Meeting friends: Ideas for the pre-Christmas season

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Most of our time is spent back at home, or in the apartment. Social activities are still possible, online as well as offline. We have collected some nice ideas to help you meet or get to know friends in everyday life.

Events in small groups

Private meetings and events are allowed, even in Corona-Times. This way you can build up or maintain friendship in a small circle.

However, please observe the usual safety precautions when doing so. Ideally, each participant should test themselves in advance. If you would like to get vaccinated, you can find vaccination options here.

Now let’s move on to event ideas for meeting friends!

Bake cookies in the microwave (with recipe)

What could be better during the winter season than the nostalgic smell of freshly baked cookies? Invite friends over and bake some delicious cookies together in the microwave. Can’t do it, you think? Try it out with this recipe.

Chocolate cookies in the microwave

150 grams flour (fine)
100 g soft butter (room temperature)
75 g sugar
50 g chocolate sprinkles
1 pinch of salt
2 tsp. milk
1 tbsp. cocoa

Mix butter, salt and sugar together. Add milk, flour, chocolate chips and cocoa and knead the mixture into a dough. Form balls from the dough (about 6 pieces). Place balls on the baking paper, making sure there is enough space between them. Place in the microwave at 450 watts for 3-4 minutes – done! After baking, let cool for 5 minutes and enjoy.

Tip: Test after three minutes to see if the cookies are already crispy. Sometimes it goes faster depending on the thickness of the dough.

You can also refine the dough, for example with cinnamon, vanilla or coconut flakes to add another flavor note to the cookies.

Mulled wine evening

You don’t need more than a big pot, a few delicious ingredients and a good mood to have a great mulled wine evening in a sociable atmosphere. Of course, it’s especially quick if you buy the mulled wine ready-made. But you can also make it yourself very easily and within 15 minutes. Cheers!

Make mulled wine yourself

1 liter of red wine (semi-dry or sweet)
3 cinnamon sticks
1 lemon (organic)
1 orange (organic)
7 cloves
2 star anise
50 g sugar

Gently heat red wine with spices and sliced fruit for 1 hour, but do not boil. Then turn off the heat and let the mulled wine steep for half an hour. If necessary, warm it up just before drinking. Add a small shot of rum or amaretto if needed.

Parlor games (3 presented)

Board games always go, you can also combine several activities with each other and thus combine a mulled wine evening with a nice board game and provide cookies to go with it. It could hardly be more cozy! We present you 3 original board games:

#1 MicroMacro: Crime City

MicroMacro: Crime City received the critics’ prize at the “Spiel des Jahres 2021” award. Rightly so! The game is great fun to start right away, as the rules are very quick and easy to learn. The game task: Solve together exciting criminal cases on a large game board. You puzzle together, so do not play against each other. But that doesn’t detract from the fun: You’ll need all your powers of deduction and analysis to fight the crime.

Play time: approx. 15-45 minutes

#2 Privacy

Meeting friends for the brave: This spicy game brings excitement. No slippery secret remains hidden, you should be aware of that. At the same time, the psychological component is appealing, because it’s a matter of correctly assessing your counterpart on the basis of frivolous or bold statements. If you are ready for it, Privacy is highly entertaining and a great party game.

Play time: approx. 50 minutes

#3 Sebastian Fitzek, SafeHouse

Sebastian Fitzek is considered Germany’s most successful thriller author. Now the master of suspenseful entertainment has launched a game that is a card and board game in one. Similar to MicroMacro, you will work together again in SafeHouse – but not as detectives, but as witnesses to a terrible crime. Will you manage to escape the violent perpetrator in time and be accepted into a saving witness protection program? Find out on a nerve-racking game night!

Play time: approx. 30 minutes

Online games

You want to stay at home and still meet friends? Virtually no problem, and you can play with the following online games.

#1 Cards vs Humanity

Cards vs Humanity is the fan translation of the US card game Cards against Humanity. In the game, which by the way is downloadable for free under the Creative Commons license both in the original and in the German translation, the goal is to complete a gaping sentence with an answer. The person who gives the most tasteless answer wins. So simple, so dorky, but crazy funny. Be sure to try it out in video chat via Jitsi or Zoom!

Play time: approx. 30 minutes

#2 Chess

According to science, chess trains the memory, increases the IQ and prevents Alzheimer’s disease. Besides, and this is probably the most important reason, it’s great fun! There are many free games on the Internet, which work without registration or login. In addition, there are online communities where you can meet chess partners. Allow enough time for each game, however, because chess and haste do not go together.

Play time: approx. 100-150 minutes (average)

#3 Poker

A classic that never goes out of fashion. With poker games, time flies in a flash, there are quite a few free portals where you can play game after game. Strategy and luck intertwine in this legendary form of the game. Try it out and see if you have a knack for poker.

Play time: depends on the variant (Texas Hold’em, Five Card Draw etc.)

Get creative

Do you feel like painting your own picture in an interactive workshop? That’s exactly what you can do at ArtNight. Choose a motif and have the drawing material sent to your home. In the online workshop you can paint away, each at home, but online networked with other hobby painters and an experienced painter.

ArtNight is just one type of event, there is also ShakeNight (mixing cocktails), BakeNight (baking) and PlantNight (making wreaths, plant walls, etc.). Also search for online live cooking to enjoy cooking together virtually.

Tasting

Whether it’s beer, wine, gin or (non-alcoholic) cocktails, online tastings have boomed in the pandemic. The tastings cost no more than a visit to a bar, but are just as much fun.

Article tip: What does student life cost?

You get the tasting drinks sent home in the mail. A spirits expert then guides you through the tasting in the evening. Together with others, you’ll then enjoy fine drops.

Meeting friends: More ideas in everyday life

Looking for more inspiration for your free time together? Try these ideas with friends, too!

Movie night: Open your laptop, turn on the streaming service and watch an exciting movie or series. Together and with a bag of popcorn, it’s a lot more fun than alone. Some streaming services also offer online parties, during which you can watch the movie online with your friends regardless of location and chat with them.
Pen-and-screen: By now, almost everyone is familiar with pen-and-paper games like “The Black Eye” or “Dungeons and Dragons.” But they can be played not only in the living room, but also via video calls, provided the dice are rolled honestly.
Online Escape Rooms: Let’s get away, but not from the laptop, but from a predicament. Become a puzzle master together and escape from an ominous place by cracking puzzles. The hours in front of the screen will pass in no time!
Walk: Doesn’t sound that exciting at first, but have you ever consciously walked through the neighborhood you live in? Or beyond its borders? Try it out with friends and exchange impressions. It can be very exciting!
Photo shoot: The upgrade to walking, so to speak: Take a camera or simply the smartphone with you and stage a photo shoot. Back at the apartment, look for the best pictures, evaluate them and upload them to social media.
Hiking: Nature is relaxing and calming. It’s also a lot of fun to hike in it. Plan an excursion for several hours, tie up your bread pack and hike through the nearby forests, mountains, etc.

Even under the current restrictions, there are ways you can meet friends in everyday life – be it offline or online. We hope you enjoy trying out the ideas!

Also read our tips for finding friends in a new city. Learn how to make studying in the pandemic easier.