Reply to: The Weekend is Hereby Declared Begun

[darmstadt]

Well last night I had my one and only Christmas meal. This is an informal gathering of, mainly, Brits in Darmstadt who have been drinking together for over 30 years, meeting on a Friday (Alf Pruf. knows who I mean.) Each year we have a meal in a local Greek place organised by one of the group but there are some rules. Everyone has to bring a present costing not more than €15 and a bottle of something. Each present gets a number so that you don't get your own one back.

After the meal each person picks a number and gets the relevant present which is opened to 'oohs' and 'aahs' from everyone (who by now are pretty merry.) This year I got a nice china piggy bank which was nice as I collect this company's beer and schnapps glasses.

There is a similar procedure with the bottles but instead of selecting a bottle you can choose to take someone else's but this can only be performed 3 times. This means when a decent bottle turns up, such as Whiskey, then everyone is counting the amount of times it has been 'stolen' and if their turn is next. I ended up with a very nice bottle of red wine which I don't drink so swapped it later for a bottle of Soy Sauce, which I do. Mrs. D. got the best, a bottle of Goldwasser from Danzig. Can be quite good fun.

Then comes charades and remember, this is in a restuarant which has other guests (oh and I provide the crackers so we're all wearing stupid hats) and by now people are quite tiddly and a jolly time was had by all. What is quite interesting is the breakdown of people ranging in ages from 40 to nearly 70 and this year there were 4 Irish, 3 Scottish, 2 Germans, 1 American and 7 English.

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Shortly I shall be going to the Kegelbahn in a cellar where firstly we'll be watching football while drinking and eating quality snacks. This will be followe by a few bowls of the Kegel and then who knows what the rest of the evening holds.

Have a good weekend everyone

[RichardCranium]

My account still works then.

I had wondered.

[darmstadt]

Contract(s) Dilemma

Wrong bloody thread

[Gonzo]

It was a reasonably good book ...

I am probably not the most reliable film critic

The end of the film was quite sad.

I could hear a woman two rows in front of me blubbing and I turned to Mrs Gonzo with a look of incredulity to see that she had tears running down her cheek too.

When she caught my eye we both broke into hysterical laughter. God knows what everyone else there thought of us.

[Gonzo]

I was trying to be funny. It didn't work.

I'd be off to NZ like a shot if they'd have me.

It was probably a bit close to the mark for the locals.

2009 has been different, not surprisingly, but over the past few years the locals have been doing a lot of soul searching to understand why so many of the locals leave to live overseas.

As it stands 15% of people born locally live overseas, that rises to 25% of the skilled workforce.

The locals can live and work in Australia without a visa and that is the only option for the unskilled but the skilled workers have many more options.

The local government statistics outfit are pretty good and publish the figures every month:
http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_...HOTPOct09.aspx

The numbers are down from 2007 and 2008 but there are still nearly 700 people per week permanently moving to Australia.

[NickFitz]

Going to the cinema was a rare treat, it was just unfortunate that the film we saw was one that you would turn off after fifteen minutes if it was on TV.

You should stay at home and watch Police Ten-7 instead

I know it's not on at the moment, but you can probably have a video recording apparatus, programmable by a timer mechanism, smuggled into the country if you get into bed with the Maori Mafia.

Once that's done you're sorted: just watch Police Ten-7 on loop and you'll never need any other form of televisual entertainment

"The errant teen returned the next day to repair the fence, and no further action was taken" - Strictly Come Fencing

[Zippy]

Y
Anyway, my weekend was going to the cinema on Friday night and watching an awful film, The Time Traveler's Wife [sic].

It was a reasonably good book ...

[RichardCranium]

Sorry, chaps. You're going to have to carry on without me. So, stand firm, boys, stand firm. Then give 'em hell.

[RichardCranium]

8½th

I seem to have become very sleepy for some reason. I don't know why.

[RichardCranium]

I was trying to be funny. It didn't work.

I'd be off to NZ like a shot if they'd have me.

[Gonzo]

Wot? Every weekend? F**k me, New Zealand is dull.

Going to the cinema was a rare treat, it was just unfortunate that the film we saw was one that you would turn off after fifteen minutes if it was on TV.

This weekend sees the third New Zealand v Pakistan test match played in Napier so I will mostly be watching that on the TV.

[norrahe]

wine and toooo much malt *hic*

[RichardCranium]

7th

8½th

[RichardCranium]

Anyway, my weekend was going to the cinema on Friday night and watching an awful film, The Time Traveller's Wife.

Wot? Every weekend? F**k me, New Zealand is dull. Would you like me to post you a couple of DVDs or would the shock of something different to watch be too much to handle? No wonder there's so many sheep to choose from...

[gingerjedi]

I never thought it was possible to get to pi55ed on Baileys, 1ltr usually lasts until boxing day.