2018, you were good
People say happy new year to one other. Fireworks are shot into the sky. Many people party until late into the night.
People seem happy but happiness has not been something that could best describe what I feel around each year’s end. It is the time to say goodbye to a good old friend, i.e., the year itself, and I am not too excited to throw a party right after I see my friend off. Well, the years may be just some numbers that we invented after all, but letting one familiar number go, and knowing that it will never be my present reality again invites some amount of sadness.
In fact, there might be some cultural differences even, between where I came from and the West. In Korea, most annually formed groups (educational, or social etc) start in spring and finish in December, which means that you say goodbye to your new friends at the year-end as well. So I assume I’ve regarded December as the time of the year when things go back to the beginning or even to death, at least figuratively. Also, everyone collectively gets one year older on January 1st (yes, Korean aging system is quite original), so there’s a shared sense of frustration about getting older at least on paper.
Anyways, I am excited to enjoy the fireworks and other cool displays of light here in Barcelona tonight. But I’ll also make sure to give a solid hug to my 2018, for which I can be only grateful. Hey, you have been good!
@ Parc de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain, December 31, 2018
