Ah, the Company Christmas Party

On Monday, our department celebrated Christmas in the usual fashion: with a company party. Everyone brought food to share, we helped to lay out some lovely decorations, some tasteful holiday music was played in the background, and then we all sat around nibbling cookies and drinking spiced wine. The event started out somber and quiet...maybe because the spiced wine didn't have enough rum, or because the Christmas tunes were more like opera music than party music. In either case, this portion of the party was happily short-lived, and soon the party developed into an event with memorable highlights....

Once everyone had relaxed into the party, it was time for the annual secret Santa (Weihnachtsmann) gift exchange. To everyone's surprise, Professor Arzt decided to dress as Santa himself to hand out the gifts this year. Very funny. Kids at UIUC...just try to imagine Ian doing this...impossible, right?.Of course, no company Christmas party is complete without a healthy dose of embarrassment, so Shravanthi and I decided to perform a holiday line dance to show 'em how we do things in the south. The song we chose was "Santa Claus is Coming on a Boogie Woogie Choo Choo Train", which you can sample here. It actually turned out to be a success, and by the end we had half of the department on the dance floor trying to learn the dance along side us. Sorry, no video, but you can get the gist from the pics. Check out our amazing coordination!
So, until the next embarrassing moment, I bid you adieu!

Jack is BACK

In my glory days, I was 17, worked at Worst Buy, and occassionally received free copies of various computer programs from software company representatives. Among the top of the list were games like 7th Level's Monty Python and the Holy Grail - funny, totally new, and with HUGE replayability (ie, you could play it over and over without getting bored). Believe it or not, I'd never known Monty Python and this started a burgeoning love with British humor and Monty Python's interesting directions. But I digress.

One freebie in particular started an all-points-bulletin revolution. I'm talkin about neverending night parties, with both friends and families. This badboy even included stickers you put on your keyboard as an eternal brand signifying to visitors that you're both part of the elite YDKJ clan. This may be the most popular game that everybody never heard about. And it goes something like this:

YOU DONT KNOW JACK!

It slipped away once, don't let it happen again. Go home and plug this address in your browser window:

www.youdontknowjack.com

You can play some, you can buy them, just don't complain about how much they cost because you can't put a price on history, baby.

T minus 7 days...

With just a week to go until the big day, Andy and I have successfully put up a Christmas tree in our apartment. Our friend Petra drove us to the market to pick one out (and helped us barter in German by the way...26 Euros down to 22, not too shabby). The tree is a Nordman-Tanne, very popular here. We bought the star topper at the Weihnachtsmarkt downtown...isn't it pretty?

Too much Christmas? No such thing.

As though visiting three previous Christmas markets wasn't enough, we headed last Sunday to Nürnberg for the most famous Christmas market in Germany. The trip on the train was 3 hours, and only 20 Euros a couple thanks to the Schönes Wochenende (Happy-Weekend) ticket. We went with our friends Katie and Carl, and their friends, Kathleen and Mike.

Just across the street from the train station in Nürnberg is the "old city" section. This part is the original castle part of the city, and is surrounded by a wall and a long-since-drained moat. Inside the wall the buildings are filled with cute, touristy shops like the Old Tin Toy Shop and the Lebkuchen Bakery. Very charming.

Meanwhile, in the city center, the streets are full of pedestrians, strolling through and enjoying the 160+ booths at the Christkindlmart. The architecture is so nice, and such a contrast to modern Stuttgart. Nürnberg was more or less leveled during WWII, but was rebuilt to look just as it did before the war. It's really very pretty. While walking through the market, we got roasted chestnuts (new experience, pretty tasty), candied almonds, mini-bratwurst sandwiches, glühwein (mulled wine), and fresh lebkuchen (soooooo good). We also saw some fun performers, such as the one-man band, with a tin bandmate playing the drums:


....and found out that Nürnberg is famous for "prune people"... semi-scary figurines made with prunes and figs:

To see the rest of the pics from our grand day out, click here.

Beer by the mile!

.....or the meter actually. We went last night to a quirky, playfully-decorated local bar in Vaihingen. They're apparently famous for their "beer by the meter", so of course we decided to partake. Pretty cool, huh?

Oh, the humanity!

I thought I should tell you that tragedy struck Gingerbread Land last Thursday. That unusually sunny day, my pretty gingerbread house was proudly perched on our dining room table, right in front of a large window. While Andy and I were unknowingly enjoying a regular day at work, the little gingerbread people were staring in horror as their chocolate roof melted into a pile of chocolate mud.

So sad. But kind of funny too. :)

























Oh no!

Before and After Pics

Since Sparker requested them, here are before and after pics of Andy's haircut:

Ritter Sport Factory Visit

Sweet! I found a good chocolate back in the states called Ritter Sport. At Cost Plus World Market you could find boxes with unique fillings including marzipan, cornflakes, etc. Ritter Sport is EVERYWHERE here - and for great reason; it's made here! Instead of being shaped like a bar, this chocolate comes in SQUARES of one, four, or sixteen (and larger.. achey tummy and I've never even eated the large large one). We learned that the factory is very, very close, so of course we went to visit!

Along with the factory, which rumor has it we can't enter unless we're under 18 (that's a new one), there is an art museum of Square-like art (which we didn't enter) and a history of chocolate museum (which was concise). Heading up the stairs I snapped a quick pic of a square art installation.

