Grit's going away party

The weekend before last was Grit's going-away party. She's the one who organized the German Stammtisch that Jeremi and I attend most Tuesday nights at a local cafe, which, at the beginning, was the only place we really spoke German outside of class. (We're getting better about that now though, to the point that when my brother called on Saturday, I answered asked who it was in German. In my defence, I was in the supermarket and there was a lot of ambient noise, so I didn't recognize his voice.)

The party was in her parents' garden in Ammerbach, a village south of Jena not far from where I work. Lots of people from the Stammtisch were there, and there was lots of good food as we were all asked to bring a dish from our country. I brought butter tart squares (much quicker to make than butter tarts), and they were a big hit. People were asking how to make them, but without North American-style brown sugar it can't really be done. (I've had my family bring me brown sugar when they visited, so I have my own personal stash.) There is brown sugar here, but it's completely crystalline, like white sugar, and doesn't give the same consistency at all when baking.

Some scenes from the party:




It was a cool evening, but the giant fire and lots of beer kept us warm enough. We'll be seeing Grit again though, as she's got a job teaching at Cornell starting this summer, and will be driving up (along with her boyfriend Joerg) for the wedding. Hooray!