November and December

A quick update of what we've been up to over the past couple of weeks. It's been a busy but exciting Nov/Dec....I can't believe how this year has flown by ;-0!! Birthday's, Xmas Parties, Sunday brunches, meetings, coffee mornings etc. etc.

3 November - We kicked off with a Halloween Party at the "Appel Pub". As per usual it was a great party thanks to the great hosts Martin and Jackie Appel.
Marc the pirate and I was a Fairy Godmother.

Martin and I getting into "each others" character.

Jackie the sinful nun.

Marc having his fortune told by Marylouise, the Gypsy Princess.

Dancing the night away.

Kevin and Martin behind the bar...they came as fairies too...."Drag fairies" is more like it.

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Every year the OWC donates gifts to our 26 Bangalore based charity organisations that we support. Mei (thanks again for the great effort) did a sterling job, coordinating the "gift drive" and we collected goods throughout November e.g. kids toys, adult gifts (soaps, toothpaste, bed sheets, cloths, chocolate etc.), wrapped them and the charity committee delivered the gifts to the different schools, hospices, homes etc.
20 November - The volunteers (Santarina's) "gift wrapping party".

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23 November - Wine tasting at Graze, Taj Residency Hotel. (One of the benefits of being an OWC EC member is that you get invited to these kinds of dinners/do's :-))

Edith (my co. VP), Rashmi (Pres. of the BEC) and I enjoying the last bit of our dessert after a terrific evening of French wine and mouth watering cuisine.

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24 November - we went to Kim and Ingo's "Indian Wedding Reception" (click here to see Kim's blog entry on the night as well as their lovely "African bush wedding" in the Waterberg).

The Happy couple that tied the knot in South Africa on the 25th of October - CONGRATULATIONS!

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This is just another reason why I say "time flies"...Marc (28 Nov) and I (12 Dec) celebrated our 2nd birthdays in India.

The b-day card I made for Marc.

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31 November - The annual St. Andrew Ball organised by the Scottish Society of Bangalore. O, what fun! Complete with bag pipes and we even attempted the different kinds of Scottish group dancing and we had a really good time!

Our entertainment for the evening - The pipe band from the Bangalore Engineering corp.

We tried a couple of different "reels".

Charlton (Marc's South African colleague, based in Delhi) and Graham.

We had a fabulous time and look forward to the next one.

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1 December - OWC Fundraiser Christmas Bazaar. This is one of the OWC's biggest fundraisers. With over a 100 vendors, kids corner, food stalls, Santa's grotto, Christmas music - piano, kids playing flute, violin and carol singers, raffle prizes etc. etc. It took a lot of people and a lot of organisation but we pulled it off and it was a big success.

I stopped to take a break and to catch up with Joice and Alan.

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7 December - Doodle Den

Enjoying an afternoon of ceramic painting with the girls.

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15 December - We had a Sagittarian" BBQ

Some of the girls squished onto the sofa.

Meeting Lena (Kim's friend visiting from Germany).

Smile - Nathi, Chung, Marc, Brendon, Ali and Anne (my German teacher).

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In between the socialising, life in Bangalore has been carrying on as normal with work, work, work for Marc and OWC work and German lessons for me. 20 down but lots more to go....

We have been looking forward to our diving trip to Sri Lanka, since we booked our flights almost 2 months ago. And now...I can't believe our bags are packed and we're ready to go. We return to Bangalore on the 26th of December, spending New Years eve with friends in Bangalore.

I will be starting 2008 with a "bang of excitement"....counting the days to Lesleigh's arrival in Bangalore on the 23rd of January. Roll on 2008!