mutlu yillar

OK, i know this is going to sound snarky, but can someone please tell the Turks that they are welcome to appropriate other people's religious observances, especially in the name of religious tolerance, but please try to get it right. A Christmas tree replete with decorations (actually the star belongs at the top of the tree, not in the middle) santa hats and gift giving has no place on New Years Eve. You should be drinking champagne and celebrating the new year and making new year resolutions, you've got it all mixed up! You don't even know what day Christmas is (it is always December 25th) to wish your western Christian friends and colleagues "Iyi Noeller!" or ask them why they are leaving early for the day or not there at all.
I have done my part to understand the history behind Ramazan and seker & kurban bayram, and I although I don't see the need to fast, I probably know more about it than my Turkish husband, so please do your research and straighten things out!
OK, now that i've gotten that off my chest, this will be my 2nd new year's eve in Istanbul. the last one was spent prowling around Sultanahmet looking for a restaurant that would seat us, most being full of revelers by 9pm. we were still "dating" back then and i was visiting for a week, staying at my husband's hotel, and spending my Christmas sick in the hotel bed with some kind of gastrointestinal illness. this year, now that we are married, will be spent at my husband's parents apt, very far from and with no view of the Bosphorus fireworks - i guess that is what live broadcasting is for. I really tried to make some festive plans, knowing that if I was back in NYC, I would have tons of great parties to go to, and so feeling the pressure of having to do something special to celebrate, I made some suggestions, all of which were deemed too difficult, given the craziness & traffic in Istanbul. But I am looking forward to 2009, not that 2008 was so bad personally, except for the worsening financial doom that exploded right before the elections (I can't even look at my IRA - let's just say, i have AIG), and having to endure 4 more years of Bush and all his related incompetencies.
On the positive side, I got "engaged" sort of for 2 months and then married in March. left a successful career, sold my apt, shipped all my belongings and moved here all with the best intentions to start a new life in a place most Americans are afraid to travel to. and after much waffling about whether to spend the money on having a wedding, we did after all in November and that was an experience in itself. so all in all, not a bad year, but i am hopeful that 2009 will be even better.