Apparently celebrating New Year’s Eve is a big thing in Holland. It’s a big thing everywhere, of course, but here it’s a big family thing. Even little kids get to stay up to usher in the clock. That’s probably more of a reaction to events than anything, seeing as the Dutch like nothing more than to let off millions of loud fireworks on the street outside their individual homes.
I was unaware of the family element until the good wife informed me that it was going to be a big deal for her family that the two of us are now here on NYE. I cautiously inquired as to what this meant, and I was duly horrified to discover that there was an expectation that I present myself at a family gathering to usher in the new year.
This is after two full days of family Christmas gatherings, not to mention the new year’s day family afternoon tea that the good wife is hosting at our house for all of the relatives. To hear that I was required on top of all this to present myself to a long and drawn out evening with the same people that I would then be seeing the very next day gave me cause for concern.
For the truth is, dear readers, that I have never cared for NYE.