New Years Eve

Josh and I have spent the past three winter seasons here in Russia and had yet to brave the New Years Eve celebrations on palace square- until this year! I was very skeptical to take part, as I have always been intimidated by a number of factors- the first being New Years Eve does not begin until well after my bed time. Second it tends to be very cold here in the arctic and third well partying is on a whole new level here- not so much my cup of tea. So when Josh insisted that we needed to attend one of the biggest parties of the year, I put up my normal resistance but was out numbered when my mom thought that it was a good idea too.
So I begrudgingly stayed up, bundled up and headed to palace square. At this point I need to admit how wrong I was with my assumptions. The authorities have done a wonderful job of cleaning up festivities here- they set up gates around the square and inside there was no alcohol allowed, it created a nice environment. There were four stages set up with different music, and shows for various ages. Surprisingly there were tons of families with small children dancing well into the early morning awaiting the arrival of Grandfather Frost, and enjoying the light shows. One thing that we have learned from our time here is that the Russians are the best at celebrations, the light shows in palace square were second to none, the only comparable thing I have seen would be in Disney land on the 4th of July, and even that seems dull now. I was extremely impressed at the different changing colors of the buildings and timing of the spot lights, it was such a neat environment, and truly something I will never forget and really don’t know how to describe.

In a nut shell the night was very cold, but remarkable civilized and really pretty neat. As the clock ticked down ( or up here) we watched the president give a speech to welcome the new year and officially say when midnight had arrived. I was surprised how the whole crowd was silent for the entire speech. I have to say it- the best thing about the night- it wasn’t midnight until the president told us it was- so Russian. Admittedly I enjoyed listening to the president speak rather than a brainless pop star or TV host, maybe we have been here too long.