My Diary

01.01.2006 Happy New Year…
…another good reason for Czechs -- and tourists -- to get drunk

It's nearly midnight on December 31, 2005, and I'm in Prague, the capital city of the Central European country of the Czech Republic. I am standing on Vinohradska street, where thousands of people have already gathered, carrying bundles of fireworks as well as bottles of alcoholic drinks. They all have one aim tonight -- to have a great new year's celebration. Mostly, that means setting off fireworks -- and then getting drunk.
Even before the stroke of midnight I could see lots of people already in the swing of things, swigging bottles of champagne, vodka and the famous Czech 'pivo' (beer), and laughing and running and jumping around.
Throwing firecrackers at each other is a common New Year's prank. While I was watching the revelers, my mobile suddenly rang. It was my friend calling to wish me a happy new year -- but I could hardly hear her for the explosions all around me.
Worse, one firecracker landed right at my foot. I dropped my mobile in fright and ran off feeling I had been victimized. It was the second time in my life when I felt that I put my foot on a mine.
It took me 10 minutes to calm down. It had been a Russian boy -- he probably had meant no harm, but the incident shook me and also made me to want to get away from the crowds to avoid any further possible attacks.
As the clock struck midnight, the show of fireworks was enormous. The sky was shimmering with color and full of smoke. People seemed happy with each other. Every one was laughing, singing, shouting and generally looking like they had put their everyday cares aside. Of course, this is the way it should be. New Year is the biggest celebration in the world, celebrated even in many Muslim countries, even though some of them have different calendars.
But soon after midnight, the appearances of ambulances on the streets showed another side to the picture. The next day we found out that two people had died and many injured from different kind of incidents such as fireworks , being fallen down after being drunk. And that's not including those cut by the many broken bottles on the streets. That's when I began to see why Russian authorities, at least, have banned the public drinking of vodka on this one night of the year…