Brauser!

Lest anyone think that my trip to Germany was purely cultural, I guess I should confess that that was far from the truth! In fact, my friend from OUE invited me to Germany for a party, and party we did...On the Saturday evening the parents of my friend's girlfriend hosted an amazing party for around 35 family members, friends from school, med school, grad school etc. A few people knew each other before, but there was no awkwardness between the various groups, in fact there was no splitting into groups at all. Everyone joined in with everyone else. The party had the most amazing dynamic with people of all ages and nationalities just getting along like old friends. It was the best party I've ever been to, and, to be honest, like Phantom, I'm not particularly a big fan of large social gatherings with many people I don't know. But this party just felt so comfortable (despite the fact that LLH, my Canadian friend and I were the only non-German speakers). I really liked that nobody was trying to be cool or wild, but that everyone was just having a really fun time. I chatted with amazing people, from my friend's Mum, Aunt and Uncle, to a Lithuanian archaeologist, to a whole host of doctors who kept telling me to 'drink this, it's good for you!'. And before I knew it, my friend was strumming along on a guitar and everyone was huddled around singing together, and I even danced! Yes, it was slightly surreal to be doing the Time Warp in a garden in rural Germany, but, yeah, it was a blast.

And, of course, there was a lot of schnapps shots going around, some of which were drunk with Brauser...

Brauser is a sherbert-type powder, which comes in several fruit flavours (it's in the little sachets in the bowl), and is usually mixed with water to make a soft-drink for children (my Canadian friend said it was a little like Kool Aid). But on this occasion it was not mixed with anything...our German hosts instructed us to tip the powder into our mouths, swiftly followed by a shot of schnapps and then to shake our heads like crazy before swallowing. And, whoooah, does it fizz and tingle...I'm pulling a face just thinking about it! If you're ever in Germany I can recommend it, but not more than one or two... ;)