White Elephant Gift Exchange
It's close to Christmas now, and I think it is a traditional for my team to have a gift exchange event every year before Christmas and we call it White Elephant Gift Exchange (WEGE). Well, I actually didn't have any idea about this game and this was my first time to involve this type of game, but it is a popular game in US, I think. For those whose new to this game, I have provided some description of our rules on this game at below, which is fun, I think I might organise this game next time after I back to my home country, I personally found it is entertaining and meaningful.
During the game, we can chooseo our gift from the table in middle or stole the gift from other people according to our drawn number, this game is nice because you can choose the gift yourself though they are wrapped, but it's you to decide wheather to own it and unwrap it.
There were a lot of gifts at the middle table: photo frames, mug, board games, rubiks cube, snacks, gift cards, painting, handbag, piggy bank, coin sorter, book, air compressor, lego, wine, tea bag, vase, toy gun, and a lot that I couldn't list it, there were about 20 plus gifts in the middle for selection.
And, my favourite gift was Domino board game, which I successfully stole it for once but it was stolen by other and finally frozen for to to steal, and my next interest was a book but it was stolen as well, then I chose to have a Starbuck gift card and froze it. Actually, I was interested on another board game that time, it was "Mental Floss", but I didn't really know how to play it and it looks weird to me with its picture, therefore I finally chose to keep the Starbuck gift card.
Anyway, I am still satisfied with my Starbuck gift card though I am sometimes regret that I didn't take the "Mental Floss" board game :P But, I think I can use the gift card at Seattle Starbuck, which is the first ever Starbuck in the world, I actually wanted to visit it during my last Seattle trip, but we didn't make it as it was really a long queue and I was kind of regret. Anyways, I definitely will make it when we revisit Seattle.
During the game, a lot of people promoted the Rubik Cube to me, I really like it but I just don't take it as I know SL would scold me if I take it :P There is a lot of Rubik Cube in my house already (3x3x3, 4x4x4 and 5x5x5), but I just haven't owned an 3x3x3 "Toy R us" Rubik Cube, honestly I can tell "Toy R us" Rubik Cube is really with better quality, you can find it if you rotate it yourself, there I totally agree different price can get different value item :P
At last, I felt better when I saw my gift got stolen for thrice and got frozen finally, as I thought my gift wasn't too interesting to my teammates, but it wasn't as I thought :) And, what's my gift? Well, what else can I think? Rubik Cube surely :P That's why I couldn't chose it because I bought it, I definitely would make it is my second favourism gift after the Dominos if it was not from me :)
Definitely, I was having fun in the game room, where I found my teammates actually are humour and playful, I heard a lot of funny joke during gift exchange while they tried to promote their gifts to other, so that they can steal other's gift *_*
Something about WEGE from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant_gift_exchange
Here is a picture of my chosen gift during WEGE :)
The Rules…
1. Each person participating in the WEGE must bring a wrapped (i.e. fully concealed ) gift that has a street value of no more than $20.00. The $20.00 limit is a ceiling. You can spend less than $20.00.
2. Bring your gift to work the day of the WEGE and leave it in Becky’s office. The trick is to NOT let others see what you brought. Not only do you want to conceal the contents of your gift but you want to conceal your identity as the “giver.” (You can reveal yourself at the end of the WEGE if you wish…).
3. At the exchange everyone will sit in circle (actual shape may vary) with the gifts in the center. Everyone will draw a number from a hat. The number drawn will indicate your starting position in the game. For example, if there are 10 people in the game, the numbers 1-10 will be put in a hat. Whoever draws #1 will go first and whoever draws #10 will go last.
4. The object of the game is to select a desirable gift. On your turn you can either select a gift from the wrapped gifts or you may choose to “steal” a gift that someone has already selected. An important rule is that when you select a gift you must unwrap it and show everyone.
5. A gift can only be stolen a total of three times before it is “frozen” and can no longer be selected.
6. If a gift is “stolen” from you – you get to choose a wrapped gift from the center or steal from someone else. Exception: You are not allowed to immediately “steal” back a gift that has been stolen from you. This is the only time when the selection order (numbers from the hat) is broken. Stolen gifts can daisy chain until someone chooses a wrapped gift from the center then the pre-determined order of selection will continue.