By far the coolest history item was a miniature factory where kids (or, ahem, adults) could push a button and have a packaged sample delivered to them by truck! Below is a picture of Tad (not shown) requesting one of 22 samples. :) Don't worry, he gave them to all the bystanders also marveling about the miniature factory:



Press button, truck gets candy, truck leaves "factory," truck drives to you, and finally truck drops chocolate - hopefully in the right spot.









Unfortunately some unlucky kid had to wait for another sample, but not TAD! Here's his Jogurt sample comin'!








The factory also includes a chocolate store where you can purchase items at cost. We barely made it out of there with money in our pockets.... No comments! Worth noting is that you can purchase TEST flavors that aren't even available to the public. Also worth noting is that Ritter has chocolate with alcohol flavors that aren't available in the States. Some of these include Amaretto, Jamaican Rum, Vanilla Liquor.. There are more, but I can't HIC think of HIC any more of them.. HIC. Just kidding. The museum says a person of 70kg would have to eat over 500 bars to = 2cl of alcohol. You'd have a bit more to worry about than the alcohol at that point... Tata for now. We've got to get crackin.. on the chocolate.. that we didn't buy...

I Lost Many Hairs

Before turning into Cousin IT I decided it was best to get my hairs cut. Svelt Guillaume suggested a local Stuttgart salon that he's had good luck with so I gave it a shot. Appointment set, check. Waited for the day and hopped on the train, check. Arrived to learn the stylist doesn't speak a word of English.. .. umm.. no check. Well, life is a big adventure, right? Check.

Waiting for my turn I picked out a picture in the German Men's Health and brought it to Ulvi (the stylist). The wife confirmed the picture (seriously, who wouldn't like to have David Beckham's hair?), so I felt right on track, and when Ulvi called me back to the chair I was in for quite a treat. Ulvi is an artist, which drastically sets him apart from other people to have cut my hair in the past. He took his time and did a fantastic job. Interestingly though were the advanced techniques yet unknown to the sister industry in America...

(a) Ulvi cut my hair dry.. No wash before, just a few spritz' from the water bottle.

(b) Next, a long gentle wash which included a head massage.. .awesome!

(c) Patting my hair somewhat dry, Ulvi massaged in some masculine hair tonic. Didn't see that one comin..

Then it happened.. Through our translator I mentioned the "eyebrow job" that Guillaume talked about (you cry, he said). You see, some guys get their eyebrows plucked to be less wooly-mammoth and more Pierce Brosnan. I figured what the hell, go for it.

Ulvi's eyes widened and what he said was translated to: are you sure? this isn't your grandma's eyebrow plucking you know..

Heck yes I'm in.. Let's do it! and off he went. No tweezers at first, only two pieces of string with one end between his teeth and the other in his hand. Somehow he zipped the second string along the first and it plucked out the general form of his artistic intention. After pruning the bulk he resorted to plucking with tweezers to finish the job. I have to say the individual plucking was worse, because it was so slow. Maybe some of you fellow men have experienced this style before.. I for one am happy to still have eyebrows..

but hey, we're not done!

(d) then, after the shock of eyebrow plucking, he pulled out a lighter, struck a massive flame and whipped past my ears to burn the old man hairs from them! DEFINITELY DIDNT EXPECT THAT ONE.

(e) then he almost topped that by grabbing the tip of my nose, guiding my head upwards, and trimming my NOSE hairs with clippers (fresh from trimming the obvious "you need a haircut" neck hairs).

(f) Finally, the usual styling of hairs and acceptance of money. :)

It was actually a pretty solid experience. I'm planning to go back because they not only did a great job but surprised the hell out of me in a postive way. If any of you are in need of a hair cut when you come to visit............

Good Morning, Sunshine!

Sunrise view from our apartment. :)

Fun with Gingerbread

This week, I decided to have some girl friends over for some creative fun: gingerbread house making. We each picked our own template for our house, then bought LOTS of candy to share for the decorating process. Five hours and two kilograms of powdered sugar icing later, we had finished our works of art. The whole process was so fun, I felt like a kid again. Pics of our houses are shown below. For pics of the whole she-bang, click here.

Katie's Wintery Snow Chalet



































Petra's Whimsical Fairy Tale Cottage































Shravanthi's Stained Glass Palace



































My Cozy Gingerbread Home


































Christmas tree and fireplace inside. :)

Medieval Times, German-style

On Sunday, Andy and I went with a group of friends to one of the most famous Christmas markets in Stuttgart: The Esslingen Weihnachtsmarkt. Esslingen is technically a neighboring city, but feels close enough to be a suburb. The city is old and historic, with buildings and a castle dating back to the Middle Ages. As a result of this history, the arrange a Medieval Market to accompany the Weihnachtsmarkt each year....sort of a nod to the heritage of the city. It makes for an interesting vibe though, because while walking through you go from gingerbread hearts and Christmas ornaments to street performers and grog.

All in all though, the trip to Esslingen was well worth it, because the city is just so beautiful. After getting our fill of the markets, we hiked up the hill to the Esslingen castle to take in the sunset and see view the lay of the land. It was really pretty up there.

Pics from our adventure are posted online. Just click here to see.