You can find out what Schrottwichteln is here in this older blog post. I did not write one specifically last year, but rest assured we did not neglect this fun tradition in 2013.
This year was special, since our friend who moved to the north of Germany some years ago joined us. We don't get to see her very often, but stay in touch mostly by email. Nici stayed with me, as before.
We also had two "new" girls join our group this year; one is the sister of one of the "old" girls, and the other one is my running partner and wife of one of my pub quiz team mates (that is how I originally got to know her).
As always, my living room was ready very quickly. This is how it normally looks these days:
And here it was set up for the small party of seven:
The presents are getting bigger every year:
The one I ended up with... oh dear! Who designs such things? And, even worse, who goes and buys them?!
But, as you can see, much fun was had. By all - even if you can't see the others. I have not asked their permission to use their pictures on my blog, and therefore can't post them. (So, who knows, maybe I was having a party with six imaginary friends... and ate 20 Hawaii toasts and drank two bottles of champagne all on my own!)
Lovely pix :) and what a fun night!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Fi :-) That it was!
DeleteWhat a fantastic idea this is. I might suggest it to friends in England, this will be another German tradition we import (Prince Albert introduced the Christmas tree to England in the 1840s, it is time for a new tradition).
ReplyDeleteI do marvel at some of the gifts that people buy. Even if they have passed them on once or twice already, someone still had to buy them in the first place. Once my husband got a life sized stone foot. Yes, a foot! /:}
I'd like to know the person who originally came up with the idea for the product. Someone, somewhere, at some time must have been sitting in an office and worked on the design for it. What WERE they thinking?!
DeleteAnd what is it please?
ReplyDeleteA vase/candle holder/decorative object/... take your pick, Jill!
DeleteI think it looks like some award. If I remove the candle, the deco-grains and all the rest of it, I could have it engraved with my name and award myself "Librarian of the Year" or something :-)
You haven’t told me what this wonderful gift is which you received? I can tell you cant eat or drink it but what else can’t you do with it?
ReplyDeleteAh, I just read your reply above this comment. I bet you were only waiting to receive a vase/candle holder/ decorative object, weren’t you.
You can tell from my face how happy it made me! (It'll go straight to next year's jumble sale where my sister will attempt to sell it.)
DeleteWhat a good idea! I,love the picture of Guinea pigs. Are they yours?
ReplyDeleteWell spotted, Frances! It's a calendar, a gift from my sister for last year's Christmas. When we were kids, we had guinea pigs and loved them very much. Some of them lived quite a long time.
DeleteSchrottwichteln - a variation of secret Santa where people try to give the most trashy/crappy gifts possible.
ReplyDeleteYou seem very happy with your trashy present Meike but who gave you the black and white animal top? Are they marsupials?
H & M gave me that cat print top, Neil. (I did pay for it, although it was a ridiculously small price - typical for those items produced under the most awful conditions in countries like Bangladesh.)
DeleteI think that is an excellent, and very fun, idea for a party! I've never come across Hawaiian toasts before - something to try when I'm feeling brave, perhaps? x
ReplyDeleteThe full description on how to make Hawaii Toast is on my blog under "recipes", Gillian :-)
DeleteIt really is so much fun! Some years, I have had good gifts; the giver may not need or want it, but the person who ends up with that gift may appreciate it. For instance, the coffee mug I always use around Christmas (because it has snow flakes on it) was such a Schrottwichteln-gift, and some other stuff I regularly use, too.
Great post! Of course you were not by yourself! Someone had to take the photos of you! (Oh, you could have it on a timer...never mind!)
ReplyDeleteI love the black and white pattern on your sweater but I see from the comments above they are cats, and I thought they could be kangaroos! I need new glasses! HA!
I always take my own pictures, Kay - all the fashion shots, for instance, are done with the self-timer on my camera.
DeleteHe he the kangaroo-cats now surely deserve their own post :-)
This sounds like so much fun......We call it Yankee Swap here. I love the photo of you. I would love to have a group of friends that met once a month.
ReplyDeleteIt is as much fun as it sounds, Kristi, or even more!
DeleteIf we did not have that set appointment to meet once a month (every 1st Friday of the month, unless it is a special occasion such as the Schrottwichteln or someone's birthday), we would hardly ever manage to get the group together.
It's a good idea... Over the years one does somehow tend to end up with a number of odd objects. The hard thing in a circle of friends (or family) might be to remember who gave you what in the first place (making sure the thing you want to get rid of was not originally given to you as "serious" present by one of the other participants, I mean)...
ReplyDeleteUnlikely to happen with this group of friends, Monica :-) But I can see the potential danger... And I try not to give the same type of thing every year, as that would be boring. For instance, someone in my extended family has the tendency to give me handbags that are so NOT my style, and I have about two or three I'd like to get rid of, but will wait another year or so before wrapping one of them up for the Schrottwichteln :-)
Delete123 re-gift...I wonder if any of these make it back to Schrottwichteln again.
ReplyDeletePossibly, Christopher - just not in this particular group, I hope :-) (It has not happened in the 7 or so years we've been doing this.)
DeleteYes I do recall previous posts on this and thought it would be fun but have never yet managed to put it into practice. It would have been perfect for The Family in NZ but, of course, I'm not there at the moment.
ReplyDeleteAny group of friends would have fun playing this, I guess. My American friend who was there for the first time later called it "a riot".
Delete