I have lamented many times that one of the worst parts of my job is how isolating it is, and how infrequently I get to interact with other adults *especially* from other departments. We don't have a holiday party, but we usually have a "holiday PD[1]" on the last week before winter break. I prefer the years when it is less structured --having a few small games (like the ugly sweater contest and the raffle baskets to raise money for a scholarship fund) is fine, but there've been some years where it's just slammed full of things to do, and no one actually gets a chance to chat with each other.

It's part of why I _try_ to attend out-of-school socialization when it happens, although so much of that is in a bar, which I find frustrating. That being said, the end-of-school-year pub crawl with 2AM kareoke continues to be a delight: you haven't heard "School's Out For Summer" until you've heard a bunch of drunk teachers scream-singing it at the end of a long year!

~Sor

[1] PD = Professional Development. It's the specialized-acronym I'm most likely to forget other people don't know, because we use it all the damn time