My first post for this very young year is about how we celebrated New Year. For some little info on how we celebrated Christmas check out this post from last week. Right from the beginning I must add that I have no clue on how to properly celebrate New Year here in Germany nor do I have any clue on how it is done in Finland. In case there are certain traditions please feel free to tell me!
During all my childhood each New Year was the same. It started each time by taking a walk through the nearby park in the morning, have the potato salad for dinner (no lunch!! I really wonder why!) at the old ladies place where we already had the very same dish on Christmas and then watch some TV and then fire some rockets to join all the other people who love destroying their money through fireworks. Really interesting, isn’t it? In Finland in comparison it was the first years more like a big party with my friends however the last few years it calmed down a lot for me and I just enjoyed it together with my wife by doing nearly nothing except visiting some friends for a nice dinner. This all changed when we moved back to Germany last year. Sure my parents still have their old routine but all in all we do it a bit different.
The thing is that we started to celebrate not only with my parents but also with my brother and his girlfriend. A mere potato salad wouldn’t do the trick so we “upgraded” and bought a Raclette table grill last year. I know Raclette ain’t a German tradition but hey, I have not a clue what is a real tradition in Germany for New Year so this should be fine as well. The thing is about having this grill is that we not only prepare the standard Raclette but also grill tons of other food…too much food. Since last year the New Year celebration has become an eating marathon and days after you still feel all those extra pounds you gained within few hours. Though we bought already only half the amount of food compared to last year there was still enough left to have a proper lunch the next day with the leftovers, at least we didn’t waste any food. My dear mother is not a big fan of celebrations so she spend most of the evening watching TV, avoiding all the eating. The good thing about it is that she could watch Nathan while we stuffed ourselves full.
One thing I forgot to mention, there is actually a “German” tradition we do/ watch each New Year. This tradition is to watch “Dinner for One” which is a comedy sketch which is originally written by the British author Lauri Wylie and was later on recorded by the German television in 1963. It is shown on nearly every German TV channel on New Year several times and is through that the most frequently repeated TV program ever. After all the eating, drinking and watching the same tv show has been done/ survived it is time for the final preparations for the countdown. As last year we went for this down to my parents apartment due to a special reason which I will mention soon. Anyways at my parents apartment we prepared again some Berliner, sparkling wine and the fireworks. By that time my mother was once again already entirely annoyed by all the people and noise but still she stayed for watching the countdown and the fireworks. So the reason for going to my parents apartment except of annoying my mother are the fireworks. My parents have a huge balcony from which we can fire all those rockets, saving us a trip to the streets or plaza outside and with it the dangers of being it by some misfired rockets.
As you can see nothing too special was done except drowning in food and annoying my mother. Nathan watched the fireworks this year again as he woke up once again shortly before midnight. I really wonder why he wakes up each New Year around the same time whereas all the other night he just sleeps through. Lets see what 2016 will bring, I hope it will be a turning point for my health and perhaps a less unhealthy next year New Year celebration.
What did you do on New Year?
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