I have slept a lot today. And am still tired. That christmas party really drained me. I hope I will be ok to go to the computer teaching project meeting thing tomorrow. I feel like canceling it. But no no, that would be bad. I know. I will go.

So, the party story. Twas a cold and stormy evening…

I was told that it started between 5.30 and 6 pm. Took the bus and got there around 5.50. The first part was hard, just like last year. Before the food was served and we all got seated. Didn’t know what to do with myself. Alice, Per and another woman were doing the cooking, and the rest of the people where sitting in the sofa area in the corner. I walked around nervously for a bit. And just like last year I focused some attention on Nina, to take my mind off things. She seemed quite tired, though. Lying in the comfy chair. In the picture from yesterday she is up with her eyes open wide, but most of the time she was lying down. So I didn’t want to disturb her TOO much. Walked around for a bit more. Eventually Bodil arrived, which was good for me because she’s the one I feel most comfortable with. And she makes sure to drag me in and include me in things. I sat down on a chair a bit away from the people in the corner, but Bodil insisted that I joined them, almost dragged me into the circle of chairs. Hehe. She’s great. I was still very nervous though, not saying much. Fidgeting with my watch or whatever else there was in reach. A typical nervous reaction.

It wasn’t too long before dinner was served, though. And we all went to sit down. I wanted to make sure that I sat next to Bodil again, just like last year. I got a little scare at first. Bodil was on my left and Jannie on my right. But then Bodil said that she wanted to sit next to Jannie and she started walking to my right. I was afraid she’d walk past me and sit on Jannie’s right. But luckily she just told Jannie to move a seat down the line, so I ended up sitting with Bodil to my right and then Jannie was to Bodil’s right. Phew. It really makes a world of difference, having Bodil next to me.

A picture:

(Kurt and Alice on the left. Jannie with the back to the camera. Interns Lasse and Brian at the table. And then some people in the dark in the back)

On my left was a guy called Omar. Moroccan, although you wouldn’t be able to tell from listening to him. Flawless Danish, very intelligent and friendly. Not that I think Moroccans aren’t intelligent or friendly in general, I meant that he didn’t have any kind of accent of course. He was there with his girlfriend or wife, Sara. They were at the last christmas party too. And they remembered me, by name even. I was impressed with that since it’d been a year since they last saw me and I’m not generally a very memorable person at these sort of events. But they’re a great couple, sweet and friendly as I said. And there had been a development since last year.. they got a baby. A sweet, little baby girl called Nora. They brought her to the party, and naturally she was a big hit with everyone. Completely and utterly adorable, as only a little baby can be. Having Omar on my left was quite good, partially because he was nice and took some initiatives in talking to me, but also because he was often holding Nora which meant an excellent topic of conversation and focus.

There’s nothing sweeter than a baby and its loving parents, the unconditional love and amazement, having this little sweet creature being their one and only thing of importance. It’s hard to imagine, sometimes, that we’ve all been like that. Almost all. Not just that we’ve all been that small and adorable, but also that we’ve been so loved. Even those of us that may have grown up to have complicated, or even bad, relationships with our parents. We were once the world to them, the light in their eyes. It’s a sweet thought.

