Auld Lang Syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne? For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne. Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne? And here's a hand, my trusty friend And gie's a hand o' thine We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne --

So what do these verses mean? I'm sure you wonder every New Year's Eve. I always have... From what my Google search turned up, one definitition is "times gone by." It is an old Scottish tune from the 1700s, whose transcription from Robert Burns gained it notariety.

Time definitely passes swiftly. Who knew that December 21, 2006, I'd be leaving Prague for Arlington, VA, and that December 3, 2007, I'd be leaving Washington, DC, for Prague.

I just got in from a crazy night of unregulated fireworks. Let me tell you. Living overseas definitely helps one develop a appreciation for certain aspects of home. One at the top of my list is regulated fireworks. Fire and humans are a scary mix! In Prague, if you happen to be out on the streets on Sylwestr as they call it here, you darn well better be alert. I nearly had my legs taken out by a wandering firecracker skimming the asphalt surface at the park I chose for my view of the city fireworks. Imagine if you will fireworks going off all over the city on behalf of the municipality and simultaneously locals shooting off their own fireworks and smashing bottles of empty alcohol. Add to this picture, young parents and inebriated adults teaching their even younger children and friends how to light firecrackers. All I can say that tonight was successful. No one in our party of 10 or so people was injured. I don't care if you call me an old fart. I like my hands, all my fingers, both feet, and all my toes. I also cherish my eyes and the sight they provide.

Tonight was a blessing. I had dinner for 5 or six friends, mainly new friends from church and work. I cooked up a new recipe of chicken apple curry, broccoli with garlic, salad with the best balsamic vinegar dressing I've made yet, and blue cheese and lekvar (plum marmelade) on sunflower seed bread. Oh, and I made my best yet chocolate chip cookies. I think perhaps I've saved the image of American cuisine. Rest assured... with me feeding foreign masses overseas, people are gradually coming to realize we Americans appreciate a good meal AND I'm not talking about McDonalds.

I had a ball cooking. I streamed NPR and caught a number of good shows, including "Wait, wait, don't tell me" with Chris Palmer, Valerie Plame, Michael Moore, and the NPR Baghdad correspondent, as well as "Talk of the Nation" which focused on a book called "Intern" or something like that. It is about an Indian-American doctor now working in a NYC teaching hospital and his reflections on his years as a medical student and resident coming through the system. Being a big sister of a Duke medical student, I was all ears. Modern technology definitely makes it a whole lot easier to be outside one's normal comfort zone.

It was a strange mix of old and new in my kitchen tonight: the familiar, exhilarating smell of freshly chopped garlic, the deep melodic voice of Carl Kasell, yellow-orange curry, authentic French blue cheese, and povidle (Austrian Ger)/povidla(Czech)/lekvar (Slovak) (i.e., plum jam) on toast. Everything went off quite well, despite my mistaking "Parizska Slehacka" for creme fraiche. To be honest, I still don't know what Parizska Slehacka is. I thought I couldn't go wrong buying something that literally means Paris creme. Unfortunately, as I was about to pour it into my curry, I realized it was brown and chocolate flavored. Even with this little mishap, the food was more than edible - it was tasty and I'm more than satisfied.

Ringing in the new year with several new acquaintances I've known less than a few weeks was interesting. We had a merry group of Americans, Indonesians, Malaysians, Thai, Czech and Indian. It was great fun to build on friendships I started a year ago, too. Of course, at various moments of the night my thoughts were on yester years singing all the lyrics to Auld Lang Syne (it will take you like 10 full minutes!), making fondue, playing electronic catch phrase, and Jordana impersonating Anna Nicole Smith. Oh, and how can I forget passing around the "exercise ball." To my Calvert gang friends if you are reading - no one will replace you.

I'll continue to think of those happy times as I set out to create new memories. Old habits die hard - and some, well, they never quite die. And now, I'll always remember nearly getting my legs burned off by a passing firecracker on the eve of 2008, Imelda sporting her cute knit hat, Charlie an American attorney from Kansas with a passion to fight sex trafficking -- sporting a white button down with a black vest and jeans -- who received a new year's eve note from a neighbor asking if he knows Johnny Cash, eating Indonesian pandan-flavored cake (and suddenly remembering pandan is a flavor common to the Philippines), and trying to explain who on earth Valerie Plame is to several Malay and Indonesian friends. That is just a few of tonight's afterthoughts.

I spoke to my friend Fal on Sunday and she encouraged me to put exactly how I feel here. So, here it is: missing you all dearly.

Happy New Year, my friends! I look forward to the stories and adventures that will enfold in 2008.