I'll be taking a trip to Cologne to check out the last day of their Christmas markets on the 23rd, then spend the 24th sightseeing around the town. Christmas day I'll be heading back home on a train, so not much planned for the day itself.

I have no idea what happens on New Years Eve in Germany so I should probably start looking it up to see where I should plant myself.

What are you folks up to?

In Reply To #1

Working Xmas eve
Working Xmas day
Working Boxing Day
Working New Year's Eve
Working New Year's Day
...FAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

Please have enough fun for both of us!

Shane and I both have two weeks off (kind of, he's on crunch so will still have to go in a bit >_<) so we'll go spend xmas with my folks, then come back home. Really truly what I look forward to is sitting in my jammies playing Nintendo. That used to be accompanied by booze and weed, however, this year will be straight edge.

I am still having a bit of rum and eggnog xmas day.

They invade Poland.



I'll be consoling the mrs over Christmas as the boy has elected to spend the day at his girlfriend's (dun dun DUUUUN), which makes this the first Christmas she's ever had with none of her children present.

Which means I'll definitely get to pick what we watch on TV and the best bit of the chicken.

Bonus!

No wait, I've just remembered (and google totally backs me up) that a German New Year's Tradition is to watch a 1920s British cabaret sketch:

http://german.about.com/library/weekly/aa010101a.htm

Good luck finding anything else on the TV to watch, Chris!

(they also have fireworks and parties and stuff, like everyone else - but that's boring)

In Reply To #5

Unfortunately, I don't have a TV. Sadly I guess I will miss out on that tradition...

I am used to NYE parties being one of two things, every year:

• Seeing the fireworks in Sydney harbour first hand
• Seeing the fireworks in Sydney harbour on TV

Forgetting about my NYE stint in Taipei one year, those have always been the two options. I'm not sure what smaller towns do, or if they even bother.

I have two more days of work (though my boss has been on leave for the last couple of weeks, so it's not like I'm doing anything) before I'm off for three weeks.

My sister's marrying a douchebag on the 22nd, so I'll be getting shitfaced for that. Not sure if her being on her honeymoon changes Christmas day plans now that I think about it... I've just been assuming I'll spend the day at the folks' as normal. Also have a cousin's wedding on the 27th, though it'll be celebratory drinking for that one.

A couple of mates are looking to throw a BBBBQ for New Years, the extra Bs being for Booze and Bongs. Should shit on last year which I spent at home with food poisoning.

Oh, and year end lists, obviously.

Does she know?

One of my friends married a girl he was blatantly settling for (and she was settling for him as well, it was pretty fucking tragic really), and the most I did was dance around the point, which I regretted right up until the point they split up within a year of getting married, when I just felt like a cunt.

I mean, she probably won't change her mind if you tell her (unless she's having doubts and getting carried along with the whole thing), but you can put your cards on the table as long as you do it in a non-ultimatumy, not-too-judgemental way.

(e.g. "Are you fucking INSANE the guy is an ARSEHOLE!?" probably not the way to go)

I've said from Day 1 that he was a shitbag, but she doesn't see it. They're both busy with work and other commitments so we rarely see them. When we do my folks have wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but there's always a generous helping of him treating her like shit. We try to be supportive but it's always met with her defending him or thinking we're overreacting. They've been together for 4 years at this point, so I guess she knows what she's getting into... and there might even be a side of him that we just haven't seen. But his inability to display such a side at all makes for a lot of Marge Simpson style "Hrrrmmm"-ing.

In Reply To #9

Sounds like you've done your best there, then. All you can do now is hope that you're wrong (and be around for your sister if you're right), I guess.

(what I felt bad about with my friend wasn't that he did something I disagreed with (that then turned out to be a mistake), but that I never actually said "I think you are making a mistake" - I doubt it would have changed anything, but I would have felt more honest - looks like you've definitely been more honest with your sister than I was with my mate, so that's good)

That's the plan! Now someone focus on the bit about year end lists and reassure me that we still have a "Best of 2012" thread in us...

In Reply To #11

You can celebrate the divorce.

A week at the Beach on the parents' expense. The kind of thing they have to pay for making me quit my job to go and help them. This sounds like I'm such an ass.

I guess I am an abusive Jesus.

Note: The wife also had to uproot herself to come over. If it helps.

Sitting at home in front of the TV, contemplating a new way to kill myself.

Spending Christmas with my mother, new years with a whole bunch of friends. No extra days off, so beyond that, I'll be working.