Barbara's Away Game
11/25/2011
I am gone…
Time Pilgrims' Thanksgiving
In 1621 the Pilgrim Fathers celebrated their first Thanksgiving. It should have been 50 colonists and probably 70 Wampanoag Native Americans (pc!). They celebrated three whole days with roasted turkey, lots of side orders and desserts, cranberry sauce and squash, not the sport, the pumpkin you can eat. (Thank Wikipedia Germany, the information is only almost the same as on the American site)
We were also 50, but Time Pilgrims, temporary Pilgrims, the modern term is Expatriate, short: Expat. I didn't see any Wampanoag Natives.
Otherwise it has been exactly as in Wikipedia described. There were three roasted turkeys, a big ham, maybe 100 dumplings, a huge mount of Spätzle (the origin of the pilgrims you can easily detect on the sides), corn bread, salads, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and lots of yummy desserts.
Full house, full buffet, and full plates.
Watch this; impressions of a wonderful evening, (bawaygame on you tube, this time I took pictures and I had help. Thank Pablo, Samuel, Moritz and who else. As the funny rite in this great country is, I ask all the actors for permission):
Time Pilgrims Thanksgiving, the slideshow
Here to compare a teaching-video; almost no difference! Regard the classical food, the kitchen, the mixed chairs and especially the music. We did everything how it should be!
Peanuts: A Charly Brown Thanksgiving - food
As the plates and the buffet got empty, the dance floor got full.
...Oh, our doing is very well! ;-)
Britta and Martin, thank you for the beautiful idea and the great organization. It was a terrific party!
12/11/2011
I am gone…
Column Jam
There is a long line of columns in my head, especially the English ones. It must have happen some day, I know. I have my best ideas when I drive the car but then I can’t type. So, if I’m on the road I have a lot of ideas but then I have no time to write.
Maybe I should think about to write with voice command while I’m driving.
I mention briefly which columns you won’t get read. I wrote two columns in German, “Commercial Free” and “Sting in Concert”, and had no time to translate them until now. I will try to do this some day but I can’t promise. The newest columns are the important columns.
Then there are the non-written columns, only existing in my head:
First of all I want to write about the Wednesday-dog training with the fantastic four women, who are all linked somehow. I told you in “Small World” about them. Someday I will write an own column about our problems to find the right place to make training. A place where we can work with an off leashed dog without get disturbed by other off leashed dogs or people who are concerned about the same. We found one for the morning and we need one for the evening. I will write someday about that.
In the meantime I’m a proud member of the Santa Clara Dog Trainings Club (SCDTC). I needed two sponsors who recommend me as a prospective member. Barbara and Marianne, thank you so much. I joined the club-meetings and finally they voted democratically if I became a member. Since last Sunday I’m an official club-member. Now I help Louis to build up the jumps and the mats before training, make more and more acquaintances in the club and look forward to the club trials in January where I will help. Actually I should write about that, but I had no time.
Moritz became 18 years, Nobbi was in Japan, the Half Moon Bay Holiday Horse get a new dress, we have in the meantime 6 motorbikes and 5 cars and met a lot of funny and interesting people at the car hunt. The highlight was the private investigator; his second job is window cleaner. Wearing an odd long black coat he could be with his look as well as with his character, his eventually alcohol problem and smoking cigarettes in chain a great series character. Cliché…Great, I love it! We didn’t buy his car.
Nobbi and his new hobby. Buying cars! This car was the car of the private investigator. I didn’t have the heart to make a picture with him. Therefor I’m sure he would be proud if I had asked him.
The most important column, which I have to write, has the headline:
The Making of Christmas Market
This column has to be written. Not because I think that the readers are pretty happy about this or because it satisfies my task, no, because I think that the women, who I give it to, earn it.
This column I give to the Christmas Market Preparation Team. Britta, you did a wonderful job, I would hire you as a boss, if I would found a company. Silvia, do you have ever taken a seat in the whole preparation time? Hats off! Rocio, I would hire you as the head from the marketing department, Nicole, what a mission, you find the business partners for us, Brigitte and Daniela, you can choice the job; Human Resources Management or Head of the economy department. Uli becomes the design-manager and I only take a little job in the accounting.
The team from left to right: Silvia, Barbara, Britta, Nicole, Uli, Rocio, Daniela, Brigitte
The job of the custodian is new announced. We need a credible, eager to work and thinking by himself man, who is also with his body there, when he is needed. Eberhard, I would offer you the job!
When you watch a movie, visit a rock concert or walk around a fair then you take the big event as wholeness and you seldom ask how much work it is. Did you ever watch big red ants at their hill? Did you ever ask yourself what happens there, who is responsible for all this action, how does this work? How it works in an anthill would go to far, you can watch the making of a movie with its special edition DVD, and for concerts and fairs you have the lovely new job of the event manager.
The Christmas Market of the German International School of Silicon Valley (GISSV) is organized by the Christmas Market Team.
