Craving Quark

Lately, I have been having a recurring craving for a freshly baked breakfast bun, lightly buttered and topped with German quark and blueberry jam. Fulfilling this urge, however simple it may seem, is quite the opposite.

I have yet to find high quality frozen breakfast buns (or any frozen breakfast buns, actually). For some people, the aroma of coffee brewing is a wonderful start to the day. Personally, I need that whiff of buns baking in the oven in the morning. And do not get me started on my search for quark. Any inquiries thereof just result in blank stares.

I am certain that if I lived in the city, my cravings would not go on unfulfilled for very long. The situation being what it is, I am back in the suburbs without a driver's license. I am not flexible in the least. Can anyone give me any tips as to where I may find a good bakery and, just maybe, some German quark in the GTA? I am hoping that with some solid tips, I can convince someone to drive/accompany me to where I need to go.

Auf deutsch, bitte!

For the past 6.5 years, in an effort to raise our children bilingually, hubby and I conversed with them in our mother tongues - he in German and I in English.

This was simple for me. Not only is English my mother tongue, it is also spoken fluently by about half of hubby's family as well as most of our social circle in Berlin. I almost never needed to switch between English and German.

Unfortunately, neither did hubby. In addition to our predominately English-speaking home and social life, he works for a British company and, therefore, speaks English at work almost exclusively. As a result, he has endured years of constant reminders to speak to our children auf deutsch from his family, the school teachers, our pediatrician and random strangers - but mostly from me.

Now I am in Mississauga with the children, minus hubby. I have developed a newfound appreciation for the role he played during our time in Berlin as the sole German-speaking adult of the household. That role is now mine, and it is not an easy one.

There is noone in my daily life that I can converse in German with, save for our children. I find it extremely difficult instantaneously switching from an English conversation, to German, and back again whilst at the dinner table, at the grocery store, and so on. I have given up trying to help our children with their homework in German. It is so frustrating at time, I have all but thrown in the towel. If it were not for the encouragement of friends and family, I probably would have.

I am in the process of brainstorming ideas in coping with the constant language switch. All I have thought of so far is training our children to keep saying "Auf deutsch, bitte!" to me until I switch to German. Do any of you have more ideas?

That was easy! ...or maybe not?

One thing I appreciate about Canadian bureaucracy is its simplistic nature. The lack of repetitive questions result in fewer forms to complete, sign and send in which, in turn, result in fewer headaches for me.

Accustomed to German bureaucracy, I was prepared with all possible paperwork on hand when I registered my kids at our local school in Mississauga. I was ready to answer the same question, albeit worded differently, over and over again. This did not happen. I walked in with my completed application forms, our official documents were photocopied, and I was sent happily on my way. With the exception of arranging for the kids' ESL assessments, there was nothing more that I needed to do.

The school registration process was nowhere as simple in Berlin. First, I had to register at our local school. Then I had to register for an official transfer to the bilingual school. That was followed by a medical examination by the child health authorities at city hall, which was later followed by a general language assessment. Then I had to return to the bilingual school for the second language assessment. And so on, and so forth.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered the process of removing your child from school in Berlin was relatively simple. All it took was a letter explaining the situation and essentially guaranteeing that we will continue our children's education in Canada. (NB - You are required by German law to send your children to school by the age of six. Homeschooling is illegal except in extreme circumstances.) We packed up, flew to our new home, and I thought to myself,"That was easy!".

Perhaps I should not have spoken so soon. Hubby received a telephone call from an office so specific, we did not even think that it existed - the emmigrant department of the school and sport office at Berlin city hall. They need some sort of official documentation that proves my children are indeed attending school in Mississauga.

My view that German bureaucracy is OCD in nature has just been taken to a whole new level.