Fun facts: New Year's

I'm afraid I didn't have time to prepare a post for today in advance, and it's a very busy day at work, so I'll not be able to share very much with you today. It occurred to me, though, that a few tidbits about how the New Year is celebrated here might interest you.

For some reason, Germans call New Year's Eve "Silvester," which never fails to make me laugh.

Silvester is the only day of the year on which it is legal to set off fireworks. At midnight, no matter where you are, the air fills with rockets and Roman candles. This is quickly followed by the sound of sirens - there's a reason we don't allow amatures to set off flying fireworks any more in most states of the US.

The citizens of the German-speaking world (Germany, Austria, Lichtenstein and much of Switzerland) traditionally watch a short film called Dinner For One (you can watch it here) every Silvester. The movie is entirely in English, though it opens with a German master of ceremonies explaining the meaning of the most important phrases. Because of this movie, the English phrase "the same procedure as every year" is a universally recognized catchphrase and often played for jokes. Outside of the German-speaking world, this film and the one-act play that it is based on are completely unknown.

In America, we wish each other "happy New Year" on New Year's Eve and for a day or two therafter. In Germany, you greet a person with "frohes neues Jahr" the first time you see them after the year begins, seemingly without a time limit. I am often perplexed to be wished a "frohes neues Jahr" weeks or even months after the year has begun by people I haven't run into in the intervening time.

Edit: With my apologies to the Swiss, I have added their great nation to the "German-speaking world."