To Russians, New Years is a very big deal. Growing up, I don’t remember Christmas being important. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it is a small religious holiday at best. New Years, that’s a different story.
There are two childhood New Year's Eves that stand out to me. The first was in Moscow. As it usually is with childhood memories, the details are blurry, but I recall us having to bring along our cat Dasha, and keeping her in our room of the resort as we gathered in the main hall for the celebration. I must have not been much older than 6 or 7, and I can imagine that my parents eagerly awaited midnight, at which point I would ostensibly wander off to sleep, and they could really party.
However, it looks like even at that tender age I was already deeply familiar with the concept of FOMO, because I refused to leave the party which was just getting started, and danced well into the morning. My parents always told that story portraying me as a trooper, the one child who did not succumb to sleep on this important night. Only now, writing this, am I realizing that my parents in their mid-thirties probably just wanted some time to be grownups by themselves. Whoops.
The second NYE was in Poland, where we headed with my mom’s sister and her family. Again, the logistics are fuzzy, but apparently we arrived in our chosen town late at night, with no accommodations booked. I am sure pacifying 4 very tired children while simultaneously trying to look for an empty house was a time, but all I remember is our family dinner, and some kind of show that my mom and her sister put on for us once we finally found a place to stay.
I can still clearly recall us walking down the street right before midnight, with fireworks going off all around us. One was so loud, and sent such a shockwave, that I saw the air around me vibrate in a wave. That was also the night that I stood too close to some sort of open flame, and singed my brand new winter coat. My mom did not let me forget that one, but I really think we should focus on how I did not catch on fire.
These photos come from the 2019 NYE, back when 2020 was full of promise and the potential of hoverboards. Personally, I can’t complain that much, this is the year I got married and the year we got our cats, but overall, a C+ year at best.
