A belated New Years’ salutation (though who is to say that the earth actually completed and started its solar rotation on the 31st of December/1st of January is beyond me, but the arbitrariness of this holiday is a discussion for a different day…), and welcome to the year 2009.

I hope you all enjoyed your celebrations with great enthusiasm, wrecklessly ignoring the following morning’s consequences and digestive repercussions. I, on the other hand, can safely – and somewhat-regrettably – say that there were no excesses to be enjoyed on my part. This can be blamed partly on my failure to work the previous week, and partly on my failure to change out of shorts before I left home for the night. A lesson has been learned from this experience, however.

Actually, I’ve realised that each new year, or more pertinently, each New Year’s celebration, brings a lesson. Last year’s lesson will not soon be forgotten – get to the party on time so you don’t have to catch up. And if you do have to catch up, don’t try to close that six-drink gap in one, or even two, hits. This year I learned that, on any festive occasion, you should think and plan ahead before you leave home. Never assume that what you are wearing during the casual part of the day will suffice for the rest of the day and into the night. Another lesson – which I have only just realised – is that at all times (and especially on festive occasions,) when you leave the house, you should have a camera with you. I failed this time, and accordingly, I don’t have any photos of my celebrations to share. Fail.

Despite the few downsides however, I did enjoy my segway between 2008 and 2009, and it wasn’t a complete loss. I got to see the Canberra fireworks (though I missed what was supposedly Sydney’s best display ever), I got to spend time with my awesome family, I hung out with some of my closest friends, and best of all, I remember all of it. I guess that’s what these occasions are all about – Fireworks, Family, Friends, and Memories.

- Juanito Jua-Jua