7. The game ends when the last gift from the middle is taken
8. No live animals as gifts – everything else is fair game.
The game is at its best when there is a good mix of good, bad, average, and gag gifts.
During the game, we can chooseo our gift from the table in middle or stole the gift from other people according to our drawn number, this game is nice because you can choose the gift yourself though they are wrapped, but it's you to decide wheather to own it and unwrap it.
There were a lot of gifts at the middle table: photo frames, mug, board games, rubiks cube, snacks, gift cards, painting, handbag, piggy bank, coin sorter, book, air compressor, lego, wine, tea bag, vase, toy gun, and a lot that I couldn't list it, there were about 20 plus gifts in the middle for selection.
And, my favourite gift was Domino board game, which I successfully stole it for once but it was stolen by other and finally frozen for to to steal, and my next interest was a book but it was stolen as well, then I chose to have a Starbuck gift card and froze it. Actually, I was interested on another board game that time, it was "Mental Floss", but I didn't really know how to play it and it looks weird to me with its picture, therefore I finally chose to keep the Starbuck gift card.
Anyway, I am still satisfied with my Starbuck gift card though I am sometimes regret that I didn't take the "Mental Floss" board game :P But, I think I can use the gift card at Seattle Starbuck, which is the first ever Starbuck in the world, I actually wanted to visit it during my last Seattle trip, but we didn't make it as it was really a long queue and I was kind of regret. Anyways, I definitely will make it when we revisit Seattle.
During the game, a lot of people promoted the Rubik Cube to me, I really like it but I just don't take it as I know SL would scold me if I take it :P There is a lot of Rubik Cube in my house already (3x3x3, 4x4x4 and 5x5x5), but I just haven't owned an 3x3x3 "Toy R us" Rubik Cube, honestly I can tell "Toy R us" Rubik Cube is really with better quality, you can find it if you rotate it yourself, there I totally agree different price can get different value item :P
At last, I felt better when I saw my gift got stolen for thrice and got frozen finally, as I thought my gift wasn't too interesting to my teammates, but it wasn't as I thought :) And, what's my gift? Well, what else can I think? Rubik Cube surely :P That's why I couldn't chose it because I bought it, I definitely would make it is my second favourism gift after the Dominos if it was not from me :)
Definitely, I was having fun in the game room, where I found my teammates actually are humour and playful, I heard a lot of funny joke during gift exchange while they tried to promote their gifts to other, so that they can steal other's gift *_*
Something about WEGE from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant_gift_exchange
Here is a picture of my chosen gift during WEGE :)
The Rules…
1. Each person participating in the WEGE must bring a wrapped (i.e. fully concealed ) gift that has a street value of no more than $20.00. The $20.00 limit is a ceiling. You can spend less than $20.00.
2. Bring your gift to work the day of the WEGE and leave it in Becky’s office. The trick is to NOT let others see what you brought. Not only do you want to conceal the contents of your gift but you want to conceal your identity as the “giver.” (You can reveal yourself at the end of the WEGE if you wish…).
3. At the exchange everyone will sit in circle (actual shape may vary) with the gifts in the center. Everyone will draw a number from a hat. The number drawn will indicate your starting position in the game. For example, if there are 10 people in the game, the numbers 1-10 will be put in a hat. Whoever draws #1 will go first and whoever draws #10 will go last.
4. The object of the game is to select a desirable gift. On your turn you can either select a gift from the wrapped gifts or you may choose to “steal” a gift that someone has already selected. An important rule is that when you select a gift you must unwrap it and show everyone.
5. A gift can only be stolen a total of three times before it is “frozen” and can no longer be selected.
6. If a gift is “stolen” from you – you get to choose a wrapped gift from the center or steal from someone else. Exception: You are not allowed to immediately “steal” back a gift that has been stolen from you. This is the only time when the selection order (numbers from the hat) is broken. Stolen gifts can daisy chain until someone chooses a wrapped gift from the center then the pre-determined order of selection will continue.
7. The game ends when the last gift from the middle is taken
8. No live animals as gifts – everything else is fair game.
The game is at its best when there is a good mix of good, bad, average, and gag gifts.
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