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Silvester

 Einen guten Rutsch! Happy New Year

It's 2024, and has been for over 12 hours as the last of the globe finishes passing through midnight. 

Ok...what can I say? This was another cultural experience, as Germans celebrate "Silvester", New Year's Eve. Even the buses stop running early on the Eve. Mostly everything is closed today, and the buses are on a holiday schedule. 

I took the photo from the Internet, but that's what it looked like last night. Everyone had their own fabulous and extremely noisy show. I could swear some people were setting off serious fire crackers. The volume of the noise was tremendous, and lasted several hours. We were warned there would be no sleeping until after one in the morning, and they were right. No way could anyone sleep through that! I might compare it to a war zone, and it's what I imagine a war zone would sound like. 

Since we couldn't sleep, we turned on the TV for awhile, and watched Sylvester and Tweetybird in German. It was nostalgia time, and I'm sure I've seen all these before, but the neurons leading to those memories have long been lost. I wonder, too, whether the cat's name lead to these cartoons being shown on...Silvester. 

For those of you who are familiar with the Star Trek Original Series, it was "Festival! Festival!" as the normally staid Germans let loose with all the noise they could make, and walked away from a lot of the fireworks litter at the end of it. This is in a country where there are official 'quiet' hours, which are for the most part observed, and enforceable by law. But NOT on Silvester! And they are normally very environmentally conscious, but NOT on Silvester! Kaum zu fassen*!

As there was a Liturgy at the Monastery, I decided to attend. What better way to start out a new year? There was just one other lay person there. Afterward we had a special St. Basil's Day bread and tea and expressed our American and British opinions on the way Germans celebrate New Year's Eve.  

Fr. Gregory is a proper Englishman and likes his tea, and I have to say, he makes good tea. I need to ask him to make crumpets, for I have no idea what those are, but his will be authentic.

May 2024 be blessed!

*Hard to believe



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Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 2, 2024 at 2:27 AM

    Blessed New Year, Tabitha! It was distressing to read that Patrick had been in the hospital, and so far from home. It was a great relief to read that he has been released and recovering at yr apt. I hope he continues to improve in every way, esp. mobility! You’re in my thoughts and prayers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 5, 2024 at 8:17 PM

    Tabatha, sounds like fun. Silvester? So weird. Enjoy the time you have. It won’t be easy returning to Alaska.

    ReplyDelete

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