Winter dan Kerja yg Banyak

Hari ni snow turun ngan lebat lagi, snow setakat ini setebal 10-11cm (based on my measurement on the snow at my balcony). Tadi lepas hantar anak2 ke kindy, terserempak ngan tuan rumah yg tgh gigih mop lantai tangga level dia...aduhai, means sy pon kena mop gak ni walau tau sia2 aje kang kotor balik dipijak oleh ahli keluarga sendiri dan keluarga diatas. Tapi as my landlady ni sgt fussy dan rajin orgnya, with high standard of cleanliness, I just follow suit.

Bukan setakat mop tangga aje yg nak difikirkan time2 winter ni. Nak jaga rumah time winter ni pon mencabar jugak. Sebab, time winter rumah sy ni senang naik fungus kalau tak dijaga sebaiknya. Problem utama - toilet/bathroom rumah ni takde tingkap dan ventilation system. So bila winter humidity menjadi bertambah tinggi dan akibatnya bilik tidur anak2 yg sebelah toilet selalu aje naik fungus. Fungus is a critical issue kat sini, jgn la buat main2 kalau rumah anda ada fungus kat sini...satu, sbb kesihatan sbb spora2 fungus tu boleh mengakibatkan masalah serius pd sistem pernafasan dan dua, boleh merosakkan rumah dan kalau menyewa, tuan rumah boleh tuntut ganti rugi disebabkan masalah fungus ini.

First winter kami disini, kami x notice sgt hal ni. Nampak la fungus naik kat ceiling tp cepat2 sembur anti-fungus spray. But winter last year paling teruk la sbb kami tak tau pon akibat masalah humidity, rupa2nya disebalik almari, dinding sgt lembap sampai wall paper rosak. Bilik tu winter last year mmg kami tak on heater sbb konon nak jimatkan bil gas. Anak2 tido sebilik ngan kami masa tu. So imagine la tahap humidity nya. Mujur la perasan cepat, sebelum fungus membiak dgn dasyatnya sampai merosakkan dinding. Cuma wall paper saja yg rosak, so kami peeled off about half of the wall paper in the room. Sampai sekarang kami tak ganti lagi wall paper tu. Ni kami decide bila dah dekat nak pindah nanti baru kami pasang wall paper.

Then one thing lagi, sy takde pengering baju dan kami menyewa dirumah ini pon tak diberi kemudahan basement. Kebanyakan org menyewa akan dpt basement utk storing barang dan buat urusan laundry so rata2 akan sidai baju di basement. Kami ni takde choice kena la sidai baju dlm rumah. So bermakna humidity bertambah. Heater pulak, kalau on tinggi, satu - of course bil tinggi dan satu lagi heater yg tinggi akan buat rumah sgt panas dan kering, hence boleh buat kulit kering, gatal dan sakit tekak. So kena balance kan setting heater.

Mujur kami kenal kak liza yg byk experiences utk menghadapi isu2 mcm ni. So byk la nasihat dia yg sy apply utk jaga rumah ni dr serangan fungus and at the same time balance the humidity dan jimatkan kos heating. Cuma kerja byk la sikit. Contoh: pagi2 sebelum keluar hantar anak2 ke kindy, sy akan off heater, then buka tingkap dapur, bilik dan hall utk pengudaraan. Lepas balik dari hantar anak2, tutup semua tingkap dan on balik heater. By this doing, dpt menurunkan humidity level dlm rumah. I can see this by looking at the humidity meter. Recommended humidity should be at 65.

But then since heater cuma on up to setting 2.5, it is not high enough to dry the house, so u can see wap2 air kat tingkap rumah. Wap2 air ni tak boleh biarkan sbb boleh meyebabkan fungus, so from time to time kena la lap wap2 air ni.

Dan from time to time jugak kena check kat celah2 almari, kotak2, sofa, ruang2 tersembunyi takde fungus yg wujud.

Ini la keje sy hari2....leceh kan?

Salam Maal Hijrah 1432

Tahun baru muncul lagi. Sekejap saja masa berlalu, tau2 satu tahun dah berlalu.

Moga2 Allah ampunkan dosa2 dan kesalahan kita ditahun lalu dan tahun ini moga2 kita menjadi muslim yg lebih baik dr thn2 lepas. Utk diri sy sendiri, mahu tahun ini sy lebih menjaga solat, banyakkan baca Al-Quran, kurangkan membuat benda2 yg lagha, didik anak2 dgn lebih baik, jaga hubungan suami-isteri sebaik mungkin dan tentunya semua perkara2 yg membawa kebaikan.

