Christmas Presents and New Years Eve

Last night we hosted a dinner for friends in honor of my hubby's promotion as well as exchanging belated Christmas presents. After a few bottles of bubbly we opened the presents and we got this game for our Nintendo Wii and it rocks. It comes with a microphone and you have to sing karaoke style and dance as well.

We tried it out and OMG we had a blast. At first I really had no intention of singing in front of everyone but after I was persuaded/threatened that they would release my ugly singing in the shower on Youtube I caved in. It was hilarious. You get to dance too and we just cracked up it was so freakin' funny. We're so going to play this again tonight. Too bad you only do the dance moves with one Wii controller and the Nanchuk - still it is pretty cool.

Tonight we will have some friends over for the annual New Years celebration. I am usually not a big fan of New Years Eve. I used to hate it with a passion. First of all I can't stand the firecrackers/fireworks. Crazy people all over town wildly waving around explosive devices and behaving like idiots...bad stuff is bound to happen. Secondly I hate noise. Thirdly New Years Eve = forced enjoyment.

I mean think about it. Up until the last minute people keep their options open. That makes hosting a party a total beyotch as you can't plan in advance. If people then decide that something better has come up they tend to go there last minute and possibly keep you hanging. The major thing why this is a forced enjoyment though is that everybody has high expectations of New Years Eve. It is as though everybody wants to go out with the biggest possible "bang".

So this year we said that we will host a small do with some friends and they all confirmed that they will attend. We will have a "Raclette", which I enjoy quite a lot because it brings people together at the table, it is fun and everybody can have what they want. The possibilities to combine the ingredients are almost endless and OMG it is yummy.

After this I think we're up for a few fun games and some alcohol. I hope it will be fun and everybody is going to have a good time. We're also going to have a "Feuerzangenbowle". It is a typical German thing and I had to check Wikipedia for a translation. According to them it literally translates into "Fire Pliers Punch" . You heat red wine with orange and lemon peels, cinnamon sticks and cloves before you put a sugarloaf or a sugarcone over the pot, drench it in rum and you light the whole thing. The sugar will then gradually melt into the wine and it is ready for your enjoyment.

While we will be drinking the Feuerzangenbowle we will be watching a movie by the same name that was shot in 1944. Almost all German Colleges and Universities have a tradition to show this movie in wintertime and have a huge party afterwards.

I hope to see to see you in the new year without the hangover ;) and let me know if you like New Years Eve and how you get into the new year.

I would like to wish all of my blogging friends a VERY Happy New Year and all the best in 2008!