The Same Old New Year

In Ukraine, New Year is the biggest and brightest holiday of the year.  To a Westerner, the celebration here can seem like a morphing of traditions associated with Christmas and New Year, with a few unique aspects added for good measure. 

Besides “ringing in” the New Year at midnight like everywhere else in the world, the holiday here includes the gift-giving of Western Christmas, and children look forward to an overnight visit by Ded Moroz (the Russian/Ukrainian equivalent of Santa Claus).  Families and friends gather at home to enjoy festivities, including lots of food, and home celebrations can typically last past 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning.

In Kharkov, thousands of people brave the night cold to congregate in the city’s huge central square or at the recently renovated Gorkiy Park to usher in the New Year with fireworks, champagne and maybe a little hot wine to ward off the chill.  After a few hours they head to the warmth of their own or friends’ homes to continue the celebration (with all that food).  Almost everyone has someplace to go and people to be with.

But in my seven new years in Kharkov, that has rarely been the case.  Being a foreigner, having no family or a “family-like” circle of friends, and living alone usually relegates me to entering the New Year on my own.  I generally go to bed early and hope my neighbors don’t keep me awake with their own celebrations.  Perhaps it is just the normal life of an expatriate.

It has been different only twice.  For 2010, I was determined not to be alone and managed to find a couple of people who similarly had no better options.  We met some others at the square and then returned to my place for a small party.  It was one of the few times that I felt motivated to decorate my place with a small tree and other touches.  It was nice. 

Last year, I had the opportunity to greet the New Year at the home of a friend.  It was her first New Year in her own place, and though it was just the two of us – and we were just friends – it was nice to not be alone.  But a couple of hours past midnight, I returned to my own apartment, which was devoid of New Year cheer.

Too often New Year has been a little depressing because it accentuates the fact that, despite having a lot of friends and acquaintances here, when push comes to shove, I am alone.  And it’s a hard pill to swallow sometimes.  

But this year, I was determined to start the year out in the most positive manner possible, with good company and a cheery environment.  I bought a small, artificial tree; decorated it with lights, ornaments and a bit of garland; put up some strings of lights around my living room windows; hung strands of garland around door frames; and even put up some lights in my front window to be seen from outside.  All of these decorations are still up, and it is festive.

The next thing was to buy gifts.  I put some effort into it and found some nice stuff for my friends, some of the people I work with regularly, and a few others.  It was a nice feeling to organize everything, and I enjoyed distributing gifts to people at several of my client companies and to some of my friends.

A few days before New Year, I got dressed up and attended the corporate party of one of my client companies, and I had a great time.  It was a good way to start getting into the spirit and helped me to start thinking about how I might ring in the real New Year, and perhaps even with whom.

But that was as far as it went.  My attempts to find some company and make a good plan for New Year’s Eve didn’t work out.  I was able to meet a few friends briefly before New Year, but most people were busy, and everyone had their own plans for the big night.  So it was early to bed, as usual.  Fortunately, none of my neighbors were celebrating, so it was mostly a quiet night.  The same old New Year.

My first few days of 2014 were spent quietly at home… reading, writing, watching movies… basically just vegetating.  But it was necessary vegetating and not all bad.  I finally got out on Friday and Saturday, and had good times with some friends.  It made things better.

Almost a week later, many of the gifts are still sitting on a shelf waiting to be given away.  Tomorrow is Orthodox Christmas, and few friends plan to drop by for a while, so a few more gifts will find their homes. 

In another week, I will return to my usual work routine, and the whole holiday thing will be behind me for another year.  I expect that I will still be here when 2015 rolls in, though it might well be my last New Year in Ukraine.  And I will do my best to make it festive, no matter if it’s my last here or not.  The attempt is worth it, no matter how it works out.


The next few blog posts will be about... souls.