Hijrah hati, sikap dan semua perbuatan...insyaallah.

Berkembang pesat...

Tahun ini ahli keluarga my family and family cik HB bertambah lagi.

On my side, selain adik ipar baru, ada anak buah baru juga. My brother, yg dah kahwin 6 thn, finally tahun ni dikurniakan anak sulung yg lahir pd 1 Syawal lepas. Dia suami-isteri gembira tak terkata sbb bertahun2 menunggu, akhirnya Allah bg rezeki. Alhamdulilah. So skrg ni jumlah cucu mak & abah sudah 8 org.

Rayyan Raziq

Cik HB´s side, takde menantu baru...hehehe, mmg takde la sbb yg bongsu dah kawin thn lepas. Tapi cucu baru bertambah 2 org lagi tahun ini. Anak Mek Ja, a boy lahir bulan June lepas but since Mek Ja takde FB, maka takde la gambar babynya. Sy penah tgk si comel tu thru Skype aje waktu kami buat video conference ngan family KB. Then anak Marina, a girl lahir October lepas.

Nur Aliya Maisara

I lost count dah bape jumlah cucu family KB...meh kira sama2:

Abg Lan: 6

Arwah abg ming: 4

Kak je: 3

Abg Wa: 5

Abg Ari: 2

Abg Shid: 1

Kami: 2

Mek Kak: 1

Mek Ja: 1

Mek Nor: 1

Marina: 1

Ok, total baru 27 org...boleh lagi kot nak ingat nama each and everyone. Tapi rasanya thn2 akan mendatang mesti bertambah2 lagi kot....

Snow and Its Consequences

Org kat Malaysia selalu kata:

bestnya dpt main snow!!!

Dari panas mcm kat Malaysia baik la sejuk mcm kat Europe tu

Hakikatnya takde la best mana. Tapi ye la...sy dulu pon masa belum merasa snow, selalu fikir best aje main snow, bestnya la bersejuk2an. Masa first time tgk snow, main snow, agak jakun la jugak.

First winter sy disini (2008/2009), snow takde la hebat sgt turun. The first snow turun masa tu end of November tapi ala2 intro gitu. Turun pastu melted on the ground. Then ada la sekali dua masa December dan Januari yg lebat sikit dan stayed on the ground for 2 days kot. Sempat la utk org2 enjoy main snow.

Last winter (2009/2008), agak extreme jugak (berdasarkan pendapat org2 yg dah lama menetap disini). Snow agak tebal tapi hanya mula turun dipertengahan December. Tapi tak la snow berhari2. Di Raunheim, suhu terendah dicatatkan (yg kami noted la) was -18C. Sejuk gedi!!!

Tapi nampak gayanya tahun ni winter bertambah extreme. Di kawasan sy, baru je winter bermula, snow dah mula turun dgn lebatnya...takde intro2 gitu. Padahal Raunheim/Frankfurt is classified as area yg tak berapa sejuk compare dgn area2 lain kat Germany ni. Since snow start turun khamis last week and a few days after , sampai skrg snow tak mencair. Ni dah 3 hari snow tak turun tapi suhu semakin dropped dan snow dijangka turun lagi dihari2 mendatang...huaaaaaaaaa....

In general, Europe mmg dilanda snow yg extreme. Berita airport ditutup, jalan raya sesak, kenderaan kemalangan disana sini, org mati kesejukan, sekolah ditutup dan mcm2 la. So far Germany mcm ok lagi.

Picture from BBC News

On a smaller scale (our life to be exact), life is not much affected sgt except things not running smoothly aje. I´m just very concern on health issues sbb time winter ni, org mudah jatuh sakit. I, myself dah start batuk2. The twins mmg are having running nose dan batuk sikit2. So pagi2 nak hantar diorg pegi kindy, sy balut diorg tebal2. Dressing up takes longer time dan semakin lambat la kami ke kindy setiap pagi. Yg sy risau, selalu by noon, before parents dtg amik anak2, kanak2 ni dilepaskan main kat playground kindy. Budak2 tau la...bukannya tau sejuk, diorg tau seronok main snow. And then since budak2 kena dressed up sendiri with the jackets, schal, hat, gloves, kadang2 ikut dan aje diorg sarung. Cikgu2 cuma supervise dan bila dah ramai sgt tu, cikgu2 pon bukannya perasan whether budak2 dah properly covered. Before this selalu sgt sy caught Nabilah tak pakai topi dan schal main kat playground. Dah pesan kat dia berkali2 jgn lupa topi dan schal tapi mek sorang tu...haih...

