Okay, this is kind of past the "consume by" date, but I only just found it out.
I finally got a hold of some friends back in California tonight, and I asked each of them what they'd done to celebrate New Years in order to get caught up on their lives.
They all responded something about going out to bars/clubs. One friend talked about how she and her boyfriend didn't want to spend a lot of money going out because "everything's so expensive" on New Year's, but on their way to a bar someone on the street gave them tickets to a fancy club and they got to party for free. Another friend said she and her husband passed up going out to a bar (and none of their friends were throwing a party) and they just drank wine in front of the tv, watching the performances until the ball dropped, and then they went to bed. They're not huge partiers or anything, but I was still kind of shocked. And a third friend said she went bar hopping with a girlfriend and some of her friends in one of the beach communities of San Diego (known for tons of bars).
If you only talked to my friends, you'd think the only option for celebrating New Year's was at a bar (and that it's expensive).
Maybe it's just the people we know in France, but we don't know anyone that goes bar hopping on New Years. Everyone celebrates at someone's home. Twice we've celebrated at the mountain vacation house of a friend's parents and gone skiing. The other times we just partied at someone's house. We usually have a big hearty meal, with raclette or tartiflette, or fondu (hmm, lots of savoyarde dishes), sip on drinks most of the night, and then there are always party games. The first year B and I were together, the host and her boyfriend made up a board game with trivia questions and we played in teams. Other years we've played Taboo, French Balderdash (Kemozako), Loup Garou, plus games like Scene It! and SingStar on the PlayStation. Last year we had a friend who played the guitar for about 2 hours and we sang along to Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and lots of others. B's best friend, and with whom we've celebrated the most often, often makes his own version of the French trivia game Burger Quiz. This year he made 3 minute versions of Brokeback Mountain and Kill Bill (rather hilarious I might add when you can only film the most famous plot elements). Just about every year we've shared food preparations, which usually take up the first part of the evening. I usually roll off to bed between 2 and 3 am, but the party might continue till 4 or 5 am, with additional SingStar kareoke battles. We've been lucky to always celebrate somewhere were everyone could sleep, so no one had to be DD. People could head off to bed early if they wanted to, unless they were sleeping on the pull out couch in the living room.
I know the French party longer and normal dinner guests can rest until the wee hours of the morning, but I'm suprised by my American friends who don't even stay up till 1 or 2 on New Years. I'm also surprised by the lack of celebrating with friends by my American friends. B and I don't go to clubs or go out dancing, but we do love playing party games with friends, which is cheap/free and you can even do it in your pyjamas.
When I was a kid, I played Monopoly with my mom and my brother because that was what my mom said her family used to do. I used to associate waiting for midnight as "forever!" and coupled with the fact that we never finished Monopoly before midnight (having started at 9pm or so), the game became "unwinable". Later, my family went to First Night celebrations with my aunt, uncle and cousin. The one near us was neat because there were lots of concerts and different shows, plus a few arts and crafts available and fireworks at the end. As I got older, I liked it less and less. I had to hang out with my entire family and go to the concert my parents chose (usually mediocre jazz). The evening was marketed as "Family Friendly", but that meant "Kid and Senior Citizen Friendly". When there were a few pop/rock groups performing and I'd get to hear them, I quickly learned how hard it is to be a rock star. Local music acts are....mediocre let's say. Now that I think about it, I started avoiding spending New Years eve with my parents as soon as I could. They watch the ball drop now, and it's way better spent with a bunch of friends.
The overall reaction from my friends was "Oh, well this year we didn't do a whole lot to celebrate," and having celebrated 5 New Years in France, I don't think I've ever been disappointed like that. [For fact-checking B: yes the first year I didn't speak French well enough and it was really hard/impossible to talk to people, but at least my memories are happy] I wonder why there's such a difference between my experiences and theirs? It's not that out of the ordinary to invite friends over for Pictionary and drinks, is it?
2 comments:
That's funny, I've had the exact opposite experience - in the US, I usually just went over to a friend's house and we played games & drank, but in Bretagne, "ze sing to do ez" to go to the night club until hours of the morning. It used to piss me off because it was so expensive - 50€ for the night, plus drinks.
So up until now, my NYEs in France have not been that great (with the exception of last year, when we decided to go to a fancy restaurant instead). But then again, maybe I would've had more fun if I'd actually liked the people we hung out with. LOL
I seems to me that people in France are much more prone to party at a friends house...whatever the occasion. Even if they do go to a bar they seem to gather at someones house first, drink a little and THEN go to a bar. I have only met friends here in France AT a bar once and then only for two drinks, never for the whole evening. Back home we always met at a bar and usually spent the evening in that bar or going from bar to bar. We hardly ever got together at someones house and never for new years eve.
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