Over the Edge + December 15, 2010 1] New Year’s Celebrations ECATERINA CIUGUREANU FEATURES EDITOR Celebrate like an eastern European! Growing up in a tiny country called the Republic of Moldova, | have a slightly different value system. | go on communist rants, promote casual drinking, yell a lot, and lack the ability to cross a street properly, all of which make - me a good Moldavian. But, what | really treasure is the New Year celebration. In Moldova and Russia, Christmas is primarily a religious holiday, while New Years is a true reason to celebrate. Some things are similar, like getting and decorating a tree, exchanging gifts, and spending time with family, but it just seems so central:to Russian culture, | could not make the full transition. Plus, Christmas comes after New Years according to Christian Orthodox calendar anyway. Since moving to Canada, my mom and | tried to jumble up local traditions, Moldavian traditions, and make up some of our own to fully adjust. Mixing traditions seems like mixing alcohol: someone inevitably erawe up. The result of this is provided below. This is an epic fail of an ancient tradition. New Year is when everyone is hopeful for. something in their life to change. People are also hopeful to predict some of those changes. In Moldavian villages, people would make pastries and try to bake items into them. For example, if'you:pick a pastry with a ring in it, you will get engaged i in the new year. lf you pick a pastry with a quarter in it, this will bea wealthy in the new year. This is highly dangerous. At my house we’ only attempted this once and this will forever be remember — as the day | lost one of my baby teeth, while attempting to mow down abun with money in it. A further disclaimer must follow. | did not get any wealthier in 1995. Due to the collective unconscious of horrible starvation memories of world war Il aka my grandmother's stories, we value feasting in Eastern Europe. Overeating on New Continuing | with our superstitious nature, we is hays read Years is like having sex when you're drunk, it doesn't count. People certainly take this tradition to heart. Sincé. a good. New Years party lasts from 5pm to 5am, table setting is strategic. There are multiple salads, endless appetizers, an array of hot meals, fruits, and desserts. These indulgences extend beyond food, as | have a fond memory of the time my family purchased a box of different flavoured vodkas. They proceeded to take shots of a different flavour every hour and gave me the honour of smelling empty shot glasses in order not to feel left out. If | recalf.correctly, no one even made it to midnight that New Years. This tradition is strictly mine. When it is 3 o'clock pm here, it is midnight in Moldova. So, my Mom and | always have ore glass of champagne at 3pm to feel at home. The problem is, my mom does not stop at the one glass of champagne. She continues drinking every hour celebrating New Years according to Russian time, and then proceeding to rest, of the freakin’ globe. A typical conversation goes like this: “Mom, seriously, stop drinking.” “Cate, you might want to calm down now because it’s not happening any time. - -soon.” Then she proceeds to drunk dialling our relatives in Moldova. Another beautiful New Years tradition in my home. horoscopes for the New Year and attempt variousioitung:: telling activities ori last day of December. tf this occurs afte: we celebrated a number of New Years in. other countries, ; this activity gets messy. In 2008, | spent a total of 3 hou crying hysterically because my horoscope predicted a horrible upcoming year. My protest consisted of changing into my pyjamas and watching the movie Big Fish, a movie more depressing than hosting your own funeral. By the time my mom was celebrating New Year's in Bangkok, | ONLINE SOURCE happily bounced back. 2008 has since been deemed the international year of the potato. A horrible year indeed. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. This is the dumbest tradition of themall, courtesy of family. |.am pretty sure this game consists. of my parents trying to follow through with an abortion they regret not having. Okay. So this game consists of a) writing down’a wish on a small piece of paper, _ b) lighting it on fire, c)throwing the ashes into a champagne glass, d) chugging that disgusting mix down. All in the first minute of the new year. Rumour has:it, if you execute this ~ properly, your wish will definitely come true. 1 spend all day thinking of a short wish or various abbreviations for my wish.. At.11:30pm | start warming up the pens, so they don't mess up. At midnight, | put myself into a life threatening “situation, In the past 10 years, I:- choked on a piece of paper since | had no time to burn it properly--shoved a full piece of paper into my mouth and.attempted to swallow it whole-burnt my tongue-lit 2 table cloths on fire-spilled champagne all over my clothing numerous times-threw up -3,in the second minute of new yearsTo be honest, if you do this with a nice group of people this is about the funniest big to wateh: My giandmother tkes to: say there are @ two phrases impossible to pronounce when you are drunk. The-first is : put your clothes back on, you! renot my type.” The second ds, “no, | won’t'sing,.no one is listening.” Carol singing is obviously a universal tradition during winter holidays. Carol singing turns into regular singing. Singing morphs into drunk dancing. And like we say here in North America, “shit happens when you party naked.” That sums up how my grandfather broke his hip at 86 years old. Be safe and | will see you in the New Year!