It's New Year's Eve Somewhere...

This year, I was lucky enough to spend New Year's Eve at the world's first major celebration, in Sydney, Australia -- nine hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, fourteen hours before the ball drop in New York's Times Square, and a whopping eighteen hours before the US West Coast welcomed 2011.  Unlike my prior New Year's Eve adventures, freezing in Warsaw or Edinburgh with a bottle of cheap champagne while watching fireworks explode over ancient castles and Communist monuments, I enjoyed the warmth of a summer's night on a ferry directly in front of the Sydney harbor bridge.

New Years, 2011: Fireworks over Sydney Harbour bridge

While earlier I blogged about the homesickness and nostalgia that can come from celebrating the holidays far from loved ones, it is almost impossible for a student abroad to fail to have a good time on the 31st of December.  The sense of camaraderie and hope for the future that pervades New Years' celebrations inspires people from all backgrounds to join together in celebration, and that bubbly social lubricant can grease even the most rusty of language skills.

My best New Years' Eves have been spent as a student abroad.  In 2009, during my postgraduate study at Cambridge, my boyfriend flew to England for the holidays and we spent a week traveling through England, stopping at castles and cathedrals and even Old Trafford for a Manchester United game.  We left Manchester on the 31st and journeyed by train across the Pennines and up to Edinburgh for the world-famous Hogmanay celebration.  When we arrived in the mid-afternoon, the sun was rapidly setting and the extreme cold challenged our tourist instincts; if it weren't for the chatty and friendly cab driver who took us from the station to our hotel on the outskirts of town, we would have seen nothing of the historic city.  Duped by the darkness, we foolishly left the hotel around 8 PM to travel to Princes Street, where the New Year's Eve street festival occurs every year.  Four hours of loitering in the sub-zero temperatures was made bearable thanks to the presence of a Starbuck's and McDonald's, the only two establishments open during the festive occasion, and we made brief excursions into the street to see the bands performing at the various stages set up in front of Edinburgh Castle.  As midnight neared, the crowds thickened and finally, just prior to the start of the fireworks display, my boyfriend proposed in front of a crowd of sighing Japanese tourists.  (Naturally I said "yes.")  Dancing through the streets with the Scots and sharing a romantic evening with my new fiancé certainly made this a memorable New Year's Eve!

New Year's Eve in Edinburgh, 2009: fireworks over the Scott Monument at Hogmanay

Another memorable international experience was the New Year's Eve that I spent in Warsaw.  An American friend of mine I had met while studying abroad in Romania was living with a Polish exchange student, and he invited us to come to a party with him and a few other international students for New Year's in Warsaw.  We arrived at the party -- held in a flat owned by one of Mateusz's classmates from Poland -- to find dozens of flags hanging from every surface: Columbian, Polish, Romanian, Welsh, each one representing the nationalities of the guests at the party.  Although we knew hardly nobody, the holiday atmosphere and international students ensured we had instant friendships; we rang in the New Year a few hours early for the Russian girls, then bundled up to go out into the freezing cold Polish night for the fireworks over the Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science, a testament to the Communist era.  Standing together that night, with new friends and old, from East and from West, the bright future illuminating the shadow of the Communist past, was one of the most memorable experiences I had from that backpacking trip through Eastern Europe.

New Year's Eve in Warsaw, 2007: fireworks over the Palace of Culture and Science

What made all of these celebrations great was the mixture of adventure and friendship that came together so easily while studying in a foreign place.  Although the time difference between "home" and "away" can sometimes be tricky to navigate, there is something infinitely exciting in knowing that you are experiencing the new year several hours before anyone at home has had a chance.  What have been your favorite New Year's Eve experiences as students abroad?  Are there any international celebrations you particularly want to join?  Or have more general questions or comments about what I've posted?  Please leave a comment and let me know!

Homesick for the Holidays

This time of year can be one of the most difficult times for American students abroad.  The weeks between Thanksgiving -- a holiday celebrated only in America and centered around foods that are often impossible to find overseas (try asking a British baker for pumpkin pie, or finding a turkey in Eastern Europe!) -- and Christmas can make students acutely aware of their distance from friends and family.  Nostalgia frequently hits as the traditions of their childhood clash with the expectations of winter holidays in their present locale, and the long, dark, cold nights certainly do not inspire a cheerful heart.

The impact of the holidays on homesickness was never more apparent to me than during my stay in Romania.  Aware that this would be a difficult time of year for me, I attempted to distract myself with a two-week-long train trip through Eastern Europe.  The excitement of seeing new and fabulous places -- including the Prague Christmas market, the museums of Berlin, and the cathedral of Krakow -- certainly dulled the ache of distance, but when I discovered on Christmas Day that most places are closed and I had to have my Christmas dinner in the only open restaurant in town -- a McDonald's -- I felt completely alone.

So then how can American students abroad help overcome the homesickness of the winter months?  Below are a few good tips:

1.  Stay busy!  Our feelings of homesickness often increase when we have little else to occupy our thoughts.  Taking a side trip, volunteering in the community, starting a new hobby -- any of these things can provide the distraction and excitement to fight homesickness, and will help the holidays pass more quickly.

2.  Find other Americans.  Although I never recommend staying in an American clique while abroad, the pain of spending the holidays alone can be reduced by spending time with people who are sharing your experiences.  Perhaps you will make your own Thanksgiving feast using whatever local substitutes are available -- while native friends might not understand the importance of these replacement dishes, your American companions will appreciate the attempt at moulding a turkey from tofu, or mashing yams instead of sweet potatoes.

3.  Learn local holiday traditions.  One of the greatest perks to studying abroad is the opportunity to mingle in a foreign culture.  Taking advantage of your local friends' novel ways of doing things will add some excitement to the holidays and help reduce homesickness.  Maybe the recipe for mulled wine you discovered in Germany will be delicious enough to bring back to the US for your own holiday celebrations next year.

4.  Share your traditions with others.  While you do not want to come across as imposing, keeping your traditions is often a good way to initiate discussion and share part of your culture.  If you always bake Christmas cookies, share them with your non-Christian friends in the Middle East as a tasty treat, and save the preaching for later.

5.  Chat with those at home.  Like #2 above, this piece of advice must be used in moderation.  While spending an hour on Skype with your relatives around the dinner table might allow you to feel part of the activities, spending the whole day chained to your laptop will not only make you feel worse about the distance but will also prevent you from exploring the more exciting holiday options discussed here.

Hopefully this advice will help you come through the New Year in good spirits!  Please share your experiences in the comments section, and if you disagree or have any other good tips let us know!

Merry Christmas!  הנוכה שמח!  ¡Feliz Navidad!  عيد مبارك!