The New Year Is Your Oyster

Perhaps this New Year for you began with an idea, a resolution or just simply joy. This year more than ever people are looking forward to hearing that familiar sound of bells tolling from Big Ben striking midnight, perhaps to most, accompanied by an overwhelming sense a relief, expectation, aspiration for new adventures, or just a pure wish for the returning of good times implicit in life.

For us, and I suspect for many others, this year’s celebration was more relaxed in comparison to the past. As we feast on a selection of charcuterie and fresh oysters from a local fishmonger in the comfort of our own home, we opted for more casual attire. Upon hearing a familiar tune from Jools’ Annual Hootennanny, I kicked off my sparkly heels and slipped into a pair of flat pompom pumps for swinging around the room. Time seemed to fly as we were messaging friends and relatives, exchanging well-wishes over different time zones, before we finally decided to turn in for the night in order to secure a bright New Year’s day.

When I was growing up, every New Year’s day and the day after, without exception we would all visit both my maternal and paternal grandmothers’ houses, and it was at my paternal grandparents’ house we would watch the New Year’s Day Concert in Vienna followed by the classic film, The Sound of Music. This New Year’s day we have repeated this tradition. It was extraordinary to see the auditorium in the Golden Hall laid empty, but it was summed up by the narrator so well that: “Despite everything, the mighty Danube will still flow blue, Redetzky will still march, even if this year the clapping is all down to us.” Perhaps despite the circumstances, this year the concert and the musicians are on a mission to be even further reaching in spreading joy and love as families around the world gather in front of the television, seeking for something familiar and positive just as we do.

Happy New Year to all!

01/01/2021 Written by Tian Ze Hao