Friday was our much-anticipated (by me) company Christmas party. I had been planning the party since September and was so excited and relieved for it to finally be here that I initially had to struggle to enjoy it.
As I believe I have already mentioned, the party was held in a castle about 10 minutes from our offices, but our employees came from all over Germany – even as far as from Grafenwoehr, which is a 3 hour drive from here! It was great to see everyone and to finally put faces with some people that I interact with regularly via email/phone.
We ended up sitting at a table with some folks from here as well as Stuttgart, and as it turned out, one of the Stuttgart guys used to work in John’s office (before John got that assignment). They had a lot to talk about!
Then the food was served. Oh my goodness! I had cream of broccoli soup with almonds, and it was delicious! Others had mixed salads, but I was happy with my soup choice considering the chilly evening. For the main course, people had a choice of roasted chicken breast, rump steak or a veggie mushroom dish. John and I had steak, and it was very yummy. People loved their chicken too. When we were finishing up, the wait staff came by and offered us “refills” on our meat. It was reminiscent of Le Relais de l’Entrecôte in Paris. Yum! We also were served sides family style, including potatoes, carrots/peas, and noodles. When the noodle dish was put down, we somehow started referring to it as the “community noodle,” which remained a table joke for the rest of the night.
Later on in the evening, we gave away some door prizes, and my boss generously gave me a gift for planning the party. I wasn’t expecting that at all – it was a nice little thank you!
After all of that, we did a white elephant gift exchange, complete with edible underwear and lots of M&Ms. I work with fun people. John and I ended up with a Chinese “version” of Serendipity, which was only too perfect considering that’s one of the first movies (if not the very first) we watched together, and its two main characters are named John and Sarah (played by John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale).
The night ended close to midnight – it was a late night (especially considering I was in bed before 9 last night)! I spent all night dreaming about things that could have gone wrong with the party. I’m glad I had those dreams after and not before. I would have been even more nervous about how it was going to go!
wow! sounds like a really nice time. and it was sweet of your boss to give you a little somethin-somethin for planning it all. it’s rare that people realize how much planning and doing goes into a party. what a fun time!
John Cusak is one of my favorite actors, esp when it comes to romantic comedy. I’ve decided already to dress up as Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything for Halloween next year.