On the way to kindy

Perjalanan ke kindy yg selalunya 5-10 minit pon dah jadi longer. Simply because sy tak boleh jalan laju2. Bila snow dah mengeras dan jalan x ditabur garam, permukaan jalan dah jadi ala2 skating rink. So walau dah jln ala2 pengantin pon, still mcm rasa nak tergolek. Sikembar tu suka la, saja lagi pi skate atas ice tu...kita dok risau kang diorg tergolek...

Jln yg licin

Tangga rumah yg dulu boleh dicuci seminggu sekali, skrg like selang sehari dah kena mop dek kerana kasut2 yg kotor2 yg memijak. Kang kalau tuan rumah tgk kotor2 kang, mesti dia bising. Dulu penah terlambat sikit mop tangga, mak aii..dia pubya bebel, tahan aje telinga dengar!

Anyway, harap2 this winter would not get any worse. I don´t mind the snow sikit2...yg enough utk main2 tapi bila semakin tebal, semakin banyak masalah yg akan timbul.

Buat saja donggggggggg

Another school matter....

After we had done the screening test at Social and Health Department in Groß Gerau town council, I thought all the processes with the school´s registration were completed - at least for now. And even there are more procedures to do, I was thinking maybe they would come out in next year, maybe after we leave Germany. Maybe sometime in May onwards since the new school session begins in August.

Apparently it is NOT.

Last week we received letter from the school, inviting us - the parents and the registered child to attend a meeting with the school administration. Thought of ignoring the letter and the meeting but we were afraid of receiving legal letter from the court. Last time when we ignored the previous letter, subsequently we received a warning letter. So we don´t have much choice but to attend this matter properly.

I told kak liza about this. Last time when we did the registration and check-up, she was vacationing in Malaysia. She also did not agree with the fact that we had to do all the procedures for school enrollment though we had informed the school about our situation. Now that she is back, she is more than willing to go with me to the school and explained the whole situation to the school. Maybe because I made explanation to the school in English/bad Deutsch, they didn´t seem to understand.

My appointment supposed to be at 12pm but we went at 9.30 am. Kak Liza said it didn´t matter because we must explain that any further processes with school enrollment is not necessary, therefore the meeting at 12pm should be cancelled. When we arrived at the secretariat office, there were some parents and kids waiting. So probably they had to attend the same meeting I had to attend.

So kak liza met the secretary (the one I dealt with before ) and explained our situation. The secretary said she understands our situation but as she said before - No excuses! As long as we are registered living here in Raunheim, under the district of Groß Gerau and under Hesse state (rules & regulations in every state in Germany may differ from one to another), we are obliged to comply to the regulations of the state! When kak liza argued further, she said she would check with the school´s director. And after a while, she came back to us and said we still had to attend the meeting at 12pm. So any complains and inquiries will be discussed in the meeting.

So we just had to comply lorrr....

At 12pm, we came back to school taking the twins with us. At first, I had the impression that all parents and kids were to gather in a room/hall then there will be some kind of speech/talk by the school admin. But I was wrong. When we arrived at the secretariat office, a lady was waiting for us and introduced herself ( I don´t even remember her name!).

She told us to follow her to a room and said she would carry out an interview with one twin at a time in the room and the rest of us were to wait outside the room. Wow, it seemed to me it´s like an interview to get into boarding school/university or something! She asked the twins who would like to go in first and Nabilah volunteered! Then another lady also went into the room.

Nabilah was in the room was about 15-20 minutes. I took the opportunity looking around and was amazed with the school. The school looks so clean and beautiful. And while waiting, we saw a teacher holding a shopping basket with a group of her students going towards Tegut - the supermarket located right in front the school. Kak Liza said it´s part of the lessons - learn how to shop things! It appears that children not only taught in academic aspect but also learn how to live a life. Interesting eh?

Then Nabilah came out and Nabihah was invited in. We asked Nabilah what did they ask her but Nabilah with her complicated behaviour, just refused to tell, kept saying she just didn´t remember! Nyampah.....

