When Germans get together.....

Tis the Christmas season around the world, and here in Germany that is an important holiday. Mariko's lab held a small (unofficial) Christmas party on Tuesday night, as usual it was potluck style (most of the food was desserts). Mariko and I brought an Apple Coffee Cake.... and I won't mention how Mariko got the date wrong of the party and we were scrambling to get something made in time! Ahem... oops. Honestly though it wasn't too bad, and Mariko came home for lunch to help me make it!! I was happy with that so I'm not going to complain.



The party was officially started with the Fueurszangenbowle!! A brief description of Feuerzangenbowle: It translates literally to Fire-tongs-punch.... and it is AWESOME!

You take red wine and add cinnamon, cloves and oranges to make it spiced wine

Next suspend a Zuckerhut(sugar-hat) over the pot of warmed wine

Pour rum (at least 54%) over Zuckerhut and light on fire

Using a ladle, add rum until the fire has melted the entire Zuckerhut

Yes you take alcohol and fire and combine them! I think they start the party this way, its safer when everyone is sober... and its a great opening act! Here is the official wiki page on Fueurzangenbowle.

After the Fueurzangenbowle the rest of the party was just talking and drinking. We were introduced to a few German drinking songs, played via YouTube:
 

 

 The crowd is shouting Schinken (Ham) and Ei (Egg).. the song is about a sandwich with Ham and a Sandwich with Egg.....

This is a rather simple song, as he is just mainly listing off types of alcohol, and then saying that they have a reason to celebrate.

Yes it was a loud boisterous party near the end... a few of Mariko's lab-mates started dancing to one of the songs (sorry for the dark video):

Once it reached midnight Mariko and I decided that it was time to head home (other people were still staying), so we made our trek back home and went straight to bed. I feel a little sorry for everyone in the lab, as they all had to be back to work in the morning.... where as I could sleep in as long as I wanted.

We have the official Lab Christmas Party on Thursday, hosted by the big boss Prof. Mendel. I'm curious to see how it differs from the smaller party that we just had.... don't worry, I will keep you all informed.