But back to the food. Just as last year it was a feast of great proportions. Many dishes. It’s always a little worrying for me, though. I’m not used to eating spicy, varied food. And of course you know my problem with onion and garlic… anything remotely tasting or just smelling of it, it makes me need to throw up. So when the first dish, some sort tomato puree/soup thingie, tasted of onion.. well I was worried. I didn’t eat much of it. Bodil made a little fun of it, but in a nice way. And she was helpful too. “When you don’t serve the portions yourself then you don’t have to finish it”. And I joked that maybe I should pour it in one of the pot plants. Heh. The next dish came with some beans that tasted like they had been marinated with garlic. At that point I was worried that I’d have to just sit and eat the bread slices and nothing else. But things did pick up, with some really yummy things as well. The first nearly passed me by. It looked like “fiskefrikadeller”, which is some kind of fish chops or balls or whatever you’d call it. My mother usually makes that with onions and other nasties, so I did not feel like trying them. I passed the serving plate to Bodil without taking any. But then she started talking about what it was, and it wasn’t any meat at all. It was some kind of potatoes, maybe mashed or crushed, and some kind of cheese and then cooked together. So when I heard that I decided to try it anyway, and good thing too. It was superb. There was geese sauce as well, that was good. I didn’t eat too much meat. I tried the rabbit, and that was okay. But you know, the silly workings of the human mind. Those cute little rabbits. Bjørn, another repeat guest from last year, was joking about it when he found out that I was going to be feeding the animals the following day. He was joking about how there weren’t going to be any rabbits left to feed. Ouch. He’s a funny guy, though, Bjørn. Very nice and entertaining. In fact all the people there were quite nice in general. I think we were 11-12 people. Pernille wasn’t there. I think she has actually stopped working at the playground altogether, because of health problems. I have to inquire about that. It’s been a very long time since I saw her last, and I know she wasn’t doing too well. Jannie almost didn’t come either, she had worked more than 30 hours the previous two days and was exhausted. She ended up going, though, luckily. Her mother didn’t come though. Kurt has been in rough shape too, too much stress and hard work. But he was there. Along with a couple of interns from the past year, the “other” Lasse being one of them.

Good people, good food, a cute little baby and a sweet little cat. A very nice evening. Two deserts this year. There was talk of one of the previous years where there had been 7 deserts! Wow. I would never have gotten through that. We had pancakes with ice this year. And then the traditional risalamande, the rice desert. With a prize to the person who finds the hidden almond. It went to Sara this year. Of course the almond prize is not a desirable one at the playground’s christmas party. It’s a quite ugly pot, and you’re forced to display it openly in your house for the next year. To some people that’s quite a nightmare. Of course to me it wouldn’t be so bad, having an ugly, green pot standing around somewhere would hardly ruin my decor. It’s rather laissez-fair anyway. The prize was sweetened by the pot being filled with some candy and a bottle of imported German beer. So it wasn’t all horrible, and Sara didn’t seem too crushed.

But that’s about all. I ended up leaving around 11 o’clock. Not as the first one to go either. So that amounts to something like 5 hours of social interaction. I am pleased that I was able to get through that okay. Like I’ve said, it’s draining. The first hour had barely passed when I was feeling exhausted. Physically tired, suppressing yawns and finding my concentration lacking. I really can’t be in a room with other people without being completely drained of energy and focus. But at least there wasn’t a great deal of anxiety or fear. Once we were seated and things were underway, I felt fairly good. It’s nice to have that contact with others, difficult as it may be.

Anything I’ve forgotten? Hmm.. Well, as I mentioned yesterday, Nina was inside all night. Normally she has to be let out so she doesn’t set off the alarm. I think she enjoyed lying in the comfy chair all night, with the murmur of voices in the background. Last year she had wanted to go out about halfway through the party. But this year she didn’t want none of that. Bodil tried to open the door for her and let her out a couple of times, but she wasn’t tempted. Probably because it was cold and raining outside. At one point she got up to the open door and peeked outside. It looked like she was considering it for a moment, whether to go out or stay in. But then she jumped back up in her chair and got cozy again. And it was good to have her there all night. Every now and then I’d go over to her and pet her a little, getting away from all the complicated human interaction for a little.

All in all a good time well spent. Very hard and emotionally draining, but rewarding as well. Walked home in the rainy night and felt good. When I got back there yesterday to feed the animals the table was littered with empty wine bottles. And there were plenty of rabbits in their cages. Plus four goats that were happy to see me.

Yup. I pronounce it a success. Looking forward to next year…

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 2nd, 2007 at 22:44 and is filed under Blogging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.