grades she will have all the basics covered that's for sure. It's a shame that the exchange is with southern Germany. They usually have very strong regional accents down there and even for me it's sometimes hard to understand  Western Germany probably would have been a bit easier. So tell her not to get too distressed if she struggles to understand the locals at the start, it's them and not her and after some days it will get easier.


she's used to being the foreigner amongst locals with funny accents 

she was 'dumped in a foreign school with people who can't speak English' (her words) 8 years ago


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## RaisingExpats

Oh. She is going to have a great time here. Though she is really going to have to stick to her guns about speaking German. The Germans really are keen on improving their English. As soon as they detect an English accent, they'll start speaking English to her. I've been here for 5 years, and even though my German is OK, it's not as good as it should be, because Germans don't force you to learn the language. Vegetarianism is definitely not that big, though probably a growing fad amongst teenagers. She'll have no problems. Oh, and Munich is perhaps the safest city in the world, so you don't need to worry about her at all. 6 & 7 year olds ride the bus and train alone here, and you almost never hear about violent crime. I've heard that all the police cadets come here to train, as well as military from all over the world. So the place is crawling with police. It's insane, but comforting. I can't think of anywhere in the world, I'd rather my kids grow up. =)


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## xabiaxica

RaisingExpats said:


> Oh. She is going to have a great time here. Though she is really going to have to stick to her guns about speaking German. The Germans really are keen on improving their English. As soon as they detect an English accent, they'll start speaking English to her. I've been here for 5 years, and even though my German is OK, it's not as good as it should be, because Germans don't force you to learn the language. Vegetarianism is definitely not that big, though probably a growing fad amongst teenagers. She'll have no problems. Oh, and Munich is perhaps the safest city in the world, so you don't need to worry about her at all. 6 & 7 year olds ride the bus and train alone here, and you almost never hear about violent crime. I've heard that all the police cadets come here to train, as well as military from all over the world. So the place is crawling with police. It's insane, but comforting. I can't think of anywhere in the world, I'd rather my kids grow up. =)


she probably speaks German with a Spanish accent!!!

I'm not at all worried about her - in fact she has just phoned me from Alicante airport to say that she's having to tell the accompanying teachers where to go for everything!!

she's very well-travelled & very confident & self-sufficient - some of the parents are freaking out though wanting their kids to phone home twice a day


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## RaisingExpats

Well, tell them if they want another Mother to vouch for Munich to contact me. I've never been so comfortable anywhere else in the world. Good for you to be relaxed! It is so hard for some parents. =)


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## xabiaxica

why did no-one tell me that it's legal to drink beer in public at 16 in Germany???


some of the VERY strict Spanish parents would be horrified!!


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## Seb*

xabiachica said:


> why did no-one tell me that it's legal to drink beer in public at 16 in Germany???
> 
> 
> some of the VERY strict Spanish parents would be horrified!!


LOL I did not think about that at all, but yeah smoking and drinking beer is legal from the age of 16. :spit:

And yet there is not a big youth drinking culture like there is in the UK or even Spain


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## xabiaxica

Seb* said:


> LOL I did not think about that at all, but yeah smoking and drinking beer is legal from the age of 16. :spit:
> 
> And yet there is not a big youth drinking culture like there is in the UK or even Spain


I bet smoking what they have apparently been smoking isn't 


there isn't really a big youth drinking culture here in spain, although we do have what are known as _botellones_ where groups of youths get together & drink - which is pretty much what my dd has described as happening in Munich


thing is - the Spanish kids on this trip are mostly the studious ones with seriously strict parents.......... so it's all been a bit of a new experience for them

one thing's for sure - they'll all be changed kids by the time they get back


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## Seb*

xabiachica said:


> where groups of youths get together & drink - which is pretty much what my dd has described as happening in Munich
> 
> 
> thing is - the Spanish kids on this trip are mostly the studious ones with seriously strict parents.......... so it's all been a bit of a new experience for them


Yeah I was thinking about the botellones. I have never experienced anything like that in Germany, but can't speak for the bigger cities like Munich/Berlin/Frankfurt etc., where things like that are more likely to happen I guess. At least in all the smaller towns/communities I have lived in (population with clearly less than 250k) I have never been aware of this, local police and the public are usually not too happy about gatherings like that. It's definitely not as accepted as it is in Spain. BTW this is not a judgement towards the botellones in Spain 




> one thing's for sure - they'll all be changed kids by the time they get back


I am sure they will be! It's such a big difference between a realtively provincial area like ours and a big city like Munich - that alone will make a big impact. Then add the difference in culture and the whole trip makes a great life experience 

How does your daughter like it so far? How comfortable does she feel with her German now?


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## xabiaxica

Seb* said:


> Yeah I was thinking about the botellones. I have never experienced anything like that in Germany, but can't speak for the bigger cities like Munich/Berlin/Frankfurt etc., where things like that are more likely to happen I guess. At least in all the smaller towns/communities I have lived in (population with clearly less than 250k) I have never been aware of this, local police and the public are usually not too happy about gatherings like that. It's definitely not as accepted as it is in Spain. BTW this is not a judgement towards the botellones in Spain
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am sure they will be! It's such a big difference between a realtively provincial area like ours and a big city like Munich - that alone will make a big impact. Then add the difference in culture and the whole trip makes a great life experience
> 
> How does your daughter like it so far? How comfortable does she feel with her German now?


I'm not keen on the botellones - my dd has never been to one & has never actually wanted to - but what else would you call a group of 40+ teenagers sitting in a park drinking beer?

I haven't spoken to her since Sunday, but she was enjoying herself, and judging by the photos the teachers are sending she looks happy

she said everyone was complaining about the food though - all they had been given was bread, liver sausage, cheese type meals - although a couple of lucky kids had had pizza!!

She said she was getting into speaking German a bit more - but that she is spending a lot of 'down time' translating between the Spanish & German kids - it turns out that the German kids can barely count to 20 in Spanish, but can all speak reasonable English - that's going to be interesting when the German kids come here .... most of the Spanish parents don't speak English, & in fact speak to each other at home in Valenciano, so not even Spanish!

She mainly speaks German with the mum of the family she is staying with - she had stopped panicking about it by Sunday


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## Seb*

xabiachica said:


> She said she was getting into speaking German a bit more - but that she is spending a lot of 'down time' translating between the Spanish & German kids - it turns out that the German kids can barely count to 20 in Spanish, but can all speak reasonable English - that's going to be interesting when the German kids come here .... most of the Spanish parents don't speak English, & in fact speak to each other at home in Valenciano, so not even Spanish!
> 
> She mainly speaks German with the mum of the family she is staying with - she had stopped panicking about it by Sunday


Nice she is getting into it. That the German kids' Spanish isn't great does not surprise me. In most schools the first foreign language is English, mostly starting in the first year of secondary school at the age of 11. The 2nd foreign language usually comes into the mix two years later around the age of 13/14 (3rd year in secondary school). Depending on school the language differs. In my school we had the choice between French and Latin. Spanish as second language is relatively rare - actually there are not many schools that offer it at all, sometimes its offered as an optional 3rd language.


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