Have a Good Slide into the New Year! Germans often wish one another “Ein guten Rutsch” as the New Year approaches. The expression has English connotation of “sliding well” into the new year, safe and sound. However, this phrase might actually have a completely other meaning. Some experts believe it is a corruption of the Yiddish phrase, “Guten Rosch.” Yiddish is the vernacular of European Jews – it emerged from German, but has traces of other east European languages as well as some Hebrew. In the case of “Guten Rosch,” "Rosh" refers to the Jewish New Year "Rosh Hashanah ." The Hebrew word "Rosh" means “head” or “principal.” Hence the start of the new year. Given the Covid year of 2020, none of us had a very good slide and we can only hope that 2021 is a much, much better year for us all! Other big traditions in Germany on New Year’s Eve: Dinner for One: It never ceases to amaze me that we in North America don’t know about the wonderful comedy sketch called “Dinner for One.” This 18 minute English language film features just two actors and is absolutely hilarious. Germans watch this every New Year’s Eve and everyone knows what you mean when you use the line “The same procedure as every year.” Have a look at this on YouTube! There is Covid update this year that pokes a little fun at social distancing rules (Abstand) - you can see the clip on YouTube as well, but understading a little German is a requirement! Silvester: Since December 31 is the feast day of Saint Sylvester, Germans refer to this day always as “Silvester.” He was the Pope from 314 to 335. Carp: Yes, eating carp on Silvester is a tradition. It is often done in the style called “Blau” which means that the fish stands in vinegar for about 10 minutes. This gives it a somewhat blue color before simmering in a mix of water and special spices. Fireworks: The normally conservative and quiet Germans let loose with a flurry of fireworks which light up the sky. Every Tom, Dick or Heinrich can gets his own fireworks together and many of these pack some serious firepower! New in 2019, however, were various fireworks bans. In Munich, all fireworks were banned in the pedestrian zone and Viktualienmarkt. Inside the Middle Ring, noisemakers were banned. For Silvester 2020, most cities have banned fireworks altogether. In 2019, we watched "Dinner for One" with some friends and then we celebrated in the Cellar at the Augustiner Keller. For the past few years we would head to Garmisch to watch the ski jumping on News Year's Day. Though fans are banned this year, the tournament will be televised and record-smashing ratings are expected, since there is literally nothing else to do! Action starts December 28 in Obertsdorf, then moves on to Garmisch, Innsbruck and Obertsdorf respectively: More Info