Germany News Nov 2008

Hello everyone. I decided to try the blog thing again for news so that everyone won't have to be tortured into reading too much if they don't want to.

Kid news:

Austin and Anais are both in kindergarten. Austin is doing fine. He has some friends and the teachers tell me he is both very sweet and very bright. He understands a fair amt of German already after only 2 months and he started speaking German the first day. I was pretty impressed. Anais is still Anais. She is doing well also. She has a German class at kindergarten 1X week with other foreign kids by an actual school teacher to get her German up to speed. Anais is in her last year of kindergarten and this is called a Vorschules Kind, before school child. She is learning numbers and shapes and still has speech therapy 1X week and has special play session with a teacher again for German learning 1X week. Austin has the same as Anais, but sees 2 speech therapists and has speech therapy 2X week, but no special German learning for 1st grade prep. We are not sure where to put Anais for school next year. We have to get this going now though and get our decision made. I definitely don't want her in our little local village school. I think there, they completely lack the infrastructure for our foreign kids. I admit I totally look down on the local school. It's made for farmers who have lived in these few villages generation after generation and some of whom cannot even speak proper German (they only understand their local bavarian dialect). Couple that with the local people not going far in school because you don't need much to be a farmer and that results in terror for parents like us. I think our kids would be more or less screwed in that kind of a situation with such low priorities given to education from both the families and the schools. Oye.

The kids are also in gymnastics. Anais is in actual gymnastics with the gymnastic equipment and she seems to really like it. The other one is just an age appropiate indoor physical playing for kids. Otherwise, I'm still co-chairing the international playgroup in Holzkirchen and I'll be teaching English again at the kids kindergarten. I guess it was pretty well received last year and this year they have more interest in the class. And I'm teaching English privately to an adult 1X week for spoken English on the side.

Xavier's company is beginning to tank and he will be layed off soon. He's been looking for another job, but cannot find one as of yet. The CEO and head people put this company into this situation and personally I think they should be sued by the employees and fired. They're going to push hard to get Xavier out the door first. We are going to leave, that's not a problem, but we have a lawyer and we are going to rip them apart on the way out and take as much money from them as we can. Going after Xavier first was a mistake. We have enough experience now that you don't just roll over and let yourself be abused by a company. We are going to go after the company and fight our way out the door. We don't need to stay employed by these people, afterall who wants remain on a sinking ship? But legally they have no right to get rid of Xavier now by law because he has a housewife and 3 young children. They cannot fire him or lay him off by German law. We think they are singling him out because he has a high salary. If there is too much meanness in this company, I want to meet with Xavier'S lawyer and I want to set up a law suit against Qimonda and personally against the CEO and advisory board for poor leadership and putting the company into this mess in the first place. Germans are good soldiers who always do what they are told and are very proud and who respect authority. I don't think they are much used to suing authority. They will soon get a wake up call. We have never fought before, given we have nothing to lose, we are going to go for the jugular this time around and see what happens. A lot of people get screwed out of their jobs due to poor decision making and poor leadership at the top. I think it's these people who ought to be held accountable and who should be layed off like the rest of the company.

We're not sure if we are going to try to stay in Munich or move to a new place. After much thought, our top choices are Munich, Geneva, Vancouver or Austin, maybe Denver. We'll see where xavier can find work. The banking crisis in the US has bled over to a crisis in Europe. Companies are in a panic now and there are hiring freezes everywhere. It is not a good time for looking for a new job. The recession has begun here. The next 6 mos might be very difficult for us. I am tired of this instability. One thing I've learned. The minute there is a financial crisis, all countries close down to foreign workers and save jobs only for their fellow people. Xavier being French puts him at a disadvantage everywhere outside of France and yes the US sadly is no different.

hope all of you are well. I'm thinking of everyone and miss you,

Take care, love,

Jennel