How are YOU spending New Year’s Eve?

**Cheryl Laverick:** How many times have you heard someone being asked, ‘What are you doing for New Years?’ Whether they’re planning a night out, having a family get-together or going away, it’s always something. New Years Eve is that one night of the year that you just have to have plans, but is that a good thing?

I used to be determined for new year’s eve to be the best night of my year and plans had to be organised well in advance. Expectations were always high but whether a friend’s party, a night at the pub or even crashing a Young Farmers’ Club’s event (yes, they do exist), the night was often an anti-climax.

Clocking on to this pattern of mild disappointment I opted for a change and jetted off to spend new years with my then boyfriend in Ireland. A fairly unplanned, informal and ‘go-with-the-flow’ kind of night turned into an absolutely fantastic and unforgettable new year’s eve, certainly my best yet. Last year I even decided to stay in for a quiet one at home (shock horror, I know), which turned into a cracking night with the family and our fondue set.

This year I’m embracing my life as a Warwick student and coming back to uni to spend New Year’s Eve in Leamington. If the last two years are anything to go by, without submitting to any form of pressure, hype or anticipation there is simply no way that this New Year’s Eve can disappoint. Whatever happens this year, whether it’s the best spontaneous New Year’s Eve yet, or simply another night at Warwick, one thing is for sure… I will be seeing in 2013 very, very hungover indeed! Happy New Year!

**Helen Kaplus:** For me, Christmas revolves around family, food, and staying home, New Year’s Eve however, is all about going out and spending the night dancing and drinking with friends. Being Estonian, and always spending the holidays in my home country, my NYE traditions may differ slightly from most. For example, the focus on having a New Year’s kiss is not something that has caught on and I’m slightly suspicious that the tradition only exists in Hollywood films.

Having had my share of amazing NYE experiences as a result, my rule is: whatever the event I attend, it has to include being in the city centre to usher in the New Year. Sure, the night can start at someone’s house but we have to make our way to the centre before midnight. A house party is always just a house party, but welcoming in the New Year outside surrounded by friends, strangers, and people whom the magic of the night has turned warm and friendly, is something special.

Celebrating amidst a crowd of people may make it impossible to follow the Estonian tradition of ‘lead-pouring’ (holding a piece of lead in a ladle over a fireplace or on top of the stove then once its molten, throwing it in a bucket of water and attempting to read your fortune for next year from the resulting shape), but I prefer living in the moment to fortune-telling.

This year we have booked a table at an exclusive restaurant on the top floor of a high building in the middle of Tallinn, it even has a roof terrace – perfect for watching the fireworks. I’ve also got my outfit sorted ahead of time, a gold sequined dress and 120 denier tights (winters are cold around here!).

The only thing to remember is that contacting my friends in the UK and screaming ‘HappyNewYear’ down the phone right after midnight is not as great an idea as it may seem, especially when it will be only be 10 o’clock there…

**Daisy Kemp:** New Year’s Eve in town has always tended to be an anti-climax. Living in deepest darkest Cornwall, having an ‘epic night out’ on the 31st tends to yield mixed results. Sure, there’s a good night to be had in the sticks if you know where to look (honestly), but it’s usually drizzling and the usual convenience of ‘it doesn’t matter that there’s only one club in town, it means you know where everyone will be’ tends to end in a damp, over-priced queuing experience that takes the edge off of your ‘WOO, NEW YEAR’ attitude.

You know those nights where you’ve spent ages pre-drinking and planning, and then end up wondering if 12.01am is too early to get chips and leave? For me, it seems that New Years in town is inescapably one of those nights. On this basis, after an array of underwhelming New Year nights chasing the perfect Midnight location/level of intoxication, this year I’m sticking with a guaranteed winner.

My somewhat raucous family will be heading up North (i.e., crossing the Tamar bridge into Plymouth, and then some) and descending on my favourite Aunt’s house. Once there we will hit the wine and drunkenly promise to have parties more often, and to have a theme next time we do, because we’d be good at a theme, but what should we make it and would the boys do it and should we just have more gin in the meantime?

Of course New Year’s Eve is a time for reflection, for mulling over your best and worst moments of the year gone by and planning your goals for the coming one. However, more than anything it’s about getting disorderly with people you love, and your Dad drunkenly awarding someone ‘family member of the year’ based on who’s been handing him the beers. This year, New Year’s Eve will be drizzle-free, drunken, and most likely slightly undignified, filled with terrible resolutions and alcohol that I haven’t had to queue or pay for. Frankly, I think I’m onto a winner.