New Year's Eve

As I have previously mentioned, I have several blog entries that I have started and not finished from the past month (since Christmas until now). My new strategy is to add the finishing touches to one each time I post a new entry. So, for the next few entries expect something new and something old (but new to you).

This was my first New Year's Eve in a big city. I keep trying to decide if that is what made it feel so different from my normal New Year's Eve experience. Or was it the fact that it was in a different country? Or that it was celebrated in a different language? Or that I wasn't with old friends and family? I still haven't decided, but here is some highlights from the evening.

My supervisor felt that it was very important that I was not alone for New Year’s Eve. While I appreciated her thought, I think by this point I would have loved some alone time after weeks of business, stress, and exhaustion. Of course, I ended up listening to my supervisor’s proposal and coming to the office to celebrate as she suggested. For New Year’s Eve I came to the office and had a delicious dinner with Vi and S, two of the WiB activists. We had pork chops, bread, vegetables, and baked potatoes. I had baked some chocolate chip cookies earlier for my landlords and brought a few that were leftover for dessert. We then sat around and chatted, watched TV, and dallied around on the Internet until it was deemed late enough to go out. Vi decided she wanted to stay at the office to chat online with some of her friends rather than go out with S and I. I think she has some sort of online boyfriend. So, at 10:30 pm S and I made our way out into the cold, windy streets of Belgrade in search of a celebration. And here is what we found:

We made our way to one of the square in front of the parliament building. There was a pop musician singing on stage. It was very crowded. There were lots of people and we spent a lot of time pushing our way through trying to find someplace where we could see the show. Each time we found a spot were could see (as long as we looked through the “window” of the heads in front of us) S would decide we needed to move to a better spot. Several times it was because she thought we could find an even better view. Once the reasoning was that the people standing next to us were very drunk (and only getting more so) and she was afraid they would turn into a rowdy bunch. Twice she decided we needed to move because the spot in front of us had become a “path” for others to push their way through (meaning we were getting a lot of elbows and there was a near constant stream of people moving around us). In the end, we ended up in a spot where I was able to catch rare glimpses of the stage and the performer through the heads swimming above me. However, she had finally decided that we were probably not going to find a better spot and should just stay in one place (which was along my line of thinking after the first move – when we could both see fine, weren’t surrounded by drunkards, and weren’t being constantly pushed by the crowd). So I rang in the New Year smashed between some guy’s smelly armpit and S, relishing in the fact that I could join the crowd in counting backwards from ten to one (which I would have been unable to do had New Year’s Eve come one month earlier), shivering with cold, and wishing I were sitting in my apartment with a nice cup of cocoa and a book. As soon as we shouted one, we saw fireworks in the sky. People did not break out into Auld Lang Syne, but did give each other the traditional hug, kiss, and well wishes. S and I wished each other a Happy New Year. Along with the traditional methods of celebration (hugs, kisses, cheering, and well wishes), there was an additional celebratory method that was new to me: firecrackers.

We stayed at the square for another fifteen or twenty minutes watching the fireworks and listening to the music. We then started to walk towards Republika Square to catch some of the performance there (a popular band had been playing there). The short walk to Republika Square was anything but peaceful because of the previously mentioned firecrackers. Several times our route spontaneously changed in an effort to avoid the firecrackers. Once or twice I made a quick jump to the left or the right so the firecracker would go off near me, but not on me.

People were setting them off everywhere. It sounded like gunfire or explosions. Not something you want to hear in the midst of a huge crowd. People would be walking and throwing them as they walked. The police officers just stood watching people light them up and throw them. I’m not sure if this was because this was all considered perfectly legal and normal, or because they decided not to bother since there were so many people with firecrackers.

I just know that all the firecrackers, loud noises, smoke, and sudden exploding noises made me really nervous. So, S and I stayed for about 20-30 minutes at the Republika Square concert and then we headed back to the office. That was enough excitement for me. I was ready to head back to the warmth of the office. S and I walked back to the office and then we spent time browsing the internet, chatting, and eventually sleeping. Overall, it was an enjoyable New Year’s Eve (minus the firecrackers). I think in the end I am glad my supervisor insisted on a New Year's Eve with others; it ended up being fun and it was definitely something to remember.

I did not really celebrate Serbian New Year’s since New Year’s Eve fell on a Sunday night (January 13th) and I had class the following morning. Also, I didn’t really know anyone who was actively celebrating it. My understanding is that it is more of a quiet family celebration. I spent the evening in my apartment reading, washing dishes, and cleaning. At midnight, I was able to look out my window and see lots of fireworks and lots of teenage boys running around screaming and setting off firecrackers. I closed the curtains and went to sleep.