Author: debbiekaye1980

Off to the petting zoo

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Petting zoo - wallabies

When Sammy was around 18 months, things got a whole lot more fun. He liked going places and doing things on his own two feet. The days of easy stroller walks were unfortunately over, but it opened up other possibilities.

Earlier this year I was still home with Sammy full time, and although it was lovely… it can get pretty monotonous. I was looking for new things to do… and living in a small town limits things somewhat. A visit to a playground… playing in the garden… visiting the supermarket. These are all things to do… but they’re not terrible exciting.

So one day, in the grips of loneliness, I translated the word Petting Zoo and googled it. Cause that’s what we were ready for. Sammy was too young to enjoy a large zoo – but a petting zoo? Hell yeah.

And wouldn’t you know? There is a Streichelzoo (petting zoo) 20 minutes away from where I live. Though it’s more on the scale of a hobby farm than those mobile petting zoos that visit schools and shopping centres.

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Back to work… for real

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office

Even with a generous allotment of maternity leave in Austria (for me it amounted to 2 years, 2 months), it did eventually come to an end.

I was looking forward to going back to work. Craving it, even. Something new to look forward to; getting out of the house (wearing more than stained tracksuit pants); drinking a cup of hot tea in peace while I read through emails; talking to my colleagues about more than just nap lengths and tantrums.

In some ways it was as easy and enjoyable as I imagined. In others it was harder.

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Sammy does daycare

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daycare

Like many other places in the world, getting your child into subsidised care in Austria, means registering early. But given the two years of potential maternity leave, there’s more time for planning. You don’t, for example, have to think about it before you even get pregnant! But there were some things about childcare in Austria that I wasn’t quite expecting. Though to be fair, I based it all on my perceived notion of Australian childcare. And obviously I’ve never had a child in Australian childcare! But here’s how it works here.

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Did I just have the best three days ever?

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Italy beach

This might sound bad, but last week my husband took Sammy, along with the in-laws, for a beach holiday to Italy. They went for the week, but I could only join toward the end because I had to work. You might think I’d be bummed… missing out on long beach days, and mouth-watering Italian food, and my kid running around on the sand with a big grin on his face.

Well… in a way, I was. But in another way, I was ecstatic.

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You know you’re in Austria and not Australia when… you say goodbye in many different ways

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German goodbye

I’m not sure if it’s a German-language thing, or just an Austrian thing, but it seems that when you say goodbye to someone here, it’s not as simple and just saying “bye” and heading on your way.

Everyone I hear combines a few different words into a kind of muddled up sentence as they are leaving.

For example they might say: “Tschüss… Baba… Pfiati…” and add a “Ciao” on the end for good measure.

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Products/brands that are almost the same

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Same same… but different. I’ll be strolling through the supermarket here and see a familiar packet only to realise… it’s not the same… and yet it is the same. I know companies often have to change the names of products from country to country, so perhaps this is the case with many of the following that I’ve found.

Weetabix

Weet-a-bix: my favourite classic Australian cereal does exist here. But it’s called Weet-a-bix instead of Weet-Bix and it has rounded corners.

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Hilarious product names

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Being in a different country obviously the supermarket looks a little different. And the names of products in the supermarket are different too. So, the other day I browsed through the supermarket, with the mindset of a 16 year old boy. And here’s what I found. I hope your inner 16 year old boy enjoys them as much as mine did.

Bum Bum

Bum Bum: a delicious ice cream that comes with chewing gum as part of the stick

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Understanding a German-speaking toddler

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Being home with Sammy for the first two years of his life, I just assumed that he would be more proficient in English than German, at least until he started daycare.

Turns out I was kind of wrong.

I guess it’s because it’s the local language, so although he tends to hear me speaking English most of the day, German is the thing that’s on in the background all the time. He also spends plenty of time with his grandparents, who obviously speak German to him, and I’m also in the habit of speaking German when they’re around so they understand me.

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Sammy’s birthday… yeah so that made me sad

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I didn’t expect Sam’s birthday to make me sad.

In hindsight, I should have. My birthday and friends’ birthdays always make me sad. But it never occurred to me that Sam’s would. I guess I thought I didn’t care that much. He was only turning two. He’s barely aware what a birthday is. He was more overwhelmed by the presents, the food, the attention… and yet…

Tears came to my eyes. I had to excuse myself and walk away.

Because it was what was missing.

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