05. June 2023

Our first SKS spring party 2023

I look back on our first SKS spring party with a big smile. Yes, we decided to sweeten the warmer and more relaxed months with outings by only celebrating the time-honoured Christmas party on a "small" scale, but all the bigger a spring and autumn party.

Just in time for Easter, Dorit unpacked the programme as a surprise. The intensive preparation and compilation of the events was so worth it!

On a beautiful spring day, 5.5.2023, we all met in Leipzig. In a good mood and fresh, we started on a very different city tour: true or false? - The Leipzig tour of lies. We learned a lot about Bach, Goethe, Leipzig trade and much more in an entertaining and historical way. Tobi had the highest hit rate in debunking the lies - well done.

We had earned our refreshment at the Bavarian Railway Station and enjoyed the delicacies. Afterwards we went to the Störmthaler See, a beautiful lake, artificially created from an open-cast mine. Here we had a lot of work to do: in 4 teams we first of all dragged logs and boards, which we transformed into high-quality rafts. The construction required a lot of talking and individual works of art were indeed created. Luckily, all the constructions could float, because after we had duly "christened" our rafts, we had a race. What wet fun. Luckily it was around 20 degrees. The award ceremony belonged to the deserving winners, the "SKS SteuerBieraten".

After this highlight, we took a break at the hotel and met up again refreshed for dinner at the Vodkaria in Leipzig. The food took a back seat to the extensive, fantastic range of vodka on offer. Traditionally, the evening ended in a self-initiated mini-disco with a small box in the hotel's rooftop bar - for a few even in a "real" location with the hits of the 90s.

The morning breakfast and the return journey to Dresden and Berlin were then relatively quiet. Everyone reflected on the wonderful experiences. Once again it was a great SKS day. Everything worked out - many thanks to Dorit for the excellent preparation! It was a lot of fun and brought our team spirit forward again. We are already looking forward to the autumn party.

Elisabeth

09. January 2023

Our SKS Christmas party 2022

Phew - it was nice and cold this year for our SKS Christmas party! Once again, we had chosen just the right thing: the right place at the right time...

On 16.12.2022 we started early from Berlin and Dresden south to the mountains: to Oberwiesenthal (affectionately called "O-Thal" in preparation). A wonderful snowy landscape got us in the mood for the eventful day as soon as we arrived. After a short check-in at the most beautiful wellness hotel on the place and after slipping into our warm snow clothes, we were welcomed by our guide and warmed up with the first challenge - the team schnapps drinking synchronously from a wide wooden pole. Here you could see right away who already had good experience with this. After this little fun, we could prove ourselves in 3 more wooden activities: nailing, stacking and sawing. As always with us SKSers, there was a lot of laughter, a lot of ambition and snappy sayings. Then we left the valley behind us and took the cable car up the mountain Fichtelberg. A formative experience for some. Once we arrived at the highest mountain in Saxony, we immediately started our snow hike, which was accompanied by lively snowball traffic and a mulled wine and wooden throwing break. But now came the highlight: we whizzed back down into the valley on a toboggan to swing back to the hotel on the steam train. The fresh air had such an effect on some of us that the train ride was quiet - some even took a nap. 

In the evening, we enjoyed delicious food, cheerful conversations and colourful cocktails. A very nice moment was when everyone presented their "best of SKS" of the year 2022 and then received a lovingly chosen Secret Santa gift. Such appreciation among each other is the best thing you can have as a team. Closer to the night, we had an active Christmas quiz and enjoyed our time together.

At breakfast (which some of us started really early) and on the return trip the next morning, the funniest and most beautiful moments were certainly shared again.And of course they are also documented on photos...

Elisabeth