At our school, I think everywhere at the USA-schools, but I’m not sure, you have to make 20 volunteer hours. Required volunteering! I love the combination of requiring and volunteering! Last year I cleaned classrooms, scooped a whole morning wood chips on the playgrounds, cleaned up after the Christmas market and this and that other until I had my 20 hours.
This year I heard that I don’t have to think about the hours. I am a mother of the 12th grade and so I have to prepare the Christmas Market. That would take much more then 20 hours. Well, then!
I went to the first meeting. Sure I know the most women, because they are Half Moon Bay she-expats.
I was impressed. In the first meeting I felt as I was in the professional meeting of a company, an important event or something like that. Britta had the leadership. Manager-wife? Misses Manager! The tasks were distributed. Nicole dealed with the professional vendors, means she walked weekends from market to market, spoke with the vendors and made advertising for our market. What a work! Uli get the head of the decoration team, look for the deco stuff in the school and prepare the whole school for the market with volunteers. Ugh, I still have problems to get my living room nice for Christmas. Rocio took care about the whole marketing, made the market public, printing and spread out flyers. Daniela and Brigitte are the food booth experts. What shall we offer, where can we buy it and how much? What are we allowed to sell, what says the law and how shall we realize it. Silvia of the office was the woman for everything. She knew the prices, the counts, she made the orders and 1000s of things I can’t imagine. I sat in the first meeting and thought: “I’m wrong here!” I asked for clear orders and nothing with the telephone. I should count the dishes and cutleries, and type the notes in Britta’s laptop.
We met almost every Thursday and often we can’t go to Half Moon Bay.
We discussed how much we need of what, who will order what, for what we need which help and so the weeks passed and the Christmas Market began to take shape.
For such a school event it’s important that you don’t have only a team of people who organize, you also need countless helpers for realization. A nice program of the grades is as important as the guys at the BBQ, people who build up and clean up, sellers, organizer and folk that keeps the market running, supervisors.
We published a jooners list where volunteers could enter but one week before the market it looks pretty bad. Almost no volunteers! The other 12th grade parents were very shy, some took usual volunteering but no real help for the team.
We asked the principal to announce the jooners list again and this worked. The list was finally full and the market could begin.
Saturday 9am build up, 3pm market until 7pm, after that clean up. The most team members were busy from nine in the morning until after eight in the evening without break, because we didn’t have any supervisors, we had to do it by our own.
Just a few pictures from the build up...pics from the market you can surely see at the school website.
beautiful weather
The gingerbread house was a challenge for the volunteers. They worked the whole morning until it was standing safe in the wind. Great job!
benches and tables looked so nice...
Santa Claus, we had the real!!!
The market kept going, the principal and the visitors lauded the event, the sausages tasted well, so did the punch, the pea soup burned in the pot but Daniela took sacrificing care. I met her in the kitchen as I took more sausages for the BBQ. She stuck almost with the complete upper body in the pot, scratching the burned part of the soup out of the pot. What a pity that I couldn’t make a picture. When the power went of we searched the custodian, mostly not successful, but thank Eberhard, Ulis husband, it was getting light again and again.
Overall the folk was satisfied, things those were not OK I don’t want to expand.
Was the team satisfied?
This was the central question in the meeting after the market. With the market sure, the points which have to be improved are noted and the next team can take care of them. Nobody, except Silvia, it’s her job and she did it gorgeous, is willing to be next year in the team.
Why?
I only can and only want speak for me. I believe that there is no balance between the effort and the event. A couple of woman work hard weeks over weeks, at the event day they are 11 hours busy unless the whole event collapses and it is nice. It’s my opinion; just a nice event. Not more than nice! It’s because there are too little support from others. The organizers pay with total exhaustion, super cooling in the evening, heavy legs and absolute tiredness and not even the leader of the team didn’t get public thank. Dissapointing!
Following scene belongs to the school stage, but it was missing. We take care and catch it up here on the imaginary column stage:
“Britta, please come up here on the stage, I’m sorry that you, in the rear part of the audience, have problems to understand me, the sound system is not so good as promised. Big cheer for Britta, because without her hard work we wouldn’t have such a wonderful holiday afternoon!” A big bouquet, held in orange and yellow, with gerbera and sunflowers for Britta. “Silvia, would you join us on the stage. As employee of the school we want to thank you as well. It’s not a given that you work beneath your office job so much for this event. Thank you so much for your involvement!” Also for Silvia a huge bouquet but in the holiday colors green and red. “Now I ask the whole team to come on the stage. Daniela, Brigitte, Nicole, Rocio, Uli and Barbara, I hope I forget nobody.” All women get red rose, not because they are haply left over, but because we want to say thank you. “We hope you will do next year the organization again, you were so professional.” Big Cheer!!! “Where is the custodian?” Agh, Actually I want to thank him too, with a big bag of Ghiradelli
Chocolate Squares, but if nobody finds him...
Next year I’m out of the team...I’m sure, I will spend my November-Thursdays in Half Moon Bay again and not in the Library. I will volunteer 3 or 4 hours as a supervisor in the food booth, I promise!!!
Merry Christmas
and a
Happy New Year
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