Hi. Here in the United States we are nearing our New Year’s Eve / New Year’s Day celebrations.
Most people celebrate New Year’s Even at parties at friend’s houses, or out in restaurants/bars/lounges. In all cases, the TV is usually tuned to Dick Clark’s New Year’s Eve special, and when it gets close to midnight everyone stops what they are doing to count down as the ball drops over Times Square in New York! Sometimes people kiss right at midnight.
Last year I was working in New York at a Jazz Club over New Year’s Eve, so I counted down with my coworkers, and our boss lets us toast with glasses of Champagne. When I got of work around 1:30 am, two coworkers and I walked up to Times Square. It was mostly deserted, all the people celebrating had gone home. There was confetti everywhere and still some floating around in the sky. We untied some balloons from a lamp post and watched them float to the sky. We practically had Times Square to ourselves! It was very fun and very memorable.
I usually stay home on New Year’s Eve, because one year I realized that I had never enjoyed the parties on that night, even though I like to go to parties at other times. A policeman has told me that in my part of town people shouldn’t go outside between midnight and 1:00 on New Year’s, because many people in the adjacent neighborhood shoot guns into the air at that time, and “what goes up must come down.” Once in a while someone gets hit by one of the bullets several blocks away.
I lived in the Czech Republic for a few years, and once two girls invited another guy and me to their apartment to celebrate New Year’s. At about 11:30, we went to one of the girls’ grandmother’s apartment, so that she wouldn’t be alone at midnight. As the big moment came, the TV showed some politicians blabbering and then an old-fashioned clock ticking. At the stroke of midnight, everyone toasted with champagne, but suddenly we heard a loud BOOM, and all the windows shattered into the apartment. Some reveler outside had set off a bomb of some kind in the intersection, and it had destroyed all the windows surrounding the intersection.
At this moment, everyone is saying “Happy New Year” each other we can imagine easily. I still want to show my appreciations here.
I rememer I joined this forum for a couple of years base on my memory. I do very much like this forum. I can tell most people are very friendly, and I usually see some interesting stories from posts.
Some of my friends ask me how I learn English. I definitely introduce this forum to them. However, I only have time to read the posts that I’m interested in. Many new posts are posted every day, so so far I haven’t read all of them although I want to see most of them.
By the way, I would like the share some things about Taiwan here to let you guys know. I’ll go to 101 building where is very high building of Taiwan and has 101 floors tonight. 101 building is located in Taipei City, which is the capital of Taiwan actually. So the Taipei City government will hold a party in 101 building, and we’ll see fireworks as well. It’s expected indeed. And how about you? Do you want to celebrate the New Year Eve and welcome another year? That means do you want to count down ? Please share what’s your plan if you would like?
In this warming holiday, hopefully, you guys do have fun.
I used to go to New Year’s Eve parties, but at a relatively young age I decided that I didn’t enjoy them. (I love parties, but not New Year’s Eve parties.) After that I started using that night to think about my life.
We are already in 2009! I always say this but I can’t believe how fast time flies!
I celebrated 2009 at a Karaoke club and then quietly at a cafe with a friend.
One interesting thing occurring on the eve of new year every year here in Japan is that we cannot send email through our cellphone for the first 2 hours because everybody in Japan is trying to send New Year’s wishes at the same time.
Do you guys have similar thing in your country on New Year’s eve?
Oh yes, there is a superstition here that says you cannot sleep on the night of a new year’s eve. It is believed that we’ll sleep “away” all the good luck. But of course people don’t follow this, and the reason I am wide awake right now at 3 in the morning is because I had two cups of coffee an hour or so ago.
I’m thinking how come elder people usually doesn’t enjoy counting down outside at the last night of the Year. I went to 101 building LAST YEAR, and I saw a couple, who are not teens were there. I think it’s very romantic. It’s the same that if a 60-year-old person goes to see a movie, do you think it’s weird or not? Yesterday, I asked my coworker who is older than me around 10 years probably if he wanted to see firework of the 101 building. He smiled to me. I think he is not interested in this kind of activity. That’s why I’m thinking how come people don’t enjoy this kind of activity when they are not teens or they have family and so forth.
Maggie, the reason is really very simple. If a person has had a very active social life when he’s in his teens and 20s – gone to a lot of places and done a lot of things – certain activities lose their attraction, because there is no longer anything surprising or interesting about them. I think that an active person has seen almost everything by the time he’s 35, at least as far as recreation and entertainment are concerned. It’s often even true about art. Very few things that young people think are original really are. It’s not that older people don’t enjoy those things, but just that those things have become boring through repetition.
That said, in the United States, it’s not unusual for people of any age to go to fireworks or to movies, so we frequently see people from infancy all the way up to their 80s at them.
Many people don’t like New Year’s Eve parties because they feel obligatory, rather than voluntary.
My favorite New Year’s Eve party was when I was still a student. We played baseball on the back balcony for a while using empty wine bottles as the bat and balls of cheese as the ball.
The most exciting celebrations are not just voluntary…rather they are ‘spontaneous’. I stayed home last night only to ensure that my dream for exercising come true this morning. And I am enjoying this beautiful morning more than the new year’s eve
I made Alfredo sauce in the half hour (or so) leading up to the big 12:00 AM here in Nashville (Central Time US, GMT -6).
First attempt, WITH MILK no less (as opposed to cream), and it turned out quite tasty. I must now go on to have a good year!
Here’s how this New Year’s Eve culinary feat was achieved:
2 cups milk
2 TBSP flour
2 TBSP butter
About 1 cup Parmesan cheese (I used Kraft, the dry stuff in the can)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon parsley
Large pinch of salt
Large pinch of pepper
Melt the butter over Medium-Low heat.
Add the flour and combine it with the melted butter. Cook the resulting paste for a minute or so. This is the roux, which will act as a thickening agent.
Add the milk slowly, whisking constantly, and bring this to a simmer. Simmer (on Medium heat) until sauce begins to thicken. You now have a basic Bechamel sauce.
Add the salt, pepper, parsley, minced garlic and Parmesan cheese. Mix this well and taste it. Not thick enough? Add more flour, butter and cheese. Does it need more seasoning? Add more salt & pepper. Keep tasting it and adjusting it to suit your taste. Reduce the heat to low, stir every 30 seconds or so, and cook for a few more minutes. The sauce should now be a fairly standard Alfredo consistency.
