What do you do on New Year’s Eve?
My image of New Years Eve in Japan is to eat soba, watch TV, and go to bed. I'm sure your experience is different.
In America, there are two types of New Years Eve: party or relaxed.
Some people, usually young, use New Years as an excuse to party. They might go to a club or bar to gather with other party goers. Or, perhaps they attend someones party at their home. Either way there is likely a lot of dancing and drinking. There is a tradition to kiss someone at midnight.
The other way to spend New Year’s Eve is to do nothing special at all. This one is more my style. New years eve might as well be any other night. Sometimes people stay up until midnight to watch the countdown on TV, but it’s not required. My hometown is on the west coast and, because of the different time zones, we can watch New York’s countdown at 9pm instead of waiting until midnight.
I have been in Japan for 10 years so I am used to the Japanese style celebration. However, after my daughter was born 4 years ago, things have become a little boring. We still try to eat soba and watch some TV but, even this, is sometimes too much.
This year my wife and older daughter could eat soba. However, my younger daughter was sleepy and dragged me into the bedroom to go to bed. It's ok. Noodles aren't really my thing.
We also tried to stay up a little later than usual. We were confident we could make it to 9:30, but that didn't happen either and everyone was asleep by 9:00, as usual.
I even made an effort to watch Kouhaku. But, I only got 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there. Oh well, we have it recorded so I can finish later. Put it in the queue of all the other recorded programs that I never end up watching.
It is probably the same at any house with small children. I guess the only thing to do is wait a few years until the girls are older and don't need my constant attention anymore. It won't be long before the roles will reverse and I will be the one asking for attention as my daughters leave me alone to live their own lives.