I'm having fun this morning wishing people a happy new year in Bahasa Bali--Rahajeng Warsa Anyar. Most of them smile (thinking, no doubt, 'What's wrong with this bule?'). Many here do not speak Bahasa Bali at all, only Bahasa Indonesia, because, of course, many are not Balinese at all but from islands around the Indonesian archipelago, for whom the more appropriate salutation would be Selamat Tahun Baru.
This is the extent of my New Year's Eve amusement, for, as I think I've mentioned before, I don't like New Year's Eve and, as far as I can remember, never have. It seems to me solemn, sad somehow, especially considering that many can think of no better way to 'celebrate' the occasion than to get falling-down drunk, loud, generally obnoxious. This goes all the way back to my father's yearly intemperance I think, which always made me feel embarrassed. Of course, later on in life, I became the intemperate one, and much more often than once a year, fashioning many a cringeworthy and regretful moment.
Now, I celebrate the occasion by sleeping, if possible, before the fireworks begin. At the same time, there is a little voice in me that says that I am missing out. Everyone is partying, dancing, laughing, kissing, and what are you doing? Sleeping! But it's not really even a choice anymore. I simply cannot stay awake, regardless of the fact that I have already taken one or two naps during the day. My general physical status lately (and by lately I mean for the last couple years) is like that of someone who has just recovered from a terrible, incapacitating illness--weak as a lamb, slow, uncertain, wobbly, easily fatigued. I convalesce, I recuperate month after month. Parties are out of the question. The very idea exhausts me. Drinking is out of the question, as it merely exacerbates the existing troubles.
Perhaps I am merely angry at my own disability, and so dislike the night itself. People tell me that they will be going to the club or a dance or watching fireworks in Nusa Dua. They ask me what I will do and I answer that I will try to sleep before the noise starts. Zzzzzzzz.
In any case, my plan, so far as I have thus formulated it, is to buy some popcorn and other treats and watch a good movie. To this end, I wish I hadn't already watched Little Women, which would have been an excellent choice for this solitary occasion, being as it is a lovely, entertaining film among so many tiresome clinkers.
This is the extent of my New Year's Eve amusement, for, as I think I've mentioned before, I don't like New Year's Eve and, as far as I can remember, never have. It seems to me solemn, sad somehow, especially considering that many can think of no better way to 'celebrate' the occasion than to get falling-down drunk, loud, generally obnoxious. This goes all the way back to my father's yearly intemperance I think, which always made me feel embarrassed. Of course, later on in life, I became the intemperate one, and much more often than once a year, fashioning many a cringeworthy and regretful moment.
Now, I celebrate the occasion by sleeping, if possible, before the fireworks begin. At the same time, there is a little voice in me that says that I am missing out. Everyone is partying, dancing, laughing, kissing, and what are you doing? Sleeping! But it's not really even a choice anymore. I simply cannot stay awake, regardless of the fact that I have already taken one or two naps during the day. My general physical status lately (and by lately I mean for the last couple years) is like that of someone who has just recovered from a terrible, incapacitating illness--weak as a lamb, slow, uncertain, wobbly, easily fatigued. I convalesce, I recuperate month after month. Parties are out of the question. The very idea exhausts me. Drinking is out of the question, as it merely exacerbates the existing troubles.
Perhaps I am merely angry at my own disability, and so dislike the night itself. People tell me that they will be going to the club or a dance or watching fireworks in Nusa Dua. They ask me what I will do and I answer that I will try to sleep before the noise starts. Zzzzzzzz.
In any case, my plan, so far as I have thus formulated it, is to buy some popcorn and other treats and watch a good movie. To this end, I wish I hadn't already watched Little Women, which would have been an excellent choice for this solitary occasion, being as it is a lovely, entertaining film among so many tiresome clinkers.
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