“The Biggest Night of the Year” Does New Year’s Eve Live Up to its Hype?
wo years ag o, I started my 3 1st o f Dec emb er – yes, you r e a d th at rig ht, 31st o f Dec ember – hungover a nd nauseous on a bu s h ome from my f riend’s ho use. A few cl ose f r i end s of min e h ad ended up m aking diff erent New Yea r ’s pl a ns t hat ye a r : on e of my lon gest-l asting friends and I woul d b e spend i ng New Year’s Eve at dif f erent parties fo r the f i r st t i m e i n f ive ye a r s , a nd we h a d f elt the need to pre-party t he ni ght b ef or e. S t a r t i n g th e last day o f the year w ith a terribl e ha ngover wa s p e r haps not th e wisest decisio n in hindsight. D espi t e what t he 31 s t o f Dec emb er 2 019 m ight suggest, when it c om es t o a ct ua l New Yea r’s E ves, I am yet to regret o ne. I want t o l ay a l l ca r d s on t h e ta b le: I (c o-) o rganised f o ur o ut o f f ive New Yea r ’s pa r t i es in my la st four years o f scho o l and my f irst yea r at univer si ty, e nt hu sia stic a lly c reating spreadsheets f o r cheese, b r ot h, a nd choc o late fon du e ingredients, and scrambl ing to t ea ch my f r i end s t h e waltz in th e minutes l eading up to m idnight . I n som e ways, I mig ht b e th e wron g perso n to w rite an articl e ab out whet her New Ye a r ’s is overhy p ed, but I want to start 2 02 2 wi t h a cha l l enge a n d c ompel myself to c o nsider the other side of t he a r gum ent . W hat immed iately c o m es to m ind is the m as sive d i st ur b a nc e in m o st p eop le’s sl eeping schedul es caused by New Yea r ’s E ve. Ja nu ary mu st by far be the m o nth in which t he sent enc e ‘my s l e e p ing sc h edule i s c o mpl etely wrecked’ is ut t er ed m ost of t en - p a r t ic ularly a s we readjust to o ur ro utines a f t er week s of f . I t ca n b e h ard for tho se o f us who start the yea r wi t h a l r ea dy h e avy-lidded eyes not to envy peo pl e who per haps st ayed up u nt il ju st after midnight and then decided t hat t hey woul d r at h e r start th e year ref reshed and went to b ed shor t ly a ft e r, wh en you yoursel f are fuel l ed purely by a m i x of ca f f ei ne a n d s p ite. M a ny peopl e who disl ike New Year’s c el eb r at i ons a l so c o mp la in a b out th e no ise, the f act that al l bar s a nd club s a r e f il l e d to th e b rim, that it invo lves to o much a l c ohol , a nd t he p r e s s ure to enjoy it despite al l these things . Per sona l ly, t he n o i s e level h a s n ever bothered m e, but I do h ave f a m i ly f r om t h e B alk an s wh o c o ul d take o n a firecracker any d ay – even my chihua hua h as b ec o m e ac custo m ed to the day- t o-d ay noi se l evel of my family an d now just sl eeps thro ugh al l t he f i r ewor k s. I ca n s ee, h owever, why drunk peo pl e scream ing i n your ea r a s yo u c ount down to m idnight m ight not be everyone’s cup of t ea . T h i s year’s New Year’s Eve m ay have l o o ked a l i t t l e d i f f er ent t h a n in pre-p a ndemic years. Fo r so m e, it was one of t he f i r st d ays sinc e th e start o f the w inter ho l idays t hat t hey spent w i t h frien ds, p a rti cul arly as O m icro n m ade soci a l i si ng over t h e h o lidays diffic ult, and so m e o f us feel unsur e a b out i nv i t in g f riends to ou r fam ily ho m e. Af ter spending sever a l m ont hs at u niversity, b eing back ho m e f o r an extended per i od of t i m e ca n be equ ally welc o m e and tiring. New Year ’s E ve ca n ser ve a s a n opp ortu nity to so cial ise with friends yo ur a ge a ga i n a ft e r C hristmas c elebratio ns with yo ur f am ily, r oughly m a r k i ng t h e midp oint of the winter ho l idays and pot ent i a l ly ser v i ng a s a respite from any fam ily dram a, big o r ( hopef ul ly ) sm a l l .
G-YOU MAGAZINE// FEBRUARY 2022// 12
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