New Year, 1 January 2014

A happy new year to everyone.

This is not an ordinary new year's eve in Kyiv and I am not going to pretend otherwise. What I will say is limited to what I saw: a very large number of people choosing to be outdoors, in December cold, with strangers, at the hour when almost everyone in the world is indoors with family.

People carried food to share. Someone always had tea. The singing was mostly carols, because it was that season, and they were sung by people who did not know each other.

Whatever anyone concludes about the period, that is what a new year looked like from where I stood. I wish all of you a peaceful year and a warm house to return to.