Nabihah came out after 20 minutes and so excited telling us her experience in the room with the two ladies. And because kakak was telling, then only Nabilah wanted to tell her stories too. But I couldn´t hear more as Kak Liza and I was called to get into the room.

At first the ladies talked in Deutsch to us and Kak liza helped translating some of the parts I couldn´t understand. Somehow kak liza explained to me English, then the two ladies said if I can speak English, then we could have the conversation in English. Of course I loved it! I can discuss better.

Then we talked a lot of things. I told them my whole situation - about we are going back to our country for good in March, next year. They seemed refuse to believe it - keep saying what if we still have to stay back, or will have to come back. I know why they were saying these - because majority of foreigners coming to Germany stay here for long time, most choose to migrate for good. So they have the impression we are the same. The fact that my husband is a student, gave them idea that my husband probably will be looking for a job in Germany. Which happens a lot. And they kept saying that I should learn Deutsch too and find a job for myself. I have to explain that my husband already has a job in Malaysia and he´s now studying under Malaysia´s government sponsorship. So the probability of us staying here is so small.

They said they understand (but I can sense they just wouldn´t take it). However, they still want us to cooperate with the school enrollment processes and one of them, they want the twins to attend Deutsch course. They said the twins speak quite good Deutsch - enough for communication but since Deutsch is not their first language, it´s the best to enroll them into Deutsch course so their Deutsch would be better. And the class is free, I don´t have to worry about money. Hmmm...if it has to be paid, I would just say "hai, hai -bye-bye" la! And they asked if I would like to learn too because they can fit us into mother-kids Deutsch class. Well, since I have to send them to this class, it would be better if I learn too. So I said why not?

They said they will inform us about the Deutsch course and our meeting ended there.

Anyway, I´m glad I came to this meeting eventhough at first I was very much reluctant to do it. It´s a new experience - being exposed to the German education system. It´s quite impressive to see how committed these people are to ensure better education for every child they deal with. Imagine they interview each child and parent! According to Nabihah, when she was in the room, they just asked her to draw, play LEGO, and just talking. And they are so friendly and kind, Nabilah said she liked them very much!

Now I feel how it would be nice if the twins have the opportunity to attend this school, even for a short while. Because they may have the learning experience that might be different in Malaysia. I hope they would enjoy school in Malaysia later on.

Ole-ole dr Mekah

Jiran atas kami, satu keluarga Turki. Si suami dan isteri baru pulang dr Mekah selepas menunaikan haji. Sebelum bertolak hari tu, diorg sempat dtg berjumpa kami dan bgtau diorg nak ke Mekah menunaikan haji dan minta kami doakan semoga semuanya baik2 shj utk diorg. Terharunya rasanya bila si isteri bersalam dan memeluk erat sy...inilah nikmatnya Islam menganggap semua umatnya bersaudara.

Keluarga ini mmg baik. Anak2 yg seramai 5 org itu juga baik2 dan sopan2 belaka. Dah la hensem2, cantik2 dan pandai2. The first three skrg semua sedang menuntut di universiti in engineering, medical dan pharmacy. Pada mata kasar sy, diorg ni satu keluarga yg alim. Yang perempuan semuanya bertudung dan selalu dgr org mengaji dr rumah diorg ditingkat atas. Kalau terserempak, mesti senyum dan bertanya kabar. Tapi masalahnya kekangan bahasa, menjadikan sy awkward nak berbual lama2 dgn diorg.

Tengahari tadi, si ayah dtg menghantar sedikit buah tangan dr Mekah. Hmmm...tak sangka walaupun duduk di bumi Deutschland pon kami merasa ole-ole org baru balik haji. Alhamdulilah! Ada kopiah, sejadah, tasbih, minyak atar, henna, buah kurma dan air zam-zam. Terharu kami sbb ingat juga diorg nak bg kami buah tangan.

Ole-ole dr Mekah

segelas air zam-zam dan sedikit kurma

Terima kasih Encik Tetik dan isteri. Semoga Allah s.w.t memberkati anda berdua. Doa2kan kami pulak akan sampai ke Tanah Suci Mekah menunaikan haji suatu hari nanti.

Salju

Salji dah mula turun sejak semalam...agak lebat tapi tak la sampai menutup seluruh permukaan bumi. Sebab suhu baru -1C. So snow cepat cair. Tapi pemandangan cukup indah di mata. Let´s see the photos:

View dr tingkap dapur

View at balcony