Did this year start with a bang?
Actually, I did not even realized that it was already midnight because there were no churchbells ringing, no fire crackers ruling the sky, no clanging of old pots and pans, no blowing of car horns, no kids blowing toy trumpets.
Nothing. In fact, the silence is deafening.
And then I realize I am in another country. The only "bang, bang!" heard is the one coming from the tv as Ken is watching his favorite tv series Gun Smoke in black and white glory.
It is truly a very different New year's celebration here. Americans don't have the same beliefs and practices like we Filipinos do. Most think that it is just a celebration of one second moving to the next second, one day to next day. It's not a birthday, not an occasion that won't happen again and is perhaps not a great loss to miss.
Indeed it doesn't seem to matter that much, and they're just grateful when they see the dawn of a new year.
So I spent the night watching tv and when my auntie in NY called, I opened the laptop and sat cross legged on the bed to chat with her and other relatives on Skype. Its like transporting myself back in my country as I listened to them squeal and laugh and told me how their celebration went.
Over all it was a good New Year's eve without a massive clean up the next day, although I did get a massive headache for lack of sleep.
10 comments:
Hi Odette - New Year is a massive celebration here in England, fireworks, parties, people dress us and make as much noise as they can outside. People take saucepans and wooden spoons and make a noise, or hoot car horns, or play musical instruments. They wear their best clothes and have noisy parties. The fireworks last for house - jane in Cornwall, South West England.xx
Lovely photograph Odette. Happy new year...xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Jane,
its the same in the Philippines coz we believe that noise and firecrackers drive the evil spirit away and make the New Year bountiful and blessed. there are lots of noise but the banging and booming rose to climax at the strike of midnight.
and as the noise stops, the air will be filled with human voices as we would gather to feast on our thanksgiving food.
it's truly different back home...
thanks for dropping by and leaving a message.
xoxoxo
Here it is even less than the US Odette. Though I did hear some firecrackers at midnight I didn't make the conection. In the bigger cities for the last few years there have been large free concerts at the various city halls.
Ken sounds like my late step father.
He loved westerns but would not watch John Wayne because John Wayne would not enlist during WWII
Bet Ken knows this but James Arness who starred in Gunsmoke and Peter Graves from the Mission Impossible TV series were brothers
Sid,
I don't know anyone in the series, but yes, Ken would walk me through them. He also love to watch Wagon Train(another black and white western). But the funny thing is, these series would lull him to sleep so I would most often sneak out of my room to off the tv as he is already off in dreamland.
thanks for the trivia, i didn't know this myself.
xoxoxox
Oh man! I LOVE Gun Smoke! Loved it since I was about 4 or 5 and too young to understand anything but the gun fights. lol
Another cool character James Arness played was the alien made of plants (from what I gather) in an old 1950s black and white sci-fi movie titled "The Thing". As Sid was saying, unlike John Wayne, Arness was in the military. He served in WWII I believe and was injured in the leg. He always had a limp because of it which you can see if you watch closely.
Only big cities have fireworks downtown but, they really don't mean much. It's only during 4th of July that we really care. They represent the war America's forefathers fought for our independence.
Other than that, the only "fun" most Americans have on new years eve is drinking beer and booze and eating. I wish you had watched the ball drop during the countdown to midnight. After that, most people have a toast to the new year with champagne. Then, they get even more drunk on even more beer and booze and pick through whatever's left to eat.
Some of us just eat and eat all night and toast with one or two glasses of champagne at midnight. This year I broke tradition. I ate and ate, had about 6 jello shots (jello spiked with booze, had about 4 glasses of wine, plus 2 toasts with champagne. :D
The weird part is, I had the shots and wine all in a short period of time. All that alcohol and I didn't even get a buzz. What a waste. :(
Sid,
Ken says that John Wayne was asked by the govt. to do more war movies as part of giving support to the soldier instead of enlisting. and he is just happy to do that.
is the headache gone now?
xoxoxo
AA,
i too wished i had bought champagne. but ken had stopped drinking alcohol 26 years ago. he didn't say though i couldn't drink champagne but that i have to finish the whole bottle if i openned one.
xoxoxo
You can certainly make all the noise you want on New Year's Eve and start your own tradition. That would be a fun party!
We had fireworks here and could see them from our house.
Next year buy yourself a small bottle of champagne. They are about $2-$3 and hold tow glasses at most stores that sell liquor.
You must have champagne!
Here's more Gunsmoke talk for you-When I was very young, I met Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke. We were flying on an airplane and since our last plane was late, we were bumped up to first class. Miss Kitty was sitting right across from me. She wore a white fox fur, a white knit dress, white heels, and had two little white maltese dogs with her. Her gorgeous red hair was teased and sprayed and she looked like a movie star should. Very glamorous! She was nice enough to talk to me, and I was a very curious little girl. She even let me pet her little dogs. My dad was thrilled-he had a "crush" on Miss Kitty's Gunsmoke character. The good old days!
Mimi,
oh yes i have become familiar with the characters in Gunsmoke - marshal dillon, miss kitty, chester, doc adams, quint,festus etc. you see watching this series has become mandatory coz ken would always watch it even when he had seen them maybe over 30 times.
yes, i will definitely have champagne next year!
xoxoxo
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