Silvester/new year's eve

it's going to be a working one, this Silvester as the night between december 31 and january 1 of each year is referred to in german language. i don't mind too much. already as a teenager i found out that in north america new year's eve is quite disappointing.

just like the name for the occasion in english is rather down to earth compared to the more glamorous sounding german word that sparkles as you speak, so is the actual celebration of the calendar's turn.

as an almost teenager i found myself with family in toronto, canada. as adults were invited to a hotel dinner, we kids were left in the hotel room. for consolidation a big box of lego -- a huge underwater station -- was to keep us company. no fireworks, no sparklers, not even a Knallfrosch [fire cracker] or as harmless as it gets Tischfeuerwerk -- a cardboard cylinder popping open upon ignition spilling out plastic symbols of luck for the new year such as chimney sweeps, green four-leaved clover, a mock penny (or rather cent), fly agaric as so-called lucky mushroom and the like. ever since i didn't expect much of north american new years. the experience was confirmed when the highlight of december 31 evening in nebraska was an ignited line of gasoline along the only village main street. nothing compared to the playfully blasting trash cans, mail boxes, and friendly fire cracker fights while roaming the city streets in bands of excited youths. the swooshing and hissing of the rockets that people can buy so that each party has their own fireworks in front of the house. streets eventually are covered with the colorful confetti of left-over red paper and other wrapping of the firing material, bottles used as rocket launchers roll around.
everyone is enjoying themselves.

okay, to stop nostalgia, there is some danger involved with all these fanatic private rocket parties. once it happend that a friend caught a fire cracker in his hair, jackets get burned, finger tips singed. nevertheless, there have been more positive Silvester evenings than negative ones. it certainly was never boring.

if you have nothing to do you can also fall back on Blei giessen, a very fun and peaceful activity belonging to Silvester as countless paper streamers blown into each other's face. Blei giessen means pouring tiny amounts of heated, molten lead into cold water to interpret the result. just like pumpkin carving kits are a standard supermarket item at the right time in the united states, kits with a portioned bids of lead, a spoon to heat the same over the flame of a candle, and a booklet to oracle about the meaning of the re-solidified metal show up at the seasonal sections of german stores. everyone wants to know what the next year brings, right?!

whichever way you celebrate, quiet, rambunctious, with Sekt oder Selters [champaign or soda] have a
guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr -- a nice slide into 2010!

ps: just checked with one of my main sources on small town german life. she said there's quiet some noise and neighbors gathered on the street to watch the lights in the sky. i can imagine the solemn excitement despite sitting in a somber office.