Company Picnic

On Friday we went to the company picnic with two offices, Chelyabinsk and Miass. It was such a perfect summer BBQ party. I felt like I was 8 again, running around in my bathing suit playing sports all day and drinking juice.

Shashlik

Large Meat Pie

The Russian style BBQ is called Shashlik. You skewer meat, in this case pork, and grill it on a Mangal. They don’t do grilled peppers, onions and mushrooms like we do at home, but maybe a tomato or two. This was the main course, and stretched out on huge picnic cloths were tons of cut up tomatoes and cucumbers, apples, cold meat and potato pie, deli meats, cheese and bread. There was beer, wine and tons of juice. Not a coke bottle in site. No chips! And, here’s the shocker Americans, NO SUGAR. There was no desert. It was actually a healthy BBQ! Plus, most people were playing games: Frisbee, soccer, badminton, and new for most: American football. Someone had brought it to toss, and Jon and I gave lessons on how to throw! This was a hoot, but we weren’t bad.

For a fun treat, we brought a jar of the famous Marshmellow Fluff - made right in Lynn, MA in order to introduce the sugary famous excuse for lunch- “The Fluffernutter!” We figured that we’d have no problem finding peanut butter, but that proved otherwise. We had two Russian friends Sasha and Tatyana on a mission that they accomplished. Each returned with a jar- Sasha’s a natural sugar free version and Tatyana’s a typical American type packed chock full ‘o partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Lots of Russians were able to savor this treat (although, I’ll admit I was nervous someone would have an allergy, but no one did).

We made lots of new friends with the Chelyabinsk office, including Natalia, Tatyana, Dmitry, Ivan, Valery, and Maxim. They are going to show us around after work. The fun continues!

Clockwise starting with Mr. Ghost: Sasha, Alexander, Natalia, Tatyana, Dmitry, Ivan, and Caitlin aka Катя.