Some Musings on New Years Day

As the daylight hours of New Years Day dwindle here in Deutschland, I figured I'd post a wee bit about my New Years here in Tübingen and maybe get a little sappy. 

My New Years was an incredibly fun and rather American evening. All of the international kids of Deutsch Kompakt and all of my German friends were in their respective home towns, which pretty much left the American ex-pats to ring in the new year, which was perfectly fine with all of us. A group of roughly 15 of us met at Prinz Karl, where we had a classy-ish dinner. I guess as classy as the chicken parm I made (which went, gladly, went over well). Then after hanging out for a while and drinking some champagne, we made our way to the Österberg, which is a large hill with a big field on the eastern part of town. It also happened to have a fantastic view of the fireworks. So, in Europe, on New Years, everyone buys a bunch of fireworks and basically turns every single city into a war zone. On the Österberg, there were people lighting off fireworks every which way, that walking back up the hill from a lower part of it feels like you are walking through some kind of combat zone (not that I know what that feels like, but it's the best analogy I got). Then there were the fireworks coming from the city in the valley. It was everywhere and bright and colorful and constant. They went non-stop for at least a half an hour after midnight. It was the most incredible time. I didn't think I could like fireworks more, but Europe has proved me wrong. I wish I had taken pictures (I didn't wanna risk bringing my camera up there), but I'll post my friend's photos, once they go up on Facebook.

So that was pretty much my New Years Eve. However, because of it, there's always the inevitable reflection of the past year and resolutions for the year to come. 2013 has been absolutely incredible, from the hell-ish-in-terms-of-work semester that was second semester sophomore year or spending the summer with my friends at Tufts or these amazing past four months in Germany. I have done some stupid things, but I have also done some great things and met some incredible people, with whom I will hopefully always remain friends. However, looking forward is even better. I have another 7 incredible months to experience in Germany and a wonderful family (and we're including you in that family section, Dip, if you are reading this) to return to in Wisconsin and equally amazing friends (and one really adorable kitty) to return to in Boston. So with that, I'll end with some Tennyson, because why the hell not. 

“Hope

Smiles from the threshold of the year to come, 

Whispering 'it will be happier'...” 

So here's to 2014 and all of the craziness that will inevitably ensue.